Tuck did not want to speak with him or anyone else this morning. He hated that someone was able to track him down at this nursing home at all, and he hated even more that someone would specifically be waiting for him this morning. He never came here on a Sunday.
Furious, he shot the guy a glare and picked up his pace, aiming for the front door. He could see there was a security guard at the door. If he could just get inside, the man wouldn’t let anyone pass behind him.
The blond man kept coming toward him at a jog. “Mr. Lawler, if I could just have a moment of your time. It’s important.”
Tuck ignored him. Nothing was more important than spending a few hours with his mom and then putting an end to this absurd interlude in his life. He picked up the pace, stepping around the insistent guy when he got in front of him.
“Please. Mr. Lawler. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important.”
Tuck pursed his lips and kept walking. He was afraid to say a single word for fear he might actually lash out either verbally or with his fists. He was so fed up that violent thoughts made him flex his fingers.
As Tuck reached the front door, the security guard opened it for him. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step back. This facility only permits family members and approved friends of the patients,” the guard insisted.
Tuck made it inside without further incident, wondering why someone would want to hunt him down like this. A man in fact. Women had been hounding him for pictures and autographs for weeks. Not men.
After composing himself and shaking off the unwanted interruption, he made his way to his mother’s room, nodding at the nurse behind the front desk as he passed. “Morning, Tuck.”
“Hey, Shelly. Any change?”
Her eyes were drawn and sad. “No. Sorry. I think she’s comfortable though. She had a good night.”
Tuck kept going. When he reached his mother’s door, he closed his eyes for a moment to center himself, and then he entered.
Every time he came, his mother was smaller and frailer. Today was no exception. He pulled a chair up to her side and sat close, reaching for her hand. As he clasped it, she didn’t move or acknowledge him. She didn’t wake up. The only thing about her that suggested she was still alive was the rise and fall of her chest and the warmth of her hand.
“Mom, it’s me. Tucker. I’m here. I know you’re tired. You just rest. I’m gonna sit and talk to you for a while.”
She didn’t flinch. No recognition that anyone was speaking or touching her. She’d been like this for a few weeks now, so he wasn’t surprised. But it was still difficult. Every time he walked through the door, he prayed by some miracle he would find her improved. Awake. Sitting up. Smiling. Even if she didn’t recognize him, it would be better than this stage.
He hated this disease with every bone in his body. He hated that his mother had been alone when she was diagnosed and he’d been halfway around the world fighting in a war. He hated that by the time his tour had ended and he’d returned to his childhood home to care for her, she’d declined so rapidly she was only a shell of herself.
Tuck had quickly learned that full-time care in a respectable nursing home was expensive. His mother had no savings and nothing to fall back on. So, he’d sold his childhood home and had been blowing through every dime of the proceeds for the last six months.
She was in the final stages, but the doctors said it could be weeks or months or even longer, depending on how hard her body fought. He hated that for her too. She wouldn’t want to live like this.
He gave her hand a squeeze. “I met someone.” He smiled as his mind filled with visions of Jodi. “You’d love her, Mom. She’s kind and sweet and cute and funny and smart and hardworking and so many other things.”
He’d never once told his mother about the reality show or Katia, not wanting her to know what a bonehead he’d been to get more money. She would have told him not to do it. To leave her in a more economical place. She would have cried if she’d known even half of what he’d gone through to ensure she died with dignity and respect.
The money from selling her house would only last a little longer, but now he would have the thirty thousand he’d gotten three months ago and another fifty thousand tomorrow to cover her expenses. If he was careful, he could make it last a long time.
Granted, he needed an apartment, and he needed it fast. He had no place to stay starting tonight, in fact. He hadn’t even gotten a hotel yet. He would secure something affordable for a few weeks while he looked at apartments. If it weren’t for Jodi, he would aim low, but now… Now he wanted someplace she wouldn’t be appalled to live in.
Tuck was serious about the fact that he didn’t intend to spend another night away from Jodi. He also wasn’t going to sleep in the same small apartment as her dad. That meant he needed to find a hotel for the short term and an apartment for the long term. He hadn’t had a single moment to deal with either of those things.
He smiled again as he thought about how Jodi would respond to his ideas. “She’s so practical, Mom. I’m going to find a place where we can live, but I know she won’t care. She’ll probably say we don’t even need a couch or a bedframe. I bet she’d go months with nothing but a folding chair and a mattress on the floor without saying a word. I’ve
