Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
GIA
Two hours later, I sat in Josh Hurst’s office after getting a text from him saying I needed a “performance review,” which felt aggressive considering my day so far. I wasn’t sure how much Josh had been told about what happened with Justin, his mom, and the other Hurst boys.
When I walked into the clinic, Marty informed me they were all still recovering from the equine conference that ended yesterday. Second, I had to survive this meeting before anyone would discuss the day’s schedule with me.
Fantastic.
I leaned in from the guest chair and cleared a tiny square of space on Josh’s disaster of a desk. Then I laid my head down between a stack of horse journals and what I really hoped was dried coffee.
The next thing I knew, somebody was shaking me awake.
I jerked upright to a younger version of Timothy. I had to blink twice to focus on the face and identify the man as Josh.
“Did you hear me? I’m sorry, I got delayed in traffic.” He wore a gray t-shirt and gym pants, meaning he’d just gotten in from Durham after baseball practice. The man looked exhausted enough to qualify for hospice care.
Brilliantly, I answered, “Uh-huh.”
Josh dropped into his desk chair. He tilted his head at me, scrubbed both hands down his face like he was trying to erase the last twelve hours, then tented his fingers. “I’ve got six shades of mess to deal with this morning, and every single one of them is screaming your name.”
“Me?”
“First, Timothy just lost his goddamned mind over my bathroom.” He sighed so hard his whole body deflated.
“All I did was ask if he could fix the bathroom fan sometime this week. Erika’s been riding me about it.
I asked him two weeks ago, but he forgot.
That sort of mechanical stuff will get me electrocuted if I do it myself.
I sent one tiny text today asking if he had time and—” He pointed at me.
“He phoned, went ballistic, said your name, and hung up on me.”
“Okay.” I rocked my head side to side, mostly because I had no idea what response fit that situation. Sorry my maybe ex-boyfriend declared war on your ventilation system?
“Then my three senior equine vets cornered me because the glorious Dr. Justin Stevens told them all to kiss his ass before he left town this morning. They’re ready to trade you in despite the fact none of them would lift a finger to see anything that’s not a horse.”
I pressed my lips together hard enough they disappeared.
Josh blew out another exhausted breath. “Then Mom called. She informed me if I don’t put a permanent contract in front of you immediately, she’s disowning me.”
I had a feeling we still weren’t done here, so I waited.
“My wife then called and said she needs you to help Vinny’s FFA club with some kind of cow quiz bowl thing at noon today, which has turned into a crisis since their mentor got the flu.
” He stopped talking and looked at me for a long second.
“After all that, I got a double shot espresso which hasn’t helped in the least.”
I blinked back. “You got any good news?”
“I’ve got five new farms that want you…not me or anyone else, but you to care for their animals. Two are horse barns. Marty offered to send someone else out, but that wasn’t what they wanted.”
“That’s good for business, I suppose.” Good for my job security.
“Here’s the thing, Gia. After yesterday, I realized two things. First, you belong here. I understand your personal situation is complicated, but I think it would be better for you from a payment and benefits perspective to have a written contract. You work too much to continue this relief status.”
“Okay, but I won’t sign anything that I can’t break. If I need to leave because things get dangerous, I need to have that flexibility.”
His expression didn’t change. I wondered if he’d even heard me before he spoke again. “That brings me to part two. I’ve seen my brother through a lot of things in my life, but I’ve never seen him like he was yesterday.”
Well, you didn’t see him two hours ago when I detonated his world with shock.
“Here’s the thing.” Josh let out a shaky breath and leaned back in his chair.
“If you leave, I think Timothy will implode.” His voice lost some of the sarcasm then, enough that I looked up at him fully.
“For years I stayed pissed at him over his temper and the asshole behavior. I thought he just liked being difficult.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw.
“Then Dad sat me down and explained exactly what Timothy carries around every day.”
He pointed toward the window like Timothy might magically appear outside fixing something.
“That man wakes up around four every morning. Goes running for half an hour like he’s being hunted for sport, then heads to the dairy barn just to make sure Dad isn’t overdoing it.
After that, he gets his little girl up and off to preschool.
