Just then, the door swung open and Big Silas was wheeled into the room by a harried-looking nursing assistant. Jamar got another earful from him about making the drive from Austin, but then he and Drea spent the next half hour laughing as Big Silas regaled them with the latest stories of him and his dominoes buddies.

The nurse came in carrying two small plastic cups. She scanned the hospital bracelet, then explained each medication as she handed the tiny cups to Big Silas.

“Radiology will be here in about ten minutes to take you up for your CT scan.”

“It looks as if they have everything under control here,” Jamar said once the nurse left the room. “I should probably head over to see my folks.” He shoved one hand in his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck with the other, preparing himself for pushback.

He glanced at Drea, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

“So…umm…Big Silas,” Jamar started. “As I was driving in, I noticed that new place they built out there on Bartlett Road. The one with the nice fountain in front.”

“That old folks home?” Big Silas asked.

“It’s called an assisted-living facility,” Drea said.

“I don’t care what they call it. I know it’s an old folks home. Now why you bringing it up?”

Jamar raised his hands. “I was just saying how nice it is. You know…with the fountain and everything.”

This conversation had gone a lot differently in his head. He looked to Drea, waiting for her to back him up. She just stared at him, her eyes teeming with I told you so.

He stared back at her and tipped his head toward her grandfather.

“We don’t have to talk about any of this now,” Drea said as she unfolded the plaid shirt and draped it across Big Silas’s bony shoulders. “I’ll stay at the house for a few days once they spring you loose from this place.”

Jamar nodded in agreement. He would call Drea once he was back in Austin and they would come up with an alternate game plan. Maybe they could convince him to give the live-in nurse a chance.

Once Jamar was assured that things were all good with Drea and Big Silas, he left the VA clinic and headed for his parents’ house, or as he tended to refer to it: home. That seven-bedroom house he lived in back in Georgetown was the kind of place he’d always dreamed of living in. He’d paid cash for it, snatching it up for what his real estate agent considered a steal at five million. It was spacious and professionally decorated and had every bit of luxury he could ever hope for.