Page 82 of Fall With Me
My head is light and the hallway swims in my vision. I’m going to be sick. Whatever Carter needs to speak to me about can’t be good. Our usual communication is through email or the company internal chat.
Standing outside his office, I knock on the door.
“Come in!”
Taking a deep breath, I open the door and sit on the leather chair in front
of Carter’s desk. “Hey, boss.”
Carter looks away from his monitor, meeting my gaze. “Creative Source called me.”
What? Why are they calling Carter instead of me? “What did they need?”
Carter looks at me like what he’s about to say pains him. “They said you told them you wouldn’t be ready in time for their summit in February. They’re threatening to go somewhere else again.”
I scrub a hand across my jaw. If Carter hadn’t told me how much we need their money, I’d vote to cut ties with Creative Source. They’re manipulative. “That’s not at all what I said. They asked for a demo and I told them we’re not there yet, but we’d be ready by February.”
“We have to keep these guys happy, Dawson.”
Yeah, my exhaustion is well aware. Between working overtime and helping with the fall festival to ensure our biggest client has a good time, plus Finn, and now Chloe, I’m not even sure how I’m functioning. But I can’t drop any balls. I have to keep going, keep finding time to make certain that Creative Source doesn’t leave Crenshaw Solutions.
“I’m doing everything I can to make that happen, Carter.”
“I believe you. Chloe said you’ve been helping her with the festival. You’re a hard worker and I appreciate it. But if you need me to jump in or put a few more people on this project, don’t be a hero. Let me know. All right?”
“Yeah, I—”
A rapid knock sounds on the door. Kate pokes her head in. “I am so sorry to interrupt, but Dawson, there’s been an accident. Chloe has Finn at the doctor and needs you there.”
All the blood in my body drains to my toes, my stomach dropping along with it. I jump up, firing questions at Kate. “What do you mean by an accident? Is Finn okay? What happened?”
“He jumped off a swing and hurt his ankle. It’s probably just a sprain, but Chloe wanted to make sure he was fine.”
I leave Finn with someone who isn’t family for the first time and this happens? I’m an idiot. Of course I can’t rely on anyone else to care for my son. He’s my responsibility. Ishould have been there to get him from school. But what about my job? I need Carter and Creative Source to be happy too. Ugh, there aren’t enough hours in the day to manage it all. “I’m sorry, Carter, I’ve got to go. If you need anything else, email me.”
Rushing out of the office, Kate follows behind me. “They’re at Granger Medical on 39th.”
“Thank you.”
“Dawson?” Kate says, worried. “Go easy on Chloe. She’s a mess and feels awful. I promise Finn’s okay.”
The only thing I care about right now is getting to my son. “Right. Yeah. See you later.” I run to my car and speed as fast as traffic allows until I pull into the parking lot of the white five-story brick building. Inside, I frantically ask the receptionist where Finn is.
“Come on through. I’ll take you back to his room.”
The receptionist takes me down a long hallway, raps her knuckles on a door. “Here you are, sir.”
Chloe’s reading a story to Finn, who’s lying on the exam table. They both look up when I enter the room. Taking two steps, I stoop to swallow Finn up in a massive hug. If anything ever took him away from me, I don’t know how I’d survive. I love this little guy so much.
I cling to Finn, not ready to let go.
“Hi, Dad,” Finn muffles into my shoulder.
“Hey, bud.” I finally loosen my grip on him, looking into his brown eyes that are just like mine. “How are you? What’s the update?”
“We’re waiting to see if my ankle is broken.”
“He just got back from taking X-rays,” Chloe says. “They have to wait for the radiologist to have a look.”
