He folded his arms over his chest and stared at the wall. He was unable to think of anything but Mary Beth. She was doing the right thing by his brother. Parr only hoped that it was right for her. But that wasn’t his call.

He sat in the empty room for several more minutes. Then he left, no more at peace than he had been before.

A nurse assistant treated Alma to a sponge bath, with Howard on the other side of the curtain waiting patiently until the bath was over. He rose when the assistant trundled past him, pushing the bathing items on a small trolley.

“You decent?”

“More or less.” Attired in a quilted bed jacket, her thick hair combed into a semblance of an updo, Alma called him in.

“Before you go,” she said, “I want to talk about that video chat. Seemed to me that Mary Beth looked sad, awfully sad.”

“I couldn’t say, Alma,” Howard replied. “I didn’t talk to her until the very end.”

“Something isn’t right between her and Bobby Joe,” Alma insisted. “They did quarrel, more than once, and I still don’t know exactly why. And he seemed so upset the night of the crash. He came to get me right after he’d been with her.”

Howard listened.

“When they were holding hands just now, showing off that ring, I got the feeling that she was doing it for us. Not for him.”

“Parr took the video,” Howard pointed out. “So whatever you saw was his doing. I don’t think she was showing off. That’s not like Mary Beth.”

“I won’t argue. You know her best.”

“Yes, I do. And I think you’re reading too much into it, Alma.”

She pulled a folded tissue from the pocket of her bed jacket. “Maybe.” Her voice was shaky. “But I’m worried. Bobby Joe looked half alive.”

The frailness of the woman making the statement wasn’t lost on Howard. Nothing could stop Alma from being a mother hen to her boys.

“Now, now. Don’t make yourself crazy. He’s doing better, everyone says so. You just think about taking care of yourself for once.”

She wiped her eyes. “Not sure I know how. I still can’t feel my toes or move my legs. And I hate being stuck in bed.”

Howard patted her arm. “Quit fussing. Lie back. Your favorite show is coming on, I checked the TV guide. I have to confess that I saw this episode, but we can still watch it together.”

“Don’t you dare tell me how it turns out, Howard Caine. And don’t doze off halfway through. You’re having dinner with your daughter.”