Everybody Falls (33 page)

Luckily, Lacey came back into the room, smelling clean and fresh from her shower.

Damn, Ida-the-Hun had interrupted his plans for their shower party.

"Coffee ready?" Lacey asked, looking between Jax, Grams and the new nurse.

Receiving no reply, she leaned against the counter to watch the last of the water drain into the coffeemaker's carafe before she pulled down four mugs.

"She brought her
own
tea," Jax whispered, leaning towards his girl.

"She still needs a
cup
," Lacey whispered back.

Jax didn't disagree, though he wanted to.

"Edie, what would you like for breakfast today?" Lace asked, glancing at the older woman who had remained silent throughout Jax's conversation with her new nurse.

"Surprise me, sweetie," Edie said gently, her eyes still stuck on the vision in white.

Jax caught Lacey's bug-eyed glance before she started handing out the cups.

"Won't you have a seat, Miss Ida?" she asked, moving on stocking feet to the fridge.

"You have any cushions for these seats? Them chairs look hard to me," the nurse asked with a frown, pulling out one of the heavy oak chairs and wiggling her way into it.

Jax ran a hand over his face before pushing himself off the counter and moving to the living room to grab a throw pillow from the sofa.

There was a knock at the back door and Jax made his way to it after dropping the cushion off at the table where Miss Ida and Grams were talking softly.

"Sarge!" he greeted and went through the complicated handshake he and the older man had established.

"Don't close up yet, Slugger. Turner and Boots are right behind me," he was told by his soon to be grandfather-in-law. Well, if Jax had any say about it, anyway.

Jax waited and then escorted the men into the kitchen.

"Boys, this is Miss Ida who will be Gram's day nurse. Miss Ida, this is Boots, Sarge and Turner," he introduced.

"Nice to meet you," she said with another sniff. "No hats in the house, please."

Jax saw Boots practically rip the baseball cap off his head and shove it in his back pocket.

"We're doing a frittata this morning, fellas," Lacey said digging through the cupboards for a cutting board and setting it in front of Gram. "You're welcome to stay if Edie says it's okay."

And the day moved on, alternating with moments of sheer terror at stepping a foot out of line and welcome relief when Jax was finally able to escape the house.

Over breakfast, he'd asked about using the old workroom on the other side of the garage as a practice space for the band.

"The stable would work better, Jax," Grams said slowly. "It's wired for electricity and with its lower ceiling might give you better sound."

The farm had a number of buildings dotted around the forty acres and he'd only come across a few in his meanderings, back in the day when he needed to be by himself.

"Cool," Boots replied.

"Awesome. Thanks, Edie," Sarge said.

Turner smiled his thanks, however he seemed too intimidated by the new nurse to utter a reply. Jax had seen his old band mate looking at the woman, but only out of the corner of his eye. It was nice to know Jax wasn't the only one minding his manners, trying to prevent a scolding he knew was going to happen at some point or another.

The woman was just so goddamn picky.

It had taken a couple of months but, after the house in Malibu sold, Jax received his and Denny's old instruments plus some equipment which Grams had asked the movers to put in the basement. It took a few trips from basement to the bed of Sarge's old Ford to get everything loaded and moved to the stable.

He and Lace were standing out in the backyard, foreheads pressed together, chins down.

"Please don't leave me alone with her," she begged.

"I know she's scary, Lace. But, as long as Gram likes her, we gotta stick with it, alright?" he said. "Why don't you do some baking? You know, a cake or something. It'd take your mind off her and give the rest of us something to look forward to."

"When will you be back?" she asked, pulling her head back and lifting her chin.

"Noon, Baby," he answered, loving how her lips felt against his as she spoke.

"Okay," she said finally, pressing against him and looping her arms around his neck.

"Missed you in the shower this morning," she whispered. "I've got a whole new slew of words to share with you."

"Slugger? If you're gonna do her, then get to it. Otherwise, Dude, let's go," Sarge rumbled.

"Love you, Lace," he said.

"Love you more, Jack," she said softly back with a squeeze before letting her arms drop.

*.*.*.*.*

Jax's suggestion actually worked.

Or maybe it was that, after the boys left, Miss Ida got to work.

I heard her help Edie with a bath and got her dressed before she stretched her out on the bed and inserted the IV line that Dr. Lindstrom had warned us would be done.

I relieved Jax of kitchen duty since he'd been so anxious to get away from the 'marauder' of a caregiver now a part of their lives. His word, not mine.

I couldn't call her that now. Not after I heard how Edie and Miss Ida interacted.

She didn't use the same voice with us as she did with the undemanding, older woman. No, the tone she used when she talked with Edie was caring, encouraging and they shared more than a few giggles and chuckles as they spoke. The laughter was something I think Grams had been missing in the years between her Pete's passing and her Jax waking up to life.

I scrounged through the pantry and decided that a layer cake filled with the new strawberries and blackberries from Edie's garden would be perfect as a center layer.

My time in the garden done, I went back to the kitchen noticing that the morning had flown by and the cakes were almost ready to come out of the oven.

"Mrs. Edie says you're the Lacey behind Lacey's Bakery," Miss Ida said.

"Yes, ma'am, I am. I took it over from my grandmother," I said, balancing the cake tins on the small potholder. I really needed to upgrade Edie's kitchen linens.

"I love that place," Miss Ida continued.

"Really? Thanks," I sent back. Like Jax said, it's always nice to meet a fan. "What did you like the best?"

"Those oatmeal cookies with the berries and white chocolate," the nurse replied quickly. "Heaven. Have you ever had those, Mrs. Edie?"

