Chapter 23
Anika
“Hi, Martha. I’m Nira and this is my daughter, Anika. Can we come in?”
The tiny woman nods, and Mom immediately walks over to the bed, lifting one of the frail hands on the covers in hers. The poor woman looks confused, but it doesn’t take any time for Mom to form a connection with her.
When Hog first suggested I ask Mom to come with me to visit Kim’s mother, I balked. But once again, I have to admit he was right. Mom is good with things like this. She’s not a stranger to people who suffer with diminished capacities. Mom looked after her own mother who had Alzheimer’s, and for a short while she did the same for Vic and Trin’s father who had dementia. She instantly agreed and picked me up from home earlier.
Monique let me know last night everyone had agreed to keep the salon open today. They even volunteered to stay later to make sure all appointments were honored. As weird as it feels not being there and in control, I’m glad to have some time to deal with this.
According to Bill Evans—who went to officially notify Martha of her daughter’s death yesterday after talking to us—staff mentioned the woman’s stroke had left her with cognitive impairment and failing memory. Bill was also able to tell me there was no other family, as I suspected, which is heartbreaking.
“Can we talk about Kim, Martha?” Mom asks gently.
“My daughter,” the woman replies, slurring her words. She turns her red-rimmed eyes to me. “She died.”
“Yes, and we’re so sorry,” I tell her, taking the woman’s other hand. “Your daughter worked with me at the Chop Shop, but she was also a sweet friend.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Anika.”
“Is it time for my snack?”
I glance over at Mom, who throws me a sad smile.
“I can go check for you if you’d like?” I offer, but her hand slips from mine, and her eyes have drifted out the window. I don’t think she hears me.
My heart is breaking for this woman. Losing a child has to be devastating, but losing one when you’re so helpless seems even worse.
Like so many times over the past few days, I get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
Mom steps in. “Martha, we’re going to let you rest now, okay? We’ll come back for a visit soon.”
She pats Martha’s hand before reaching for mine and pulling me out of the room. In the hallway we bump into the nurse we saw when we got here.
“How was the visit?” she asks.
“She was lucid for a few minutes, but then got confused,” Mom volunteers.
“I know,” the nurse commiserates. “And she seems to have regressed since receiving the horrible news about her daughter’s death.”
“We were hoping to talk to her about making arrangements for Kim,” I explain.
She shakes her head. “I’m not sure she’ll be in any condition to.”
“Is it okay if we visit again?” Mom asks. “And maybe we can leave you a number to contact if she wants someone to talk to, or she needs something?”
“Sure, you can leave your number.”
When we walk out onto the parking lot a few minutes later, I abruptly stop and turn to my mom, pulling her into a hug.
“I love you, Mom.”
Her arms tighten around me.
“I love you too, my precious girl.”
As if by silent agreement, we let go of each other at the same time and continue walking to Mom’s car, as if we didn’t just hug it out in the middle of the parking lot.
“You know, I should probably call Mel,” I suggest when we pull out of the parking lot.
“Mel, Lindsey’s mom?”
“Yeah. She was Kim’s lawyer. She might know—or at least be able to find out—what our options are.”
“You mean for Martha?”
“Yes, but also in terms of arrangements for Kim.”
Mom nods. “You know, that’s probably a good idea.”
Fishing my phone from my purse, I dial Mel’s number right away. She already heard through the grapevine of Kim’s passing, so after a few niceties I dive right into the issue, explaining the situation.
“Technically, anyone willing to assume legal and financial responsibility for a funeral or cremation can do so in the state of Colorado, but only when no one is designated in an agreement, and there are no next of kin. So you have two problems, one is that she was still legally married to Chris Cooper—who is in the wind—and the second being her mother.”
“Are you saying we can’t do anything for her?”
“Nope, not saying that, but it’s going to take some doing, because a judge will have to sign off on it. Now, the good news is that I already filed for a divorce on Kim’s behalf, which will help taking care of Chris, but I’ll have to see what we can do with regard to the mother.
