There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
“Dad? You there?”
“I’m here. Why the hell wasn’t the jib down?”
“The driver got called away at lunchtime. His wife had an asthma attack so he left in a hurry. No one realized until the end of the day that he had the keys in his pocket. He didn’t pick up when Rufus called.” Jackson tried to relax his shoulders. “One of those things.”
“Fuck.” It was rare to hear his dad swear.
“I’m nearly there, so I’ll call you back to go through the details later.”
“We don’t have insurance, Jackson.”
“Sorry?” He signaled to make the turn into the site, half listening, half running through what would need to be done.
“There is no insurance.”
Jackson shifted his car into park and sat, hands resting on the wheel. “What do you mean?”
They always took out insurance. It was standard procedure.
“I decided to make some savings.”
The words fell like iron weights onto Jackson’s ribs. “You...” His voice cracked, his thoughts scrambled. “Savings—”
“I wanted to be sure we could make the loan repayment this month.”
Jackson’s stomach cramped. This was a nightmare. An absolute fucking nightmare. What if someone had been hurt? Or worse? Jesus Christ—what the hell was his dad thinking?
“Right. Let me find out the damage and I’ll call you back.”
Anger coating each bitten-out word, he hung up without waiting for a reply and forced himself to climb out of the car.
Chapter 31
From Esther’s diary
May 13th, 1972
I’m so jealous of Hazel and the way she loves her job. Yes, I enjoyed learning languages in school. No, I don’t enjoy translating legal documents! I want a family and a husband. I want to make things up and be creative. Life feels very rigid sometimes. I wonder where I’ll be this time next year.
At least I have a lunch date in the park with Atherton tomorrow. The best way to start the week!
Leah
She fidgeted all day on Friday, annoying herself with her inability to concentrate. She’d heard from Jackson a couple of times early in the week, via voice notes to tell her when the decorators would be arriving to paint the living room. He said he hoped to make it back to Pine Springs that evening. He rarely messaged her; when he did,it was usually brief, factual, and blunt. She knew how much texting stressed him out. He’d admitted that sometimes his spelling was so off even autocorrect couldn’t recognize what he was trying to say. She wished he’d call but he didn’t.
It was tough to be understanding when her insecurities took to the floor like they were holding a rally.
He’s too good for you.
What if it was just a weekend fling?
Wham, bam, and thank you very much, ma’am.
But, God, she missed him.
He was the peanut butter cup in the cupboard it made sense to resist. Tempting her with its sugary beauty, waving away any concerns that it might be a little bad for her, a short-lived, empty energy boost. Jackson was not a clever choice but, try as she might to be sensible, Leah was beyond caring. She needed her fix.
