Returning Pride (14 page)

Looking down at the framed picture, she realized this was the last thing she had to remind her of what was once a great family. Then she looked up into the faces of the town people who had come out to show their love and support and realized she still had a wonderful family.

Her mother, for the most part, had enjoyed the evening. Since the other night, she hadn’t had another episode. Allison knew the reprieve would be short lived.

Tanya was there with her kids. Her new boss had taken the time to assure her that she could take as much time as she needed to recover. Allison didn’t want to take any time off. She knew she had to find someplace to put her mother. Getting back to work was going to help her keep her mind off the large black hole that was her old house.

She’d finally driven by it earlier on her way to pick up her mother from the hospital. The charred remains of her house loomed over the neighborhood. The east wall of the house still stood, but everything else had fallen in on itself. The foundation could be seen on the far right side of the place. She could actually still smell smoke when she drove by. Someone had come by and placed a condemned sign up, trying to detour anyone from entering. Like anyone would want to try to step foot in a place that looked like it would blow over with a slight wind.

Just then from across the room, she heard the tone of her mother’s voice change and knew it was time to leave the party.

The next day Allison decided she did need help with her mother.

Living in an eight-hundred-square-foot cabin by yourself was one thing. Living with your mother who was in the full stages of dementia was another.

Several times she’d been woken from her sleep with the banging of pots.
Did they even have pots? was
her first thought. Then when she’d heard a loud crash, she’d jumped from her bed and ran in to find her mother on her hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor. Scrubbing it at two in the morning.

When she’d asked her what she was doing, her mother had replied.

“I’m cleaning up after your father. He just barfed all over the bathroom floor and I can’t seem to get it up.”

When Allison looked at the shiny linoleum, she quickly realized the issue. The tile in their house had been white not tan.

I
ian loved working outside in the dirt. He enjoyed working in the yard as much as he liked cooking in his kitchens.

The weather had turned, so he could finally till the dirt in his garden area. Pulling weeds and tilling the ground gave him great pleasure. The smells of the fresh-turned dirt always made it feel more like spring. Ever since he could remember, they’d had a small garden on the land; after all, there was a little over twelve acres. Living by himself in the big house, he hadn’t change the tradition. Sure, he’d cut back from planting too much. If there was extra, he always took it to his brother’s or sister’s place.

He had a few apple and pear trees that lined the small garden area. Looking around, he could see that they were starting to bloom. There were two rows of grapes that he always enjoyed. He’d even thought about adding another row or two to see if he could make his own wine. He’d gone online and found a great starter wine recipe that he really wanted to try his hand at.

He loved cooking, but he especially loved to pull his own fresh vegetables and fruit from his back yard and cook with them. Most people couldn’t tell the difference, but with his heightened sense of smells and taste, he could easily pick out his own grown foods over store bought every time. He had a larger herb garden to the side. He loved to take fresh herbs into the restaurant to use when he cooked.

Todd often helped him with the garden. Iian thought it was because he liked to use the old tiller that he pulled behind Chester, Todd’s huge black shire horse. His brother was weird when it came to pulling that big wooden thing behind the huge beast. Iian told him that he looked like a character off Little House on the Prairie. Todd told him that it was his way to get in touch with the past. Iian laughed at him and would sit back to watch the show. Iian preferred driving the John Deere they’d purchased the same year Todd had gotten the horse.

Now the barn sat empty, since Todd had moved Chester to his newly renovated barn at his house. If the truth was known, Iian missed having the beast around. Maybe he’d get himself a horse, something he could ride through his fields on. Maybe even take down to the beach.

He wouldn’t mind having a few horses. Maybe when he had kids he could teach them to ride.

He could just imagine his own kids; their blonde little heads, with blue eyes, and a small dimple at the corner of their mouths when they smiled. Shaking his head, he realized the person he was thinking of as their mother. She was the only one he’d ever imagined having kids with.

He just needed to make sure to prove to her that his intentions were forever. He didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind that he wanted her to stay in Pride with him, in this house where she belonged.

She noticed a change in her mother since they had moved into the cabin. Her mother had changed, her mental state and even the way she dealt with small things had changed. It wasn’t just the things she did in the middle of the night anymore. Once, Allison had been painting on the front porch and she’d been so engulfed with her work, she hadn’t seen her mother walk by. An hour later, when she had gone inside, her mother was gone. She’d known true panic then.

The doctors had warned her about Alzheimer patients sometimes wondering off. Thoughts of terrible things ran through her head. First she’d sprinted to the beach, in hopes that she had gone there. Then she’d thought about the woods. Had her mother walked there? Was she lost? Should she call someone? She rushed back to the cabin to double checked that she hadn’t returned home, she picked up the phone and called Megan.

