Page 88 of Trustfall

Shit. I forgot I even had work. I rush back to Luke’s house and grab my phone from the nightstand. It’s a little after eight. I can still make it, but Allie is right. I need to be accessible today. I type out a text to Sandra, the colleague I covered for a few weeks ago, to ask if she can return the favor. Thankfully, she responds right away, so I email the nurse manager, letting her know about the switch. The front door creaks, and I see Allie standing in the entryway.

“I’m gonna go take a shower, but then I’m all yours. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

“Thanks, Al. We still need to talk, but…thank you.”

She nods her head and walks out.

What do I do now?

Before I can even make a plan, my phone rings. My heart nosedives and I think it’s Luke using his one phone call. I answer without even looking at the caller ID.

“Luke?”

“Hi um…may I please speak with Emory Caldwell?” the female voice on the other end asks.

“This is she,” I reply, my heart beating out of my chest. Is this someone from the police station?

“Hi, Ms. Caldwell. My name is Julia. I’m a nurse at Summit Grove Assisted Living. Your grandmother is absolutely fine. Nothing to worry about. Actually, she’s better than fine. She’s having a lucid day, and she’s been asking for you and Nate. I assume that’s your brother?”

“Yes.”

“Well, anyway, I wanted to let you know in case you or your brother wanted to stop by today. She hasn’t had many of these days lately, and I know she would love to see you.”

“Yes, thank you for letting me know. I’ll be there as soon as I can, and I—’ll tell Nate.”

A lump forms in my throat at the prospect of calling him, but Gram is lucid. She’s asking for me.For us.I can’t keep that from Nate, regardless of how angry I am.

“Wonderful. We’ll see you soon, then,” Julia chirps.

“Sounds good. Thanks again,” I say, clearing my throat.

“Of course. Take care. Bye.”

I end the call and pull up Nate’s number. My finger hovers over his contact for several seconds before I tap it. He answers on the first ring.

“Emory. What’s going on? Any news?”

“What?”

“With Luke. I’m working on getting him out, but it might take a while. There’s a lot of red tape. Have you heard anything else?”

“How do you—” But then I realize. He called Nate with his one phone call. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. Nate is his best friend. His ride or die, like Allie is for me. Luke knew I saw him being arrested. I just let them take him away. I didn’t even put up a fight. Why would he call me? What was I going to do?

“No, Nate. It’s not about that. Gram is lucid.”

“She’s…” I hear him suck in a breath. “She is?”

“Yeah. She’s asking for us.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pick you up in ten,” he says quickly.

“No, Nate. I can…” But I hear the two tones signaling he has already hung up. Despite everything, I laugh to myself, remembering how he did the same thing to me when he first told me I was getting a new neighbor and was being super shady about it.

How much has happened since then.

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