Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jack

Swan View Pond Adult Living Center

IF HE HAD NOT picked the job himself, Jack would have accused his supervisor of sending him to Purgatory rather than to Earth. There was not anything glamorous or even pleasant about being a janitor at an assisted living facility. He’d cleaned up things that he preferred not to think about.

But it was the perfect place for him to be just now. His efforts to talk with Mike had come to naught. Maybe Gabrielle D’Angelo would be more willing to listen to him.

He knew where she would be now. Every morning at ten, she began teaching a class in the multipurpose room. Every morning at eleven, she collected the baby from whoever had watched Carol for the past hour. Every morning at eleven-fifteen, after taking the baby to one of the kitchens available for the residents, she heated the baby’s bottle and returned to the privacy of her office to feed her. She never varied the schedule.

And Jack was glad to see, as he followed her from the multipurpose room, his mop and bucket in tow, that she had not today. Just as he was about to speak to her, she walked to a stairwell and opened the door.

He was shocked. She always went to get the baby after finishing up her session.

Leaving his bucket and mop leaning against the wall, he climbed the stairs. Her footsteps had a sound he could only define as determined. He was curious what had upset her usual pattern.

By the time he reached the third floor, Jack was panting. He still had not accustomed himself to the weight of gravity and the whole hassle of carrying around a corporeal being. It was getting easier every day, but he hoped he would be returning to Heaven before being here felt normal again.

Opening the door at the top of the stairs, he glanced in both directions and saw Gabrielle D’Angelo turning a corner to the right. He slipped out into the hallway papered in green and cream wallpaper and followed her. It would be, he reminded himself disgustedly, so much easier to do this if he still had his wings.

He heard a knock and her calling softly, “Mrs. Lucas, it’s Gabby. May I come in?”

Gabby! He had to remember to call her that instead of the name he had read in Mr. Shepard’s prayer.

He edged closer. He did not hear any reply, but she must have because she opened the door and went in. With a speed that was hampered by his human form, he managed to reach the door and keep it from closing completely.

“I wanted to make sure you were feeling okay,” Gabby said as he eased the door back open a bit to allow him to see as well as hear.

On the other side of the door was a room with what appeared to be a bathroom and a bedroom to one side. It was painted a serene green several shades darker than the wallpaper. A sofa and three chairs filled most of the space, leaving little room for the wheelchair set to one side. On the walls were a collection of watercolors. All were of lakes, or maybe they were different views of a single lake. He could not be certain. On top of a small television was a photograph of a handsome man and a much younger version of the woman sitting in the very center of the sofa. She was staring at the opposite wall, not at Gabby who was walking toward her.

“I am fine,” the older woman said in a prim tone that suggested she did not appreciate Gabby coming to check on her.

“Mrs. Lucas...” Gabby put her hands on the back of one of the chairs. “I don’t know any way to say this other than bluntly, so please excuse me.”

“Say what you must.” Mrs. Lucas still did not look at her.

“If you’re skipping my classes because you think the baby will be there, you—”

“What makes you think that?” Acrimony oozed into her voice.

“Because you hightail it away whenever Ceebee’s near.” Gabby shifted, and Jack guessed she had not intended to be that blunt. “What I meant to say, Mrs. Lucas, is that she’s never in my classes. I wish you’d come back and join us.”

The old woman finally looked at her, and Mrs. Lucas’s eyes snapped with anger. “And listen to everyone going on and on about the baby? No thank you. I thought when I first moved in here, that it was a home for adults. Now it’s been turned into a daycare center. First, one baby. Then who knows what’ll happen next?”

“You know that’s not going to happen. Mrs. R would never allow it.”

“She’s allowed you to bring your baby here. What if someone else wants to drag her kid to work every day? Soon there’ll be babies everywhere!”

Gabby clasped her hands behind her back. From where he stood, Jack could see how they trembled. With suppressed rage or dismay? Without seeing her face, he could not be sure.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mrs. Lucas, and I’ve made every effort to make sure you weren’t inconvenienced by Ceebee.”

“Of course I’m inconvenienced. You brought her here, didn’t you?” All the venom in the woman’s eyes erupted into her voice.

Gabby was silent for a long moment, then said quietly, “Again, I apologize, Mrs. Lucas. If there’s anything I can do to make it more comfortable for you to come to the classes, let me know. We miss you.”

“Nobody misses me. Everyone is fixated on that baby. You’d think it was the only baby ever born.” Her voice caught. “The old fools. They’ll get attached to it, then you’ll change jobs or leave for some other reason.”

“I’m not planning to leave Swan View.”

“But you can’t plan everything. Some things happen whether you expect it to or not.”

“Mrs. Lucas—”

“Thank you for checking on me. Now if you’ll excuse me...”

Behind her back, Gabby’s hands opened and closed even more tightly in obvious frustration, but she said, “Of course, Mrs. Lucas. Have a lovely day.”

“I might have if...” She turned to look at the wall again.

As Jack inched away from the door, he heard Gabby’s soft sigh. He hurried back down the stairs before she caught sight of him. He ducked into the janitorial closet, allowing her to go past him.

