“I’ll do it,” I told her, then glanced back at him. “Max was putting me up at his motel, but frankly, I’d rather not stay there again. So I’d rather work out a barter. I can stay with you and help with the home health stuff in exchange for room and board.” I’d still need to work at Max’s for the money, but this would give me a chance to look for whatever evidence Seth had found…presuming the sheriff’s deputies hadn’t found it first.

“I don’t want no charity,” Mr. Chalmers said with a hard look in his eyes.

“I don’t want it either,” I countered. “And right now, I’m set to stay with Ruth Bristol and her boyfriend free of charge. If I stay with you, at least I’ll be earning my keep.”

“You can’t just up and decide to be a home health nurse,” Patty said in disgust. “It takes trainin’, and frankly, it takes a strong stomach. Hank just had his leg amputated. You ready to deal with that?”

I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. I wasn’t sure I was, but I’d figure out a way. “I just spent the last month takin’ care of a dying woman. I learned how to give her injections, change her IV lines, help her in and out of bed and into the bathroom. I can handle it.”

Patty’s face softened.

“I’m goin’ home tomorrow,” Mr. Chalmers announced. “And that’s that.” He glanced up at me. “What time are you pickin’ me up?”

“Uh…” I had no idea when Max would need me tomorrow, if he’d need me, but surely he’d give me the afternoon off so I could bring Hank Chalmers home. “In the morning, by eight. So we have plenty of time to get you settled at home.”

“And plenty of time to get you up to speed on how to take care of Hank,” Patty said with a look that suggested she still wasn’t convinced I was capable. “I’ll go let the doctor know.”

Then she sashayed out of the room, leaving the two of us alone.

“Thank you, Mr. Chalmers,” I said, turning back to him.

“Enough with the Mr. Chalmers shit,” he said. “Call me Hank.”

I grinned. “Okay, Hank.”

His mouth pressed into a firm line. “I gotta warn you, my house ain’t fancy. I reckon you’re used to nicer places.”

“I was staying at the Alpine Inn. I don’t need fancy,” I said. “I’m just grateful for a place to stay.”

“And where’s that?” a familiar male voice said. My stomach dropped when I turned and saw Wyatt’s large frame filling the doorway.

Dressed in jeans and his brown jacket, he was more handsome than he had any right to be. His dark hair looked windblown and his dark eyes were narrowed in suspicion at me. It wasn’t fair that my heart leapt at the sight of him when he had nothing but contempt for me.

“Wyatt,” Hank said in surprise.

Wyatt shot me a glare as he walked into the room. “I wanted to check on you. How are you holdin’ up, Hank?”

Hank’s eyes welled with tears again, but he didn’t answer.

“I’m sure you’re not up to company,” Wyatt said in a gruff tone. “I’ll walk Ms. Moore out.”

Hank held up his hand and shook his head. “No need for that. She’s helpin’ me move home tomorrow.”

Wyatt’s jaw hardened, and his gaze darted between Hank and me. “And how’d that arrangement come about?”

“She stopped by to talk about Seth, and seeing as how Seth was supposed to take me home tomorrow, Carly volunteered to help in exchange for a place to stay.”

“The Alpine Inn’s not good enough for you now?” Wyatt asked me in a cold tone.

“It’s either Carly takes me home or I go to the shithole rehab center,” Hank snapped. “So get off your damn high horse.”

“You don’t even know her,” Wyatt protested. “And now you’re inviting her to stay at your house?”

“She tried to help my grandson,” Hank said in a gruff tone. “Nobody else saw fit to help him, and she didn’t even know him.” His eyes hardened with challenge. “That’s enough for me.”

I could tell Wyatt wanted to say more, that he was practically gnawing on his tongue to hold it back.

What the hell was his problem? While I understood why he’d be suspicious of me, the circumstances were unusual, to say the least, I was sick and tired of dealing with his attitude.

“Let’s just get this out in the open,” I said in a direct tone, the kind I would use on the third-grade class I used to teach when the kids got unruly and I needed to regain control. “I didn’t kill Seth. I had nothing to do with his death other than that I held his hand as he took his last breath. I’m sorry you don’t trust me—I suppose you’ve got no reason to—but I’m not out to hurt Hank. I need a place to stay, and Hank needs someone to take him home and stay with him until his home health nurse shows up at the end of the week. It’s that simple.”

“How do you plan on bringin’ him home when you don’t have a car?” Wyatt asked, obviously unmoved by my speech.

“I can—”

“She can use my car,” Hank said.

“You haven’t driven that thing in years,” Wyatt said. “I’m not sure it’ll even start, let alone make the trip to Greeneville and back.”

“Then she can use Seth’s,” Hank said, his voice cracking.

“The sheriff’s department found it off Highway 25,” Wyatt said. “It’s impounded while they look for evidence.”

I was about to say I’d planned to ask Ruth for help, when Hank said, “Then you can drive ’er. You’ve admitted you don’t have enough work at that garage of yours. You can spare a couple of hours to bring her down to pick me up.”

“I’ll come get you,” Wyatt said, shoving his hands in his back pockets, “but I’m not bringin’ her with me.”

“Fine,” Hank snorted. “You can learn how to change the dressin’s on my stump and learn how to check my blood sugar levels.”

Wyatt’s mouth opened, and then he turned back to me with a suspicious gaze. “You plan on learnin’ how to be his nursemaid?”

I sent him a haughty glare. “Considering a nursemaid typically changes diapers, no, I do not. But I do plan on learning how to provide home healthcare assistance.”

“And what makes you qualified for that?” he demanded.

“I have previous experience caring for a very sick woman,” I said. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Quit your yapping and just deal with it, Wyatt Drummond,” Hank snapped. “You want to do somethin’ for me? You either bring her down tomorrow or find a way for her to come get me, because I don’t wanna spend a minute longer in this godforsaken place than I have to.”

“I’ll bring her,” Wyatt grunted. “And I’ll help get you inside the house too.”

“Fine by me,” Hank said. “Because I’m still too weak to hobble around on those damn crutches yet.”

Wyatt shot me a piercing glare that softened when he turned back to Hank. “I need to speak to you. Alone.”