Jane started the car and pulled out onto the street. He sent Kelsey a quick text: Going to see your dad. Meet us there?

He got an almost instantaneous reply: There better be a muffin for me.

Of course. He also added a strawberry.

See you there.

They pulled up in front of Sunny Orchard Living and Care Center a few minutes later. Jane took a deep breath.

Dax just waited for her to speak.

“Let me go in ahead. At least into his room,” she said. “He’s funny about guests.”

“I can do that.” Dax really didn’t want to make this harder, but he was eager to meet Jane and Kelsey’s father.

“Okay, thanks.”

They had just reached the front doors when Kelsey called to them from the sidewalk. They waited for her to catch up with them.

“Hi!” She seemed in a good mood.

“Hey.” Jane gave her a quick hug.

“I’m so glad you’re coming to meet Dad,” Kelsey said, reaching for the door.

“Yeah?” Dax asked, glancing at Jane.

“Definitely. He doesn’t usually let people come visit him but us. I’m glad he said you could come.”

They followed her through the door.

“Well, I haven’t told him yet,” Jane told her sister. “Dax is going to wait out here for me to kind of ease Dad into it.

Kelsey frowned. “Oh. Well, he’ll be okay, right? I mean, he’d want to meet your boyfriend.”

Dax saw how that made Jane freeze for just a second. He lifted a brow, just waiting to see how she might handle that.

But she surprised him by turning to Kelsey. “Do you think so?”

Kelsey nodded. “Of course. I mean, he doesn’t want his old boss coming just out of guilt, and Aunt Amy will totally make a huge deal out of everything and insist on doting on him and make him crazy. And he doesn’t want his friends to see him like this.” She looked a little sad but she shrugged. “But Dax is different. He’s the guy you’re in love with. Dad will totally want to know him.”

Dax’s grin grew as Jane’s mouth dropped open. But she didn’t deny anything Kelsey had just said.

His chest got warm and a little tight. He wanted to grab her. But if he did, he’d back her up against the nearest wall, and it would become very inappropriate very quickly. Especially for the lobby of a nursing home. Though, the way he was feeling, it would probably be inappropriate for even the lobby of a sex club at the moment.

“Okay,” Jane finally said slowly. She glanced at Dax, and he just gave her a big, cocky grin.

She rolled her eyes. But the corner of her mouth curled.

“Let’s go see him first though,” she told Kelsey. “Just to warm him up.”

“Fine,” Kelsey said. She looked at Dax. “I will talk you up big time.”

“Thanks, Kels,” Dax said sincerely. “I’ll just hang out.” He looked around. The lobby had two leather-covered couches and a few armchairs gathered around a fireplace. There was a coffee and water station in one corner and a huge fish tank in the other. The reception desk was to his left.

“Hopefully, it won’t take long,” Jane said.

“No problem.”

She hesitated as if she wanted to say something more, but finally she just nodded, and she and Kelsey started down the long hallway.

Dax tucked his hands in his pockets and sauntered toward the coffee station. But he wasn’t really in the mood for a cup of coffee. He watched the fish for a little bit. He looked at the artwork on the walls—nice, kind of typical scenes of farms and rolling fields and a sunset over a river he imagined was the Mississippi. He checked out the magazines on a couple of the side tables. He put three pieces into the jigsaw puzzle that was laid out on the big, round table near the windows.

Finally, he took a seat in one of the armchairs and opened a browser on his phone. He had never in his life been in a nursing home. He had a vague idea what he would find here, but he was curious.

Nursing home layouts was his first search. Then he searched typical day in a nursing home. Then depression in nursing home residents. Then innovative nursing home programs. Innovative was one of his favorite words in all situations.

He read four articles then sent off a message to Piper and another to Grant. They each said the same thing. What do you know about nursing homes? Do we know anyone in the business? They were the two most connected and knowledgeable about their business network.

A glance at the clock told him things down the hall with Jane’s dad were not going as smoothly as Kelsey had anticipated. Dax was surprised to find himself disappointed about that. He’d like to meet the man, and he’d like to assure him that Dax had only the best intentions and that he’d be there for Jack’s daughters however he could be. Surely that would be reassuring for the man. Wouldn’t it? Or maybe it would just be a reminder that Jack couldn’t do all the things for them he wanted to. That would suck. Dax was going to have to be careful here.

He approached the reception desk. “Hi.”

The young girl—weekend help, he assumed—was busy looking at her phone. She looked up as if surprised to find someone standing there. So security guard she was not.

“Uh, hi.”

“I’m Dax.”

“Taylor.”

“Have you worked here for a long time?”

She shrugged. “About a year, but I only work after school two days a week and weekends.”

“Do you like it?”

“Sure.”

“Tell me your favorite part.”

Just then his phone rang. He looked down to see Grant was calling.

“Damn, hang on. I have to answer this.”

“Okay.” Taylor seemed very unconcerned about having their conversation interrupted.

“Hey,” he answered, starting toward the fish tank.

“What are you up to?” Grant asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you asking about nursing homes?”

“Because I’m in one right now.”

That made Grant pause for a moment. “Why?”

“Jane’s dad lives here,” Dax said.

“Ah.”

Dax could picture Grant nodding as if he’d just figured everything out.

“So that makes sense?” Dax asked.

“Of course. You’re the most curious guy I know and you just walked into something new. Of course you’re going to try to figure everything out about it.” Grant said it with a very familiar slightly exasperated, slightly amused, slightly proud tone. He used that tone with Dax and Ollie a lot.

Dax knew he gave his friend heart palpitations, but he also knew Grant could have left Fluke a long time ago and been just fine. He could have made money and had much more important friends who didn’t give him migraines. But he’d stayed. Because, whether he would admit it or not, he liked them.

“Well, nursing homes are definitely new to me,” he said. “Never gave them much thought, you know? Pretty different than anything else I’ve ever done.”

“True,” Grant said. “But that isn’t the new thing you just walked into that I was referring to.”

“What were you referring to?”

“Being in love.”