Chapter 1
Jane Miller stood in the doorway of the private room at the Tall Pines Memory Care Facility and watched her mother, Addie. She was sitting in her old rocking chair beside the window, a pencil in her hand and her gaze intent on a word-search book that was laid out in her lap. The look of contentment on her mother’s face brought Jane a mixture of relief and anxiety. Relief because her mother was happy. Anxiety because she didn’t know how she was going to continue paying the bill.
The monthly cost was much more than their failing family inn, Tides, was bringing in. Jane didn’t have any savings or much for retirement, so hopefully she could get some aid for her mother. That was actually one of the reasons for her visit. She had an appointment with the financial director in a few minutes but wanted to pop in and see her mother first.
She pushed the door open, and Addie looked over and smiled. It was no wonder her mother felt at home here. Jane had had one of her best friends, Maxi Stevens, help decorate the room, and it held all of her mother’s familiar things from her room at Tides. The blue-and-white wedding-ring quilt that Jane’s grandmother had stitched by hand, the bird figurines that Dad would give to Mom every wedding anniversary, the family photos, including Jane’s favorite of her and her sister, Andie, arm in arm at the beach.
Maxi had brought in a few new things that she’d artfully placed here and there, too, and the overall effect was stunning. Jane wasn’t surprised—as an artist, Maxi was bursting with creativity.
Jane perched on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling today, Mom?”
“Wonderful.” Addie’s smile turned to a frown. “Shouldn’t you be downstairs feeding the guests?”
Apparently, Maxi had done such a good job of emulating Addie’s room, down to the small television in the corner, that Addie thought she was still at Tides. But since she seemed so content, Jane didn’t want to enlighten her. Let her think what she wanted as long as it made her happy. “Brenda can handle the guests this morning.”
Brenda had worked for Tides as their chief cook and general helper for decades. At first, she’d worked under Addie’s instruction and later had helped fill in where Addie’s memory lapses left off. When it became too much, Jane had retired from her job as an accountant in order to help Brenda and take over running the inn. She’d always hoped to keep her mom at the inn, but that wasn’t meant to be. Luckily Brenda knew as much as Jane did about running the place, and she could comfortably leave her in charge.
“Brenda is a good cook, but she isn’t the face of Tides. You should be down there making sure that their stay is a pleasant one. The guests won’t come back if it isn’t.”
Apparently, Addie hadn’t noticed that Tides had only had one guest for most of the summer. That was probably for the best too.
A change of subject was in order. “I brought you a chocolate chip muffin.” Jane held up a white bakery bag.
Addie put down the pen and reached for the bag, peering in with a delighted smile. “These are my favorite!”
“Claire made them.” Jane wondered if her mother would remember Claire Turner, her lifelong friend and owner of Sandcastles Bakery in Lobster Bay.
“She makes the best muffins,” Addie said around a bite. She seemed to remember who Claire was today.
“She does,” Jane agreed.
Addie glanced over Jane’s shoulder into what was sure to be an unfamiliar hallway. Jane expected her to become confused or upset. Instead, her mother set aside the far-from-finished word search and pen and asked, “Where is Andrea?”
Good question. Jane’s older sister had once been her idol, back when Jane was a freshman in high school and Andie a senior. But when Andie left town for college and never looked back, Jane realized that she hadn’t meant that much to her sister. None of them had, if the infrequency of her visits was any indication. Sure, she’d come back when Jane’s baby—and then her husband—had died. She’d been there when their dad had gotten sick. But she never stayed long. Why would it be any different now?
Of course, her absence might be because Jane hadn’t told Andie the full truth. Not that she’d wanted to leave Andie out of the decision-making process, but everything had happened so fast. Tall Pines was the best facility around, and they didn’t often have openings. Jane had jumped at the chance, and there hadn’t been time to wait for her sister to fly out to mull over the decision. Besides, Andie hadn’t been here this past year watching their mother decline. Jane had done all the heavy lifting and felt she was best positioned to make the decision.
Still, she did have a tiny seed of guilt that she could have tried harder to let Andie know what was really going on. Hadn’t she glossed over the real state of affairs in her texts and phone calls? And maybe she had felt responsible that their mother had wandered off and didn’t want her big sister to think she’d fallen down on the job of making sure their mother was safe.
Andrea knew about the change in their mother’s living situation. Jane hadn’t gone into details, certainly not over a voicemail message, but she’d left enough information for Andie to get in touch. So far, they hadn’t been able to connect. It probably didn’t make much difference, though. She doubted Andie would want to come out and help. She’d probably be relieved that Jane was taking care of everything and happy to stay back in New York City, where she worked for Christie’s as an antiques appraiser.
