Thanks for the great advice so far! Oddly enough, the bike I put my mother on for the 45 mile ride was the Ruby! My daughter also rides the Dolce, so yes our shop carries Specialized! I think if she would give a road bike a bit more time she would eventually( near future) be comfortable with this style. I do not want to deter her progress or enjoyment by pushing a bike that she is not comfortable with. I actually think it is more the width of the handles that are creating the difference in handling. She tends to stay on the outer part of the grips on the flat bar.
My mother will certainly be with me and ultimately choose the bike she gets, no doubt. Our local shop is wonderful, we have bought many bikes and are on a first name basis with the owners! They will however order us bikes that they do not normally carry! They actually did this with a tandem bicycle when we were considering that avenue! Yes, we did start riding tandem last year, and LOVE it! The shop has mentioned possibly a Kona and a co-motion that is more of a touring cycle. This is why I'm asking here for pointers to get heading in the correct direction.