pick us up. Itâs a long drive; I donât want to get home too late.â
The âusâ must include Mom, Elaine thought. That would make sense; she was probably going to stay with them for a while.
âHereâs mine.â Maggie fished in a pocket of her jacket and handed over a snappy looking iPhone in a red case.
âThanks.â
The shriek caused Dan to hop off the bed and take a step toward Carolyn as the iPhone skittered across the floor.
âWhat theââ
âOh my God. I canât believe it.â Carolyn looked like the wind had been punched out of her as she steadied herself by slumping against the foot of Danâs bed. âMy own mother. Thereâs no excuse for this kind of lewd behavior.â Spittle sprayed from the corner of Carolynâs mouth. âWhat if someone found you by the side of the roadâ¦found your phoneââ
âAh, Carolyn, always the melodramatic. Itâs called sexting, my dear. And thatâs a picture of my birthday present.â Maggie seemed barely able to keep a straight face. âI would have assumed youâd seen something like that before. I do have a grandson. But, of course, I could be wrong.â
Elaine bent down and retrieved the errant phone and there it wasâthe offensive picture, a stiffy with a bow on it. Stanleyâs, she presumed. She handed the phone to Dan.
âHey, Iâve given that sort of gift before.â Dan sneaked a sideways look at Elaine. Elaine quickly looked away biting her bottom lip to contain the laughter.
âYouâre not seventy-plus and you didnât advertise it. What happened to decorum? Donât encourage her. This is juvenile behavior. The kind of behavior that could wreck Phillipâs chances to lead this great state.â
âI donât think itâs going to make the front page of the Albuquerque Journal .â Dan sighed. Carolyn always wore him outâher view of the world and his had never meshed.
âExactly. Just a little harmless fun.â Maggie took back her phone and dropped it in a pocket.
Elaine held out her cell to Carolyn and couldnât resist pointing to the wallpaper, âSunflowers. Stems covered.â
Carolyn glared at her, lips pulled into a straight line. âNot funny, but thanks.â
Conversation was strained until Phillip got there. Then, there were assurances of all getting together again before Maggie had to go back to Scottsdale. She was here for a week and had already said she wanted to come back to Santa Fe to shopâunder much happier circumstances, she added when Dan was back in the peak of health. Theyâd keep in touch but maybe midweek next week? A quick hug for Elaine and more comments about how she was so âright.â
Finally the room was empty, only Dan and Elaine left. A crisis averted? Or would Maggie pay for her indiscretions? Carolyn sulking, taking Phillip aside to enlist a comrade-in-arms. Elaine didnât think for one minute that Maggie couldnât take care of herself, but she didnât envy her long ride by car with the two of them.
âI like your mother.â
âMe, too. I hope sheâll survive to old age in spite of her daughter.â
Any further discussion was interrupted by Dr. Zimmerman pushing open the door. âWell, looks like youâre anxious to get out of here. I have to say youâve done a real turnaround in four days. Almost like new. Iâm a little reluctant to let you go, but I agree with the general populaceâyou can get sick in places like this.â His laugh was more of a chortle. âBut what Iâm saying is if you follow some rules, I think youâll be fineâshall we go over them?â
He turned to Elaine. âI donât want our guy here to overexertâno foot races or mountain climbing .â He looked meaningfully at Elaine, then chuckled and turned back to Dan. âRest, rest, and then