Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida (12 page)

Jerry had looked in all of the rooms and still his parents were nowhere in sight. Their queen-size bed showed signs that someone had lain down on top of the comforter; it was still rumpled. It had only been an hour and a half since he’d dropped them off—not nearly enough time to get the rest they said they needed.

At least his mother was gone, too, so they were probably together. He would have been more worried if his dad had gone out by himself since even at the early stage, the Alzheimer’s took away his sense of direction.

He’d hoped to treat his parents to lunch out, but since he had no idea where they were or when they’d be back, he decided to fix something at the condo. As he put the finishing touches on club sandwiches, he heard the door open and slam shut. Then his mother’s voice echoed through the condo.

“Harold, you can be such a pill sometimes.”

Jerry cringed. Before his parents were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, they rarely argued. Now the tension was so tight, he felt like he was walking on eggshells most of the time.

“Mom, Dad, I have lunch ready,” he called out, trying his best to sound cheerful.

His dad was the first to appear in the kitchen doorway. “What did you fix?”

“Sandwiches.” Jerry gestured toward the table where he’d put their heaping plates.

“That’s not lunch,” his dad grumbled. “It’s a snack.”

His mother stabbed her finger toward the chair. “Just sit down, Harold. When your son goes to this much trouble, you don’t need to act out.”

“He’s your son, too.”

Jerry cleared his throat. “When I came back and didn’t see anyone here, I was worried.”

His dad pointed to his mom. “Your mother got some lamebrained notion that we could go watch turtles mate.” He snorted. “That sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry.”

“That’s not exactly true, Harold, and you know it.” She turned to Jerry. “One of the ladies downstairs told me that this is turtle nesting season. I just wanted to see if I could find some of their nests.”

“Did you see any?” Jerry asked.

Once again, his dad spoke up. “All we saw was a bunch of half-naked bodies covered in grease and sand.”

“Stop complaining, Harold.” Jerry could hear the weariness in his mother’s voice.

“Oh, I’m not complaining.” He lifted a section of his sandwich and inspected it. “What all did you put in here? No onions, I hope. They give me heartburn.”

“No onions,” Jerry assured him. “Just a little honey maple turkey, some turkey bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.”

“Turkey bacon, huh?” His dad made a throaty noise. “That’s not real bacon. What’s wrong with pork?”

“Nothing’s wrong with pork bacon if you don’t care about your cholesterol,” his mother said.

“No one ever worried about cholesterol until some health nuts started telling everyone it was bad for us.”

Jerry held his hands up to silence his parents. “Okay, you two. That’s enough. You never let us kids get away with arguing at the table, and I’m not going to let y’all do it. Let’s say our blessing and enjoy our food. If you want to argue later, fine. But not now.”

“Did you hear the boy?” Jerry’s dad grinned with pride. “He actually paid attention all those years.”

“So tell me more about the nesting turtles,” Jerry asked his mother.

“According to our neighbor, loggerheads make nests on the beach around this time every year.”

“Sounds interesting,” Jerry said. “I wonder if we’ll see them.”

Jerry noticed his dad intently eating his sandwich and pretending not to listen. His mother shot a glance in her husband’s direction then turned back to face Jerry.

“I certainly hope so. It would be a shame to miss something so special…so natural to this place.”

After lunch, both of his parents headed off to their room for naps. Jerry took his time cleaning the kitchen and trying to think of something his parents might enjoy later. Maybe Amanda would know of something.

When Amanda’s cell phone rang, she was tempted not to answer. One of the two people who ever called her was with her, and the other—her mother—was on a cruise with some friends.

“I hate it when people just let their phones ring,” Lacy said. “At least look and see who it is.”

Amanda pulled it out and saw a different area code, so she punched the T
ALK
button and said, “Hello?”

The sound of Jerry’s voice gave her an instant tingle. She rubbed the goose bumps on her arm and glanced over to see if Lacy noticed. The smile on her sister’s lips let her know nothing had gotten past her sister’s eagle eyes.

“I’m looking for something to do with my folks this afternoon. Any ideas?”

“Um…” She glanced over to Lacy, who watched with a smirk. “Can I call you back in a few minutes?”

“Sure, take your time.”

“It’ll only be a few minutes,” she said. “Want me to call this number?”

“That’s fine.”

As soon as she flipped her phone shut, she glared right back at Lacy. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

Lacy tilted her head back and laughed. “You should see the goofy look on your face when you talk to Jerry.”

“How do you know it’s Jerry?” She cleared her throat to get rid of the squeak in her voice.

Lacy was still grinning. “C’mon, Amanda. I can tell.”

Time to change the subject. “Okay, so I need to call him back with something for him and his parents to do this afternoon.”

Lacy lifted a finger to her chin as she thought about it. She really was a sweet person—just a little misguided about some things. “What do they like?”

“I’m thinking maybe a movie,” Amanda said.

“They can do that anywhere. How about one of the day cruises?”

“It’s probably too late for that,” Amanda replied. “But that’s a good idea for another day.”

“There’s always shopping.”

Amanda smiled. “Yes, and I need to call him back so we can finish ours.”

She pulled up Jerry’s number and punched Call. He answered before the end of the first ring. “What took you so long?” His chuckle let her know he was kidding.

“Why don’t you take them to a movie today and maybe to one of the day cruises tomorrow?”

“Good idea,” he said. “Any chance you might want to join us for a movie since your store is closed?”

