Aging with Gracie (14 page)

“She and an assistant are planning to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Of course, they’ll give the residents a huge discount, so it will be more like volunteering.”

“Still, she must enjoy it.” Jack stood up and pulled the wet shirt away from his chest. “God has obviously given her a heart to help.”

“Absolutely,” Grace agreed. She could barely talk with Jack looking so gorgeous. “And I’m ecstatic about it. The women certainly don’t want me trying to fix their hair-dos. I can barely tackle my own.”

Grace’s previously tamed hair was already curling around her face from the steam in the room. She blew back a dark ringlet from her face with an exasperated puff.

Jack walked forward and captured a curl between his fingers.

“I don’t know.” He pulled the curl straight and found that her hair was actually quite long, past her shoulders even. “I’d say that I’m pretty impressed with it.”

“It’s a mess.” Grace brushed his hand away and took a step back in an attempt to regain some composure.

Her emotions went haywire every time he fixed his gaze on her, so she avoided his eyes and instead, walked away to look around the room. She tried counting to a hundred in an effort to calm her nerves, but she’d barely gotten to ten when Jack’s voice interrupted her.

“Then it’s a beautiful mess.”

His voice reached her over the hum of the whirlpool jets. Grace turned to find him only inches away from her face. He was so close that she could see each and every little hair of the stubble on his face. Thank goodness he hadn’t shaved that morning, she thought as her eyes traced his features. Nervously, she began to nibble on her lower lip.

Jack pressed a finger on the impression made by her teeth.

“Hey, don’t do that.” He tipped her chin up. “They’re too kissable.”

“Jack, this is inappropriate,” Grace mumbled, but she didn’t attempt to turn her face away.

“What’s inappropriate about it?” he wanted to know.

“We’re at work,” she told him. “We have to set a good example.”

“Grace, every little biddy around here has been trying to throw the two of us together.” His laugh boomed across the room. “And I have to say that I, for one, like the idea.”

“So do I.” Flustered, she’d said the first thing on her mind. “I mean...”

“You mean?” he raised his black brows.

“It’s just that...”

“It’s just that I think the two of us need to do some serious talking, Gracie Woodhouse,” Jack informed her. And before she could disagree, he silenced her with a quick kiss to her lower lip.

For a moment, Grace was stunned. Before she could even consider the repercussions, she did the first thing that came to mind.

“And I think that you need to cool off,” she informed him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and before he could gauge her intentions, pushed him backwards into the churning waters of the huge whirlpool.

Jack surfaced with a look a deadly calm on his face and moved toward the side of the pool. Before she could move away, he grasped her ankle.

“There’s just one thing you forgot, Sugar,” he told her as he caressed the inside of her calf.

“This pool’s a hot one, and I, for one, have no intention of cooling off where you’re concerned.”

Grace stood still as a statue and felt the moisture bead on her forehead.

“Jack,” she protested. “My phone…”

“Yeah, that could be a problem, Princess.” He inched his fingers up her leg. Finally, after a gentle squeeze, he let her go. He reached down and pulled his own phone from its holster on his belt. “And since mine happens to have run into a glitch, maybe you can run it down to the mobile store and pick me up another one.” He tossed her the wet phone. “I hope they can retrieve my information. It’s how I run my business, after all.”

Jack’s voice was so silky smooth that Grace couldn’t tell if he was mad or not. His words did meet their mark, though, and her heart suddenly felt an immense burden of guilt at her foolish action. It was certainly a short-lived victory in light of the consequences.

“I’m so sorry, Jack,” she began. “I didn’t even think about your phone.”

“Don’t worry, Princess,” he finally grinned. “I’d wager that I’ll get the best end of the deal in the long run. After all, now you
really
owe me.”

With that, he leaned back into the warmth of the water and began floating on his back, a difficult task considering that his water-filled, steel-toed work boots were practically dragging the bottom of the pool.

“I suppose you’re right, Mr. Ellis.” She reached down to brush a few drops of water from her leg. “So what do you have planned for my punishment?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Now, Gracie,” he chided her. “You know I’m smarter than that. Why in the world would I want to fold when I’m holding a winning hand.” He ducked his head under the water then resurfaced and trudged through the water toward the steps at the opposite side of the pool.

Grace watched him in amazement as she stood in the heat of the room and tried to catch her breath. Jack Ellis had to be the most frustrating man on the planet!
But what a man he was
!

With a secret smile, Grace glanced around the room once again, her gaze eventually resting back on the man who, in only a few months, had lassoed her heart. She shook her head with a grin, then, a bit overheated herself, headed back to the clutter of her office for a drink of water. She needed cooling off in the worst way!

•∞•∞•

“Lady, there’s no way that I’m taking that pill!” Grace heard Jack’s grandfather’s voice as she passed his room that night while on her evening rounds.

The “Senior” Jackson Ellis had temporarily moved into the residence to recover from shoulder surgery and was still adjusting to the ins and outs of living somewhere other than his home on the river. In his boredom, he had turned into a practical jokester and was constantly terrorizing the staff with his antics. The apple certainly hadn’t fallen far from the tree!

She paused at the door then gave it a quick knock.

A moment later, Sophie Marsden, the new medication nurse, came to the door.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” she whispered. She was a tiny slip of a girl, just out of nursing school, and from her flustered appearance, Grace knew that Jackson had been bullying her. She looked near the point of tears.

“I’ve assured Mr. Ellis that this white pill is just the generic for the antibiotic he has been taking, but he insists that he will only take two pills. A green one and a blue one.”

