Wild Man Creek (Virgin River #14)(55)

And her only living relative, her grandson, Rick, was a newly married, full-time, working college student in Oregon.

“She isn’t safe alone anymore, Jack,” Noah said. “Until something can be found for her, we’re going to have to get someone to stay with her.”

Jack ran his hand around the back of his neck; it had suddenly become sweaty. “Wonder if Mel can think of anyone. I guess Rick should try to get down here for a quick weekend—but someone’s gotta explain about things first. How’s Lydie taking this?”

“She cried,” Noah said. “Broke my heart. She doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone. She’s a very proud woman. She’s managed her way through so many difficult situations for so many years—raised an orphaned grandson, held strong while he was critical from war injuries in Iraq, suffered ill health for years, lived on the edge of poverty. All she’s got is the house. She’s worried about losing the house and she wants Rick to have something when she’s gone….”

“Rick’s better off with a degree than that old house,” Jack said dismissively.

“Is this your good friend Rick’s grandma?” Denny interrupted. “The old lady in that little white house down the street?”

“That’s Lydie,” Jack replied. “This is awful, Noah. But I should’ve been ready for it. She’s old—her health has been poor for years. She’s gotten by so well in spite of that, I think we all took her for granted.”

“Left alone she could get hurt,” Noah said. “She could get lost, go into a diabetic coma, burn the town down….”

“Can she be left alone at all?” Jack asked.

“Mel and Cameron will have to be the final word on that,” Noah said. “When she’s fine, she seems perfectly fine. I think we have to start checking on her several times throughout the day.”

“Think it would help if I stayed there at night?” Denny asked.

Both men turned to look at him in surprise.

Denny just shrugged. “Not forever,” he said. “I have to work during the day and I’d keep all my things at the apartment over the Fitch’s garage, but for a while I could just sleep there so nothing happens during the night. So she doesn’t get out and get lost, or start a fire.”

“You would do that?” Jack asked.

“If it would help. I know her a little. She always talked to me if I walked by. I saw her in here a few times. Once she called me Rick. I didn’t think anything about it. Old people, y’know?”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Denny,” Jack said. “She’s my responsibility while Rick’s away—I gave him my word. I have to get this figured out real quick.”

“Listen, call Rick at school,” Denny said. “Tell him his grandma’s slipping. Her physical health is hanging in there but her mind isn’t what it was, and tell him I’ll stay with her at night—sleep on her couch or something—till something gets arranged for her. Tell him not to worry too much—lotta people around here to pitch in. Course you guys are going to have to check on her a lot during the day—she could just as easy burn down the house in daylight.”

Jack looked almost confused. “Why would you do something like that? For someone you barely know?”

Denny smiled. “Well, I know how important Rick is to you. I know he’s a Marine. Why wouldn’t I help out a brother? Doesn’t cost me anything to sleep on an old lady’s couch for a few nights,” he added with a shrug. “Tell Rick everything is going to be all right. We’ll get through it.”

Rick Sudder was able to get time off from his job and school and arrived in Virgin River less than a week later, but his return to his hometown was bittersweet. He found his grandmother in good hands with his friends watching out for her by day and a new acquaintance sleeping on her couch at night—but he knew immediately he couldn’t leave her there. If a nursing home could have been found for her in one of the larger Humboldt County towns, she would still be too far away for him to check on her, to make sure she was getting the care she needed and, most importantly, to visit her regularly.

He would have to close up the house and take her back to Oregon with him.

Complicated details were being quickly sorted out; the house had already been put in his name by Lydie, who’d had much foresight in this matter long before she became confused. She had never told Rick what she had done. Ricky’s young wife, Liz, had stayed behind in Oregon to try to find nursing home care for Lydie, something that could take a while, meaning they would have to keep her with them in their small apartment until a suitable spot became available. Rick already had a power of attorney so that he could act on Lydie’s behalf. He packed up Lydie’s things and some mementos of his childhood but, for now, the house was going to be closed up, the utilities turned off, until they had a better picture of the future.

“This is the only home I can even remember,” Lydie said to Ricky.

“That’s why we’re not selling it, Gram,” he said. “I have two more years of college, but we might get back this way.”

She shook her head. “I’ll never make it back here, Ricky,” she said.

“You’ve weathered so much in your life, you never know what’s coming. Let’s not give up yet.”