A Mrs. Miracle Christmas(3)

Perplexed, Zach said that he had.

“I’m afraid I’m the culprit,” Helen announced. “I called the police because I thought Laurel had been kidnapped.”

“What?” Zach burst out.

    “It’s all been taken care of,” Laurel hurried to say, not wanting to upset her grandmother further. “Just a misunderstanding.”

“I forgot that Laurel is an adult,” Nana explained to Zach. “In my mind she was still a schoolgirl, and she wasn’t home from school, and I got worried, so I called the police, and they came, and…oh dear, I’ve really made such a mess of things, haven’t I?”

Zach gently touched her shoulder and looked lovingly into Helen’s eyes. “Are you okay? That’s all that matters.”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. I feel so foolish.”

His brow furrowed and he shared a worried look with Laurel. “Let’s just be glad everything turned out okay. What’s for dinner?” He looked over at his wife. This was a code the two shared that meant they needed to talk privately.

“Meat loaf,” Laurel said, heading toward the kitchen. “I need to get it in the oven.”

“I’ll help,” Zach said, following close behind.

The minute they were sure Nana couldn’t hear their discussion, he expressed his concern. “What was Helen thinking calling the police?”

“I know. And it was only last week when she got lost in her own neighborhood. What are we going to do?”

Sinking into a kitchen chair, Zach folded his hands, a habit he had when deep in thought. “This can’t continue. We need to bring someone in.”

    “But who?”

“There are agencies that provide this kind of care. It’s time we looked into it.”

Neither of them dared to mention the expense. Somehow, they’d make it work. They both knew that Nana wouldn’t do well in an assisted-living facility. She was most comfortable in her own home, surrounded by all that was familiar and by those she loved.

Laurel lowered into the chair across the table from her husband. Her heart sank as she shared more unfortunate news. “Nana called me Kelly last week.”

Zach placed his hand over Laurel’s, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Kelly was Laurel’s mother, who had died in a freak accident when Laurel was ten. Her mother had slipped on the ice, hit her head, and died shortly afterward. Laurel’s father, Michael, regularly traveled out of state as a business consultant, and, unable to change his work commitments, he reluctantly sent Laurel to live with her grandparents. Eventually, her father had remarried and moved to another state with his new wife. Rather than uproot Laurel, he knew it was best for his daughter to stay with her grandparents. Laurel’s relationship with her father remained close, and they’d talked almost every night. He’d always stop by to visit when he was in the Seattle area, and she spent many school breaks with him and his new family. Laurel never doubted her father’s love and was grateful that he’d seen the wisdom of keeping her with her grandparents.

    “I’ll research a few different home-care agencies tonight and give them a call before school starts in the morning,” Laurel said. Zach was right. The dementia was getting worse. They couldn’t risk leaving Helen alone any longer.

At dinner that evening, Helen pushed the food around on her plate, showing no interest in her meal.

“Don’t you like the meat loaf?” Laurel asked. Her grandmother seemed to have lost her appetite lately, and the weight loss was evident in the way her clothes hung on her body.

“It’s good, but I’m not hungry. If it’s all right, I think I’ll head to bed early.”

“But Wheel of Fortune is on.” It was her grandmother’s favorite show. Nana had watched it for as long as she could recall, and for her to miss it was yet another unwelcome sign for Laurel.

“The puzzles have become too hard. I used to be good at figuring them out. I seem to have lost my touch.”

Zach shared a look with Laurel.

    “Would you like me to read to you?” Laurel asked her grandmother.

Again, Nana wasn’t interested. “Another time.”

While Zach cleaned the kitchen, Laurel helped her grandmother get ready for bed. Lately, Nana seemed to require more sleep and was often still in bed when Laurel left for school in the morning. Laurel attributed it to the medication Dr. Fredrickson had recently prescribed for her grandmother. Long sleeping patterns was only one of the drug’s side effects. It also caused vivid dreams that often left Nana disturbed.



* * *



—

The following day, Laurel placed a call to the first agency on her list to see about hiring a home companion to stay with her grandmother while she and Zach were at their respective jobs.

“I wish I had someone,” the woman from Caring Angels said, introducing herself as Elise Jones. “Unfortunately, every one of the caretakers in our agency is already out on assignment.”

“Oh dear.” This wasn’t the news that Laurel wanted to hear.

“I’d be happy to put your name on a waiting list.”

Laurel was already sadly familiar with waiting lists. The idea of being placed on another made her cringe. “Do you have any idea how long it will take before you have someone available?”