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Kennedy was ten chapters deep into the page-turning mystery when she heard her nana’s voice. “How long have you been here, Bunny?”
“Just a few minutes,” Kennedy lied.
Her grandma didn’t like her “wasting time” visiting her at the assisted living home. She wanted Kennedy out in the world “living her life to the fullest,” which was code for finding the man of her dreams. What Nana didn’t understand was that these visits did not interfere with Kennedy’s personal life at all, primarily because it was nonexistent.
The dating pool in Whisper Lake was plastic and kiddie-sized. If she added in the surrounding small towns, it became the size of a lap pool. Not that size mattered since both were bone dry because she’d drained them. She’d dated every eligible man in a ninety-mile radius, and none of them were her person.
Kennedy put her Kindle back in her bag and crossed to Nana’s bed. “So, how was bridge last night?”
Some of the women Nana had met at Well Brook played bridge on Wednesday nights. Nana started joining them a few months back.
Nana’s eyes blinked heavily. “I was too tired to go.”
Kennedy’s heart sank. Lately, Nana had been too tired for a lot of activities. She hadn’t wanted to have lunch in the commissary; instead, they ate in her room. She’d skipped the past two movie nights, and instead of using her walker, she’d been relying on her wheelchair exclusively to get around. Kennedy wasn’t sure if her change in behavior was because her health was declining or if it was because she was depressed because she couldn’t live at home.
Nana opened her eyes again and patted Kennedy’s hand. “How’s my grandpuppy, Chunky boy?”
A wide smile spread on Kennedy’s face at the mention of her one-year-old English bulldog. She hadn’t been in the market to get a dog, but three months ago she’d found him hiding under the porch of a listing she had. He was underweight and terrified, and to this day, she didn’t know how he’d gotten there. She’d put him in her car and taken him directly to the vet because he wasn’t able to stand or walk. It turned out he was just dehydrated and malnourished. They kept him overnight, and the plan had been for him to be released to the animal shelter once he was ready. That plan changed when the vet texted Kennedy with an update on his condition and a picture of him with his huge brown eyes looking into the camera and a tiny IV in his front leg.
Without even thinking about it, she texted back that she would come get him, and he was going home with her. The message came in when she was rewatching her go-to childhood comfort movie,Goonies. So, when she went and picked him up, she started calling him Chunk after the character in the movie. At the time, he was underweight and hadn’t lived up to his name, but now, just three months later, he’d gone from twenty pounds to a healthy fifty-five and truly embodied his moniker.
“He’s good. Do you want to see pictures?”
“Of course!”
Kennedy grabbed her bag and pulled out her phone. Her camera roll used to be filled with photos of houses. Now there were hundreds, if not thousands, of images of Chunk. She lowered down on the bed beside her nana and began scrolling through photos of him asleep in the laundry basket, sitting up like a human on the couch, laying on his back in the middle of the flower bed in her backyard, sunbathing on the deck, splashing in the water down by the lake, and his favorite, eating his Ben & Jerry’s frozen Doggie Dessert.
Nana oohed and awed appropriately. As much as Kennedy wished she was able to show Nana pictures of a grandbaby, for now a grandpuppy would have to do.
As she was scrolling, Lynn, who was a loan officer working on a closing for Kennedy’s clients called.
“Sorry Nana.” Kennedy stood and grabbed her bag. “I have to take this, but I’ll be right back.”
“I’m tired, Bunny. Come back tomorrow.”
Kennedy wanted to argue with her nana that she’d be back as soon as she took the call, but she did notice the dark circles under her eyes.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” She bent down and kissed her on the cheek before heading out of the room.
As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she answered the call. “Hi, this is Kennedy.”
Lynn needed to go over a few things so Kennedy sat down on the bench in the hallway beside the water cooler and pulled her iPad out of her bag. One of the things she loved about her job most was the flexibility to work from anywhere. Even on a bench in an assisted living facility.
* * *
“You have arrived at your destination.” The robotic voice from the SUV navigation system announced as Seb pulled up in front of the brick building with an iron sign that read Well Brook Rehabilitation & Assisted Living.
Seb had little to no hope that this place would be the answer for his nerve damage. He’d spent the past six months working with the top physical therapists in the country in Los Angeles and none of them had been able to ‘fix’ him. For half a year all he’d done was drive from his condo to PT, then back to his condo. On the days he didn’t have physical therapy, he just stayed in bed and binge-watched YouTube videos and television shows on streaming services. Some days he forgot to eat. Other days he didn’t shower. He hadn’t seen friends. He’d barely even seen his nieces. Worst of all, he’d been having dark thoughts and, although he wasn’t diagnosed, he was pretty sure he’d fallen into a fairly deep depression.
He was so tired of living his miserable Groundhog’s Day existence so when the lease on his condo came up, he decided it was time for a change of pace. And scenery. Whisper Lake seemed like the most logical place for the change.
Both of his nieces had recently relocated to the small town to intern on a reality dating show for the summer. Besides them, both his brothers and his cousin lived in Whisper Lake. And his middle brother Knox was expecting twins of his own and would be getting married later in the summer, so there would be three more Savages who were Whisper Lake residents.
So instead of renewing his lease, he packed up his life, which thankfully fit in the back of his Escalade, and drove four days across the country. His plan had been to arrive the night before, but he’d had to make more stops than he’d anticipated due to his car anxiety and back pain. His delays had caused him to roll into town just in time to make his first physical therapy appointment. He’d been referred to his new PT from the ones he’d worked with in Los Angeles.
Seb wasn’t sure how long he’d stay in Whisper Lake. The slower pace might be nice for a while, but he feared it might make him go a little, or a lot stir crazy.
A quick look at the clock told him he was running about ten minutes late to his appointment, but the fact that he’d made it at all was a miracle. His back screamed in pain as he stepped out of the car and headed up the steps to the building. He had to admit that the pastoral landscape was much more serene and calming than the urban cityscape that surrounded his PT in California. Large oak trees, green pastures, and colorful wildflowers provided a much more calming, healing environment than tall buildings and traffic.
