Love On A Dollar

Chapter 5: Homestead Manor

Willow's POV



Owen: Head to Homestead Manor today at five and ask to eat dinner with Louie and Gia. Get a picture of the three of you together as proof. Ask them how long they've been together.

His instructions came in as I ate lunch with Millie.

“Millie, stay away from boys for as long as you can.” I point my fork at her from across the table, she just giggles at me. Such a happy baby this one. “I'm serious. They're nothing but trouble. Considering you have a good dad, maybe you'll end up better off than me when it comes to romantic relationships.”

I shouldn't be talking about this to a kid who isn't even two yet.

Willow: That's it?

Owen: That's it for today.

Willow: For today?!

Owen: I told you you'd have to work for it.

Willow: And how long will I be “working for it”?

Owen: I'll tell you when you're getting close to the end.

When I meet this Owen, I am kicking him in the balls before karate chopping his Adam's apple. I sigh, placing my sandwich down before pulling up Nance's number.

“Hello?” She answers, unsure what I could be calling about.

“My dollars back in Homestead.”

“No way! How crazy is that?!” She actually sounds excited, not just faking it for my sake.

“He won't give it back. I even offered a hundred dollars.”

“Are you insane? It's just a dollar,” she scolded me as she always does when I do something stupid.

“It's my special dollar, Nance. I need it!”

“You want it,” she tried to correct me.

“No, Nance, I need it.”

“So how did you get it back?”

“I didn't. The asshole didn't want my money,” I scoff, thinking about last night's conversation. “He said I have to work for it.”

“Oh my God, Willow! Tell me you are not about to have s*x with some stranger for a dollar!”

“Jesus! Of course not! I'm not that bad.” I protest, feeling kind of hurt she thinks of me this way.

“Sorry. You're right. Of course you wouldn't do that. But then what are you doing?”

“Apparently I'm going to some nursing home and having dinner with an old couple. I don't know, it's really weird. I am supposed to take a picture and send it to him as proof.” I watch as Millie grabs yet another apple slice from her plate and lines it with the others on her tray. Her curls are just like Noah's, beautiful ringlets that bounce with every little movement.

“That is weird, but at least it's nothing bad. Old people are so adorable.” Nance was oddly being optimistic, which was not what I was expecting, or wanting for that matter. I wanted her to tell me not to go, to be realistic and stay home. But she's right, eating with an elderly couple isn't exactly torture.

“I guess.” I pick at the small hole on my sweatpants over my knee as I wonder what else Owen will have in store for me. Something tells me dinner isn't the only thing.

___________________

“Hi,” I greet the lady behind the circular counter, “I am here to have dinner with Louie and Gia.”

“Are you family?”

I didn't think about whether or not strangers are allowed to come in. I can't be turned away now.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I nod, looking as confident as possible.

I don't say our relation, trying to keep it as vague as possible. She arches her eyebrow in suspicion, but allows me to follow her to the dining area.

“They'll be out shortly.”

I wait at the entrance, but I have no idea who I am looking for. If they're supposed to be my family, I can't exactly ask her to point them out. So, instead, I give her a curt nod with a smile as she walks away.

“Thank you.”

A few minutes later a hoard of elderly people came down the corridor in wheelchairs, walkers, canes, or hunched over their own two feet. A mixture of antiseptic, moth balls, and that distinct nursing home scent hits my nostrils hard as they pass me by. I scan the area for a couple, hoping that perhaps they will be together and maybe be the only ones.

Again, and as usual, I am wrong as Homestead Manor seems to have quite a few elderly couples. Get it grannies and grandpas. At the end of this hored are two nurses who follow them into the dining room. I stop one as he passes me by, tapping his shoulder so he notices me.

“Hi, could you help me out? I forgot my glasses and I can't seem to find my family, Louie and Gia.” I smile innocently, batting my lashes as he looks me over. He gives me a small crooked smile that tells me he knows I'm lying but he's going to help me out anyway.

“Follow me,” he gestures with his head for me to walk behind him.

“Thanks.”

He leads me to a back table where a woman is quietly sitting across from a man. Her hair is what you would call salt and pepper a mixture of dark grays and light silvers, mixed with a few strands of black. Her wrinkles are deep and plenty, but you can tell she was quite the looker in her youth.

The man across from her has hair as white as snow. His cheeks sag and his forehead is full of deep worry lines, but he holds this sweet smile on his face. The nurse pulls a chair back for me to sit and I give him another word of appreciation as I sit.

“Uncle Louie, Aunt Gia, you two have a visitor,” he tells them, causing me to question the validity of their relationship. Who am I to question it?

Louie and Gia both turn to look at me, greeting me with large smiles. They didn't seem weary or look at me as if I were some stranger. Instead they welcomed me and spoke with me as if I truly were their family. Fifteen minutes later, we were laughing as if we were old friends.

“So I have to ask as part of all this, “ I told them why I was here almost immediately. “How long have you two been together?”

“I guess it depends on what you qualify as together,” Louie speaks first, staring right at Gia who is meeting his eyes with nothing but deep affection.

“We've known each other since we were babies.”

“Kindergartens aren't babies, Dear.” Louie corrects her, a large smile picking up those sagging cheeks a bit.

“Louie didn't start courting me until junior year of high school.”

“But I started loving her in seventh grade.” He reaches for her hand and she accepts it, squeezing it as a form of affection.

“So neither of you have ever been with anyone else?” I arch an eyebrow, wondering how that's even possible.

“Just one another.” Gia smiles, turning to look at me again, but not letting go of her husband's hand.

“You've never wondered what It would be like to be with someone else? Never strayed from one another?”

They both shake their heads in unison, looking at me as if I were crazy for asking such a Ludacris question. Knowing they've been together so long and never once strayed from one another, causes me to wonder what they did to be this successful. This is rarer than rare. Not many people can say something like this.

What was the point of this Owen?

“Do you guys mind if I get a picture with you?” I ask them, holding my phone up, to which they thankfully complied. I lean over the table and squeeze into a tight shot, all of us smiling.

The picture is cute and one I will more than likely frame. Gia and Louie will now be on my social calendar every month, being my new favorite people. I stay and chat a while longer with them before thanking them for their time.

“Same time next month?” I question, seeing them both smile wide and nod their heads.

Gia was never able to have kids due to a terrible accident when she was young and they couldn't afford to adopt, which I found insane. Sadly, that meant they didn't have any family to come visit them, which explains the looks I got from the staff. Gia and Louie are everyone's family.

“We'll see you next month, but we're here if you want to come sooner.” Gia lifts her arms to hug me and I bend down to accept, feeling her soft arms embrace me. It made me miss my Nana, but she's been gone a few too many years now.

I send the text to Owen with the picture attached as I make my way to the care, waving to the male nurse that helped me as I pass him by. He looks oddly familiar, but I can't place it. It's almost as if I have seen him somewhere else before.

Shoving the thought aside, I head home, bracing myself for the symphony of meows I know I will get in complaint from CC. He's going to be pissed I was gone all day.