“Greg, it’s a hundred degrees today.”
“We’ll park in the shade.”
The pounding in her head intensified.
He found shade and pulled beneath one of the huge live oak trees. He left the engine and air conditioning running while he removed his seat belt and turned to her.
“I know I’m the very last person you want in your life, now or at any other time. I get that. I just want to give you a chance to look over your options.”
She sighed. “They’re extremely limited.”
“Not necessarily.” He paused, cleared his throat and finally continued. “Please hear me out before you say anything. Okay?”
She just looked at him.
“I spoke to Joan a couple of days ago about your situation. We agreed that you can’t stay at the apartment. With no elevator you would be trapped up there. It isn’t safe and it could be quite dangerous.”
She lowered her head, not wanting to look at him. “Then why didn’t Joan tell me herself? I’ve talked to her every day.”
“I asked her to let me talk to you about everything.”
“You mean there’s more?” she asked, wishing her voice didn’t sound as though she were on the edge of hysteria.
“Yeah. There is. Joan will be leaving in a few weeks—”
“I know that! She’s been planning this trip for two years!”
“Yes, well, then you probably don’t want her to cancel the trip,” he replied smoothly.
“Of course I don’t. I don’t need her to look after me.”
“That isn’t the point. Without your paying half the bills on the apartment, she’ll need the money she set aside for her holiday to pay all of them.”
Sherri slumped in her seat and closed her eyes.
“My suggestion was that she get another roommate, which she has done.”
Her eyes flew open. “You did what? Are you out of your mind? I no longer have a job. I no longer have a car. And, thanks to you, I don’t even have a place to live? Gee, thanks, Greg. You’ve certainly made my day. Maybe you’d better drop me off at the Salvation Army. I understand they look after the homeless with no jobs.”
She hadn’t realized how loud she’d gotten until she stopped. Her voice still rang around them. She took several deep breaths. I can get through this. Somehow, some way, I can do this. I’ve got friends. I’ve got…what, exactly? A broken arm and leg and I’m presently recovering from surgery. Oh, yeah. I’m in really great shape.
After a silence that stretched between them for several minutes, he asked, “Are you through?”
Oh, how she’d love to brain him over the head with her cast. With her luck, she’d probably break her arm again.
“Yes,” she muttered, looking out the side window so he wouldn’t see the tears that filled her eyes.
“What I think would work out best for you is to stay with me until, quite literally, you get back on your feet.”
She whipped her head around to stare at him so fast she’d probably added whiplash to her other injuries.
Horrified by the suggestion, she could only stare at him. So many thoughts raced through her mind that her head was spinning. The whole world had gone mad. Or at least her tiny part of it. Didn’t he know it would be impossible for her to live with him again? Was he so insensitive to her feelings that he didn’t understand how painful being around him would be for her?
She settled on one major objection that she’d already heard him explain about her apartment. “You live in a second-story apartment, too.”
“I’ve moved.”
“When? Yesterday?”
She saw his lips twitch. She was glad somebody was enjoying this nightmare.
“About three months ago.”
“Good for you.” She gazed out over the park. She could hear splashing from a nearby pool and saw people sitting in the shade. What she wanted to do was to get out of the car and walk away. And she couldn’t.
She was well and truly trapped by her own circumstances.
“Not really.”
“The move didn’t work out the way you hoped?”
“My great-grandmother died a few months ago and left me her home.”
“Oh, no! Millie’s dead?”
“Well, she was in her nineties, after all. She didn’t suffer. She just didn’t wake up one morning.”
“Oh, Greg. I am so sorry. You were so close to her.”
“Yeah, I know.” He waited a couple of beats and said, “Here’s what I would like to do, if you’ll allow it. As you know, there’s plenty of room for you and me to stay in the same house and never see each other. Once your casts are gone you can get back some of your muscle strength using the pool.
“Your doctor said that it would be a while before you’d be able to get along on your own. It makes more sense for you to stay at my place until you’re mobile. You’ll be comfortable there and I’ll be available if you need help.”
She knew she would need help. She still had trouble dressing, and getting a shower would be a major ordeal. But there was no way she would accept that kind of help from Greg.
Sherri shook her head. “It’s kind of you to offer, Greg, and quite generous considering the history between us. Sharing a place, no matter the size, would be tantamount to living together again and I can’t do that.” She looked away and repeated softly, “I really can’t do that.”
“Then where do you want me to take you?”
She rubbed her forehead where her headache had intensified. “I don’t have any idea, but I need to lie down somewhere. I can stay at your place until I figure out what I’m going to do, I suppose.” She’d be living a nightmare until she was able to find a place to rent. She had enough savings to pay for all the deposits and the first and last month’s rent if she was very careful. After that, she’d be without resources.
“Of course,” he said, pulling out of the parking space. “I know you’ve been through a terrible ordeal and this is far from being a perfect option, but it was the only one I could come up with for now.”
“Having you come back into my life when I’m in this condition hasn’t helped, believe me,” she said, rubbing her forehead.
She saw his jaw clench, but she was too exhausted to care if she’d been too blunt. Her emotions had been all over the place since she had seen him standing beside his car today and had discovered that he wasn’t going to be out of her life. At the time, she’d thought she could hold out another few hours. Not days or possibly weeks.
“Nice wheels. Did they come with the house?”
“The house came with a tidy sum from a trust fund.”
“It must be nice having money,” she muttered bitterly.
“Not necessarily,” he said in response.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. She recognized the neighborhood and thought about the times they’d visited Millie when they were married. She’d thought Millie was the only family Greg had. In fact, he’d told her Millie was his only family and she had been able to relate to being raised without parents.
Once Sherri had left Greg, she’d missed seeing the elderly lady. It would be strange to be in her house when she wasn’t there.