Her lopsided smile reappeared. “I also started a new NYU scholarship.”

“Oh, here we go again.” Sauron squinted with enough disapproval to give all of Mordor pause. But not Violet.

“Ninety-day settlement,” my grandmother said. “I made Emsley my sole beneficiary. Other than the house, there’s only the contents. You said you didn’t want any of it, Anna. Bram is taking care of the details.”

“Isn’t Bram too old to still be working as an attorney?”

Violet dismissed Mom with a regal turn of her head. “You can donate what you don’t want, Emsley. And then please arrange for cleaners.”

My mother’s huff held a wealth of meaning. I can’t believe I’m not being consulted. Decisions made in haste are repented at leisure. You will all regret this later. Don’t come to me crying.

“I don’t care about the furniture,” she said. “But for the record, I don’t like this sudden sale. Now, tell me what the doctors said.”

Violet summarized her latest tests that indicated a slight improvement. Then Mom signed off. Her bones hurt when she sat still too long.

I stashed away my laptop. “I’ll sneak downstairs for some predinner sweets.” And as I headed for the door, I told my grandmother what I always told her, “If I’m arrested, send bail money.”

Out in the hallway, I bumped into Violet’s neighbor. She’d reached the window at the end since she’d waved at me earlier, and was now negotiating the return trip.

“How are you, Mrs. Yang?”

“Out for a run. Boston Marathon is coming up,” she deadpanned. She was another indomitable spirit.

She watched me for a few silent seconds as if deliberating whether to say more. I was pretty sure she’d go for it. She usually did.

“Do I look like I’m hiding something?”

I scanned her from her yellow daisy dress to her terrycloth slippers. “Are you?”

She reached into her bulging pocket that I’d thought held a wad of tissues. And with the flair of a magician, she produced a fuzzy yellow chick. “What do you think?”

“Poultry is an interesting choice for a healthcare facility. Is this sanitary?”

“Eh. We have therapy dogs twice a month.”

“Where did you find it?”

“They took some of us on an enrichment bus trip to the Chinese Market.”

“And you brought home a friend.” Who was I to judge? Honestly, it was nothing Violet wouldn’t have done if she were ambulatory. “What’s her name?”

“Lai Fa.” The two syllables slipped off Mrs. Yang’s tongue as if whispered by a spring breeze. “It means beautiful flower in Chinese.”

The chick did resemble a fluff of dandelion. “She looks very sweet.”

Mrs. Yang slipped her secret companion back into her pocket with loving care. “Don’t tell anyone?”

“Who would believe me?”