April Showers Page 15

  “Got it. I’ll help you as soon as I’ve got this under control.”

  Lily nodded and went back to her apartment.

  She stood and considered the small living-dining-kitchen area. Water still ran across the bathroom into the living room, but in the short time they’d been gone, it had also started dripping from the living-room ceiling. She tried to decide where to begin and opted for the bathroom. As she crossed the living area, a portion of the ceiling plaster fell, and with a loud splat, it landed on her couch.

  She opened her bedroom door and saw more pieces of the ceiling had fallen in there and landed on her now-soaked bed.

  Feeling overwhelmed, she figured the first thing to do was move what she could outside. She started with the sodden ceiling tiles. She piled them in the driveway. Next, she picked up her coffee table and end tables.

  She kept moving things into the backyard. All the small furniture and cushions. She started dumping her wet bedding and the clothes from her closet on the corner of the porch. She’d borrow Hank’s machine tomorrow and get them all washed and dried before they started to mildew.

  Load after load of wet and mangled objects were transferred outside.

  Sebastian stood in the doorway surveying the wreck. “I’m so sorry, Lily. Hank seemed fine this afternoon.”

  “Anyone can forget to turn a faucet off,” she said, knowing he didn’t want her to bring up dementia again. He was settling into the idea it was a possibility, but it wasn’t smooth by any means. He needed time to adjust. “He was probably tired.”

  Sebastian gave her a look that she understood meant Don’t sugarcoat things for my benefit and she sighed. “You’re right. He was confused. But he did seem okay earlier. There’s the phenomena called sundowning, or sundown syndrome. Basically, patients with dementia—”

  “You can say the word. Alzheimer’s. You think it’s Alzheimer’s.”

  “Dementia is a symptom, Alzheimer’s is the disease. As for sundowning, I saw it with patients in the hospital. They got worse at night. There are all kinds of theories, and there’s no rhyme or reason as to when or why it happens. There’s simply confusion, or anxiety, shifts in moods. It’s no one’s fault, and there’s no need to apologize.”

  Sebastian nodded but didn’t say anything else or ask any questions. “I’m afraid your apartment got the worst of it.”

  “Almost everything’s soaked. The clothes in my dresser did okay. And the shelves sheltered most, if not all, of my books. But everything hanging up, as well as all of the bedding, is wet. All the hard-surface furniture should be okay, but the couch and my mattress were soaked through. I don’t know if they’ll ever be serviceable again.”

  “I’ll call the insurance company first thing tomorrow,” Sebastian said. “They’ll take care of everything.”

  “They’ll take care of the house stuff, after the deductible, but I’m a tenant, so I’m on my own for my personal belongings.” She almost laughed at the words...she’d been on her own her whole life, it seemed. “I thought about rental insurance, but frankly, most of what’s here came with the apartment. Even with whatever’s mine that needs replacing, I’ll still come out ahead. Buying rental insurance would have made sense if I had more stuff.”

  “I couldn’t help but notice that the apartment was rather...”

  “Spartan?” she said with a laugh.

  “Webster,” he teased. “But yes.”

  “I found out a long time ago that things are only things. Would I like nice things? Sure. Sometimes I can almost picture what my house will look like someday. Antiques everywhere. But not fussy ones. Comfortable pieces meant for living. I want an overstuffed chair with an arts-and-crafts style lamp for reading. And bookshelves with old, leather-bound volumes, not my predominately paperback collection.”

  “You don’t have anything like that now.” Sebastian scrutinized her again, as if he were trying to figure her out.

  Good luck to him, because most days she couldn’t figure herself out.

  “No, I don’t have anything like that now. I paid my way through school with student loans and have worked to pay them off. I’d been saving for a down payment on a house when Finn asked me to take care of Bridget. I moved in here and met Hank. I decided to invest in the diner. I’m hoping my business takes off soon. When I have a better, reliable stream of income, I’ll start a new house fund.”

  “You gave up your dream of owning a house to help Hank?” Sebastian’s brow furrowed at the thought.

