Chapter 7
Jaxon sighed as he answered it, not recognizing the number. “Hello?” He then froze. “Keisha, what’s the matter?”
“It’s Kelly,” she muttered, her voice choked with tears.
“What about her?” He turned to Timber and swore. “What’s wrong with Kelly? … She’s had another incident?” he repeated, trying to hear through Keisha’s tears and sobbing. “Where are you?”
Everyone focused on him, as he repeated back, “Okay, so you’re at the hospital now? Do you want me to call somebody?” he asked, then realized she’d called him because, chances were, she had nobody else. He swore at that.
Immediately Timber said, “Go.” When Jaxon frowned, Timber shook his head. “Go on. We all need help when we need help.”
He sighed and spoke to Keisha. “I’m heading into town, so I’ll come by the hospital, okay?
I’m on my way.” Hearing her sobs on the other end, he finally managed to get her to understand that he was coming to see her.
With that done, he disconnected, then turned and glared at Timber. “Why am I seeing her?”
“First, she’s hurting. Second, she called you, which means she doesn’t have anybody else. Third, you’re already trying to figure out how to stop her from this whole divorce thing, so this is a really good way for you guys to sit down and talk.”
“Yeah? Who said I wanted to talk?” he muttered.
“Doesn’t matter if you want to or not,” Timber noted in a cheerful booming tone. “It’s a good time to talk regardless.” And, with that, he got up.
Shirley grabbed Timber by the arm. “Perfect timing for us too,” she shared. “I was looking for a meeting with you.”
“Oh, no, no, no,” he muttered, trying to jerk his arm free. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Yep, you sure do,” she declared, sweetness in her tone. “We have to go over the clinic list. Some things need your attention there.”
“What? Did Tiffany put you up to that?” he asked.
“No, but I noticed the intakes of the llamas and alpacas yesterday,” she explained. “So, we definitely need to go over a few things.”
“Fine, fine, fine.” He groaned. “You know there’s no money for all this, right?” he asked, with a wave of his hand at the board.
She nodded at him. “There wasn’t any money to begin with either, as far as I understood, so it doesn’t really matter to me.
These projects are all on the in-progress list, just so we can set up priorities and make them happen.
” He rolled his eyes, and she laughed. “Grab another coffee and let’s go. ”
In a surprise move—since Timber was generally someone who nobody ordered around—he grabbed a second cup of coffee and then stepped up to the whiteboards, where they immediately huddled together in a deep discussion.
Jaxon stared down at the half-eaten food on the plate in front of him.
Toby showed up with a to-go cup in his hand. “You better get going to the hospital.” When Jaxon responded with a glare, Toby nodded. “You and I both know you need to go,” he stated. “And, if you’re honest, we both know you want to. Now, here’s some coffee for the road.”
And, with that, the table was more or less moved out from under him, and he was standing here, holding a to-go cup. Jaxon sighed, then asked, “Do you need anything from town?”
Toby pondered that and frowned. “I’ll let you know. Call me before you come back.”
“Will do,” Jaxon muttered, then headed out to his vehicle.