Della laughed, surprised to hear this refined old lady cussing. She filled in the gory details for Rosemary, assuring her she was fine. “Plenty more where he came from. And Tucker’s going to help me pick my matches from now on. He’s also going to teach me to drive.”

Their first lesson was tomorrow morning at eight. She’d studied her booklet all weekend and was going to the municipal offices after work to take her written test for the instruction permit. Della was so excited she couldn’t help but grin crazily. A fact not lost on Rosemary.

“Is he now?” Another quirked eyebrow was followed by a long speculative look.

“Uh-huh.” Della looked away from that imperious eyebrow in case Rosemary read too much into her excitement.

A knock sounded at just the right time, and both she and Rosemary glanced across to find Ray Carmody loitering in the open doorway, flowers in his hand. Ray had been a resident of the old folks’ home for a few years. He was a tall, elegant man with close-cropped gray hair, dark skin that was remarkably unwrinkled, and a frame still impressively erect, despite his eighty-plus years. He’d worked for the electric company for five decades.

His eyes darted between the two women. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company. I’ll come back.”

“Don’t be an old fool, Ray. It’s just Della.” Rosemary swung her legs around so her feet were planted on the ground and gestured for Ray to enter. He looked like he wanted to flee, but he entered anyway.

“I found these out on my walk today. Rocky Mountain columbine.” He thrust the collection of blue-and-white wildflowers in her direction. “I thought you might like them.”

Rosemary reached for them, staring at the petals. “So they are.” She sniffed them, then shook her head at Ray. “What on earth are they doing out in February?”

“I think the heat the last couple of days got ’em all confused.”

“Well, thank you. I love them.”

Ray beamed, the smile finally making some slight crinkles in the otherwise smooth skin of his face. Neither of them said anything for a beat or two, just kept smiling at each other.

Hmmm.

Obviously remembering they weren’t alone, he cleared his throat and dragged his attention from Rosemary. “How’d your date go, Della?”

Della almost laughed. This was the disadvantage of working in a place where people had too much time on their hands and about the most exciting thing that ever happened was when they switched out cobbler for pumpkin pie on the menu in October.

But, having grown up without grandparents, Della liked that these people looked out for her and treated her like their collective granddaughter. It had been strange at first, but she’d quickly become fond of the affection.