“Now, before I do anything, I need to know if you’re willing and able to take on financial responsibility for Kim’s funeral, because those aren’t cheap.”
I do a quick mental calculation of the kind of cash I could pull together quickly.
Mom taps my leg. “Tell her, yes. Dad and I will help.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods. Dammit, she’s going to make me sappy again.
“Yes, I’ll take responsibility.”
“Okay. I’ll need your full name, date of birth, address, and email to get me started.”
After I recite those details, she says she’ll be in touch and hangs up.
The rest of the drive home we’re each lost in our own thoughts, but when we turn onto my street, Mom pats my leg.
“You did good. You’re a good friend.”
“Please, don’t be nice to me, Mom. Hog’s done nothing but mop up my tears since we got together. Please don’t make me come home bawling.”
She glances over at me, looking a bit taken aback, before she pulls up in front of my house. Feeling a little guilty, I invite her inside.
“Want to come meet our puppies?”
Her eyes pop open wide. “You have puppies?”
Before I have a chance to confirm, she’s out of the car, running for the door.
I hope she doesn’t give Hog a heart attack.
Hog
“Where are my grandpuppies?”
I turn around to see Nira coming out of the house and onto the deck. Zeke and Ryder, excited by the prospect of meeting someone new, immediately beeline it for the stairs, stumbling over each other in their efforts to get to her first. Much like her daughter, Nira gets down to their level, sinking down on the top step. She’s overrun instantly, but doesn’t seem at all fazed by the dogs’ rambunctious enthusiasm.
The boys have done well so far, at least for the most part. It looks like someone at least put some effort into house-training them. Ryder had a little mishap this morning when I didn’t run for the back door the moment I got downstairs. He peed on the kitchen floor, and while I was getting some paper towel, Zeke decided to pee on top. I guess that’s the risk when you get two boys, if one marks, it’ll encourage the other to do the same.
On the plus side though, they have a built-in playmate. These guys have been running around the yard since I came out here to plant those seeds I never got around to.
“Aren’t you just the cutest…”
Nira is cooing at the pups, totally ignoring both me and Anika, who is standing right behind her.
As I make my way up the stairs, I scrutinize Anika’s face for any signs of distress after her visit to the nursing home, but she appears okay, shaking her head at the dogs’ antics.
“Hi,” she greets me, as I climb over the pups and their newest fan.
“Hey.”
I cradle her face in my hand and notice her eyes are a little puffy. Not quite so okay, but her smile seems genuine when I bend down to kiss her hello.
“How did it go?”
“It was a bit more difficult than I expected,” she admits. “Mainly because of how sad it was to know she now has no one. One minute she knew Kim was gone and the next she kind of disappeared in plain sight. Just seemed to go somewhere else in her mind. I guess somewhere the painful reality can’t reach her.”
“So you’re still no wiser as to what arrangements to make for Kim?”
“No, but…” Nira starts as she gets to her feet and brushes the dog hair off her pants. “Anika was smart and contacted Lindsey’s mom, Mel. She’s going to help figure out where to go from here.”
“She’s looking into what it would take for me to take responsibility for Kim,” Anika ads. “But that means there’s nothing I can do right now.”
“Not exactly,” I volunteer. “There’s nothing holding you back from putting a plan on paper. Get your thoughts going about what you think she might want. I bet if you call a funeral home and talk to one of the directors, they’d be able to help you in terms of options, costs, all that kind of stuff.”
“And I’m happy to help you with that,” Nira adds. “But I have to get going and feed your father.”
“I appreciate you coming, Mom.”
Nira smiles at her daughter.
“Of course, my precious girl.”
Something must’ve happened with these two, because there is none of the tension that always seems to simmer between them. No sarcasm, no admonishments, no eye-rolling. It’s like some silent paradigm shift has taken place.
I follow the two to the front door where Anika hugs her mom and I kiss her cheek.
“If you ever need dog-sitting, I expect to be first in line,” Nira calls over her shoulder as she makes her way to her car.