  She laughed off his concern. “Don’t make it sound all noble and self-sacrificing. It was a business decision. A very sound one, I think. Helping Hank out was secondary.”

  “Liar,” he said in a tone that was partially teasing and partially something else she couldn’t quite identify. “You would have done it without any hopes of financial return.”

  “Wow, way to look down on my business savvy.” She grabbed the last kitchen chair and carried it outside.

  Sebastian followed, dragging a soggy area rug. “No. Way to look at your very large heart.”

  She found a free spot for the chair and made a gagging motion. “Oh, man, you’re going all sappy on me.”

  “No, I’m getting to know you,” he insisted. When she looked displeased, he added, “Maybe not all the nuts and bolts. I’m hoping someday you’ll share those with me. But in the meantime, I’ve got a very good overall picture of you, Lily.”

  “I know. Sunshiny rainbows. Unicorns and talking birds.” She leaned against a stack of cushions that squished.

  “I don’t think I ever mentioned unicorns, but yeah, those, too. But here’s something I hadn’t suspected before. You don’t get a rainbow without the rain. You’ve let me see the sunshiny rainbow—maybe someday I’ll get to see the storms.”

  She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Here’s the thing, Sebastian—you won’t be here that long. After the wedding, you’re leaving. And that’s good for me. I don’t want to show you my storms.... I simply want you.” She looked at the waterlogged furniture. “But probably not here, not tonight. I’ll see if JoAnn has a room at the B and B. You need to stay with Hank.”

  “You’re not getting a hotel. We’ve got extra rooms in the house. You can bunk with us until I can get this place fixed up. The water even ran along the joists. That’s why the ceilings are in such a bad state. The walls are wet, which means the drywall in them will be ruined, too. The rug’s trashed, but maybe if I get a company with an industrial...” He searched for the word.

  “Water-sucker-upper?” she suggested.

  He laughed. “Close enough. I’ll see about getting the insurance company out here first thing in the morning, but it will probably be a couple weeks until you can get back into the apartment. And if you don’t have any renter’s insurance, you can’t afford a room for that long, and like I said, we’ve got extras.”

  “You’re sure?” she asked, mainly because she wasn’t sure. She wanted Sebastian, but part of that desire came from the knowledge that he’d be leaving and that they both had their own space. If she were living in a room next to his, there wouldn’t be much space between them at all.

  “I’m sure.” He sounded certain.

  And because he was right, she couldn’t afford a room at JoAnn’s for weeks, and she wouldn’t want to intrude on Sophie or Mattie, she found herself saying “Okay.”

  * * *

  SEBASTIAN HADN’T LIKED the idea of Lily living somewhere else and felt relieved that she agreed to stay with them.

  They got the bulk of the water cleared up. Lily was a trouper. She carried the drawers of her dry clothes into the house, along with any other salvageable items, including a small library of books. If she hadn’t told him she was a bookworm, he’d have known it after toting those stacks.

  Afterward she put a load of her soaking clothes into the washing machine. She worked with him, side by side, and didn’t complain that his grandfather had ruined her home.

  No, not
Lily. “You know, I’ve hated that couch. Don’t tell Hank, but that couch did not sell this apartment. So now I’ll get a new one. My own couch. Something that reflects my taste.”

  Sebastian rarely acted on impulse, but without thinking, he pulled her over to him and kissed her. This was no gentle hello. It was a kiss that spoke of desire. And though he did desire her, it went deeper than that. He wanted to hold her, keep her close.

  “Wow,” she murmured when they ended the kiss.

  “Bedtime. We all need to get some sleep tonight. We’re going to have our work cut out for us with the apartment.”

  “Not to mention Hank’s appointment on Wednesday. He really needs to get to this one.”

  “He’ll be there,” Sebastian promised.

