Love After Dark (23 page)

“It’s fine with her,” Ethan said as he tore out the door at top speed.

“Wow, nice save,” Hope said with a warm smile for Paul. “He was winding up to a full-blown meltdown over me leaving.”

“Pumpkins to the rescue,” Paul said. To Alex, he added, “And thanks for letting him help. He’s been watching them for weeks now.”

“Happy to have him,” Alex said as he downed his first cup of coffee standing up, like he did every day. “Don’t worry about a thing while you’re gone. Jenny and I will take good care of him.”

“Yes, we will,” Jenny said when she joined them, her hair wet from the shower. “We’re looking forward to it.”

“You guys are so nice to do this when you have so much else going on,” Hope said.

“You do us a huge favor every day just by showing up,” Alex said.
 

“Well, you do pay me to show up,” Hope said, making them all laugh.

“Still,” Alex said, “it’s no small thing you do around here, and we appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the break from the routine and relax.”

“I will, thank you.”

Ethan came barreling back into the house at full speed as usual. He took his lunch from his mother and paused to endure the hug and kiss she bestowed upon him before going to kiss Marion.
 

“Be a good boy,” Marion said, fixing his hair the way she used to do for her own boys.

“I’m always a good boy.”

Amused by his witty reply, Paul followed him out the door and up the lane to the bus stop.
 

They were halfway to the road when Ethan looked up at him. “Could I ask you something?”

“Sure you can.”

“You’ll take good care of my mom while you’re gone, right?”

Stunned by the heartfelt question, Paul nodded. “You can count on it.”

“My friends Kyle and Jackson… Their mom died.”

“I know, buddy.”

“I don’t want that to happen to my mom.”

They arrived at the bus stop, and Paul squatted to bring himself to Ethan’s eye level. “Nothing is going to happen to her,” Paul said, his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “I’ll take very good care of her. You have my word on that. And a man’s word is a solemn promise.”

“Okay.” Ethan surprised him by hurling himself into Paul’s arms and hugging him tightly, making sure to let go well ahead of the bus’s arrival. God forbid such things be seen by his friends on the bus.
 

“We’ll call you,” Paul said as the bus came to a stop.

“’Kay.” Ethan bounded up the stairs and waved from his seat the way he did every day.
 

Looking at that little face framed by the bus window, Paul realized he was falling for the son as much as the mother.
 

Chapter 15

Marion fought them every step of the way. From refusing to shower to battling over the clothes that Hope laid out for her, they were already drained by the time they got her into Paul’s truck for the ride to the ferry landing. When she saw where they were going, she began to rage all over again.

“Turn this car right around and go home,” she said. “I’m not leaving the island.”

“You have a doctor’s appointment in Providence, Mom.”

“Whatever for? There are perfectly good doctors right here. Now take me home.”

“We’re not going home right now, Mom.”

“Paul Michael Martinez, I’m going to tan your hide if you don’t mind me. I don’t know where you get off talking back to your mother, but Daddy will certainly have something to say about that.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“Now you’re just patronizing me, and I won’t have that either.”

And so it went as he backed the truck onto the ferry, helped her out of the passenger door and walked her up the stairs to a table for the hour-long ride to the mainland. He smiled weakly at Hope, who sat across from him and his mother.

“Who is she?” Marion asked, glaring at Hope.
 

“That’s Hope, Mom. She’s a friend.”

“She’s no friend of mine.”

“She’s my friend. My good friend.” Paul winked at Hope. “So be nice to her.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

The ferry’s horn sounded, indicating their imminent departure.
 

“Where are we going?” Marion asked. “Where’s George? I never leave the island without George.”

“He’s meeting us there,” Paul told her, feeling guilty, as he always did, for lying to her.
 

“He won’t be happy to hear how fresh you’ve been with me this morning, young man.”

“I know, Mom.”

Thankfully, the crossing was smooth and Marion didn’t fight them when it was time to return to the truck to drive off the boat. They got stuck in some beach traffic on the way to Providence, but still arrived well ahead of their eleven o’clock appointment.
 

As Paul was parking the truck, he received a call from work that he had to take. So Hope went to help Marion out of the truck.

“Get your hands off me, young lady. I have no idea who you think you are, but I don’t want you touching me.”

“It’s okay, Marion. I’m a friend here to help you.”

Paul watched as Hope tried to put the shoes Marion had taken off back on her feet. “I’ve got to go,” he told the man who’d called him. “Alex is in charge this week. Check in with him.” He stashed the phone in his pocket and walked around the truck to help Hope. Just as he reached her, Marion hauled off and slapped Hope in the face.