“Andie is at work right now.” Jane didn’t want to disappoint her mother and tell her that her oldest daughter most likely wouldn’t be coming.
Addie latched onto Jane’s arm. Her expression had lost its dreamy cast and was fully serious. The lines around her mouth and nose were deeper than ever. “You’ll convince her to visit, won’t you, Jane? She listens to you.”
No, she doesn’t.
Jane bit her lip. She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep. “I’ll try. Speaking of which, I’d better get going.”
“That’s right. You make sure breakfast is coming along. I don’t want Brenda to scare them all away with her crankiness. You know how she gets while she’s cooking.”
Brenda was perhaps the sweetest soul in Lobster Bay. A bit surly if someone got in her way while she was cooking, but she would never be cranky to a guest.
Nevertheless, Jane promised. “I will.”
“Good. But before you go, you better find my sweater.”
“Sweater?” Jane glanced into the closet. She’d moved all of her mother’s clothes over but hadn’t finished writing her name on the tags yet as recommended by the staff here. “Which one?”
“The sea-green one with the buttons shaped like seashells down the front. I can’t find it anywhere.”
Leave it to Addie to forget where she was but remember the exact description of her favorite sweater.
“I’ll help you find it,” Jane assured her. She tried to keep the frown off her face and out of her voice as she stood and turned toward the dresser. Unfortunately, despite searching through the dresser and the closet under Addie’s supervision, she didn’t find the sweater. “I’m sorry, Mom, it’s not here.”
“I knew it!”
“Knew what?”
“Sadie Thompson took it. She’s always borrowing my clothes and not giving them back!”
Sadie Thompson had been her mother’s best friend in high school. Apparently, they’d had some sort of falling out back then and hadn’t spoken in years. When her mother’s memory had first started to slip, she’d mentioned Sadie a few times. It was funny how the mind worked.
“I don’t think it was Sadie. Let me have a look through Tides and see if I can find the sweater for you.”
Addie beamed. “Thank you. I have to wear it tonight for my big date with that nice Bradford fellow!”
Jane smiled. Addie had a crush on the owner of the new bread bakery in town, Rob Bradford. Rob had been very sweet to Addie and had actually been the one who had told Jane about Tall Pines. No point in telling Addie that Rob was young enough to be her son and that he’d fallen pretty hard for Jane’s friend Claire. Since her mother thought she was still a teenager sometimes, she’d let her mother believe what she wanted to believe about Rob.
Jane kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll get it to you in time. I have to go now. Goodbye, Mom.”
Jane hurried out of the room. She didn’t want to be late for her meeting with Wendy Martinelli, the finance director for Tall Pines. Having her mother’s future at Tall Pines secured financially would be a huge relief.
* * *
Wendy Martinelli was in her forties, with only a hint of crinkles around her eyes betraying her age. She had round cheeks, a ready smile, and straight white teeth. Jane liked her immediately.
“Hi, I’m Jane Miller. We spoke on the phone. Am I late?”
“Right on time.” Wendy indicated for her to sit, and Jane folded herself into the chair opposite her desk.
Wendy clicked a couple of keys on her computer and opened a manila folder in front of her. “You’re here to inquire about Medicaid for your mother, Adelaide?”
“Yes. I signed the release forms for you to check into her credit history and dropped off the completed form last weekend when we moved her in.”
The woman nodded, a strand of blond hair falling across her cheek. “Yes, I see that here.” Her smile dimmed as she closed the file and set it lightly atop her keyboard. “Unfortunately, we have a problem.”
“What sort of problem? Did I forget to sign something?”
Wendy’s eyes softened as she met Jane’s gaze. “I’m afraid your mother doesn’t qualify for Medicaid.”
How was that possible? Jane had discovered that Addie had spent what little retirement savings she’d had over the past few years, and with bookings almost nonexistent at the inn, she had no income. “You must have made a mistake. It’s there in the financials. She doesn’t have much in the way of retirement savings. Every penny has gone into the upkeep of our family inn, Tides.”
“That’s the problem. Tides is a premium beachfront property. That’s too large an asset to qualify for Medicaid. If you sold the inn, we might be able to discuss this again, but you’d probably have too much money to qualify then.” Wendy looked at her with sympathy. “Unless your mother had signed the property over to another family member at least six years ago.”
Jane shook her head. As far as she knew, the property was still in her parents’ name. “So my only option is to sell it?”
