“Is this because I asked Dr. Cavill to give you his emergency phone number?” Chloe had guessed Grandmillie would be annoyed about that. “I did it just to make myself feel better, not because I thought there would really be a problem.”

“Exactly what I’m talking about. You felt guilty, and I won’t stand for that.”

“But I’ll feel so much worse if you’re not here with me.”

Grandmillie looked down at her hands folded in her lap for a long moment before she spoke in a low voice. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but two weeks ago I may have had a very minor stroke.”

“What! When? Why didn’t you call me? Did you go to the hospital?” Chloe couldn’t stay on the couch. She got up and knelt in front of her grandmother, resting her hand on the older woman’s nylon-covered knee, more to comfort herself than Grandmillie.

Her grandmother’s pale-blue eyes went misty. “You are the best granddaughter anyone could ask for.” She put her hand over Chloe’s. “It was two Wednesdays ago. I fell in the hallway for no good reason, so I got out my cell phone and called Lynda to come over. She drove me to the doctor. I would have told you if the doctor had said it was serious, but he checked me over and said everything was good. It was just one of those things. And don’t you go yelling at Lynda. I swore her to secrecy before I would tell her why I called.”

Chloe couldn’t hide the tears tracing hot, salty paths down her cheeks. The idea of Grandmillie lying on the hard wooden floor of their hallway all alone nearly choked her with guilt and distress. She’d been ignoring the evidence of her grandmother’s increasing frailty because she didn’t want to deal with the implications, and that denial had caused her grandmother pain.

“I’m so sorry.” Chloe rested her forehead on Grandmillie’s knee as a sob shook her. “I shouldn’t have left you here alone.”

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you about it.” Her grandmother’s tone was sharp. “I’m perfectly capable of knowing when it’s time to change my living situation, so you’re not going to take the blame on yourself.”

Chloe straightened and rubbed the tears away. She took a deep breath to clear the tightness in her chest. “You’re right. But I don’t agree that it’s time to go to Crestmont Village. You just need someone to be here with you when I’m not.”

“Missy, you know as well as I do how much that kind of care costs.”

“And the good news is that I have a full-time job offer with benefits, so I can afford it.”

Grandmillie looked skeptical. “This is the first time you’ve mentioned any such thing.”

That was because Chloe hadn’t planned to accept the job. She hated everything about it, from the man she would be working for to the sleazy way he did business. She’d spent a week as a temp for Larry Clarke, the head of sales at Brandt Tech, and he’d liked her so much he’d offered her a permanent job as his sales assistant. He’d also propositioned her, right in front of the framed photos of his wife and twin two-year-old daughters.

Chloe could handle the sexual issue; Larry had barely blinked when she turned him down flat. What bothered her more were the false promises Larry made to prospective clients when he wanted to close a deal. So she’d refused his original job offer, only to have him come back with an increase in salary, a signing bonus, and full benefits from day one. She hadn’t said no immediately because it was so tempting financially. Now she felt that fate had been guiding her.

“That’s because I was negotiating for a higher salary and hadn’t accepted it yet. But the new offer just came in, and they added a signing bonus to convince me.” Chloe tried to sound excited.

Grandmillie wasn’t buying it. “Where is this miracle job?”

Unfortunately, Chloe had described Larry Clarke’s dishonest sales tactics to Grandmillie while she was temping there. At least she hadn’t mentioned his disgusting proposition. As Nathan had observed, Chloe was a terrible liar, so she told a general truth, saying breezily, “Brandt Tech. They loved me there.”

“Where you worked for the lying dirtbag of a sales manager?” Grandmillie gave her the gimlet eye and thumped the floor with her cane. “No. You will not compromise your integrity for an old woman.”

Chloe knew how to fix this. She pushed up from the floor and stood. “It’s not just about you. I’m tired of not being able to eat out or buy a nice pair of shoes when I want to. This job would give me extra money to spend on myself too.”

“I wasn’t born yesterday.” Grandmillie’s voice was kind. “Sit down, child, and listen to me.”

Chloe sank down onto the sofa with relief, since her knees felt shaky.

“I know you adored your father, especially after your mother died and he was the only parent you had. But my son foisted his adult bitterness on your young soul, and that wasn’t right. If I’d known what he was telling you during those evenings you two spent in his workshop, I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“All that talk about how terrible big corporations are. How they stole his marvelous inventions and never paid him a penny.” Grandmillie shook her head. “When your father went to work for Lindell, he signed a contract stipulating that they owned anything he developed. He knew exactly what that signified.”