She fell back, and Paul caught her. “Oh my God. Are you okay?”
 

“I, um, yeah, I’m fine.” A bright red welt appeared on her flawless cheek, and Paul wanted to rage against his mother and the hideous illness that had turned her into someone he didn’t recognize.
 

“Mom! Apologize to Hope.”

“I will not apologize. I told her not to touch me.”

“She was trying to
help
you.”

“I don’t need her help. I don’t need anyone’s help.”

Paul wanted to scream from the frustration and anguish that overtook him. More than anything, he wanted to stop everything so he could comfort Hope and ensure she was really okay, but he couldn’t do that until they had his mother safely delivered.
 

“Let’s go, Mom,” he said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

She seemed to sense he was at the end of his patience, so she got out of the car and let him escort her inside. Two nurses from the memory care clinic that would be overseeing the testing met them. All the pre-admission paperwork had been done in advance, so there was nothing left for them to do but say their good-byes.

“Wait,” Marion said when Paul kissed her. “Where’re you going?”

“The doctors are going to help you, Mom. I’ll be right here to pick you up when you’re ready.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Martinez,” one of the nurses said kindly. “We’ll take very good care of you.”

“I want George. Where’s my husband? He’d never leave me with strangers. Where’s George?”

She screamed for her husband until she was out of earshot, leaving Paul emotionally spent by the ordeal.

Hope’s hand on his back jarred him out of his troubled thoughts.

He looked over at her and noticed the mark on her face was still red and beginning to swell. “Excuse me,” he said to one of the nurses. “My mother hit my friend. Is it possible to get her an ice pack?”

“I’m fine, Paul,” Hope said.

“Of course,” the nurse said. “I’ll grab one for you.”

“You’re not fine,” he said, touching his fingertip to the angry red mark on her face. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before, even when Alex and I gave her reason to.”

“Believe it or not, that wasn’t the first time a patient has hit me. The frustration and anger are part of the illness. I don’t take it personally.”

“Well, I do. I take it pretty fucking personally when she hits you, of all people.”

She smiled at his outburst. “You’re very sweet when you’re protective.”

The nurse returned with a disposable ice pack.
 

“Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Don’t worry about your mom. We’ll take very good care of her, and we have your number if we need you for anything.”

“I appreciate it. Thanks again.” With his hand on Hope’s lower back, he guided her out of the building and into the warm sunny day outside. His body was rigid with tension and frustration and rage he didn’t know what to do with. How could he justify being angry with his mother when she couldn’t help what she did? No, he was furious with the illness that had snatched her away from them in the prime of her life. She’d worked by his father’s side for decades, and just when she should be heading into her relaxing retirement years, the dementia struck. It was so unfair to her, to all of them.

He opened the passenger door for Hope, and when she was seated, he took the ice pack from her and held it against her face.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. “Feels good.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I hate that she did this to you.”

“And I hate that you’re so upset about it. I mean it when I say I’m fine and that stuff like this goes with the territory when you work with dementia patients. It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time.”

“How do you do it? How do you stay so patient and calm when you must want to scream sometimes from the aggravation of it all?”

“Screaming isn’t going to change anything for her or for me. It’s just going to make everything worse. I tell myself over and over it’s the disease. It’s the disease. As a medical professional, you can’t take it personally, or you’d go crazy. That’s one of the first things we’re taught when we work with this population.”

“I just want you to know… I admire you so much for the way you handle her—and Ethan. You’re so great with both of them.”

“Aww, thanks. That’s nice to hear.”

“I mean it. I watch you with them, and I’m floored every day by how calm you are. Where does that come from?”

“Lots of yoga and meditation. I’m in tune with my inner Zen.”

“I need to find my Zen, because I’m feeling anything but calm or rational right now.”

“Let’s go to the Cape, and I’ll help you find it.”

“Why, Ms. Russell, are you coming on to me by any chance?”

She flashed a saucy grin. “You know it.”

Paul laughed and felt some of the tension leave his body. He leaned in to kiss her before he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side, eager to get on the road to the Cape.

Lizzie handed Jared his cell phone, which she had taken from the charger in the kitchen. “Are you going to call him?”

Jared was sitting by the pool reading the morning edition of
The
Wall Street Journal
on his tablet. You could take the man out of Wall Street… “Has anyone ever told you that you can be a bit like a dog with a bone when you get one of your big ideas?”

“You tell me that all the time.” She stuck his phone under his nose. “Woof.”

Laughing, he took the phone from her, shaking his head at her tenacity. “I see that you’ve already got his number cued up for me.”