Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [133]
Her Albert? Bas hadn’t realized she was married. “And where is your Albert?”
“Dead.”
Out of respect, he bit back the word damn as he rubbed a hand down his face. That was all he needed to know. Her Albert who used to take the same medication he took was dead. Although Bas wished he could move on without asking the next question, something inside him made him inquire anyway.
“And how did he die?”
“He had high blood pressure and although the medication helped, he refused to give up some of his favorite foods that were killing him. And knowing what happened to Albert, I can’t in good conscience allow the same thing to happen to you.”
Bas lifted a brow, sure he’d heard her wrong. “Excuse me?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I said I won’t allow the same thing to happen to you. My Albert only thought of himself. He should have cared enough to want to live longer so he could be here with me while we spent our retirement years together. But he didn’t take care of himself and now he’s gone. We were married almost fifty years and had four beautiful children and he didn’t live long enough to be around for the first great-grand. I tried to tell him to eat healthy. I even offered to prepare him all the foods that were better for him. But he refused to give up that steak twice a week, as well as the potatoes, the bread and let’s not talk about the desserts.”
No, Bas didn’t want to talk about the desserts. He didn’t want to talk about food period. “But I’m not your husband, Ms. Sadie,” he decided it was time to point out.
“No, but some day you’ll be somebody’s husband if you live long enough. You’re young, too young to be worried about some nasty ailment like high blood pressure, which can lead to other problems like heart disease. It’s best that you get a handle on things now before it’s too late. And while you’re living here I intend to help you. I owe it to my Albert and your mother to do so.”
Bas shook his head in frustration. “But you don’t know my mother.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re all members of the ‘Mothers Club’ and I know wherever she is, she’ll thank me for trying to save her son from an early grave.”
Bas sighed deeply, recognizing the stubborn glint in the woman’s eyes. It was the same glint he’d seen in his own mother’s eyes several times, and the one he had seen in Kylie’s the day she had confronted him after finding out about his medical issues. Ms. Sadie was right. Once a mother, always a mother. All mothers shared a bond to make their kids’ lives miserable.
Bas decided to use another approach. “Ms. Sadie, don’t you think getting involved in my medical business is carrying things a little too far? I’m just a resident here for a while. I’m a grown man—thirty-five. Shouldn’t my eating habits be my decision to make?”
“Yes.”
Bas nodded, glad they were finally getting somewhere. “And don’t you think you’ve crossed the line by serving me oatmeal instead of the breakfast you gave to everyone else this morning?”
He watched as the older woman pushed a curly lock of gray hair away from her face and in that instant he saw it—the look of stark worry in her eyes. She actually thought his fate could be sealed like her Albert’s if he didn’t eat differently. Aw hell. All he needed was the old woman worrying to death about him. And although she had agreed that what he ate was his business, he knew as far as she was concerned, to feed him the high-calorie foods he liked would be like signing his death warrant.
Bas knew there was only one thing he could do and that would be to find another place to stay as soon as he could. He refused to hang around Newton Grove for the next three months and live under the same roof with an older version of Kylie Hagan Steele.
It just so happened he had run across a place for sale the day he’d been out riding around with Reese. It was a quaint little cabin just outside of town on a small lake in the mountains. If nothing else it would be a nice piece of investment property. He would see a realtor about it first thing tomorrow.
He met Ms. Sadie’s gaze. “Fine,” he said.