The Time of Her Life

“Widow with college kids.” The distinction obviously made a difference. “Northstar provided a bio. If memory serves—and it still does, which is always a good thing—the new administrator is around forty. Not middle-aged.”

Not for Jay, who was pulling up the rear at thirty-two, or for Walter, who was pushing eighty-six. “I’m not even sure that’s her. There wasn’t a photo.”

“She could be my granddaughter, Jay. My great-granddaughter.”

“How’s that? You never had any kids.”

Walter grunted, narrowing his gaze at the reception desk. The woman currently greeting Amber wasn’t Jay’s idea of what a widow with college kids would look like, either. The suit emphasized her curves. She wasn’t tall, but not short, either. Just really curvy.

Withdrawing a business card from her jacket, she handed it to Amber, who leaped from the chair on immediate hyperalert. Reaching across the desk, she extended a hand in welcome.

Walter scowled harder.

Judging by Amber’s actions, this woman was the new administrator, whether she was what Jay expected or not. The woman flashed an easy smile that animated a heart-shaped face framed by a tumble of dark hair.

She was a very beautiful woman, which really shouldn’t be the first thing Jay noticed. Not if he planned to retire from the memory-care business with some peace of mind.

Competent. Experienced. Professional. Compassionate. Those were the things he should be looking for.

He’d noticed one of four.

Dressing professionally was a start, he supposed. And what did competence, experience or compassion look like, anyway? Jay shook off the thought. Worry was getting the best of him, but he wouldn’t admit that to Walter, who sought any reason to launch into The-Arbors-is-your-responsibility lecture again.

Jay had heard the arguments and the lectures. More than once, thank you.

“Okay. She’s professional,” he said. “Attractive. Stylish. A bit younger than I expected—”

“A bit?”

“Haven’t had access to her personnel file,” Jay reminded. “Technically she works for Northstar Management.”

“Which is why I can’t figure out why I’m adding her to our payroll. She doesn’t come cheap, Jay. You’ll be eating a fair sum if this deal falls through.”

The deal wouldn’t fall through. “We’ve got to assume some risk. It’s only fair. Northstar would acquire this property tomorrow if it wasn’t for me insisting on a transition period.”

As much as Jay wanted out of here—and he did in a big way—he couldn’t leave without witnessing Northstar’s procedural changes and being reassured they would uphold The Arbors’ standard of care. This new administrator had six months to actualize Northstar’s promise to provide growth potential while maintaining the excellence of service established by Jay, and generations of his family before him.

That was the best he could do. He was leaving, although Walter still hadn’t given up hope he might yet dissuade Jay. But the decision was made. He’d worked hard to put together a plan to insure the future for The Arbors, the staff and residents.

Walter could grouse all he wanted—the only thing left to do was get through the transition. Jay almost felt bad for the new administrator. Walter wouldn’t be a pushover. He’d compare her to Gran, whose shoes were awfully big to fill, as he was so fond of saying. So big that not even Jay had filled them.

But Walter only wanted what was best for The Arbors. That much Jay knew. The rest of the staff, too. They were all competent and experienced professionals. Well versed in what it meant to be an employee at The Arbors.

The Compassion to Care.

That catchphrase had been around since the very beginning, when Gran had started the place to care for her mother during an era when not much had been known about Alzheimer’s disease.

Gran had wanted to provide some quality of life, so she’d transformed a wing of the house on Granddad’s farm into an ALF, an assisted-living facility. This was long before Jay’s time, but he knew she’d added one bed at a time so her mother would have pleasant companions to fill her days.

Gran had learned all she could about Alzheimer’s care and kept up with the research. Her tiny ALF had grown from one bed in the main house to one hundred and twenty beds in a new three-story facility with a nursing center on the ground floor. The Arbors had become an A-list memory-care community with a long waiting list for admission.

Would this around-forty widow with college kids have the compassion and ability to carry on Gran’s legacy? Northstar Management had promised to send the perfect person to replace him so he could get on with living his life. Finally.