“Sounds good, but I’m at the mall with my sister, and we probably won’t be back for another hour or two.”

“The folks are napping, so that sounds perfect.” He paused before adding, “That is, if you’d like to join us.”

“Okay,” she blurted. “Want me to meet you somewhere?”

“We can pick you up at your place,” he offered. “Or if you’re not comfortable with us doing that…” His voice trailed off.

Since he’d put it that way, she didn’t want to say no. However, it now seemed an awful lot like a date.

“That’s fine.” She gave him her address as Lacy stared at her, looking smug.

Once she got off the phone, Lacy smirked but didn’t say a word. That drove Amanda even crazier than if she’d had to endure her sister’s relentless taunting.

“Okay, so I’m going out with Jerry and his parents. Are you happy now?”

Lacy quirked an eyebrow. “The question is, are
you
happy?”

Amanda looked away. “Stop it. Let’s get this shopping thing over with so we can get back home.”

“For once, that sounds like an excellent idea,” Lacy said. “As much as I enjoy shopping, your love life must come first.”

“Wait a minute!” Amanda felt the heat rise to her face as she thrust her fist onto her hip. “No one said anything about a love life.”

“Then don’t get so worked up. I just made a comment.”

Lacy was right. “Okay, we can let it drop then.” Amanda had gotten way too worked up over a silly little comment.

“Besides, Brad and Timmy are stopping by a little later. They’re taking me to dinner.”

“Do you think that’s such a good idea, with Timmy being one of your students?”

Lacy looked genuinely puzzled. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Jerry went out onto the balcony to read the Sunday paper. He heard the sliding glass door and turned to face his mother. “Did you get enough rest?”

“Yeah, until the bear’s snoring woke me up.”

“Mom, seriously, you and Dad need to stop this sniping at each other.”

Her shoulders sagged as she stared out over the Gulf. “Yes, you’re probably right. We’ve gotten into a bad habit, I’m afraid.”

“Then just break it.”

She looked at him and smiled. “It’s not as easy as all that. We’ve been doing this for years—since you kids grew up and left.”

“I’ve been around you enough to know it hasn’t always been this bad. Last year when we came here on vacation, you actually seemed to enjoy each other.”

“Anyone can behave for a couple of weeks,” she said. “If you think back, your father and I barely spoke to each other during the whole vacation last year.”

Now that he thought about it…

“We made a pact to not talk so you wouldn’t worry. But this year, we didn’t. I figured you needed to see how things really were.”

Jerry was puzzled. “But why would you ever hide anything from me? I’m your son. I love both of you no matter what.”

She leaned down and gave him a brief hug but quickly straightened up. “We love you, too, and that’s why we tried to protect you from the ugly truth.”

Worry coursed through him. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

She shook her head. “Nothing you haven’t already seen on this trip. Your father is getting more and more difficult to live with, and we haven’t gotten along in a long time. I’m not sure how much longer I can control him.”

Jerry looked out over the water as he inhaled deeply and slowly blew out his breath before turning to face her. “Have you thought that maybe you shouldn’t try to control him?”

“You’ve seen him. He wanders off, and he gets mad at the slightest thing.”

Jerry nodded. “Yes, and you fuss at him all the time. Maybe you should try a different approach.”

She folded her arms. “Like what?”

He shrugged. “Maybe smile a little more and let him know you love him.”

With a flip of her hand, she backed into the condo. “He knows I love him. I wouldn’t put up with his nonsense if I didn’t.”

After she closed the door, he lowered his head and prayed for his parents. Yes, things were getting increasingly difficult, but it wasn’t just his dad. His mother’s lack of tolerance didn’t make the situation any easier to deal with. And maybe, just maybe, he was guilty of interfering a tad too much.

Jerry went back inside as his dad came out of the bedroom. “Dad, why don’t you go comb your hair and go for a walk with me?”

“You don’t like my hair?” He reached up and smoothed it. “You should see how some of the kids wear theirs.”

His mom laughed. “You’re not a kid. You just act like—”

She stopped as Jerry turned and gave her a warning look. She rolled her eyes and ducked back into the kitchen.

“Where do you wanna go?” his dad asked.

“Just around the block. I have plans for us in a little while, and I’d like to talk to you first.”

After a brief pause, his dad nodded. “Go on outside. I’ll be right there.”

Jerry waited less than a minute before his dad joined him. “Okay, so what did I do wrong this time?”

“I never said you did anything wrong. It’s just that…well, I’ve noticed how you and Mom bicker a lot.”

His dad chuckled. “Is that what you call it? Seems to me more like nagging.”

Jerry snorted. “Dad, seriously, this has me worried.”

“That’s your problem. You worry too much. Your mother and I are fine. We’re annoyed at some things, but it’s nothing you can do anything about.” He took a few steps before adding, “None of us can do anything about it—not even the doctors.”

“I’d like to see you at least try to get along.”

The elderly man snickered. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Speaking of fun,” Jerry said, “I’ve made plans for you, Mom, and me to go to the movies with Amanda this afternoon.”

“Did you tell your mother yet?”

“No, not yet. I—”

His dad interrupted. “Why don’t you run along with Amanda and leave us here?”

“No.” The word escaped Jerry’s mouth too quickly. He cleared his throat. “I’m here with you and Mom, and I want us to do stuff together. Besides, I think Amanda might enjoy it more if it doesn’t seem like too much of a date.”