44. It’s So…White
CARTER
I don’t like the way it smells in here. Sterile, like bleach.
The hint of orange citrus is nice, I guess, refreshing.
But it’s just too… clean . Not something to complain about, I suppose, but I’ve had lots of reminders lately that I’m hard to please.
It’s cold and stuffy, not warm and homey like Hank’s apartment.
“You sure you wanna live here? It’s awfully…” My gaze sweeps the office. The walls are stark, with quotes about living life to the fullest and only being as old as you act. “White.”
“The color of the walls doesn’t bother me, Carter. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m blind as a damn bat.”
I huff a laugh, glancing at my friend. He’s enjoying the warm weather and being out of the hospital.
He’s also enjoying my girlfriend’s hand in his, and I stifle a groan at the outfit he’s wearing: a pastel plaid short-sleeve button-up, tucked into beige cargo shorts hiked up nearly to his rib cage, with a hat on that says Carter Beckett’s #1 fan .
The socks pulled three quarters of the way up to his knees are the cherry on top, but Hank insists he must look snazzy, and Olivia says that’s all that matters.
“You can stay with us a while longer until we find something better,” I offer, earning a pointed look from Sherry, the intake manager at Sunset Living, over the top of her computer screen.
I mean, Sunset Living? What kind of name is that?
Makes it sound like they’re all halfway out the door.
He took a bad tumble that required a week of bed rest and monitoring at the hospital, and he’s been sending me sneaky grins at the way Olivia’s been doting on him since we moved him into the house. This guy’s gonna outlive us all.
Hank’s chin hits his chest with a rumbling sigh that has Dublin leaping up with concern. “Carter, I love you, but you’re the pickiest damn man that’s ever walked this earth.”
Olivia does a piss-poor job of hiding her snicker, and I grumble under my breath. “I’m not picky; I want what’s best for you.” I flail a hand in Olivia’s direction. “And being picky paid off. I’ve got the hottest girl in the world sleeping in my bed every night.”
“I thought you weren’t picky?”
“I can assure you, Mr. Beckett,” Sherry starts, “Hank will be very well taken care of here. Sunset Living is the highest ranked assisted living facility in Vancouver. He got along well with the staff during his visit last week, even made a few friends with the residents already. Your mother was quite impressed with the facility.”
Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all already. I wasn’t allowed to come because I didn’t let us finish the tour of the first three places.
Apparently, I have a nine-minute limit before I say nope and steer everyone out of the building.
Mom said she was taking over the search, and everyone but me agreed.
Naturally, they chose the next place on the list. I think Hank was just tired of searching.
He thinks he’s a burden, imposing on me and Olivia.
He’s not, but how do you stop a person from thinking that? Olivia’s the one who’s had to take care of him the most since I’ve been in and out of town for the Conference Finals.
Which we won, by the way. In overtime. In game seven. Game one of the Stanley Cup Finals is tomorrow. I have every intention of bringing home that cup and making Olivia pose naked with it while I take a fuckton of pictures.
“All right, Mr. Beckett.” Sherry hands me a stack of papers and points with her pen to a list of dates. “This is our payment schedule. Payment is due on the first of every month. We require postdated checks or preauthorization for bank withdrawal. Which would you prefer?”
I notice the slight shake to Hank’s hands and the way he starts rubbing his palms over his shorts.
This makes him uncomfortable, me paying.
But for fuck’s sake, the guy gets a whopping seven hundred bucks every month from his pension, and I think the assisted living facilities that were in his price range gave my MacBook a virus when I checked out their websites.
The decision was a no-brainer. He’s my family and he deserves the world; the least I can do is make sure he’s taken care of in a nice place.
I guess Sunset Living is that place.
“Check, please.” I take the checkbook and pen Olivia hands me from her purse. “Can I write one check for the whole year and pay upfront?”
Sherry’s jaw hangs and she blinks about twenty-five times. “That’s…unprecedented. Typically, month-by-month payment is our standard because we can never guarantee…” She trails off, gaze sliding to Hank, and he grins.
“I might be dead before the year’s up is what the nice lady’s trying to say, Carter.”
“Fucking—” I drop my forehead until it hits the white metal desk. “You are unreal, old man.”
When I’m finished signing all the paperwork and handing over six postdated checks for the remainder of the year, because nobody but me is buying that Hank is immortal, Sherry shows us to Hank’s private room. It’s large and spacious and…white.
“Can we paint?”
Olivia shoves her elbow into my waist. I suspect she was aiming for the rib cage, but she can’t reach that high.
