Page 538 of One More Kiss

Andrea

Some days were perfect.The residents were happy and healthy, the cafeteria served a good meal, and all the nurses got along. This was not one of those days.

Tears burned the bridge of my nose, and I blinked them back as I stripped the sheets off the bed, then tossed them aside to be laundered. Mrs. Kendall's family had already been here and gone, but it was still strange to think that I would never see her again. Working in a nursing home, I should be used to sickness and death, yet it never got easier to accept. I tried to reassure myself with the reminder that she had lived a long, prosperous life at ninety-three. She’d told me repeatedly that she was ready to go when the good Lord called her name. Her passing had been easy as she slipped away in her sleep sometime before morning shift began.

“Can you handle the rest?” Markeisha asked, pulling me from my reverie. “We've got a new resident coming in tomorrow.”

I threw a small smile her way. “Yep. I'll take care of it.”

“Thanks.”

The rooms here at Morningside didn't stay empty for long. It was the one downside to a job I otherwise adored. I loved the residents, loved talking with them and listening to them reminisce on their younger years. You could read about history in a book but hearing it from someone who had experienced it firsthand was something entirely different. It made it more real somehow. Getting close to someone only to lose them was hard, but it gave me peace to know that she'd been cared for in her final days.

I finished my shift, then clocked out and headed for the parking lot. I slipped the key into the ignition, and my stomach twisted as the engine sputtered several times before finally turning over. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Putting it in gear, I steered out of the lot and drove toward Sherilyn's house. My daughter waved at me through the door as I pulled into the driveway, then came barreling down the steps before I even had a chance to open the car door.

“Hi, mom!” She clambered into the backseat, and I watched in the rearview mirror as she buckled herself into her car seat.

Once she was ready, I waved to Sherilyn and we headed home.

“How was school today?”

“Good. Today we learned about planets. And Mrs. Weber said we can take turns taking care of Bucky on the weekends. There’s a sign-up sheet and everything. Can we watch him one weekend? Please?”

I cringed at the plea in my daughter’s voice. She was enthralled with their class pet, a fat little hamster named Bucky. For the past year or so, she’d been dropping hints more and more often about getting an animal—a cat, a dog, it didn’t matter to her. I wasn’t surprised to find out she wanted to take care of the hamster.

“We can discuss it,” I hedged. Maybe she was responsible enough to take care of something herself now. Maybe I would get her a kitten for her birthday. You know, something that wasn’t a rodent.

Happy that I’d agreed to at least consider it, Maddie chattered on about her friends at school, what had happened today on the playground, and other random things that popped into her head. I smiled to myself as I drove and listened. She was so darn smart for six, it amazed me sometimes.

I was yanked from my thoughts when the engine made a horrific growling sound.

“What’s that?” Maddie asked from the back seat.

“I’m not sure.” My fingers tightened on the wheel, and I bit my lower lip. We were only about ten miles from home. If I could just make it there… Dread congealed in my stomach as the sound grew worse with each passing mile.

Shit, shit, shit. Wasn’t this just the cherry on top of an already crappy day? Tears blurring my eyes, I pulled the car to the side of the road and turned off the engine.

“Stay here,” I said to Maddie as I popped the hood.

“What are you going to do?”

Pasting on a smile and forcing a calmness I didn’t feel, I glanced over my shoulder at Maddie. “I’m just going to take a quick look. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I climbed from the car and propped open the hood, staring sightlessly at the myriad of wires and hoses running in every direction. How was I going to afford to have it towed, not to mention whatever work would need to be done? Helplessness welled up. What the hell was I going to do now?

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