Kasey must have heard me because she ran back into the room.
“He’s stable, but still in critical condition.”
“How is he?” Kasey whispered.
I nodded as Aunt Meg told me about the blockage the doctors had found, and the angioplasty he had been scheduled for the next day.
“How are you kids making out?” she asked.
“We’re fine,” I said. “How are you?”
“Didn’t sleep much last night, but I’ll be okay.”
“Do you want me to come to the hospital?”
Kasey disappeared down the hall.
“No, not yet. Kasey needs you there. She’s supposed to go to your mom’s tonight but—”
“I know,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’ll take her.”
She changed the subject, probably sensing my uneasiness with the situation.
“Your uncle wants to say hi.” A few muffled sounds later and Uncle Jim’s voice gurgled over the phone.
I’d never been happier to hear his voice and even managed to convince him that he didn’t need to rush home. Afterwards, I changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, and tied back my hair before heading downstairs.
From the top of the steps, I could already smell coffee and eggs frying.
Kasey was seated at the kitchen table with a full plate in front of her.
“Hungry?” Jacob asked as he cracked another egg in the pan.
“I could eat.”
The coffee machine beeped, and I grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. I handed him a cup before taking a sip of mine and sitting down next to Kasey, who had already started eating. She shot me a wide grin.
“What are you so happy about?” I asked.
“That Jacob made breakfast and not you.”
“Hey,” I cried. “Not nice.”
I caught a smile on Jacob’s face as grabbed the bread from the toaster.
“Cooking is just not your thing,” she said.
“Well, nobody asked you,” I replied.
Jacob plated the eggs before sitting across from us. I smiled when he plopped the syrup container in front of me.
“Still pour maple syrup on everything you eat?” he said.
I grabbed it and opened the cap. “Of course. Everything tastes better with maple syrup on it.”
“Gross,” Kasey mumbled.
He chuckled and slathered some butter on his bread. “Have you heard from Meg?”
“She called just a few minutes ago. I got to talk to Uncle Jim. He’s doing okay, but he’ll be at the hospital a while longer.”
“Did you tell him we have everything under control?”
“I tried. But you know how he is. Aunt Meg’s probably holding him down to the bed.”
We gobbled down breakfast, and I chugged the rest of my coffee.
Kasey shot up from her seat and plopped her plate into the dishwasher.
“See ya’,” she said with one hand on the doorknob.
“Wait,” I said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m riding my bike to Riley’s. She’s got a pool.”
“Well, when will you be back?”
“Couple of hours?”
I wouldn’t have to drop her off at Mom’s until later that night. I could have made her stay and help us with chores, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear her gripe all day.
“Fine,” I said. “But call me as soon as you get there. And don’t forget your inhaler.”
She grabbed her asthma emergency kit off the counter and ran out of the door, probably shocked that I’d let her go so easily.
Jacob cleared the rest of the plates.
“I’ll get those,” I said. “You cooked.”
“Okay, I’m going to check on the doe.” He followed Kasey’s path out of the door to the barn.
After I finished the dishes, I strapped on a pair of Aunt Meg’s sneaker and headed outside. They were tight but better than nothing.
Jacob and Jeff, the hired hand that’d been helping Uncle Jim for the last few years, were tending to the few cows. I set out to feed the chickens and check for eggs. The morning whizzed by, and it was nearly two o’clock before we stopped for lunch. I brought lunch outside to Jacob and Jeff and decided to eat mine in the kitchen, sitting down, with the fan blowing over my hot cheeks.
Kasey breezed through the door. “Ready?”
“For what? I asked after swallowing.
She plopped down at the table and picked up a potato chip from my plate. “To take me to Moms.”
“Now? I thought you didn’t go over there until later tonight.”
“I want to go see a movie with her.”
I flopped the rest of my food down and pushed my plate back. There went my appetite. I’d never been to the movies with Mom, unless you counted the how-to-deal-with-domestic-abuse videos the social worker used to make us watch.
“Fine,” I said, getting up. “I’ll meet you in the truck.”
She dodged upstairs while I searched the kitchen for the keys to Uncle Jim’s truck.
My stomach felt like it was twisting and turning, too busy feeling the effects of my anxiousness to digest the food I’d consumed. I made my way to the barn and found Jacob hunched over the mama goat, his t-shirt long gone. My eyes followed the curve of his back and fell over his tan and freckled shoulders. I noticed the small scar near his shoulder blade and bit back a smile. He’d gotten it when he’d rescued me from the old oak tree I’d gotten myself stuck in. I’d climbed too high and Jacob had all but carried me out before falling and cutting his back on a few branches.
“Hey,” I said.
He turned and smiled, making goosebumps fall over my skin.
“Hey.” He caught sight of the keys in my hand. “Taking a trip?”
“Going to drop off Kasey at my mom’s. I shouldn’t be gone long.”
I was determined to make it there and back in record time. Maybe I wouldn’t even have to stop the car all the way and just let Kasey hop out as I rolled on by.
Jacob stood up, and the mama goat wobbled away, bleating. “You want me to come with you?” His hazel eyes were soft, the dark lashes around them almost touching the skin above his lids.
That look in his eyes tackled me back to when we were just kids. Those days when he followed me everywhere just to make sure I was safe.
“No, it’s okay.”
