“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Where are you?”
His voice sounded different than usual. Less cocky, less certain.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Mom and Dad are freaking out.”
I leaned against the porch railing.
“That sounds stressful.”
Jason let out a frustrated breath.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
There was silence again. Then Jason got straight to the point.
“You need to fix this.”
I almost smiled.
“Fix what?”
“You know what,” he snapped. “This whole house situation.”
The creek behind the clinic trickled quietly through the trees. I watched the water move over the rocks.
“What exactly do you think I did, Jason?” I asked calmly.
He scoffed.
“You tricked us.”
“No,” I said. “I signed the contract you gave me.”
“Yeah, but you set it up so the house would get sold.”
I sighed softly.
“Jason, you asked me to give you my home because I owed the family.”
The words echoed across the quiet Tennessee yard. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then I asked him something I had wondered for years.
“Why do you think that?”
Jason hesitated.
“Because that’s just how things work.”
“No,” I said gently. “That’s how things worked for you.”
His voice dropped lower.
“You always had it easier.”
I blinked.
“Easier.”
“You were the responsible one. Mom and Dad trusted you. They expected you to succeed.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“Jason, do you know how many extra shifts I worked to pay for nursing school?”
“That’s not the point.”
“It is the point.”
He didn’t answer. I continued.
“You wrecked two cars before you were twenty-five. Mom and Dad bought both of them.”
“That was different.”
“You dropped out of college and they said school wasn’t for everyone.”
Jason shifted uncomfortably on the other end of the line.
“So what? You’re punishing us now?”
“No,” I said. “I’m just not rescuing you.”
Jason exhaled sharply.
“You know they’re going to lose money on this.”
I thought about my parents sitting in that empty house. About the years of decisions that led to that moment.
“They made their choices,” I said quietly.
Jason lowered his voice.
“You could still stop this.”
“How?”
“You could tell the company to back off.”