At My Daughter's Baby Shower, My Husband Gave My Place to My Best Friend novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Tom's POV: A Door That Locks

Tom's POV

Helen came to the lumber yard on Saturday afternoon, and I knew by the way she parked that she was frightened.

She parked straight, and then she sat in the truck for a while.

I walked out and opened her door.

"I need to ask you something," she said.

"Ask."

"The woman from Maple Court is coming tomorrow. Do you know that place?"

"I know it."

I did know it.

It was the brick building on Hamilton Road with the nice flower beds and the locked doors.

I had driven there every day for thirty-one days.

"I don't want to bring up your wife," she said.

"Bring her up."

I led her into the office, where the heater ticked, and shut the door so the men in the yard couldn't hear.

"She got sick at fifty-two," I said. "Early onset. I kept her home for three years. By the end she didn't sleep, and she'd walk out of the house in her nightgown at four in the morning."

Helen stood with her bag held in front of her.

"I found her in the road twice. Once she hit me, and she didn't know my name. My son told me I'd kill myself if I didn't put her somewhere."

"You have a son?"

"He lives in Oregon. He called every Sunday. He's a good boy."

I looked at my hands.

"I put her in Maple Court in March. She died there in April."

Helen took a breath.

"The last week I was there, a young nurse took my arm in the hall and said they were so glad family could make these decisions. She said it so kindly. They get a lot of practice."

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