Chapter Thirty-Three
After a resident dies, it’s always quiet and melancholy at the nursing home. These people are brought together by circumstances, and whether they want to or not, everyone becomes family. Abigail may have struggled with her blood relatives, but these people loved her. She was one of them, and her loss is being felt profoundly.
Everyone loved her. I wish her daughters could have seen it—from her morning tea with Sis to her afternoon crocheting with Marilyn and evening baseball games in the main lobby.
I hate walking by her empty room. I avoid looking at the box with her name written on it in black marker. One box is the only physical reminder of Abigail’s existence.
“How are you holding up?” Sunny comes down the hallway in my direction.
“I’m okay.” I smile and put my hand on his arm. “How are you today?”
“It feels empty in here,” he says. “I know how close you were to her.”
“Will you come to the chapel later today for Abigail’s celebration of life?”
Sunny nods. “Sis and some of the other women have planned an ice cream social for afterward as well. We’re all going to share our favorite memories of Abigail. I hope you’ll come.”
“You know I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Hi, Sunny,” Lucy says as she approaches us. “You’re looking very handsome today in that blue shirt.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “Oh, Lucy. You always know how to make a guy blush.”
“We’ll see you later,” I say, and he continues heading down the hallway.
“Girl.” Lucy grabs my arm and pulls me toward the bird sanctuary. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“What’s going on?”
Lucy looks to her left, then her right. She steps closer to me.
“Will and I were trying to get hold of you yesterday,” she says, “which you probably noticed from all of your missed calls and texts.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Sorry about that. I needed sleep after being up all night with Abigail.”
Lucy sits in a chair, and I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow.
“So?”
She puts her face in her hands and shakes her head.
“I did something really stupid last night.” She puts her face in her hands, then looks up at me. “Gavin went on a fishing trip with his dad, so he’s gone all week. I thought, ‘I’ll see if Will and Birdie want to come over and have some drinks.’ Innocent, right?”
“But you couldn’t get hold of me, so...”
“So,” she continues, “only Will came over.”
“Go on,” I say, biting back my smile.
“Birdie.” Lucy covers her face again. “We made out like teenagers on my couch for hours. My lips physically hurt today.”
I start laughing, and it feels so good to be having a light conversation. It’s what my heart needed today more than anything.
“You aren’t mad?” Lucy glances up at me, and I burst out laughing again.
“Umm, no,” I say. “I kind of love this for you. And Will.”
“But he was so into you.” Lucy wrinkles up her face, then whispers, “And I’m a thirty-five-year-old woman. He, I found out last night, is twenty-seven.”
“What’s the problem?” I say. “First, he only thought he was into me. Nothing ever remotely happened between us. And second, who cares about age? You’re not looking to marry the guy. You’re a stunning, single woman. Have some fun. I bet he doesn’t live in his mother’s basement, so he’s already an improvement from the last guy.”
“Oh, man,” she says, as if realizing something for the first time. “My guy is younger than your guy.”
I push her arm. “I don’t have a guy. But if you enter into some sort of situationship with Will, we should talk. Being with a guy in his twenties is exhausting with all the mental aerobics. You’re going to love it.”
Lucy grabs my arm. “We better get to Abigail’s thing.”
Abigail’s celebration of life is attended by so many residents and people in the community who have grown to love Abigail. We all sit in the cafeteria. It’s weird not having her here. She was one of the more social residents and loved being surrounded by people. But now the room is full, and her lack of presence is very noticeable.
“It’s hard to say just one thing about Abigail,” Marilyn says. “We would crochet for hours, and she’d tell me about her beautiful daughters and how proud she was of them.”
“She knew baseball better than anyone in this hellhole,” Joe says. “I’m going to miss watching the Twins with her.”
“I’ll miss her smile,” Sis says, as she comes into the cafeteria, and Sunny pulls out a chair for her. “We’d have morning tea almost every day, and her smile lit up this place.”
“And she always had a kind word,” Sunny says, and Sis nods.
“How about you, Birdie?” Marilyn glances at me. “Anything you’d like to say about Abigail?”
I’m caught off guard, but I nod.
“What can I say about Abigail?” All the faces in the room stare at me. “Let’s see. One of my favorite things to do with Abigail was to tell each other our favorite days. At times, they were things that had just happened, but more often, they were memories from a long time ago. We’d talk for hours when she couldn’t sleep about these happy times.”
“And I shouldn’t be saying this.” I make eye contact with Sunny, and he winks. “But sometimes I’d even sneak her ice cream.”
“Boo,” Joe says loudly, and everyone laughs. “And here I thought I was your favorite.”
“Man,” Sunny says, shaking his head. “We’re all really going to miss her.”
The bell above the main door rings, and I look over to see a man wheeling in another man, and my mom greets them.
Marilyn holds up a wrapped gift, and I walk over and grab it from her. “Abigail made this and thought it would look perfect in the lobby.”
I rip open the paper, and it’s a beautiful, framed cross-stitching with the words Tranquil Waters Nursing Home written in thick, curvy blue letters, with the waves of a lake and rolling hills in the background. I blink away the emotions and hold it up for everyone to see.
“When did she have time to make this?” I say. “It’s so beautiful and intricate.”
“Every morning after tea, we’d sit by the birds and craft. Sometimes for hours.”
“Wow, Abigail.” I look up, picturing her spirit looking down on us. “This will be the perfect addition to the lobby.”
“Birdie.” I feel the breeze of his words on my neck at the same time I hear the whisper.
I spin to see Liam standing there.
“Can I steal you for a minute?” he says, and I nod.
He grabs my arm and pulls me out of the cafeteria and down an empty hallway. His smile spreads across his face and reaches his eyes.
“What’s going on?”
Liam covers his mouth with his hands. “I just got a call. They want me in New York for a final interview.”
Genuine joy spreads throughout me, and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
“Of course they do.” I pull away and gently slug his arm.
“I called around to some people I know,” he says. “It sounds like I’m the only candidate left. Unless I completely blow it with the CEO, I’m one step closer to landing my dream job.”
He looks so happy.
“When is it?”
“All day Thursday, and I’ve booked a flight for Wednesday afternoon.”
Monday is nearly gone, which means he’s only here one more day before he goes.
“And don’t worry,” Liam says, “I’ve already booked my flight for Friday morning because I have a dinner Thursday night as part of the interviews. I should land and have time to drive here and get changed in plenty of time for Friday’s gala.”
“The gala.” For the first time, I realize how close he’ll be cutting it.
He puts his hands on my shoulders. “Everything is ready to go, Birdie. I know this is unexpected, but it’s all going to work out.”
“I’m so happy for you, Liam. Seriously.”
He smiles and wraps his arms around me. “I’m going to get everything ready for New York, but let’s connect tomorrow to go over the final gala details, okay?”
“Perfect.” I hear laughter from the cafeteria and look back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Liam grabs my face and kisses my cheek. “Thanks for being you, Birdie.”
I wave as he walks away, very aware that I’m about to lose him.