Yup, the shepherd’s pie was cold. She knew it would be. She wished she’d been able to afford a microwave during her last shopping trip so she could easily heat the meal back up, but that particular appliance was on the “Buy soon” list, not the “Already bought” list, dammit.

As she watched Adam shovel the food into his mouth, obviously starving, she decided that if he didn’t care, she didn’t either, and dug in too.

“So how’s your mom doing these days?” she asked as she took a sip of creamy, thick cow’s milk. One thing that was never in short supply: Milk and eggs. If nothing else, her baby would have strong bones, that was for damn sure.

Adam looked down at his empty plate with a deep sigh.

“Hold on, before you explain that sigh, do you want another helping?” Kylie asked.

“Oh, sure!” he said eagerly. “This is the best thing I’ve eaten all day.”

She slipped into the kitchen to dish up another helping, even as she rolled her eyes at his praise. If she knew her Adam – and she was pretty sure she did at this point – this would be the only thing he’d eaten all day. She rather wondered if she ought to start following him around, shoving food into his mouth between vaccinations.

“I love my mom, and…I just feel like I’m failing her,” he said in a quiet voice as she came walking back into the room with a heaping serving in her hand. “Zara Garrett – do you know her? Younger sister to Moose and Rhys?”

She slid the plate in front of Adam and then topped off his milk. “Yeah. She’s quite a bit younger than me – I was closer in age to Rhys – but I know of her, of course. Doesn’t she work at the hospital as a CNA or something?”

Adam dug into the shepherd’s pie with a hearty groan. “Thank you,” he said in a heartfelt whisper. “It’s so nice to have someone else take care of me for a minute. Anyway,” he said, waving his fork in the air dismissively, obviously trying to hurry past that admission he absolutely hadn’t meant to say out loud, she was just sure of it, “I stole her away from the hospital and have hired her to come over to help take care of Mom. She’d been asking for me to hire someone to help her – a female person – but wouldn’t tell me anything more than that. I was happy because even though Zara is just a kid, she and Mom hit it right off.”

He let out a deep sigh. “Which sounds like yay, problem solved, but honestly, it isn’t. I can’t afford to have Zara move in, and anyway, she’s still in high school. She needs to be living at home. But I think my mom needs more help than she’s letting on. For her to even ask for Zara’s help is…” He shrugged. “Nothing short of a miracle, honestly. I just don’t know what else to do. There’s only so much of me to go around.”

He lapsed into silence, digging back into his meal with gusto as Kylie sat and thought for a while. “I don’t know your mom well,” she finally said slowly, “and I don’t want to intrude where I’m not wanted. But, have you ever thought about having her move into the Long Valley Senior Citizen’s Center? They have staff there all day, every day. They can help take care of her better than a teenage girl coming over a couple of times a week.”

But he was already shaking his head, even as she was talking. “My mom was born in that house,” he said, the frustration and bewilderment about what to do stamped across his face. “She’s said it a million times – she was born in that house, and she wants to die in that house. If I take her out of it, she’ll die from heartbreak.”

Kylie nodded. “It’s…it’s hard,” she said weakly. Ugh. Such a worthless comment to make. She hated the words even as they came out. It was like the empty phrase, “Thoughts and prayers.” It was such a generic platitude, it had virtually no meaning except, “I’m saying something because I know I’m supposed to.”

She pushed that away and thought over the conundrum, rubbing her earlobe as she did. Finally, she said thoughtfully, “I kinda wonder if your mom’s attachment to the house isn’t actually just an attachment to independence. I mean, I’m sure she loves that house, absolutely, but it’s gotta be hard to be by herself so much. She’s a really gregarious woman, sharp as a tack, not slipping mentally at all that I can tell, and yet, right now, she’s basically in solitary confinement. A teen comes over a few times a week, and she sees her son for a few minutes every morning and night. I can’t imagine that a woman as outgoing and friendly as your mom is happy about that.”

Adam pushed back from the table, drumming his fingers, thinking. His shirt lay open, giving her easy visual access to his chest, and just the sight of his abs…she had a hard time keeping her mind out of the gutter and focused on the conversation, that was for sure.

“I…uhh…” She tore her eyes away from the visual feast in front of her, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Have you been into Second Time Around?”

“No,” he said slowly, confused about the apparent change in topic. “I mean, I know what it is, but they don’t tend to have a lot of veterinarian tools or horse tack in a thrift store, so I’ve never had much reason to go in there.”

Kylie laughed a little. “I have to admit, I didn’t see a single horse saddle in the place when I went in. Anyway, I had to get some items for the house, and thought I’d check out their offerings. Did you know that it’s actually run by the senior center? Everyone who works there, they all live in the retirement home. The home sends a bus back and forth between the store and the home all day long, shuttling workers to and fro. All money from the store is used for activities and other items for the home. I personally think that your mom wants to still be busy. Important. Needed. She doesn’t want to be shunted off to some old folks’ home to die, and really, who would? But if they could find some task for her to do down at the store to keep her busy and wanted, I think that’d mean more to her than anything else. And you wouldn’t have the strain of taking care of her on top of everything else you have on your plate.”

Adam’s mouth twisted. “I’ll be honest, that sounds lovely. I just don’t know if my mom will actually go for it. Ruby Whitaker can be sweet and kind to almost everyone she meets, but when she digs her heels in…watch out. It’s a side to her that most people don’t see, but as her only living relative, I can attest that it’s there.”

Kylie reached out and took his work-hardened hand into hers. “Give it a try,” she said softly, rubbing her thumb over his calloused knuckles. “The worst she can do is say no.”