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“She tried to brush off lunch one day. When I asked her what she’d had for breakfast that morning she told me she’d had half a banana and a few bites of toast,” Beth said.
He thought back to the huge meal he and Grace had eaten earlier and, despite the pain he was in, he instantly felt better. “Thank you for looking after her.”
Beth hesitated. “She needs someone to look after her.”
Did Beth know?
Of course, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Alexander pushed it away. He didn’t even know. Not for certain.
Still, it seemed Beth had picked up on some of the same things he had. “Yes, she does.”
They shared a look before Beth stood, her boots making her taller than she usually was. “Let me know if I can do anything to help.”
“Have fun with your sub,” Alexander said.
The twinkle in Beth’s eyes was back. “Oh, I plan to.”
***
Chapter 5
“Could you hand me that glass, Grace?”
It was Sunday morning and she was over at her mom’s, helping her go through some boxes. Caroline Lewis was a force to be reckoned with when she got something in her head. She was convinced some papers she needed were stashed in the attic, so she’d asked Grace to come over and help her find them. Two hours into the search and they hadn’t turned up much besides some old receipts and a lot of dust.
“Are you sure you remember putting them in one of these boxes and not in the filing cabinet?” Grace asked.
The sound of the back door opening was swiftly followed by her sister’s voice. “Knock, knock. Anyone home?”
“In here,” their mother yelled.
Gabby strolled into the living room, her three-year-old daughter, Taylor, in tow, dragging a stuffed animal. “What’s all this?”
“Mom has a meeting with a guy to talk about her retirement this week—”
“Yes, and I need to find the paper that has all the information about your father’s pension.” Her mother scowled and reached for another box. “Otherwise I’ll just have to go back again.”
Her sister shot her a look and Grace shrugged. Their dad had been a meticulous record keeper. Their mother... not so much. She tended to throw things in boxes and worry about it later.
Gabby sat down next to Grace and settled Taylor on the couch beside her. “I thought maybe we could all go out for lunch.”
She hadn’t even finished her sentence and their mother was shaking her head. “I can’t go anywhere until I find this.” Licking the tip of her index finger, she began riffling through the stack of papers she had resting on her lap. “You three should go, though. Grace never eats enough these days.”
Grace’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. “Mom!”
“You know it’s true,” her mother said without looking up from her task.
“We can bring you something back,” Gabby said as she gathered her daughter onto her lap.
“That’s all right. I have leftovers I can warm up when I get hungry.”
Gabby stood. “Grace, you ready?”
Instead of answering her sister, Grace addressed her mother. “Mom, are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help?”
“Go with your sister. I’ll be fine.”
Ten minutes later they were sitting at a booth in a chain restaurant she’d frequented a lot growing up. It was one of those places that pretty much stayed the same no matter how much time had passed. They’d changed the carpet to a slightly darker shade of gray and the walls looked as if they’d received a new coat of paint recently, but other than that it hadn’t changed.
