Shifting again, he palmed the back of his neck. “I know you will, son. You see, a condo has come up for sale right across from your aunt and uncle. When we’re there, Kent mentioned checking it out. Told us that the maintenance is all taken care of, and your momma is real keen on that idea. If we like it, we’d have to make an offer on it right quick from what your brother tells us.”
Stunned, it was a full minute before I could answer. Maybe Sam had got a stronger hit to my head than I thought, because this wasn’t making sense. My parents, who considered going to Nashville a major vacation, wanted to move to Florida.
“Pop,” I spoke slowly, eyeing him warily. “If you and Momma want to live in Florida part of the year like Aunt Midge and Uncle Rick, I’d be happy for you.” I’d be shocked if they went through with it, but happy for them.
“That’s the thing. It costs a bit more than we’d anticipated?—”
Well, shoot. They did need money. I knew I had more in the bank than most folks my age, but without a 401(k), I really wanted to save it. But if my parents needed money, I’d obviously try to help them.
“—so, we’d have to make the offer contingent on the sale of this house. We’d be moving there permanently.”
I could only sit in silence and stare at the stranger in front of me. They wanted to sell their home.Thishome. My childhood home. It was just so . . . unlike my parents. What’s next, a place in the line up beside cousin Patrice in the Miami Meat Burlesque?
“But we’d only do it if you had another place lined up. Your momma and I don’t want to spring this on you, son. We know that rent’s expensive nowadays.”
I shook my head. “I can easily get another place. That’s not why I live here.”
“Sure, sure. I’m just making sure you know we could help you out with the money from the sale of the house if you need some support for a while.”
I literally had never felt lower. I expected this out of Momma, but not Pop. I thought he knew I lived here not only to save money, but to help them out. He’d been having more flare-ups of his arthritis and the last one, a few months back, put him out of commission for weeks.
And now, this. My retired parents didn’t want to move to paradise because they were worried about how their adult, twenty-four-year-old son was going to make rent.
A true low point. I shifted in my seat, eyeing him. Hard.
“Pop. If you and Momma want to move to Florida and sell this house, then do it. Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a place. Sam was begging me just today to move in with him and Owen. In fact, I can call him right now. Really. I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to make any sudden decisions today?—”
I cut him off by standing up, clapping him on the shoulder.
“It’s no problem. Probably time I’m out of your hair. I’ll see you at supper.”
CHAPTERFOUR
POLLY
It wasn’t a monster come to eat me. It was this monster. Who’s come to eat me out.
RubyDixon, Ice Planet Barbarians
It was Monday, and I had just swallowed my last bite of donut before leaving my office for the day, when Vicki—the administrative assistant to the VP of Mercy Health—appeared at my door. I’d met with the VP last week to propose a change to my contract: drop my overnight call requirement but still retain my health insurance. I’d been awaiting their answer.
Since Mrs. Simon left, I’d had horrible luck finding nannies that were willing to do overnights. Clarice, our first trial nanny, started today and she seemed adequate at best. It felt wrong leaving my kids with someone who was merely adequate. My mom guilt pulled hard this morning as I drove to work, leaving both kids in Clarice’s care—it took every ounce of resolve not to turn around and go back to them. But I was exhausted. I needed help before I lost what was left of my patience. Every minute I wasn’t at work, I was busy doing three things at once. Scheduling interviews for babysitters I barely knew from childcare websites, coordinating counseling appointments, buying new clothes for the upcoming school year, getting our bikes out of our storage container, grocery shopping and food prep, laundry . . . and my actual Pediatrician job.
“Polly, I’m glad I caught you,” Vicki said walking into my office.
“Vicki, how nice to see you again. Did you want a donut?” I gestured to the Daisy’s bag on my desk. I’d gone to get a salad for lunch only to come back with six donuts, as I strongly felt that I needed a donut,or six, to make myself feel better about life.
So far, I was two donuts in with no relief in sight.
Vicki glanced at the bag, then gave me a closed-lip smile. “No, thank you. They reviewed your proposal, and they’re willing to drop your call requirement in Septemberifyou’re willing to take over the Green Valley School District Medical Directorship.”
Yikes. Try saying that three times fast.
“The current medical director, Dr. Dixon, is retiring next week so the school district asked us to nominate someone to replace him as he is on our staff,” Vicki continued. “We thought you’d be a good fit. You’ll need school board approval, because it’s a joint contract between us and the school district, but that’s just a formality. The stipend is nine thousand dollars every six months. I can set up a meeting with Dr. Dixon if you’d like.”
“Oh, well. I’d need to learn about the position before officially accepting the position. I don’t know very much about what a medical director for a school district does. Do you happen to know how much time per week it would require?”
