Gran had taken care of him when he’d needed her most, and he hated that he hadn’t been able to do the same for her.

“I’m not much of a fluffer,” he told her, although he dutifully tried to arrange the wired pine strands in a more artful way.

“You’re my best helper,” Gran answered from the wheelchair she needed most days when she left her room. “You carried all those planters and baskets for the Carter wedding last weekend. They had more wisteria than any one event could ever need. I never thought you’d be able to haul them, but you did. My strong boy.”

A sharp pain pierced Gabe’s heart. He didn’t remember the event in particular, but until his return to Magnolia after being discharged from the army, he hadn’t worked in his grandma’s shop since he’d been fifteen. “I think the Carters got married a while back, Gran,” he said casually.

Her doctor had told him the confusion was normal. According to the medical team, it was still too early to know whether his grandma was suffering from full-on dementia or if she’d regain her lucidity as her body healed.

A mild stroke had complicated the recovery from her hip replacement. Her speech was still slightly slurred, and it took her longer to process the thoughts she wanted to say and speak them out loud. Her right hand lay close to her body, fingers curled in on themselves despite weekly physical therapy sessions. The doc assured him that she was making progress, and for the most part, she kept her sunny attitude despite the physical limitations that now plagued her.

Gabe wanted to move her back home, but she insisted she was settled in the nursing care facility on the outskirts of town. The building was a renovated former elementary school, with three wings coming off the main common area. He knew that they were each marked by the level of care residents needed.

His grandmother was in the middle unit, which meant she had full-time nurses available to her but still was considered mobile with some freedoms. It was also the wing that was designated for Alzheimer’s patients, which broke Gabe’s heart even as the doctor wouldn’t commit to that diagnosis quite yet.

“I don’t remember it specifically,” he told her, stepping off the ladder and taking her hand. At her request, he’d brought a few boxes of greenery and bows to decorate her wing’s community area. “But if you were in charge of the flowers, I’m sure they were amazing.”

She studied him for a long moment. “A while?”

He rubbed his thumb against the paper-thin skin near the base of her thumb. “I bet you’ve lost count of the number of weddings you’ve provided flowers for,” he told her.

“The shop used to be a lot busier,” she said, her gaze suddenly unfocused and tinged with sorrow. “Nobody calls anymore.”

“I’ve updated the website,” he told her with a gentle smile. “And linked the store to a few national florist databases. We’re getting more business again. When you come back, there will be plenty to keep you busy.”