.

of the music from “Jeopardy”. It was also Tuesday and that meant Yatzhee night in the dining room. She’d better make her rounds then check back to make sure no fights had broken out. Those seniors were serious about their games.

      Mrs. Henderson’s room was first. She poked her head in and found the older woman sitting in a chair looking out her window at the garden. Leaves swirled as the wind blew and more fell onto the lawn. Suzy sighed. “Pretty time of year, isn’t it? I love it when the leaves shed their green summer wardrobe and put on their reds and golds and oranges.”

      Mrs. Henderson didn’t say anything. Suzy went farther into the room and went to stand next to her chair. Suzy put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t you wish you could paint this scene?”

      “Did I ever tell you about the time Vivien Leigh stole my part in a movie?” The older woman looked up at Suzy, but her eyes didn’t focus.

      Suzy crouched next to the chair. “No, I don’t think you did. Why don’t you tell me?”

      * * *

      BY THE TIME Dr. Westphal entered the waiting room, Will’s stomach threatened to eat itself if he didn’t find something else first. But thoughts of food fled when their name was called.

      Tori and Will followed the doctor into a private room off the hallway. A surgeon in clean scrubs joined them. “The surgery was more complicated than expected. Although your mother is in recovery now.”

      Will nodded. “The fracture?”

      “It’s been repaired. But the cancer appears more advanced than we first thought.”

      Tori grabbed his hand. “What does that mean? She’s going to die?”

      The doctor looked at them both over her eyeglasses. “It means things get complicated. The fracture needs to heal before Dr. Lewis can discuss treatment options, but it also means your mother needs to stay in long term care to prevent any more bones from breaking.”

      Long term care. That meant money, and lots of it. Will’s mind started calculating his mom’s insurance coverage, amount of savings, and saw a lot of dollars flying out of both. “So a nursing home.”

      “Lake Mildred’s is not only close, but one of the best.” She handed him a few pamphlets, the one advertising their hometown’s option on top. “I’d recommend that you check it out sooner rather than later. We need to have a plan in place before she’s released from here.”

      Tori covered her face. He put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to...What? Convince her things weren’t bad? Because it sounded like they were moving from bad to worse. Still he gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. “Are we talking days? A week?”

      “Like I said, the sooner, the better.” She opened the door. “Would you like to see your mother?”

      He nodded and helped his sister to her feet. In the recovery room, he stood at the bedside of his mom who seemed to still be sleeping. Tori stood on the other side of the bed, holding their mom’s hand. Will looked across at his sister. “What are we going to do, Tori?”

      She looked up at him, the surprise written on her face. “I thought you would know.”

      “I don’t have a clue.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. He’d been a teen when his father died. His only involvement had been visiting the hospital with his sisters, hoping and praying that he would get better. His mom had made the decisions. Had faced the tough choices. Now she needed him to do the same for her.

      And he didn’t know what to do.

      He opened his eyes and saw Tori staring at him. “Are you okay, Will?”

      No. Not at all.

      But he nodded, knowing that’s what she needed. “We’ll figure things out.”

      Their mom stirred, opened her eyes, but then faded into unconsciousness again. “She’s not going to want to go to a nursing home. And with my job and yours, plus the kids...”

      “We do have two more sisters.”

      He wanted to laugh. They’d be no help, but he’d give them a chance to step up. To see if they wanted to be involved or, as he suspected, would leave things up to him and Tori. “They still haven’t returned my first two calls, but we’ll see.”

      “I’ve heard a lot of good things about the seniors’ home in Lake Mildred.” Tori stroked their mom’s arm, but her eyes stayed on him. “It would be close to both of us so we could visit often.”

      He nodded. It would be the easy choice, but was it the right one? He’d always been good at fixing things. But to make decisions for his mom? What if he made the wrong one? In the Marines, he’d learned how to succeed, how to repair a situation. But he felt out of depth here for the first time. He needed to do some recon, he realized, to make the informed choice. “If I can set up a visit tomorrow, would you be able to go?”

      She looked down at their mom. Reached out to move a curl that had fallen on her face. “I’ll make sure I can.”

      At least he wouldn’t be alone. At least he had Tori.

      * * *

      IN THEORY, SUZY finished her shift at seven a.m.

      By nine-thirty that morning, she admitted things weren’t going according to plan. She still had paperwork to complete after the ambulance left with her patient who had been complaining of chest pains. Mr. Wyckoff loved to complain, but those kinds of complaints weren’t meant to be played around with.

      She yawned and stretched before continuing her report on Mr. Wyckoff, noting his earlier symptoms. Rita passed by the desk with a man and woman, probably showing the facility to potential clients. She stopped the tour at the nurses’ station. “And this is one of our favorite nurses, Suzy Bylin.”

      She stood and held out a hand to the woman first. “Checking us out for your parent?” She turned to face the man and paused. “Mr. Stone.”

      He looked tired compared to yesterday. Worry had etched lines next to his ice blue eyes and left bags below them. He frowned at her. “I didn’t realize you worked here, Ms. Bylin.”

      “I didn’t know you kept tabs on me.” She flipped over her tablet to keep the details of her report confidential. She didn’t need this; didn’t need to see the man who could make her life miserable at home and now here at work. “But I think you’ll find that we take good care of our patients. We provide not only nursing care, but activities designed to keep up their spirits while they rehabilitate.”

      “You sound like the brochure.”

      Mr. Stone’s frown deepened, and she felt her smile widen. He wasn’t going to bring her down. Nope, he wouldn’t ruin her day. “I only speak the truth.”

      The woman next to him nudged him in the side. “I apologize for Will. He’s not usually this grumpy, but we’re worried about our mom. She fell and fractured her hip, so now we need somewhere for her to recover.”

      She was his sister then. Why that thought made her feel better, Suzy didn’t want to explore. So she focused on their visit, and reached out and touched her hand. “I’m so sorry. But I can promise that your mom will get the best care here. I’ll see to it personally.”

      The sister smiled and covered Suzy’s hand with her own. “That means a lot. Thank you.” Again, she nudged her brother. “Right, Will?”

      He looked at his sister then at Suzy. Blinked several times. In those ice blue eyes, she could see he was out of his depth. That what was happening was not easy for him. And that made him approachable. Relatable. Her heart softened to him. Finally he gave a curt nod. “Yes.”

      Suzy continued to look at him. Wanting to soothe the wrinkles in his forehead. Remove the fear and doubt shining out of his eyes. “If there are any questions you have or anything you need...”

      An alarm went off,