I pat the wall. “What? I’m envisioning a Vipers-themed wall, all blue and green, maybe a mural of me with the cup overhead.”
“You’d have to win the cup first for that to happen.” Olivia gives me that tongue-in-cheek smile I love so much.
“Oh, I’m gonna win that fucking cup.” I brush my lips over her cheekbone. “And you know how people eat cereal outta it? I’m gonna eat your—”
“ Carter !” She slaps a hand over my mouth.
I can’t tell if Sherry is uncomfortable or amused. Hank’s amused; he always is.
“You can paint,” Sherry starts slowly, probably scared of what I’m gonna paint. “But we require you to either paint it back to white or pay for us to do so at the end of the stay.”
“Tell ya what, son.” Hank claps a hand to my back, staring at the wall like he can see what I see. “You win that cup and I’ll let ya paint whatever the hell you want on my wall. You could paint a field of daisies and I wouldn’t know the damn difference.”
I pull open the sliding door off his balcony and step outside. There’s a small bistro table and a couple chairs. “Look at this, Hank. West facing. You can sit out here and enjoy the sunset.”
Chuckling, he swats my shoulder. “It’s quite a view , isn’t it?”
Olivia rolls her eyes and stalks off, muttering something about us being immature boys who’ll never grow up.
When we’re done, Sherry walks us downstairs, rubbing Hank’s arm. “Well, Hank, we sure are excited to have you join us next week. You seem to be quite the character and have a wonderful family. We think you’ll fit right in here.”
Okay, maybe she’s not so bad.
She fluffs Dublin’s ears. “And you, handsome. We can’t wait for you to come for visits!”
Hank stiffens for a moment before pulling on Dublin’s lead and Olivia’s hand, trying to tug them both away. “ Okay-Sherry-thanks-bye !”
“Visits?” I chase after them, glancing back at Sherry. “What does she mean visits ? Hank? Hank !”
For fuck’s sake, for a blind man with an injured knee, the guy sure can move.
“Hank.” With my hand on his arm, I stop him from getting in the car. “What is she talking about? Dublin’s going to live here with you, isn’t he?”
Olivia lightly shoves me with her hip, helping Hank into the back. He thanks her quietly and she pecks his cheek before asking me to get in. I don’t want to, but I do, because Olivia takes me by the hand and leads me to the driver’s side.
“What’s going on?” I ask, this time a little more gently.
“Well.” Hank wrings his hands as Dublin nudges his cheek. “Dogs are allowed to visit.”
“But…”
“But they aren’t allowed to stay.”
“ What ?” I’m yelling again. I twist in my seat and Olivia’s hand finds my thigh. “Why the hell not? You’re blind! You need him! They can’t do that!”
“Having pets as permanent residents are liabilities for nursing homes,” Olivia explains.
“You knew about this?”
“Your mom gave me a heads-up. We were going to talk to you about it tonight.” Her expression says she’s sorry she didn’t tell me right away. “The insurance policy to have pets is astronomical, and there are some people who don’t like—”
“Who wouldn’t like that face?” Still screaming.
Also flailing. Dublin’s cocking his head to the side like he can’t believe someone wouldn’t like him.
I suck in a breath meant to be calming. Not sure it works, but at least I’m no longer shouting.
“Hank, you don’t have to live here. We’ll find somewhere else. ”
“Carter, it’s quite common. Your mom looked into it.
And besides—” he finds Dublin’s head, scratching, “—Dubs has taken a liking to having lots of space and a backyard these past couple weeks.” Dublin lays his head in Hank’s lap, and Hank gets this sad smile on his face.
“Truth is, I’ll have plenty of help around the home.
I can’t look after him on my own anymore, not the way he deserves. ”
“But where will he go?” My chest hurts. I hate it.
Hank clears his throat. “You know I hate asking you for things, and you’re already doing so much for me. But Dublin, he means a lot to me. And Olivia’s moving in and, well…”
My eyes land on my girlfriend. She’s got that sad puppy look, one that looks pretty damn similar to what Dublin’s sporting, one that tells me how badly she wants me to say yes. “You want us to take Dublin?”
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” Hank clarifies. “And if it is, it’s no problem. Your mom said she would be happy to. I thought maybe, you’ve always wanted a dog, and you seem to love him so much.”
“I do,” I whisper. “I do love him.” I look to Olivia. It’s going to be her house as much as it is mine, and it’s our life. This isn’t a decision I can make on my own.
She lifts one shoulder, biting back her smile. “We have a big enough bed for a doggie or two.”