Then he works nonstop until around seven at night bouncing between HVAC jobs and the farm trying to keep both afloat. ”
Josh shook his head slowly. “Then he puts his daughter to bed, maybe scarfs down dinner if Mom corners him long enough to eat, sleeps a handful of hours, and does it all over again. Six days a week. Sundays he only works the dairy, which in his mind probably counts as a vacation.”
“He’s barely surviving. We talked about it the other day. He needs to understand what taking a day off means. I think he needs a real vacation.”
Josh nodded immediately like my words had confirmed something for him. “You get it when I say if you suddenly leave like…” He snapped his fingers. “I think that’ll be it. The last straw.”
“I’m not that special,” I muttered. “Two hours ago, he got mad over some things that happened a long time ago. Then he stormed off.”
Josh stared at me like I was profoundly stupid.
“I don’t have the emotional bandwidth for this nonsense between you two.
” He dragged both hands down his face. “I got maybe thirty minutes of sleep because the baby was up screaming all night. Treating a horse with colic is less exhausting. Then our coach was riding us hard this morning because the younger guys keep stupidly showing up wasted to practice.” He pointed at me.
“Gia, I need you to sign a contract with better pay and an actual schedule, so my mother will let me show up to the family dinner on Sundays. I want you to oversee the farm animal medicine division of the hospital.”
“All right.”
He just kept staring at me.
Finally, I frowned. “What else?”
Josh let out a long-suffering breath. “Jesus Christ.”
Something inside me cracked. Laughter bubbled up before I could stop it. Once it started, it absolutely refused to quit. I bent over laughing so hard my stomach hurt while Josh sat there looking deeply concerned for my mental stability.
“Josh,” I wheezed, “would you like me to ask your brother to prioritize fixing your bathroom fan?”
“Oh my God,” he groaned. “Would you, please?”
I held up one finger while still laughing and dug my phone out of my pocket. By the time Timothy answered on the second ring, I was already losing it again.
A few giggles escaped before full laughter punched through.
“Are you drunk?” Timothy asked cautiously. “Do I need to come pick you up somewhere?”
Even angry, Timothy would still show up for me. I tried to pull myself together and glanced at Josh, who looked ready to crawl under his desk and live there permanently. Which triggered a whole new burst of laughter.
“Not drinking yet. Could you please…” Two more giggles escaped. “Pretty please, for my boss’s sanity, prioritize fixing Josh’s bathroom fan?” I dissolved again, laughing and wiping tears from my eyes.
Silence greeted me from the other end.
“I am currently sitting in Josh’s office being fussed at like he’s the principal and I’m the bad kid.
Your mom is threatening him if I don’t sign a contract.
Erika’s pressuring him to have me help Vinny with an FFA crisis today.
The poor man got no sleep because of the baby, and then his coach rode his ass.
And…” I had to pause to take a breath. “It sounds like the equine vets are revolting.” Another laugh escaped me.
“Rye, can you please help this poor man out? I think…” I sucked in a breath, trying to regain control.
“Something truly horrific must be happening in that bathroom to justify this level of crisis. I’m thinking he’s got the runs from stress or something. ”
For one second there was dead silence.
Josh groaned from across the desk and covered his face.
Then Timothy cracked. A laugh burst out of him, followed by full, helpless laughter so hard I could practically picture him doubled over somewhere with one hand braced against a wall.
“Hand the phone to Josh,” Timothy finally managed to say.
I passed it over, but Timothy talked loudly enough I could hear him clear as day.
“I’ll stop by on my way home. You make sure you have the new unit ready to install.” There was a pause. “Hey, Josh…”
“Yeah?” Josh grunted cautiously.
“Well played.”
The call disconnected.
Josh stared down at my phone like it had just performed a miracle. Slowly, carefully, he handed it back to me.
“Gia,” he said softly, “do you understand no one else on this planet has that kind of power?”
I shrugged, giving him a confused what-are-you-talking-about look.
He let out a tired laugh and leaned back in his chair. “Nobody gets Timothy to do a damn thing that isn’t on Timothy’s timeline.” He pointed at the phone. “That man’s heart is already sitting in your hands whether he realizes it or not.”