Chapter 10
TEN
BINGO!
Addison
“Wait, I’m so sorry, but could you repeat that, please?
” I asked, haphazardly setting the Bingo night prizes on the table I set up at the front of the room.
My cell phone was wedged between my cheek and shoulder, but I gripped it hard as the woman on the other end repeated the last thing she’d said.
“We’ve determined that the in-home health professional will be reduced from four to three days a week starting immediately and will be completely removed in two months. The amount of time the professional is in the home after today will decrease incrementally from there.”
Somehow, I was able to control the frustrated groan I could feel building within me. I wasn’t new to the world of arguing with insurance and healthcare providers, but it didn’t make it easier when it happened.
My grandmothers, Helen and Gabriela, or Nana and Grams as I called them, had been the most important people in my life since I was five. After my parents died, they didn’t hesitate to take me in and raise me. They cared for me the best they could even after their daughter unexpectedly died.
I owed them everything, which included taking care of them in every way and arguing with the health insurance people whenever I needed to.
Grandma Helen, Nana, fell down the stairs two months ago and had to have surgery on her hip and leg.
That, on top of her worsening arthritis and overall health issues, meant we needed the extra help of an in-home healthcare professional.
Currently, they come four times a week to help with anything they need.
Grandma Gabriela, Grams, was able to do a lot, but she was pushing eighty as well.
She also had poor eyesight. They couldn’t do everything, and I couldn’t leave Grams to take care of her wife all by herself no matter how much she wanted to.
When the nurse wasn’t there, I was. I took them to appointments, picked up prescriptions, cleaned, and just made sure their lives were as comfortable as they’d made mine. It was the least I could do.
The reason I’d picked up a second job at Grant Events with Caroline was to cover the other expenses I couldn’t with their Social Security and small bit of retirement savings still left. We needed the extra cash, and I found a way to make it.
“I understand what you’re saying, but she needs help four days a week at least. What can I do to change this? Is there an appeal process?”
I heard the quiet clicking on the other side of the phone like she was typing up notes and patiently waited. I knew it wasn’t her fault, she was just the middleman in a rigged system, but I was finding it harder and harder to keep my cool.
“I can submit a request for appeal; however, until it’s completed, the nurse will still be coming only three days a week. You will also likely be required to have Ms. Hawkins reevaluated by a doctor to determine her needs and requirements.”
I swallowed hard and slumped into the nearest chair, looking around the empty room that, in less than an hour, would be filled with residents on their favorite night of the month.
“I understand. Could we please get the appeal process started?”
“Yes, ma’am, I will put in the request now, and you will be notified by mail of the status.”
I thanked her for her help and hung up the phone. Setting it on the table next to me, I leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling, trying to reorganize my schedule so I could be there an extra day of the week.
When Nana fell, we’d moved their bedroom downstairs, which had helped, but she still struggled getting out of bed in the morning and moving around throughout the day. It was harder to recover when you were eighty.
I’d considered moving them into an assisted living facility, but they really wanted to stay in the house they’d lived in for forty years. The house where I’d grown up, as had my mom. And I completely understood, so I was going to make it work.
I always made it work.
I’d just have to go over there before going to work at Lake Hills and on my way back from Grant Events.
Moving back in with them had crossed my mind, but I really loved my own space.
Even if I didn’t spend as much time there as I wanted to, it was worth having a little corner of the world that was all mine.
Standing, I knew I’d have to rework my schedule later and figure out a solution, because if I wasn’t ready when bingo was supposed to start, I was going to have twenty-plus angry residents on my hands. And that was terrifying.
I arranged the prizes, which included bottles of wine, gift cards, books, and other art pieces. They liked an array of options to choose from.
Turning to the other table I’d set up next to the podium, I dumped the bingo balls into the machine, having to chase down a few that missed completely and rolled across the room.
By the time I heard the first residents out in the hallway, I’d just finished setting up the refreshments and organizing the bingo cards and stamps.
Mr. Rogers was the first one through the door with a gaggle of followers behind him, whom he led from the dining room after dinner.
“Well, good evening, Ms. Addie,” he greeted with a smile.
“Hi, Mr. Rogers. You ready to play?”
“Hell yeah, I’m ready. Ready to win.”
I handed him three cards and a stamp. He walked to the front and took the seat closest to my podium as I repeated the process with the rest of the residents.
They chose cookies and lemonade off the snack table and filed in to find their seats. Bingo night was a well-oiled machine, and I enjoyed it every month. Listening to them smack-talk and lightheartedly rib at one another was hilarious.
At six thirty on the dot, I stood behind the podium—stepping up on a small stool because I was too short for the people in the back to see me over the top of it—and greeted everyone.
“N32, N32,” I said over the microphone, and there were a few groans among the group.
Chuckling, I spun the machine and picked another ball. “B—”
I stuttered over the word when I noticed someone new walk through the door at the back of the room. I did a double-take and froze.
“What the—” I muttered and quickly cleared my throat. Beckett hovered by the door, wearing another perfectly tailored suit and a cocky, lopsided smile. He slowly strode inside the room and sat at one of the vacant seats near the door.
Shaking my head, I tried to ignore his watchful gaze as I glanced back down at the ball in my hand. “B5,” I said, which was quickly followed by a “Bingo!” from Ms. Marsh in the second row.
I stepped off the stool and walked over to her seat, trying not to pay attention to the warm golden eyes watching my every move.
“Looks like you got it,” I said, and she clapped in excitement. “Go choose your prize, Ms. Marsh.” She wandered up front and perused the prizes that were still left. “I think now is a good time for a quick break.”
There was a round of boos, but I waved them off. “Five minutes, everyone. We can all manage a five-minute break.”
They huffed and puffed but still got up to refresh their drinks and started talking among themselves. When I turned, Beckett’s smile widened, and my stomach flipped.
“Beckett.”
“Bubbles.”
I shook my head and straightened the hem of my pink and orange sweater, tugging the sleeves down over my hands. “What are you doing here?”
We’d been texting off and on since earlier in the week, and he’d joked that he was going to come by for bingo night since I wouldn’t agree to a date. But I guess it wasn’t a joke after all.
I’d enjoyed talking to him and actually getting to know him more than what he felt like inside me and how proficient he was at dirty talk.
“Well, I know you said you were busy, but I still wanted to see you.”
“I’m going to be here for a while. Are you just going to sit here and watch me lead bingo?”
He shrugged and leaned back in his seat, scrubbing a hand over the stubble covering his jaw. “Why not?”
“You don’t have anything better to do on a Friday night?”
He shook his head, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “Nope.”
“Nothing better than sitting back here and watching me?”
“No, nothing better.”
He was the most hardheaded person I’d ever met, and that was saying something because Bri was exceptionally hardheaded.
We stared at each other until I could hear the residents getting anxious around us, and I was excited for the excuse to look away. But when I turned, I could still feel his eyes on me, watching me walk back up to the podium and ask everyone if they were ready to begin again.