Sell the inn? For a split second, she considered it. No more dealing with guests. No more worrying about food deliveries and room cleaning. Jane would have free time again. But she’d promised her mother she would never sell. It was their family legacy.
“If you sell, then you could use the proceeds to pay for your mother’s care. Once that money runs out, then maybe we could revisit the option of Medicare.”
“Maybe? What if the money runs out and she gets denied?”
“I’m afraid that’s a possibility. The money would last for a while, but we have no idea what the laws and rules will be in a few years. You might have to care for her at home.”
Jane almost laughed. She’d lost money on the sale of her modest home so she could move in to Tides to care for her mother and help her run the inn. If they sold Tides, there wouldn’t be any home in which to care for Addie, never mind any money to pay for the care she now needed.
Jane took a deep breath. She’d have to figure something out. “Okay, thanks for your time.”
They shook hands, and Jane left the office.
Her mind whirling with options, she barely noticed where she was going as she walked down the hallway, out the front door, and along the sidewalk next to the manicured landscaping that led to the parking lot.
Bookings were down at Tides and the inn needed repairs, but it had once turned a tidy profit. Maybe she could do some advertising or have some sort of sale like her friend Claire had done for her bakery. If she could fill the inn with guests and maybe find some additional income, she’d be able to pay for Addie’s room at Tall Pines and—
Oof!
Jane squeaked as she toppled backward into a fat, leafy bush. A big golden ball of fur leaped after her, a wet nose touched her chin, and she found herself staring into a pair of deep-brown eyes that shone with an eagerness to make friends. A leash dangled from the dog’s collar, and Jane grabbed it so the golden retriever wouldn’t take off.
“Cooper!” called a man. “Cooper, come back here!”
Jane scrambled out of the bush. Cooper seemed happy to stay by her side, staring up at her with soulful brown eyes. His happy demeanor made her smile.
“I’m so sorry.” The man expertly hooked his fingers into the red collar around the dog’s throat and tugged him back.
“It’s no problem.” Jane handed him the end of the leash then brushed herself off and picked a leaf out of her hair.
Cooper strained at the hold on his collar, trying desperately to reach her again. Jane crouched and rubbed Cooper’s neck, dodging his wet kisses.
“Cooper, stop that!” The man, tall and in his late thirties or maybe early forties, flashed her a chagrined smile. “I’m sorry. He’s usually much better behaved than this or I wouldn’t bring him.”
Jane looked up at the man. “Is he yours?”
He shook his head, and his smile widened. He had a very nice smile, probably the most noticeable thing about him aside from his height and curly brown hair. “He belongs to my grandpa. I’m Mike Henderson.”
He stuck his hand out, and Jane stood and shook it. “Jane Miller. Is your grandfather here at Tall Pines?”
Mike nodded. “He’s one of the oldest residents. Lived on his own in Lobster Bay until he hit ninety-five. Now he needs more help.”
“Oh.” Jane blinked, mulling over the name in her head. It was slightly familiar. “I run the bed-and-breakfast in Lobster Bay.”
“Small world,” Mike said with a grin. Cooper had retreated to Mike’s side, who reached down and gave the canine a pat. Cooper wagged his tail at Jane as if to suggest that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to pet him too.
“I just moved my mother into this facility. Has your grandfather been here long? How do you like it?”
“He hasn’t been here long. The transition has been tough. That’s why I’m staying in town for a while, to get him settled and make sure he gets to see Cooper. Cooper’s visits really help.”
“You don’t live near here?”
“No. Seattle,” Mike said. “We don’t have family any closer to help Gramps, and I can telecommute. How does your mother like it so far?”
“She seems to be adjusting well.”
“Good. It’s a nice place.” Mike glanced at Tall Pines. “Well, I suppose I better get in there. Nice meeting you.”
Jane watched them walk to the door. Cooper looked back at her as if to say, “See you later.” Jane hoped he would. Something about the golden retriever made her problems seem a little smaller.
She walked to her car, her spirits revived. She was on her way to meet her two best friends for morning coffee, and that always picked up her mood. She was sure they’d be able to help her figure out what to do about the fees at Tall Pines.
Things were looking up… until her phone chimed with a text from her sister. She’d left Andie a message about their mother a few days ago, and they’d been playing phone and text tag ever since. Jane wanted to talk to her in person. She owed her that, and the information was too much to pass back and forth in messages.
She threw the phone onto the car seat. It had taken Andie long enough to respond, and she could wait a few more hours. Jane had to stop at Tides to take care of a few things before meeting her friends for coffee, and she didn’t want to be late. They had a lot to talk about.
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