“Oh, your mother is here. I’m sorry, Allison, I should have called you when she arrived half an hour ago. I thought you knew.” Megan sounded a little tense.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, yes, she’s fine. She’s rocking Sara out on the front porch. I’m truly sorry, Ally. I should have known to call you.”

“Please don’t worry. It’s not your fault. She must have walked right by me. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I need to put a bell around her neck.”

They both laughed.

The second time her mother wondered off had been just as stressful.

It was the fact that Allison hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since she’d brought her mother to the cabin that really concerned her. Was she destined to live this way forever? Being woken every night by her mother was extremely difficult and very stressful. She couldn’t relax. When she showered, she was concerned her mother would wander off.

Even when she was at work, she was worried that her mother was causing problems. Megan had been overly gracious in having her mother stay with her during the days since they’d moved into the cabins. It was a relief knowing that her friend enjoyed spending time with her.

Megan kept assuring her that her mother was a great help with the guests and her children. She’d claimed that she hadn’t had any little episodes while staying with them, but Ally wondered if she was just being kind to protect her.

But her final decision came on a stormy night less than two weeks after the fire.

They had been over at Todd and Megan’s for dinner. Iian, Lacey, and Aaron had all been there as well. It had been such a lovely family dinner that when she and her mother had walked home, Allison’s head had been comfortably numb.

After reaching their cabin, Allison decided to take a hot bath.

Ten minutes into her bath, she heard a crash. Pulling on her robe, she went to find her mother. Her mother stood in the living room looking around with huge eyes.

“Mom?” She approached her slowly. “Mom, are you okay?”

Her mother spun around quickly and yelled, “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

Taking a step back, she held out her hands to her mother.

“Mom, it’s me, Ally.”

“Where are Dean and Steve? I don’t remember how I got here? Where are my brothers? I want my brothers.”

Dean and Steve were Allison’s uncles. Dean had died in Vietnam before Allison had been born. Steve was retired and living in Florida with his wife of thirty years and their two children.

“Mom, it’s okay. I’m here. It’s me Ally.” She tried to step forward.

“Don’t! I want to go home! I don’t want to be here.” Her mother took a step for the door.

What would she do if her mother took off? Run after her in the rain in her bath robe? Trying to think ahead, she saw her sandals by the front door. If she had to, she could quickly put those on.

If her mother did take off, short of tackling her, she didn’t know how she would convince her to come back to the house.

“Mom, we’re in Megan’s cabins. Remember the fire? We moved here a few weeks back. Remember you get to spend time with Matthew and Sara?” Allison reached into her mind to think of things her mother would enjoy hearing.

That stopped her backwards shuffle towards the front door and she blinked a few times.

“The baby? Where did I put the baby?” Her mother looked around the room frantically.

“It’s okay, the baby is with Megan. She’s safe. Mom?”

“The baby is safe?”

“Mom?”

“Shh,” her mother held her finger over her lips. “You’ll wake the baby,” she whispered in a stern voice.

She knew it was time to make finding a place for her mother her main focus, at least until she could figure out a more permanent living situation.

The next day, she’d driven into town and talked to Dr. Stevens about it. She’d even talked to several of the elders in town about the best place for her mother to be. Everyone pointed her to one place: the Hotel just outside of Edgeview. The Hotel was a retirement home and according to several people she’d talked to, it was the most qualified to help her mother out. They all claimed it was the cleanest, friendliest place.

Sitting outside the old building, she started second guessing herself. There was a large sign that hung on the two story brick building that said
“The Hotel”
in large gold letters.
Looking at the place it looked more like an old high school than a retirement home. The building was well maintained, the grounds were nicely groomed, and the place looked very friendly. The fact that there weren’t old people sitting out front or even walking around out front, concerned her. Maybe it was nap time? Maybe everyone was inside playing bingo?

Taking a deep breath she told herself it was just the first place she was checking out. No decisions had to be made today.

When she entered the double doors she noticed several things. First, there was an actual lobby desk, much like a hotel would have right up front. Second, a friendly, darker woman sat behind the counter, she wore a starched white shirt. Her smiled spread wide as Allison approached her. There was a beautiful display of flowers on a large table next to two bright red comfortable-looking couches. It looked like a lobby, sounded like a lobby, and even smelled like a lobby of a high rated hotel.

“You must be Allison Adams,” the woman said, standing up and holding her hand out. Allison approached her and took the woman’s hand in a friendly shake.

“Yes, I’m here to meet with Mrs. Sims.”

“That’s just fine. You have yourself a seat over there and I’ll ring her right up. Do you want some coffee, soda, or water?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” Allison said and took a seat on the couch facing a large stone fireplace. Less than two minutes later, a shorter woman in a dark suit walked into the room.