“Nick seems very nice,” her mother said.
“He is.”
To her surprise, the cat began walking low to the ground, like a precursor to a pounce, its eyes on the fringe at the bottom of the scarf.
“Don’t you dare,” she said to the cat, tossing the ends of her scarf over her shoulders.
Señor Freckles jumped onto the arm of the chair, and when it did, she could hear him purring. The cat stepped up on the back of the sofa directly behind Abbey. They were all watching to see what he would do. The cat had never been so bold before. To her disbelief, he started pawing gently at her neck, his purrs loud in her ear. Max reached up and touched his back, and the cat let him.
“Ever since I got that cat,” Gramps said, “I’ve hoped that he would come around. He will. It just takes time. All he has known his whole life is how to be alone. He has to learn how to be with people. That’s all. Then he will know that being alone isn’t as good as being with those who love him.”
Chapter Twenty
“Is that a new Christmas tree?” Abbey asked.
“Yes,” Caroline said with a smile. She turned her head toward the small, three-foot spruce with crystal ornaments and red balls. “I had it delivered and I decorated it yesterday. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Yes. It’s so nice.”
Caroline nodded in agreement then turned and faced Abbey. “Robin called,” she said as Abbey took her blood pressure and scribbled the numbers onto her chart. “She and the family are coming early in an attempt to avoid the impending snow in New York.”
Abbey was relieved the house was nearly finished. She still had a few projects left, but nothing that would get in the way of visitors. “Have you ever been to New York?” Abbey asked, trying to seem nonchalant in her approach.
“Yes, dear. It’s nice there.”
“You like it? I’ve never been.” She checked Caroline’s heartbeat, and then pulled her stethoscope out of her ears and let it dangle around her neck. She wrote down more notes in the chart. “I’m guessing the city is busier than here. Which do you like better?”
“I can live anywhere at this stage in my life, but I particularly like it here. I get to see you, and Nick is just down the road… I’ll even move into Nick’s giant house if it suits everyone. At least I can trust you’ve made it habitable. In New York, the only family there is Robin, and she’s so busy with work and her son. I’d never see her.” Then she stopped talking and looked at Abbey. “Why are you asking?”
“No reason,” she said. “I was just curious since I’d never been there.”
“Mmm,” Caroline said, her mind clearly moving to something else.
Abbey shouldn’t have mentioned it. She should have just kept quiet. But she was worried for her friend. She didn’t want just anyone taking care of her. There were things about Caroline that she knew only because she’d worked so closely with her. Would someone else know that she liked her pillows from flattest to puffiest going down the middle of the bed because it helped her arthritis? Would they know not to give her anything with grapefruit because it upset her stomach? Would they know that her blood pressure went up just slightly throughout the day and only went down after around six o’clock and that was okay?
“Nick’s father, Aaron, lived in New York,” she said, her eyes like lasers. “His business was there and it was very profitable. Nick took a risk coming to Richmond, a small, southern city. People warned him not to, but he did anyway because Sarah wanted him to. That’s why he’s going back.”
“You know?”
“Yes. He told me everything over the phone last night.”
“I wish he’d have told you in person,” Abbey said, shaking her head.
“It’s okay. He’s a busy man.”
“You cater to him sometimes,” Abbey said boldly. “You should’ve made him come tell you.”
“You would’ve if you were me, wouldn’t you?” Caroline smiled a devious smile. “That’s why I like you so much. You’re good for him. I’m glad he met you.”
Abbey smiled.
“It’s a shame things couldn’t be different. I will miss you,” Caroline said.
“I’ll miss you too. But, it looks like I’ll be moving into the main house very soon, so we’ll have a bit more time together.”
“I’m excited about that.”
“So,” Caroline said, sitting up and clearing her throat to change direction. “Did we get my test results?”
“Let me look through your mail and see. They were supposed to overnight it on Friday, which should definitely put it here today.” Abbey thumbed through the envelopes that she’d brought in from the mail on her way to see Caroline. Sure enough, she saw it. “Want me to open it, or would you like to?”