Page 13 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“Hi, Mom.”

Her mother’s eyes were empty as they looked up at her.

“How about I get some tea organized. Shirley does love her tea,” the nurse said, rising to leave the room.

Nina sat in her vacated seat, and Birdie stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Nina,” her mother said, as if using the name for the first time.

Her body had withered, as had her mind, and there was barely a sign of the woman she’d once been. It was so hard to see.

“That’s right. Would you like me to read you a story, Mom? I have your favorite book with me.” Nina pulled it out of her bag and opened the first page.

It had been Robyn Duke, Sawyer’s mom, who told her that reading to her mother may offer them a connection. She’d then recommended a few children’s books, and this one had been a favorite so far.

Her mother’s eyes closed as she started reading, and a small smile tilted her lips. Birdie pulled a chair closer and sat at Nina’s side.

While times had been tough growing up, Nina had rarely gone without because her mother had always found a way for her to have that prom dress or pair of new shoes. Shirley Winters had been strong and independent, but looking at the frail, gray-haired woman lying in her bed in the nursing home, she saw none of that now.

“Where’s your father?” The words were weak, but Nina heard them.

“He’s not here, Mom.” She kept her tone gentle. Her father had been dead for years, but she wasn’t going to mention that and upset her.

The nurse returned with the tea, and Nina kept reading.

“He’s bad, but we got away,” her mother said, opening her eyes suddenly. She was looking at Nina with an intensity she’d not shown in years.

“Mom, it’s all right. You rest now.”

Her mother rarely talked about her late husband, so it was a shock to hear the words.

Nina looked at the nurse as Birdie squeezed her shoulder again.

“Often at this stage of Alzheimer’s, they don’t make a great deal of sense, Nina,” she whispered.

She nodded, her heart feeling like it was being ripped in half. “Of course.”

Her mother’s eyes closed again, and Nina finished reading the book. Birdie read the next one, and then the nurse returned to tell them it was time to give her mother her medication and bathe her.

“Bye, Mom. I love you.” She bent to kiss a paper-thin cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”

Nina straightened and stood with Birdie’s arm around her waist, just looking down at the woman who had been her entire life for so long, and in that moment she was glad to have her friend there. So often she did this alone, but not today. Today two of her friends were looking out for her.

Birdie then took Nina’s hand again and led her from the room. After a last look from the doorway, Nina followed her friend out of the home.

“I’m so sorry you’re going through this,” Birdie said, leading her to the car.

Sawyer, who had watched them approach, got out as they reached him.

“How was she?”

“N-not good,” Nina said, holding in the tears.

Usually she cried alone in the car on the way back to Lyntacky, but she didn’t want Birdie and Sawyer seeing that.

Birdie hugged her close then, and Nina felt the big arms of Sawyer Duke wrap around them both. It felt like a large heavy blanket, and so good that she did cry then.

“Come on, let’s get into the car. It’s cold out here,” he said long after her tears eased to a sniffle.