Return by Karen Kingsbury Read Free Book Online Page B

Care Home and grabbed the box of tea from the seat beside her. She was the manager now, and other workers shopped for the groceries. But the tea was something she took care of, something she had promised Irvel, Edith, and Helen. Ashley made sure the house was never without it.
    Halfway up the walk she paused and took in the sight of the old house. Bathed in the sunlight of a rare warm spring day, the place looked quaint and quiet. The tulips were in full bloom again, but there was nothing memorable about the brick front. Nothing that would make a passing motorist stop and take a second look.
    Yet beyond the front door was a world of pain and possibility, heartache and hope—and the sum of it had been exactly the therapy Ashley needed.
    After all, she’d taken the job at Sunset Hills Adult Care Home working with Alzheimer’s patients for one reason—to soften her own heart. She’d hoped that perhaps by working with society’s frail and forgotten, she might somehow find herself, find the place from which she painted, the place she’d all but buried after her time in Paris. Yes, working at Sunset Hills had changed her.
    That, and the nightmare of September 11.
    Ashley had made peace with God and her past. In the process she’d started painting again. Beautiful pieces, portraits of the residents at Sunset Hills and landscapes of Bloomington’s rolling hills and farmlands. She was averaging one painting every few weeks now. On a day like this she wished she could skip work and find a meadow of wildflowers where she could set up her easel.
    But trouble filled the air from the moment she stepped inside.
    The new girl, Maria, was serving breakfast to Helen and Edith, but Irvel’s spot was empty. Ashley hung her sweater in the closet, went to the kitchen, and put the tea in the cupboard. From there she went to the dining room. “Where’s Irvel?”
    Helen waved a trembling hand in the air. “No one checks people anymore around this place.” She gave the table a sharp rap with her hand. “I’ve had it.”
    Edith’s hand shook as she directed a forkful of eggs toward her mouth. Her words were quiet and more of a continuous mumble. “Hello…hello…hello…”
    “It’s okay, Helen.” Ashley made her way around the table, all the while keeping her eyes on the new girl. “I’ve been checked.”
    Helen shot her a hard look. “Who are you? That’s what I’d like to know. Showing up so late in the afternoon, and how do we know you were checked?”
    “I was checked, Helen.” The only time Helen was calm was after a visit from her daughter, Sue. Otherwise the Alzheimer’s left her angry and suspicious, as she was this morning. But Irvel never missed breakfast, and Ashley felt a gnawing within her at the sight of the empty chair at the head of the table.
    She followed Maria into the kitchen. “Where’s Irvel?”
    “I didn’t want to talk about her out there.” Maria lowered her voice to a whisper. She was a soft-spoken woman with a kind heart and a strong work ethic. So far she’d been wonderful with the five residents at Sunset Hills. “Irvel’s sick. Her blood pressure is up, and the doctor ordered her to stay in bed today.”
    “Sick?” A pit formed just beneath Ashley’s heart. “I’ll check on her.”
    She headed down the hall toward Irvel’s room and prayed that the situation with Irvel was minor. The residents at Sunset Hills were like family to Ashley. Bert, with his newfound ability to communicate and the saddle set up in his room for him to shine each day; Edith, who had screamed at her own reflection until Ashley removed the mirror from her bathroom; Helen with her mood swings; the newest patient, a woman who rarely left her bedroom; and Irvel.
    They all mattered to Ashley, but Irvel was special. Irvel was her friend. Though it took the old woman time to figure out who Ashley was, and though some days she never quite did, Irvel was always genteel and hospitable, a woman with Southern charm and