In an attempt to assure resident safety, Grace had recently converted the patient records to an electronic charting and medication system. Although Grace was about as far from a nurse as one could get...and thankful for the fact...she was computer savvy and very familiar with the new system.

She looked at both of the pre-packaged medications and compared them to the information on Sophie’s hand-held computer. Upon reading the name of one of the drugs, she glanced at Sophie and began to giggle.

“Are you sure that this is the right medication?” Grace asked.

Sophie pulled out a small drug book from her pocket. “I double-checked the name just to make sure.” She turned to a page and handed Grace the pill that Jackson had refused to take.

“Not that one,” Grace laughed. “I mean the other one. He actually takes...”

“The blue one?” she asked. “It says so right here in his chart. That’s not the one he had a problem taking.”

“But why is he taking it?” The question slipped out before Grace could stop it.

Sally was business as usual with her answer, though. “Well, in some cases they use it for pulmonary hypertension, but in most cases...” She paused and looked over Grace’s shoulder into the room.

“
That’s
what I’m talking about,” Grace cackled. “You don’t really think that Jackson Ellis...”

Sophie flushed and gave Grace a helpless look. “Well, there’s nothing about pulmonary hypertension on his history and physical.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“So you think─”

“─Well, why else would he be taking that pill?” The young nurse finally gave in to the humor of the situation and giggled along with Grace.

“But, his wife...” Grace hesitated and thought back to last night when she’d seen Mrs. Ellis leaving the center well after dark.

No way
! She could hardly believe what was going on under the roof at Mansfield Park. Under
her
roof! She was shocked. For crying out loud! They were in their eighties! Not to mention that the center didn’t even have locks on the residents’ doors!

“They
are
married, Grace,” Sophie interrupted her thoughts.

“I suppose you’re right,” Grace shook her head.

“What do you want me to do?” the nurse asked.

“I’ll take care of it,” Grace told her.

Grace wasn’t about to let the elder Jackson Ellis boss her or staff around any more than she was going to let his grandson. She’d been bullied all her life, and she was beginning to like standing up for herself...and others. She took the medication from Sophie and headed into the room where Jackson was kicked back in his recliner watching a baseball game. He looked up and smiled.

“Hello, Grace,” the man greeted her. “You’re looking lovely as always.”

“Hi, Mr. Ellis,” she smiled and walked over to where he was sitting.

Before she could utter another word, the man made a spectacle of sniffing the air.

“Girl, what in the world is that smell?” He sniffed the air again. “Did you tangle with a polecat?”

“A polecat?”

“A skunk!”

“Oh, you...” She forced herself to keep her cool. Those Ellis men were going to be her undoing! “Did Jack tell you to mention that?”

“What do you mean?” he pretended innocence as he adjusted his arm sling.

“You know very well what I mean,” she huffed.

“Grace, my dear, I’m just teasing you,” he chuckled as he let down the footrest and stood in greeting...a gentlemanly wolf in sheep’s clothing...just like his grandson. “Although, Jack
did
happen to tell me about your little adventure on the mountain. Just don’t let our mountain scare you away,” he smiled.

“Since being around here, Sir, I’ve learned not to scare too easily,” she returned his smile. As frustrating as those Ellis men could be, it was simply impossible not to love them to pieces!

“So what brings you by to see an old man like me? You should be chasing that grandson of mine. Of course, he’s already smitten, so I guess you don’t have to do much chasing.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Ellis,” Grace rolled her eyes. With her embarrassing task ahead of her, she couldn’t allow him to get the upper hand. A tiny bit of good-humored disrespect was just what the elderly prankster needed.

Deciding to cut to the chase, she leaned back against the built-in bar. “Sophie’s waiting outside. She tells me you have a problem with your medication?”

“Honey, you know as well as I do that nurses make mistakes. Helpless old fogies like me just need to know that what they’re being given is the right stuff.” He threw his hand up in the air. “Shoot fire, little lady, if I’d taken everything that someone wanted to give me over the years, I would have ended up half-comatose and drooling on my Bingo card.”

“You? Helpless?” Grace held out the pill. “Well, let me set your mind at ease, Mr. Ellis. I checked the drug book with Sophie, and the pharmacy simply replaced your green antibiotic tablet with a white generic one. It’s the same drug. Just a different color.”

“Well,” he huffed, “As long as it’s
you
telling me what’s what.” He held out his hand, and she placed the white pill on his palm. On a whim, Grace held back the blue one. She just couldn’t resist the temptation.

“I know that I can trust you. Your Granddaddy’s been my best friend for fifty years.” He sat back down in his recliner. “By the way, do you mind grabbing me a bottle of water from the fridge?” He pointed to the mini-refrigerator. Grace fetched a bottle of water, and he took a gulp to ease the huge pill down.

“Well,” Grace turned to leave, “I suppose I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Uh, excuse me, Grace?” Jackson called as she was closing the door.

“Sir?” She peeked her head back into the room.

“By chance, did little Sophie leave another pill for me to take?”

“Another pill?” she feigned ignorance.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Maybe a blue one?”

“A blue one like this?”

He didn’t even have the grace to blush. Like grandfather, like grandson. Both of them were bold as brass.

“That’s the one I’m talking about. Excellent!” He reached for the packaged pill and tucked it into the pocket of his bathrobe. “I’ll have to save it for a special occasion.” He grinned and Grace had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing.

“But what about your shoulder?” she finally blurted out. He was only two weeks into rehabilitation from a complete shoulder replacement.

“Honey, this pill has nothing to do with my shoulder.”