"No, no I haven't," I heard the older woman reply. "Good?"

"Oh, you better believe it. The best," Miss Ida confirmed firmly. "Maybe we can have those sometime?"

"It'd be my pleasure," I assured her. I'd climb Everest to make them for Edie. Everyone needed to taste those cookies at least once before they…

Aw, crap.

I turned off the stove and excused myself as I quickly escaped to the living room. How many times were we going to have these kind of moments? When something was going to come up and make us remember that Edie was not going to be with us for much longer?

I grabbed a tissue from the ever present box Edie kept next to the remote on the end-table and tried to suck it up. It took a few moments for me to find my composure, yet when I got back to the kitchen, the two older women were deeply engrossed in their conversation and didn't seem to notice my absence.

It was a good thing.

We decided on Spaghetti Carbonara for lunch and I moved the cutting board and knife to Edie's place at the table where she seemed not to even notice the IV line dragging around as she moved.

"I can help," Miss Ida, said at last. "No reason for me to sit idle when you two are working."

Edie had a shit-load of cutting boards and knives, so I pulled another set and placed them before the nurse. I got a nod with a wink before I moved away, which made my steps stutter when I walked back to the counter.

Maybe this would work out, after all. Because, if this scary woman could make Edie's last few weeks better, then I just became her biggest fan.

Lunch was a huge affair, filled with a lot of talk, a lot of teasing and laughter. The boys made short work of the pasta and grilled parmesan bread I'd made as well as the huge salad. The cake was a hit too and while I'd planned on leftovers to have after dinner, that wasn't going to happen.

Miss Ida stepped out to the backyard as Edie took her afternoon nap and I saw her on her cellphone laughing and smiling as she walked and talked while admiring the garden of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Again, I saw a different person as she moved and spoke softly. Not quite so intimidating or scary.

I received my own call that afternoon.

Ms. Russell had been approached with an offer to buy the strip mall for a staggeringly outrageous sum.

I told her that I needed to consider it and that I'd get back to her later.

I needed to think.

But the buy-out of one of Grandma Lilly's properties was the least of those things that needed to be thought about.

Chapter 28

It had only taken a couple of days and things had settled into a routine.

The fellas, as Edie called them, showed up in time for lunch and then would take off to the stable to practice until dinner time. From the smiles, laughs and ragging they gave each other when they came back to the farmhouse, I was guessing that the practices were going well.

I spent my days cooking and baking, finally getting the chance to make the oatmeal cookies that Miss Ida had recommended. I'd mentioned it to Sarge and he made a point of bringing over a large bar of white chocolate, a jar of macadamia nuts and a bag of dried cranberries, asking for a double batch so he could take some home.

He and I were still working through our new familial connection. At least, it was new to me. Sarge was my right-hand man at the bakery but, now that I knew he was my grandfather, the bond between us seemed a lot deeper. I had a thousand and one questions about him, Lilly and my mother. Bless him, he never once discouraged me from asking them.

Edie wasn't doing as well. At least, physically. She was still her same kind self, talking just as plainly and openly as she always had, which always got the rest of us laughing. However, she was taking a nap both in the morning and afternoon now. Her face was pale and I noticed that her fingernails were taking on a bluish tinge.

"She's not getting enough oxygen," Miss Ida explained kindly when I pointed it out. "Her heart's not pumping strong enough to oxygenate her tissues. That's one of the signs of advanced heart disease."

We were outside, me knee-deep in weeds and her in one of the old garden chairs.

I saw her looking at all the plants and flowers, Edie's special place, as she spoke.

"I've been doing this work for a lot of years and there've been a lot of patients that were a real trial. Grumpin' and moanin', making themselves and their families miserable before they passed. Mrs. Edie, though. She's a special one," Miss Ida said, thoughtfully. "Never has a bad word, unless it's to make a joke. Always talkin' nice and never complainin' at any of the things I have to do and I know they can be uncomfortable."

I only nodded at her words because, as usual when the thought of Edie leaving us was brought up which wasn't, thankfully, often, my throat wanted to close up.

"Yep, Mrs. Edie is going to rightly missed," Miss Ida concluded gently.

"Ca-can you tell how long she has?" I pushed the words out of my throat.

"No, sugar, I can't. Only the good Lord knows things like that. But, I think time is getting real short," she murmured and I felt my heart clench.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" I whispered, staring down at the mess of weeds I had pulled and put aside.

"No. She's got a DNR order in place, so even if something does happen, I can't do anything to revive her," Miss Ida explained, her voice still soft and kind. "I guess, ah, I guess all we can do is to try to make her remaining time as good for her as she's making it for all of us."

I glanced up at the woman that I used to consider scary and saw a lone tear trail down one of her chubby cheeks.

And, for whatever reason, I found that tear comforting.

It was a couple of days later, the early morning sunshine coming in through the kitchen windows, sparkling off the bubbles of the water in the sink as I put the finishing touches on breakfast cleanup when Miss Ida came to me.

Came right up to me and put her arm around my shoulders.

"Sugar? You need to call Mr. Jax and get him back home now," she murmured softly.

I felt a pop in my neck as I twisted quickly, my eyes searching her face, my heart dropping to my knees.

I dried my hands quickly and reached for my cell as I saw the nurse pull her own from her pocket as she moved away.

"Jack? It's Grams. You've gotta come home now," I said into the phone, trying to keep my voice calm and steady. He didn't say a word before disconnecting and he was back at the farmhouse in less than two minutes with Boots, Sarge and Turner trailing behind him.