“Vest—I mean Janelle Corr,” said Gran, and approached the man with outstretched hand. “I’m new. And this is my sister Scarl—Janette,” she added when Scarlett poked her head in.
“Coo-coo,” said Scarlett cheerfully.
But Henry would need a lot more than‘coo-coo’ to wipe that angry look off his face.
“Take your cats and go,” he advised. “I don’t want them in here, you understand.”
“You don’t like cats?” asked Gran.
“No, I don’t. So get out. And close the door,” he added when Gran and Scarlett made to leave.
We wasted no time tripping after Gran, putting as much distance between us and this nasty old man as possible.
“He’s not very nice, Gran,” said Dooley. “But he’s very rich. Or at least that’s what he told Kirsten.”
And as we informed Gran about the conversation we’d just overheard, a thoughtful frown appeared on her brow. “Looks like we got here just in time.”
7
Practically the moment Kirsten had left Henry’s room, she had already forgotten about the things the man said, more or less dismissing them as the ramblings of an old man who doesn’t know what he’s saying. And besides, she had other, more pressing matters to think of. And just as she walked down the corridor on her way to the kitchen, she almost bumped into this pressing matter, in the form of Desmond Palka.
As usual, her stomach tightened when she caught sight of the man’s grin. His bald head was glittering as it caught the light of the sun slanting in through the skylight, and it might have been her imagination, but his sharp teeth seemed to glitter as well.
“Kirsten!” he said. “Just the person I was looking for.”
“Not now, Desmond,” she said curtly, and kept on walking, hoping to discourage him from following her. But of course that’s exactly what he did, much to her annoyance.
“Is it true what I heard?” he said. “Has old Henry been harassing you again?”
“Henry has not been harassing me,” she said. “And I don’t know who told you, but whatever they said, it’s all lies.”
“So it’s also not true that he likes to expose himself to you? Open his dressing gown and show you—”
She turned on him.“What do you want, Desmond?”
“You know what I want, sweet cheeks,” said the burly nurse with a lascivious expression on his face. His hand stole out but she deftly avoided it, turning away from this pest.
“You can’t keep running away from me, you know!” he called out after her.
“Oh, yes, I can,” she murmured under her breath.
From the moment she’d arrived at Happy Home the thickset obnoxious nursing aide had been hounding her, trying to get her alone, and basically forcing himself on her at every possible opportunity. He seemed to think he was a prince amongst men, and a great catch, and had asked her out incessantly and with increasinginsistence. And when that didn’t work, and she turned him down every time, he kept badgering her.
She had hoped that in time he would see the pointlessness of his actions, and that he would stop, but it had been months, and he still wasn’t giving up. If anything he’d become more brazen, and she had now resorted to making sure never to be alone with him for fear of what he might do to her.
She had thought of telling Brian, but would he believe her? Desmond had been there for years, and she only started six months ago, at the same time as Isaac, in fact. So what if she told Brian, and he sided with Desmond, and told her to quit?
But apart from Desmond, she loved her job. She loved the people, and landing this job in one of the most prestigious retirement homes in Hampton Cove had been a real coup for her, and a dream come true. Should she let one sex pest ruin things for her?
So she had decided simply to ride it out, figuring that at some point even a man as thick as Desmond would get the point and back off. And if that didn’t help, maybe she could pretend to have a boyfriend. For that seemed to be one of the reasons he kept hounding her, figuring that since she was single, she must be interested in him.
The best thing would be to get an actual boyfriend, of course, and preferably one who could put Desmond in his place. But so far no such luck.
Oh, she’d enjoyed her share of flings in the past, but never anything serious. And now that she was working long hours, she simply didn’t have the time to go out and socialize. The only men she now met were either colleagues or residents, and both were off limits. Residents for obvious reasons—that part was even in the contract she signed when she started there. And colleagues was a rule she had instigated herself, figuring it would make things too complicated if she got involved with anyone.
And besides, there simply wasn’t anyone she was particularly interested in.
She hurried into the kitchen, knowing it was almost time for lunch, and she wanted to lend a hand to the kitchen staff, who were understaffed today.
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