His sigh was as deep as hers when he saw Gabby’s dejected stance. He put his hand over his chest. How could he have forgotten how a breaking heart ached? Both Gabby and Mrs. Lucas were hurt by their conversation. Now was not going to be a good time to talk to her. He must wait for exactly the right moment. He hoped it would be soon.

TWO DAYS LATER, Jack was waiting for Gabby as she collected the baby and went toward the kitchen. Yesterday, she had not come to work, and he had heard the residents talking about the baby having her monthly check-up. There had been some debate and more than a few laugh-filled bets made on how much weight the baby had gained since her last visit. Except for Mrs. Lucas, the other oldsters were thrilled to have the baby as part of their lives.

He let Gabby walk past, carrying the baby in the plastic seat she lifted out of the car each morning. Her steps were light today, and he guessed all had gone well at the doctor yesterday. Or maybe she and Mike were not still at odds. That thought was pleasing, even though he could not think of a single way he could find out if that was true.

“Gabby?”

She looked back over her shoulder and gave him a kind smile. “Hi! You’re the new guy, right?”

“Yes. I’m Jack.”

“Jack, I’ve been hearing great things about you. The nurses and the rest of the staff think you’re doing a fabulous job with keeping things running and cleaned up.” She leaned toward him and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Some of the nurses are saying that you must have an identical twin or even you’re a triplet because you get so much done.”

He smiled, pleased in spite of himself. Pride was supposed to have been left behind when he reached Heaven. Maybe he’d gotten a new dose of it along with his corporeal being.

“So this is the famous Christmas Carol,” he said looking down at the baby in the carrier. “I think almost everyone in the assisted living facility has adopted her as another grandchild.”

“I think you’re right.” Her smile dimmed only for a second.

“You’re lucky to have so many people care about her. Sometimes it’s tough for young folks because they don’t have much family around when they start their own.”

“It’s been tough at times.” She tucked in the blanket that the baby had kicked aside. “But I’ve got two wonderful helpers. My landlord has been willing to babysit in a pinch.”

“And your other helper? Someone here?”

“No, a good friend who also lives in the building.”

Jack looked away as her smile divulged that her feelings toward Mike Archer were much stronger than friendship. Gabby D’Angelo was in as complete denial as Mike Archer.

“I don’t know what I would have done without Mike and Mr. Shepard,” she went on. She told Jack about how her landlord had insisted on taking care of Ceebee so she and Mike could go out to dinner.

Jack asked, “So you and Mike are more than friends?”

“We’re good friends.” She again did not meet his eyes, but he could not accuse her of avoiding them while she was carefully setting the carrier on the counter next to the refrigerator. Opening the door, she took out a bottle. She set it in the microwave and pushed a couple of buttons. “He’s been there for us through most of this since Ceebee arrived, but our whole situation could change at any time. Nothing lasts forever.”

“That’s pretty cynical.”

“No, just matter-of-fact. Mr. Shepard’s daughter has been trying for over a year now to persuade him to move in with her and sell the house.”

“And would you stay?”

“Who knows? It’d depend on the new landlord and whether someone wants to convert it back to a single family house.” She laughed. “I’m not concerned. Mr. Shepard isn’t interested in selling. I expect to be there for a long time.”

“Along with your good friend Mike?”

“I hope so, but you know how friendships are.” She toyed with a stack of paper cups. “Some last a long time. Others come and go.”

“And you think Mike is the come and go type?”

She glanced at him, dismay widening her eyes before she looked hastily away and squared her shoulders. “This is a dreary turn of conversation. Why look for a cloud when you’re surrounded by silver linings?”

“Like that beautiful baby?”

“Yes. She’s a real joy.” She opened the microwave before it beeped.

“I bet your friends think so, too.”

“They do.” She took the baby out of the carrier, sat on a nearby chair and began to feed her.

“It looks as if you have it all together.”

She laughed. “An illusion. I keep trying to get it together, then life comes along and throws me some sort of curve ball.” She smiled down at the baby. “So I’ve learned to keep my plans fluid.”

“Your plans with your little family?”

“Yes, the two of us—”

“The four of you with Mr. Shepard and your friend Mike.”

“I told you that I can’t plan on that lasting forever.”

“I know you can’t plan everything,” he said, echoing Mrs. Lucas’s words. “Some things happen whether you expect it to or not.”

“So I’ve heard lately.”

He hesitated, then knew he had to stop skirting the issue and get to the point. His supervisor expected him to solve the problem, not just stand around chatting about related issues. Taking a deep breath, he said with false serenity, “Maybe that’s the situation with you and the baby and your friend Mike.”

She flinched. Just as Mike had when Jack pressed him for information about his relationship with Gabby. “What do you mean? Do you know... ? How could you know—I mean—” She halted herself. Standing, she looped her arm around the carrier’s handle and excused herself with some flimsy explanation of a forgotten phone call she needed to make.

Jack stared upward in frustration and whispered, “Now what do I do?”