Page 126 of Keep My Heart
‘She gave it to me in case someone called. She’s in the hospital talking to the nurse. We’re not supposed to use cell phones in there.’
‘Any word on Dad?’
‘Not yet, but from what the nurse said, it sounds like a heart attack.’
‘But we don’t know how bad?’
‘No. Hey, when are you getting here? I know we’re all grownnow, but we all kind of look to you to take over when shit like this happens. Sawyer’s already freaking out about who’s going to take care of the orchard.’
‘Can Brody help?’
‘Yeah, but this is his busiest time of year. He’ll have to either cancel on people or try to hire some help really fast.’
‘And I’m guessing you can’t get out of your teaching contract.’
‘I could, but I don’t know who they’d get to replace me. And at night I have to coach, but I could try to get out of that.’
‘Don’t do anything yet. Give me some time to think. We’ll figure something out. Tell Mom I’ll be there later tonight. I could only get a flight into Chicago. Nash is driving me up.’
‘Okay. I need to get back in there. We’ll let you know if we have any updates.’
He ends the call and I scroll through my phone to my boss’ number. I don’t like calling him on the weekend, but he wouldn’t think twice about calling me, so I shouldn’t feel bad about it.
‘Nick,’ he answers. ‘This is a surprise. I thought you were on the farm this weekend.’ He laughs. He thinks it’s funny I grew up on an orchard. He makes fun of me for it, even going so far as calling me Farmer Nick when he introduces me to new people joining the firm.
‘I’m in New York now, but I’m heading back. My father had a heart attack.’
‘Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘I need to take some time off. Probably all of next week, depending on how things turn out with my dad.’
‘Nick, you just made partner. You can’t take a week off. You have responsibilities, and you’re already behind on your work. I’m still waiting for you to give me the Feinstein contract to review.’
‘I’ll do what I can while I’m gone, but I can’t promise you anything. My first priority is my dad and my family.’
‘Your father will be fine. Men have heart attacks all the time. My father’s had two and the old man’s still around. Don’t you have all those brothers? Why can’t they be with him?’
I’m furious that he’s acting like this isn’t serious or important. My father is sick. He could be dying. At a time like this, I don’t care about my stupid job.
‘I need to be there,’ I tell him.
‘Then I expect you to still do your work. I need that contract done by tomorrow.’
‘It’s not going to happen. It’s only partially done and I need more than a few hours to finish it. You’ll just have to get it when it’s ready. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do.’
He clears his throat. ‘Perhaps it was a mistake making you a partner. You don’t seem ready for the job.’
‘I’m more than capable of doing the job, but I’m not choosing work over my family at a time when they need me. I’m sorry if you don’t agree with that, but this is what I have to do. I’ll do what I can on the contract and send it to you when it’s ready. Enjoy the rest of your evening.’ I end the call before he can fire me. I don’t think he will, but he might if I don’t get back there soon.
I’m so damn stressed I feel like I can’t breathe. My chest is tight. My head is pounding. How am I supposed to work and also be there for my family? What Jason said is true. As the oldest I’m expected to take over for Dad, be the rock of the family and hold us all together. I know more about running the orchard than any of my brothers. They’ll look to me to figure out how to keep it going. Even if Dad’s okay, he won’t be able to work. He may not be able to work for months, and we’re going into fall, our busiest season.
Thinking about that is making even more stressed. I call up Lyndsay, knowing she’ll be able to calm me down. Just hearing her soft, sweet voice will make me feel better.
Her phone goes to voicemail and I leave another message. ‘Lyndsay, it’s me. I really need you to call me back.’ The speaker above me blares with another announcement so I end the call.
A few minutes later, I board the plane. As soon as I’m in my seat, I go to check my phone but can’t find it. I search my pockets and all around my seat, but it’s not there. Did I lose it in the airport? I had it with me right before I got on the plane. I remember setting it down to get out my boarding pass. Maybe I forgot to pick it up.
‘Excuse me,’ I say, stopping one of the flight attendants. ‘I think I left my phone in the terminal. I need to go check.’