He’d given so much to this place that, if he didn’t get out soon, there would be nothing left of him. This place was sucking him dry.

“And you really won’t close the deal if you’re unhappy with—what’s her name again?” Walter asked.

“Ms. Adams. Ms. Susanna Adams.”

“If you’re unhappy with Ms. Susanna Adams?” Everything about Walter, from the creased white eyebrows to the hard stare in his eyes, which still read between the lines, broadcast his doubt.

“Really, Walter? You’re questioning my integrity?”

He shook his head. “Just your ability to see clearly.”

The same could be said about Walter and his stubborn refusal to even consider a future with Northstar. He’d seized any chance to talk some sense into Jay, had been rallying the troops to his side at every opportunity.

Fortunately, the troops knew who signed the paychecks and didn’t have Walter’s personal family ties to risk the potential consequences of a mutiny. Jay had shocked them all with his decision to sell. Now he was a wild card, and no one was sure how hard they could push him. Jay knew that as well as he knew everyone in The Arbors. If he hadn’t hired an employee personally, his mom, dad, gran or granddad had.

“I’ve covered all the bases, Walter. You know how many hours I spent with the attorneys creating the contracts. I know you didn’t forget because they billed you. And Alzheimer’s isn’t contagious. Not even with as many years as you’ve been here.”

Walter folded his arms over his chest, rocked back on his saddle shoes with his mouth compressed into a tight line. He’d promised Gran to look after the place until his dying breath, and he meant to do exactly that. Did all this stubborn resistance stem from worry that the new owners might force him to retire because of his age?

Jay hadn’t considered that before. “The very last thing I want is for the residents to sacrifice standard of care or my employees their jobs.”

“Former employees.”

“Not yet they’re not. And not until I’m sure everything is moving in the right direction.” The twenty-first century, to be exact. “I’ll never expand The Arbors as a private company the way Northstar can with Fortune 500 financial backing. They’re top-notch in senior care. The absolute best in the nation. We need to stay on the cutting edge with research so we can continue to provide the care Gran wanted.”

“You’re on the cutting edge. Your grandmother single-handedly got the Alzheimer’s Association to fund the research at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She’d have talked them into conducting it right here in Charlotte if UNC had been outfitted to handle the clinical trials.”

“Seven years ago.” Before everything had changed. Before his mom had wound up a resident in the facility she’d once help run. Before Gran had died. Before his dad had died. Before Mom had died. Before everything had become Jay’s responsibility.

“Don’t see why you can’t do the same, Jay.”

Jay was not going to defend himself, not standing in the hallway whispering. Walter was dead wrong on this, whether or not he admitted it. Gran had had Granddad to help, and income from the farm to foot the bills while she devoted herself to her Alzheimer’s crusade. She’d had Mom to help before she’d had to care for Mom, and Dad to help after Mom couldn’t. After Dad had died, Gran had Jay.

Jay didn’t have anyone. Well, there was Drew, of course. Major Drew Canady, Jay’s older brother who’d been smart enough to run off and join the Marines. He’d seen the handwriting on the wall and had made sure he wouldn’t be around to get stuck running the family business.

Now Drew had a life when Jay couldn’t even remember the last time he’d done anything but spend every waking moment dealing with the never-ending demands of this place. Dementia care frightened off most women fast, and he didn’t have time for his friends anymore.

So when in hell was Jay supposed to make time to lobby the state legislature or Alzheimer’s Association or pharmaceutical corporations or private medical research facilities and run The Arbors with its endless assessments, intakes, evaluations and treatment plans?

There were two hundred and fifty employees. There were one hundred and twenty residents, and most came with families who needed to be reassured, educated, informed and answered to about quality of care. There were volunteers and private companions and churches and all the outside resources that ministered to the residents to provide quality of life.

And quality of death. How many nights had Jay hoofed it here in the dark to meet funeral directors and deal with grieving families after a resident died?

Walter knew better than anyone what running this place entailed, and he’d heard all these arguments before. He might not want to retire until he was wheeled out of his office on a gurney, but he wouldn’t live forever.