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With tax season coming up soon, I had to make sure all my clients were caught up from the year before. I went through their books, making sure it was all up to date and emailing my bookkeeper, Charlie, for anything that was missing. My boss was retiring at the end of April, and I wanted to make sure I was at least considered for the job.
I’d been working at ESR Accounting for ten years and had moved my way up from staff accountant to senior accountant, and I knew the promotion would be down to me and one other person.
If I craned my neck just right, I could look through my office window and see his office across the open space with half-height cubicles for all the extra seasonal help.
Ronnie Jenkins was his name. He had a wife and six kids, but I never saw them except at the company barbecue each summer. He also had a houseboat somewhere up in Washington, where they went for two weeks every year after tax season.
Me, on the other hand? Work was my life, aside from my family and Wednesday poker nights with the guys.
For the next hour, I got in as much work as I could and then closed down my computer. I turned my phone off do not disturb just to make sure Mara hadn’t backed out of this crazy idea. She seemed like the kind of girl who’d change her mind.
Unlike Tracey.
I scrolled down my text messages, seeing the last one I’d received from her.
Tracey: I haven’t forgotten about you. I just need some more time to think it over.
This coming a month after I’d asked her on a date.
Tracey was my sister Tess’s best friend, and she seemed like the girl I could spend forever with. My family already liked her. She was beautiful, with blonde hair and a big smile that made you feel like you hung the moon. Plus, she had her own business working as a virtual assistant, so she was successful, and her schedule was always flexible.
Unfortunately, I had a feeling I was just waiting on a no.
I put my phone back in my pocket and walked out of my office. Before I even hit the parking lot, my phone began ringing. Half hoping Mara had canceled so I could go back to work, I pulled it back out to check the name.
My sister was calling. “Hold on, Tess, I’m getting in my car,” I said to my sister as I fumbled with my key fob. I unlocked it and got into my Mercury, and the call connected to the car’s system. “You there?”
“I’m here. Are you going to be free Friday morning to bring Mom to dialysis?”
I winced as I pulled onto the road, wishing we could talk about anything other than our mother’s failing kidneys. Mom had never been weak or frail or sickly in my life—she’d always been the type of woman up at five in the morning to drink her coffee or waiting up at the table until I got home from hanging out with friends just to make sure I was okay. But now it was our turn to be there for her, no matter the inconvenience. “I am. I just wish I could stay with her. I feel guilty every time I drive away.”
“I wish we could hire someone to do it at their house,” Tess said. “I’m pretty sure Dad’s job is the only thing keeping him sane, and I can’t afford to close the store anymore.”
“No way would Mom let a stranger come into the house,” I said, wishing I could do it myself. She’d done so much for me throughout my life, from changing diapers to helping paint my first home; I owed her this.
“Mom might not have a choice. Tax season is in two months. We barely saw you last year.”
I didn’t want to think about it, much less talk about it.
“She needs to let us hire someone to help her more permanently, Jonas. She’s not getting better, and if we’re lucky, we have years of this ahead of us. Maybe over time she’ll be more comfortable with them.”
“Nursing services like that are notorious for the turnover,” I said. “It would just put her through even more stress.”
“I’m putting a job listing up right now. I’m sure we’ll find someone perfect,” she replied happily.
“No, absolutely not,” I said.
“I can’t miss any more work. If I’m not at the store, I’m not selling product. And do you really want to miss out on a life-changing promotion because Mom’s uncomfortable for a few weeks?”
I didn’t like either option. “Just give me some time to think about it. There has to be something we haven’t considered.”
“Fine. But if you don’t have an idea by Monday, it’s going up,” she said, her mouse clicking away. “Why are you in the car, by the way? Playing hookie?”
“I wish,” I said. “Late lunch.”
“Okay, I have a customer coming into the store. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“You too,” I said, pushing the button to hang up.