  Sebastian had grown accustomed to having Lily at the house and at the diner. He’d find her with Hank, laughing, or sitting at the kitchen table, sharing coffee and the paper in the morning. But now following her up the stairs felt strange. She’d gone beyond the common parts of the house and was now in the private area. It was odd. Not bad, not as if she were intruding, but different.

  “You can have the bathroom first,” he offered. “Sorry you’ll have to share it with me.”

  “No problem. And thanks.”

  She went to gather some things from the pile she’d put in his childhood room, and he walked down the hall to Hank’s room, cracked the door and peeked in. Hank was sound asleep.

  Sebastian stood there for a few minutes. His grandfather appeared younger in the dim light from the hall. Not that Hank appeared much different than he had during Sebastian’s childhood.

  He was sure Hank wouldn’t like hearing that, but there it was. His grandfather had been an old man when his mom had abandoned him here. He’d never complained about having to take care of a kid, though.

  Overflowing the bathtub didn’t mean anything. Anyone could have an accident.

  Anyone could have a momentary lapse and forget something.

  But when Sebastian paired it with the other things he’d noticed, it didn’t look good.

  He could see the light shining under the bathroom door. He went into his room and could hear Lily moving around.

  It was torture listening to the shower being turned on and knowing she was in it, only a wall away.

  It was something he hadn’t really considered—having Lily in the house and not being able to touch her because his grandfather was here.

  She started to sing in the shower.

  He couldn’t quite make out the words, but it was a happy tune. Well, not exactly a tune. It was supposed to be, but frankly, Lily had already proved that singing wasn’t her talent.

  Here she was flooded out of her apartment, her things soaked, some completely ruined. And instead of complaining, she was singing.

  Sebastian flexed his hand, and not for the first time, he wished he was more like Lily Paul.

  * * *

  LILY WENT FROM DREAMING to wide-awake in literally the blink of an eye.

  She sat straight up in bed and stared at the strange room.

  It took a few more blinks to orient herself.

  She was at Hank’s, in one of the spare rooms upstairs. More specifically, in Sebastian’s childhood room. He’d taken the other room, with the queen-size bed, when he’d come back to Valley Ridge. Frankly, she couldn’t imagine him fitting on a double.

  She remembered the state of her small apartment and realized that she was going to have a busy, busy day.

  She should get going now. She had a few home visits, but she could finish the laundry before she had to leave.

  She walked over to the drawers and noticed for the first time the shelf on the wall. It was filled with trophies. A big state championship for basketball. Another for soccer. Behind them, propped against the wall, were honor-roll awards. There was a picture of a basketball team. Sebastian was there, standing in the center. The two boys next to him could only be Colton and Finn. Even then, Finn wore glasses. It was a bit disconcerting to see Colton without the cowboy hat.

  She looked around the rest of the room. There wasn’t much childhood paraphernalia. Just the trophies, certificates and a few pictures.

  There was one other photo on the dresser. It was of a very young Sebastian, a younger Hank and a girl on the cusp of adulthood that could only be Sebastian’s mom. Leanne. Lily traced the girl’s face. She had to have been practically a baby herself when she’d had Sebastian.

  Leanne smiled down at him, and in her expression, Lily saw love.

  Maybe it wasn’t the kind of love that stuck around. Maybe it wasn’t even enough love to stay away from drugs. But it was love. And it was because of love that she’d left Sebastian here with Hank, where he’d be cared for and loved.

  Lily knew he’d wanted more. She knew because so had she. Her mother hadn’t left—not Lily or her father. She wasn’t the kind of mother Lily had dreamed of. But her mother loved her, too. She’d done her best to protect Lily.

  Someday, Lily hoped her mother learned to love herself and recognize she deserved more out of life than she had.

  Time for her morning ablutions. As she thought the word, she grinned and called herself Webster. If it were Sebastian teasing her, she’d inform him it was a superb word that always made her think of a Regency romance. But he wasn’t and she sort of regretted not having him there to debate the word’s merit.

  She was barefoot but dressed when Sebastian came downstairs.

  “Seriously, this is how you look the morning after a disaster like last night?”

