“Oh.”Busted.“He’s an ex, of sorts.”
“An ex you want back.” He waved me off when I started to answer. “No, you’re right, none of my business. I’ve become a terrible gossip in my old age. Don’t get old, Griffin. It’s boring.”
I touched the side of my beard where the salt and pepper was all salt. “I think that ship has sailed.”
“Hah. Bet I have three decades on you. That’s a lifetime yet for you to do more stuff.” He cocked his head at me, then hobbled off the elevator. “I don’t regret the things I did half as much as the things I didn’t do. Now, show me this garden. I saw it on the tour, but I remember nothing. Hopefully it’s soothing and peaceful and full of gorgeous flowers that’ll keep me from wanting to strangle my roommate.”
“I have a feeling that would take pot plants, the fun kind,” I murmured as we reached the exit, hitting the button for the door to the courtyard.
Owen chortled as he pushed his walker past me. “Idolike you. But tell your Lee to get his ass in gear.”
Obviously,“your Lee”was going to just be a thing. I thought wistfully of pot myself as I followed Owen into the garden.
Chapter 6
Lee
As head of nursing, I rarely had to do anyone else’s dirty work. Or at least, any time I had a resident mad at me, I had a medical reason or I was backing up my nurses. Not this time.
“What do you mean, it can’t be done?” Owen glared at me.
I raised my hands. “I mean, for now, you and Harvey have to be in separate rooms. He needs a lift to transfer in and out of bed. That means the ground floor. And we only have one open ground floor bed— his.”
“Shit!” Owen thumped the handle of his walker and turned his face away. “We couldn’t evengetmarried for the first thirty-three years we were together. You’re young. You have no idea.”
I knew what it was like to be queer in an unfriendly world but he was right, not in the way those two men did. “I’m not that young, but thank you.”
“Hah. You and Griffin, pretending to be ancient. You can’t be what, thirty-three, thirty-four?”
“Forty, butthankyou.”
“Still a baby gay.” We both chuckled at that bit of exaggeration. Owen sighed. “Well, Harvey’s ride will be heresoon. Is Griffin around? Meeting him might take a bit of the sting out of the separate rooms thing for my Harvey.”
“I’ll take a look. He should be.” My stomach twisted as I walked down the hall toward Mary’s room. I hated not being able to fix things for those two men. And if I was honest, I could’ve told him that Patricia was in a moderate care ground floor room because one had been open when she arrived, she liked the ground floor and the view of the garden, and she was a friend of Zhukov’s mother. She was only paying the regular rate. Moving her up a floor and reshuffling would have been the answer if Owen and Harvey had been a married couple. But Zhukov had already told Phoebe not to make any accommodations that would lead to rule-breaking.
Fuck.
I had to live by Zhukov’s rules, though. A venture capital firm had already been sniffing around Wellhaven last year, ready to buy it up, downsize the staff to death, probably run it into the ground and sell off the building, like they’d done to other homes. We were all relieved when the board turned down the offer. But that risk meant sucking up to Zhukov was the lesser of two evils.
Griffin turned my way from his chair at Mary’s bedside, as I stuck my head in the door. He held up a hand and read a couple more lines. In the bed, Mary dozed, her eyes closed, her skin translucent over cheekbones close to the surface. She’d been losing weight again, complaining that nothing had tasted right in years. I was inches away from recommending a feeding tube, except I knew she’d hate it.
When she gave a fluttering breath of a snore, Griffin stuck a bookmark between the pages, set the novel on her bed table, and eased to his feet. Mary slept on as he tiptoed to the door. Once in the hallway, he asked, “What’s up?”
“Owen’s Harvey is due to arrive any time now, and I still can’t put them in together. Owen’s hoping a personal welcome from a favorite rock star might ease that sting.”
“I don’t think I’m special enough for that,” Griffin muttered. “But sure, happy to be of service. Whatever service you need.”
I pretended not to notice the double-entendre or the quick up-and-down scan Griffin gave me. We’d been easier with each other since I’d seen him play at the bar and I didn’t evade him these days, but I wasn’t about to buy into flirting. This hot silver fox would be gone on tour again as soon as he could shake the Iowa dirt off his feet. “Come on.” I led him to the lobby.
When the transport arrived fifteen minutes later, I went out to watch them unload Harvey’s special wheelchair and sign off on his transfer of care. I waved them back to their bus and took the chair handles myself. Other than one small suitcase and a bag of medical supplies, his things would be coming later. For now, I could bring our new resident inside.
“Welcome to Wellhaven,” I told him as I pushed. “Owen’s been pacing the lobby for the last hour. That man cannot wait to see you.”
“The last few months’ve been hard.” Harvey’s slurred speech was slow but understandable. “Since he ditched the car. Days apart. Longest in years.”
“At least you’ll be just a short walk apart now. Eat all your meals together.”
“Yep. Can’t wait.” As the doors opened, he and Owen caught sight of each other. I saw Harvey take a long breath, and Owen’s expression lit up like the sun rising. He pushed his walker into the entry.
