West of Nowhere by K.G. MacGregor Page A

Amber had left on the credenza. “You can’t set drinks on wooden furniture, Amber. It leaves a ring.”
    All she could do was watch as Joy vigorously wiped the damaged spot. With her luck, the credenza was her father’s favorite piece of furniture…probably made it himself in woodshop as a teenager. “I’m sorry.”
    Joy sighed and gave up her efforts. “Don’t forget to lock up when you leave.”
    Amber clipped Skippy’s leash into place and carefully checked the front door to make sure it latched. “How about that, boy? We’ve been here less than an hour and already ruined something. I better start looking at the want ads.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “I didn’t just pick her up off the side of the road. It’s more complicated than that.” Joy knew she’d get nothing but grief over bringing a total stranger to their house, especially one with zero training in home health care. Wait until he found out she had even less in housekeeping.
    “Ah, what the hell…I don’t give a shit if she’s Lizzie Borden as long as I get out of here.”
    Getting her father home was as much a matter of his health as his sanity. In just the week since his accident, weight loss was noticeable in his face, neck and chest. It was important he not lose muscle mass, since his strength was what enabled him to maintain his independence.
    “What’s taking them so long? Why can’t I just leave?” he groused.
    “You know how these places are about rules. They insist on pushing everyone out in a wheelchair.” She ducked a flying box of tissues.
    “Smartass.”
    Her father, reclining on the bed, was already dressed in khaki shorts and a loose-fitting white oxford shirt, which Barbara had brought from home. Beneath his shirt was a Velcro-strapped shoulder brace, and on the outside, a sling. His only other personal effects were the clothes he’d been wearing when he slipped on the ramp at the American Legion hall. He was clean-shaven, and his short gray hair had been parted neatly, but on the wrong side.
    She couldn’t believe he’d sat still for someone to do that. He’d already ranted to her about the bathroom indignities, but now that she’d seen his surgical incision, it was clear why they were being careful not to let him do too much.
    “Your physical therapist is supposed to meet us at the house to go through all the exercises.”
    “He’s a putz. He has me balling up towels in my hand and twisting my neck from side to side. I keep telling him my hands and neck are just fine. All I need is a way to get in and out of my chair, and roll myself around. He says that’s not on his orders.”
    Joy sifted through the pages of exercises on the bedside table. “I guess I should take all these home so Amber can study them.”
    “So what’s this Amber person like? I figure she has to be cute or you wouldn’t have picked her up.”
    By his teasing tone, he was convinced there was something going on between the two of them, but Joy was sure that would change once he got his first look at her. He’d know better than to think she would go for someone so immature and irresponsible, and with a tattoo, no less. And then he’d give her hell for bringing home someone like that to take care of him.
    “She’s twenty-four, but still basically a kid who’s down on her luck, Pop. Her parents overdid it on the discipline end and she left home a few years ago without much of a plan.” She shared her idea about Amber getting health care certification in her off hours. “A little experience and responsibility under her belt could be just what she needs.”
    “How do you know she’s not going to run off with the silver?”
    “Well, first there’s the fact that we don’t have any silver. But honestly, she doesn’t strike me as someone who would do that.” What Joy saw was a vulnerable young woman, but telling her father that would prompt him to tease her about how her favorite make-believe scenario as a child was rescuing damsels in