  “How is that?” she asked.

  “Good enough to kiss good-morning...if that’s okay?”

  “Promise you’re not going to fall in love with me?” she teased, repeating their words from last night.

  “I promise if you promise.”

  She crossed her heart with her hand. “I do.”

  She stepped into his arms and gave him a proper good-morning. “Now, I don’t mind starting my days like that...at least until Colton and Sophie’s wedding.”

  “How did you sleep?” he asked.

  “Like a stone. You?”

  “Not so good. You see, I knew you were nearby. So close, but...”

  Hank came clunking down the stairs, and Lily took a step out of Sebastian’s arms. “But,” she repeated, nodding at the door as Hank walked through.

  “Good morning,” he sang out as he helped himself to a cup of coffee. “What’s on everyone’s agenda for today?”

  “I’m calling the insurance company and will store the rest of the furniture in the garage,” Sebastian said to Lily.

  “I can help after my house calls.”

  “Why are you moving Lily’s furniture?” Hank asked.

  “Because my place got flooded last night,” Lily said gently.

  For a moment, Hank looked blank.

  She continued, “The tub in your bathroom overflowed?”

  “My bathroom’s fine,” he said. “I just used it.”

  “Yes, it is. Sebastian cleaned it last night. All the water ran down into my apartment. So I’m staying here for a few days while we get it put to rights, if that’s okay with you?”

  He didn’t say anything more about the flooding. “Sweetie, you’ve always got a home with me. I told you that over and over. This is your home.”

  “I know, Hank. It’s good to hear, though.” She hugged him.

  Hank went to get coffee and Sebastian whispered, “He didn’t remember.”

  “Wednesday. We’ll get some answers on Wednesday.” But even as she said the words, Lily was certain she knew what the answers would be, and she didn’t believe it was something a prescription could cure.

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE NEXT THREE DAYS were hectic fixing up the apartment. Sebastian and Lily spent Sunday taking out the rest of whatever was damaged. Furniture and flooring. Sebastian got Jerry at the Farm and House Supply to open on Sunday, and he bought two new dehumidifiers. He’d lost track of how many t
imes he emptied them. On Monday, an insurance agent inspected the place and a Dumpster was delivered. He and Lily cleared the debris out of the drive, then Sebastian started pulling down plaster. When he got the plaster away from Lily’s exterior wall, he saw that even some of the insulation had gotten wet.

  He worried that they didn’t have a big enough Dumpster.

  By Tuesday night, Sebastian was exhausted and his arm ached, but he knew that he’d been very busy, and he’d been concerned about the doctor’s appointment right up until Lily hustled them to it first thing Wednesday morning.

  Sebastian sat in the doctor’s private office on a couch next to Lily. Hank sat on a chair across from them.

  “Let’s go,” Hank said, fidgeting. He’d been agitated since breakfast when he’d started to leave for the diner, and Lily had reminded him of the appointment. “This doctor’s rude. We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”

  “Hank, he stopped in to apologize for keeping us waiting and will be here soon,” Lily said. “It’s rare that doctors think to apologize for keeping patients waiting. I think that says a lot about him. He’s busy, but considerate.”

  “He’s rude.” Hank harrumphed and sat back in the chair.

  His grandfather was generally one of the most easygoing people Sebastian knew, but obviously not this morning. Sebastian didn’t blame him. He didn’t want to be here, either, but Lily was right—avoiding the problem wouldn’t make it go away. “Hank, it’ll be fine.”

  His grandfather rose and he muttered, “I know it’ll be fine. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m old. I know it. If I forget something now and then, it’s to be expected.”

  “Humor me, please, Hank?” Lily patted the seat on the couch between them, and Hank grudgingly came over and sat down.

  “Fine, we’ll see your doctor, but he’s going to tell you I’m old.”

  They sat in uncomfortable silence a few more minutes, then Dr. Flint came into the room. “I’m so sorry to keep you all waiting. I had an emergency this morning and it’s thrown my whole day off.”