We head back in when she drives off, only to find Zeke has discovered the laundry hamper. He’s currently chewing on one of Anika’s bras.
“Great taste, pooch, but not a chew toy,” I correct, reaching for him.
That leads to a lengthy chase around the house, Ryder running alongside like it’s all one big game, and Zeke ducking and diving between the furniture. Anika’s already given up, and has thrown herself on the couch, holding her stomach from laughing so hard.
When I finally corner Zeke in the downstairs bathroom, where he’s wedged himself behind the toilet bowl, I carefully remove the pink lace contraption from between his sharp teeth before setting him free. Sadly, I think the bra is toast, one strap is only partially attached, and both cups suffered tears that would defeat the purpose of wearing one in the first place.
Luckily, Anika doesn’t seem too upset. The offending dog has found its way onto her lap and is watching me with big innocent eyes.
“It’s toast,” I tell her, showing her the damage.
“Garbage it. It’ll teach us to close the door to the laundry room.”
“And the bathroom and the bedroom,” I add. “I have a feeling one closed door isn’t gonna stop this one.”
Zeke has already shown himself to be the more adventurous one.
After tossing the bra in the trash can under the sink, I head over to the laundry room. As I’m pulling the door shut, I notice the basket on the floor, piled high with the laundry Anika started this morning. I’d been collecting my dirty clothes in a plastic bag and had planned to do a load myself, but apparently Anika did mine along with hers.
My functional socks and boxers are now mixed in with her delicate lingerie. Oddly enough, they don’t look out of place. The basket looks balanced.
I walk into the living room and stop in front of the couch.
“I have a house I haven’t even spent one night at. I haven’t sat on my couch to watch a game or a movie, and I miss my king-sized bed.”
I take a breath and sit down on the coffee table, leaning forward to pick up one of her feet. Something I’ve come to learn about Anika is she loves foot rubs. It seems to relax her, and she looks like she might need to get rid of some tension right now.
“But I don’t want to be there,” I finish my thought, pressing my thumbs into the arch of her foot, before moving to the next one. “Also, I talked to my chief last week and he tells me Cap is retiring in September. He wants me to put in for captain and I’ve been thinking about it. Same shifts, but less physically demanding. I’d be managing a scene rather than working it. It would also mean an increase in pay. Not that I need it right now, I’m in pretty good shape and once the transfer of the farm is complete, I’ll have a nice additional chunk of change. But it would be nice to have a bit of extra money coming in from month to month. Reliable, you know?”
Anika’s expression went from tense to bewildered.
“That sounds great.”
Her comment almost sounds like a question rather than a statement.
“Right, all that is to say, moving forward, if at any time and for whatever reason there’s a need or a desire for you to cut down on your hours or even take a step back from the salon, money won’t have to be a deterrent.”
“Noah? I’m not quite sure what it is you’re telling me.”
I thought I spelled it all out pretty clearly, but apparently not. Maybe if I recap.
“I like seeing my laundry mixed with yours and, although I’d prefer my bed—it’s bigger—I like living here, with you. Taking on the captain’s job would mean better job security, good medical insurance, and less risk of me getting injured on the job. What I bring in is enough to carry a family, if need be, which means you wouldn’t have to carry the burden of financial stability by yourself.”
When she stays silent, biting her lips, I feel a brief moment of panic. Wondering if I’m pushing too hard.
“Look, it’s just thoughts, for now,” I scramble to leave a little breathing room.
She pulls her foot from my hold and off my lap, and leans forward.
“You’re saying you want to move in with me, have a future with me, and I’d be on board with that, but I must have missed the part that usually leads up to all that.”
It takes me only a moment to figure out what the hell she’s talking about.
I stand and pull her up as well, put my hands on either side of her neck, and bend my head until our noses touch. When I look into her amber eyes, they’re dancing with emotion.
“I love you. Have for a while.”
I brush at a single tear rolling down her cheek.
“I didn’t grow up with those words. Wasn’t raised using them, so you may have to remind me from time to time if you need to hear them.”
“I can do that,” she whispers.