Chapter 154: Connection

ALISON

"Oh, Ms. Wakely! It's been a long time since we've seen you. How are you?"

I paused at the reception desk of Peaceful Gardens Home for Care, returning the smile of the nurse who sat there greeting visitors.

"I'm fine, thanks." Except for a slight case of pregnancy . . . I swallowed the words.

Making the trip across the country from Florida to northern California had been a last-minute decision. An impulse, maybe. It had just seemed like serendipity at the time; Dr. Johanson, from whom I'd bought my practice when he'd retired, had stopped by to let me know he was back in town for the winter and willing to give me a hand if I needed him. I could tell that his real reason for visiting was that he was bored, but still, it had been a generous offer. And then, shortly after we'd spoken, I'd gotten a call from this nursing home where one of my foster mothers had been living for many years now.

When Daneen's doctor had called to let me know that in addition to the progressing de