Page 6 of Forever and Always

“Yeah yeah. But there’s another complication. I fractured something in my hand when I hit him. I’m not supposed to use my right hand for at least three weeks, and of course that’s my dominant hand.”

I left out the part about osteoporosis. I’d been embarrassed enough for one day.

“In that case this is a great time to take some of your PTO,” Alice said brightly.

I groaned.

“I don’t want to take PTO. I want to work. I can type with one hand, or dictate.”

Alice launched into her familiar speech about work/life balance and how unions had fought to get people vacation time and sick time, and it was an insult to our labor predecessors to not take my time off. I held the phone away from my ear as she got louder, moving to the part of the speech about how if presidents and CEOs could take vacations, the county emergency manager could too.

Suddenly the phone was snatched out of my hand.

“Hello, Alice is it? This is Andrew Lawson, I’m a friend of Katy’s as well as her attorney… Yes, Christopher is my brother… If it’s all right with you, I’m just going to bring Katy with me back to Lawson for a few weeks. My family and I will make sure she disconnects and gets some rest while she’s recovering.”

“Hey!” I said loudly enough for them both to hear me.

Andrew chuckled. “Oh yes, I know, don’t worry, I’ll take care of her. Let me give you my phone number just in case you need to reach me though.”

He rattled off his phone number, then said goodbye, ending the call.

“Who do you think you are?” I hissed.

“Look Katy, you’re obviously burnt out at work. You can’t use your right hand. And I know Steph and Christopher are about to go on vacation. You need help.”

“I have other friends in town you know,” I said.

“You need a break, and my mother needs someone to fuss over. Plus you can help her make any updates to that emergency plan for Lawson while you’re in town. It’s a win/win.”

“I guess I could stay at Christopher’s house,” I said reluctantly. Maybe a little break up in the quiet of the mountains would be nice.

“You’re staying at my house,” he said firmly. “Unless you want to stay with my mother and Patrick.”

Patrick was the youngest Lawson brother and although he was a hottie, he reportedly had a habit of sleepwalking in his boxers. And while she was nice, Marianne Lawson was a bit much to deal with in large doses.

Of course I could push the issue, insist that I stay at Christopher’s house, or even here in Denver, but honestly I was just too tired to argue about it.

“Fine,” I said sullenly, sliding down in my seat like an angsty teenager. “I’ll stay at your house for a few days.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him open his mouth to argue, then think better of it.

I woke up my phone and opened the group message chat I had with Steph and Carmen, typing out a brief explanation of what happened using my left hand.