Joe exhaled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is,” Krista said, voice shaking now. “It’s exactly what you meant. That I’m being dramatic. That I’m making it harder than it needs to be.”
“That’s not?—”
“You know what,” Krista said, cutting him off, feeling her cheeks flush. “Of course you think it’s simple. You’ve never had anyone with their hands in your pockets, tugging strings. You’ve never had love used as a leash.”
Joe’s grip on the wheel became white-knuckled. “You think my life is simple?”
“You can go wherever you want, Joe. You can leave whenever you want. You don’t have grandparents depending on you. You don’t have employees asking if they’ll still have jobs next month. You don’t have a town that looks at you like you’re supposed to fix everything with a smile and a cocktail shaker.”
Joe winced, like he felt pain hitting low and immediate.
“And don’t act like you get it.” Krista kept going, voice breaking with anger and exhaustion. “You’re not trapped here. You’re not trapped anywhere. You get to chase stories and sunrises and whatever shiny new thing calls your name, and if it gets hard, you can just…go.”
“You think that’s why I go? Because things get hard? Christ. Maybe you should stop talking about things that you know nothing about. Maybe you should stop and think about how lucky you are to have a family who cares about you.”
Her phone buzzed. She almost ignored it. Now was definitely not the time.
But the vibration didn’t stop.Grampsflashed on the screen.
Stomach dropping, she answered.
“Krista? Where are you?”
“Dropping Joe off at the Hideaway, then headed toward the campground to do some writing for the swap. What’s wrong?” she asked.
Joe’s attention snapped to her.
“It’s your grandma,” Walt said. “She fell at the camp store, hit her hip on the step. Ambulance’s taking her.”
The car went silent except for the rush of her own pulse.
“Is she—” Her throat closed. She forced it open. “Is she okay?”
“I think she broke her hip,” he said. “She was awake,complaining about the paramedics tracking dirt in, so that’s something. But they want X-rays and all that. I’m gonna follow in the truck.”
“I’m coming,” Krista said. “I’ll call Robyn and meet you at the hospital.”
“Drive safe,” Walt said before the call ended.
Krista looked down at her phone, trying to process what had just happened.
“Gram fell,” she said, a tremble in her voice. “They’re taking her to the hospital to check her hip.”
“Just tell me where to go,” Joe said.
TWENTY-SIX
JOE
Saturday, Day Two of the Summer Swap
The town had gone soft under the moonlight and gauzy clouds by the time Joe made his way down to the Hideaway. Even the crickets seemed quiet tonight, as if everyone had decided to turn in early. The world had narrowed to shadows, moonlight, and the soft creak of the Hideaway deck waiting for him.
Most of the afternoon had blurred with hospital waiting room chairs, lukewarm vending machine coffee, doctors in pale scrubs explaining fractures, pins, and “good outcomes for someone her age.” Alice had been groggy but bossy enough to tell Krista not to fuss, which Joe took as a sign she’d be okay.
Krista had seemed steady throughout all of it, snapping into action, asking the doctor questions, filling out forms, and tracking down nurses.
