“You too,” she returned. “But, um…Dela wants to see you too. In her office.”

I focused more closely on her and saw her usual pretty, benevolent features were shadowed with something.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Dela wants to speak with you, hon,” she repeated.

I stared at her, nodded and went to the door that led to the administration wing. I didn’t have to punch in the code because Ruth buzzed me in.

I walked down the short hall to Dela’s office, jacket over my arm, purse over my shoulder, and stopped in her opened office door. I knocked on the jamb, and when her head came up and she looked at me, I said, “Hey, Dela. Ruth wanted me to check in with you?”

“Yes, Amelia, come in, would you? Have a seat.”

She swept an arm to the chairs in front of her messy desk, and cautiously, I moved to one, feeling funny.

I’d been working there a while. I knew the lay of the land. I knew my duties. I knew when to pitch in, where and how. I knew the chain of command. I took tough stuff and easy stuff. Unless they thought I was a Nazi, all the residents liked me. I thought I did a good job.

I could not imagine I’d done something wrong.

Studying Dela’s face as I sat and tucked my purse and jacket into my lap, I couldn’t get a read on if it was saying I was in trouble or something else.

I just knew whatever it was saying wasn’t good.

“What’s going on?” I asked once I’d settled.

“Amelia, honey, worst part of this job but I have bad news for you, girl.”

I tensed.

She gave it to me.

“Mrs. McMurphy passed away last night.”

My lips parted and my throat started burning.

“I’m sorry, Amelia,” she went on, sounding like she absolutely was. “You were real good with her and I know she liked you, even if she thought you were a Nazi. This is tough news to hear and I hate havin’ to give it to you.”

“But, she was okay yesterday,” my mouth said for me, my voice sounding far away in my head.