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“Mr. Dixon!” Leah rushes over to get his wheelchair in position.
“Don’t Mr. Dixon me,” he grumbles, looking at me. “She calls me all kinds of names when you aren’t here. Dickhead, asshole, cocksucker…”
Leah’s mouth falls open with shock. “I do not!”
“She does!” Uncle Dix insists. “And she plays with my balls when she’s giving me a bath.”
Leah shakes her head. “I would never.”
“Look, it’s not you,” I tell her. “He’s this way with all the nurses I’ve hired.”
“Mr. Petrov, I don’t think this is going to work out.”
My heart sinks. “No, please don’t go. If you can just ignore his mouth—”
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Uncle Dix barks.
Leah holds onto the handles of the wheelchair until he’s situated, then wheels him over to me.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
I just shake my head. She’s the fifth nurse I’ve hired in the four months Uncle Dix has been living with me. He’s the brother of Laura Carr, the wife of the coach Alexei and I moved in with as five-year-olds. Martin and Laura are traveling the world, and their daughter Lindsey took in Uncle Dix for a couple months, but she’s got a family and he was teaching her kids words she didn’t want them to know.
And Alexei? Hell, he’d party so hard with Uncle Dix the poor old guy wouldn’t last a week under his roof. Lindsey and I are the responsible ones, so now I’m stuck with Uncle Dix.
“I understand,” I tell Leah. “I’ll have my accountant send your last paycheck.”
She puts her coat on and heads for the door.
“Hey, do you know anyone else who might be interested in the job?” I call out.
She laughs humorlessly. “Try to find a hearing-impaired nurse for him.”
“You’re a fat cunt,” Uncle Dix says to her.
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap.
“She is. Bet my whiskey’s in her purse right now.”
Leah gives him an exasperated look. “It’s on top of the bookshelf in your office, Mr. Petrov.”
When she closes the door behind her, I walk around Uncle Dix’s wheelchair to look him in the eye.
“You know what? She deserves all the whiskey she wants for putting up with your bullshit. What are you doing? That was the fifth nurse.”
He growls at me. “The first one was a goddamned man, Anton. I’m not having a man wash my dick and balls.”
“Anna wasn’t a man.”
“No, but she looked like one. And she treated me like a child.”
“Well, you act like one most of the time.”
He waves a hand and gives me a look. “Well, I liked the third one.”
“Yeah, but you kept talking about her tits and ass. You can’t do that, Uncle Dix.”
“In my day, women knew how to take a compliment.”
I squat down so we’re at the same level. “Look, I have to work. And you can’t be here alone.”
“The hell I can’t! I told you, get me one of those necklaces I can push if I need help.”
“No way. The doctors told us you can’t be home alone. You could have another stroke and not be able to push a button.”
Uncle Dix’s brown eyes flood with emotion. “When my time’s up, my time’s up. I want to live life my way ‘til then.”
I’d feel the same way. But I can’t let Laura’s brother die on my floor while I’m playing hockey.
“Look, your options are living here, with a nurse when I’m not around, or a nursing home.”
“I’d rather be dead than in a nursing home.” Uncle Dix shakes his head.
“As you’ve said. So that means a new nurse.”
“Find a decent one this time, would ya?” he grumbles.
“I’ll do my best.” I give him a wry look. “Now I’m gonna go make us some dinner, and then we can hang out and watch Jeopardy. After you go to bed, I need to go out, so I’ll have the front desk send someone up to be here while I’m gone.”
“I don’t need a fucking babysitter, Anton.”
“You want chicken or turkey for dinner?”
“I want a fat steak and a cold beer, but I’m living with a diet Nazi.”
I pat him on the knee and stand up. “Chicken it is.”
I’m starving. I’ll have to grill several chicken breasts and roast two sheets worth of vegetables tonight. And even though Uncle Dix will bitch the whole time, he’ll eat it.
And later, once he’s asleep, I’m going back to Lucky Seven to look for Mia. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. If she and Adam are still together, I need to know why she was bartending last night while he was out banging strippers.
And if they’re not together…
I may have a hard time doing the right thing.Chapter FiveMiaMac Brown was once a giant. Standing 6’3”, with broad shoulders, a strong back, and black skin that glistened when he was working hard, my grandpa was my idol growing up. When our neighbors needed help moving furniture or unloading a truck, they always knocked on our door and asked for my grandpa. I felt a surge of pride every time, certain there was nothing he couldn’t do.
