Chapter 5 - The Appointment
"I can move the rehearsal," Nate said.
"It's not the rehearsal. You told your mother you'd go three weeks ago."
He called the school first. Ms. Bell thanked him, said another parent could cover, and sounded relieved that he'd given notice. Then he called his mother, who told him not to worry and asked whether he'd eaten lunch.
She always did that when she was disappointed.
"I'll still take you," he said.
"You don't have to prove you're a good son, Nathan."
"Maybe I want to be there."
A pause. "Then be there."
At the appointment, his mother, Diane, joked with the receptionist and then grew quiet while the doctor explained that her medication needed an adjustment. The news wasn't catastrophic. It was the sort of ordinary aging complication that required someone to listen, write things down, and remember instructions next week.
On the drive home, Diane said, "Your father used to miss appointments because he was working. I'd get so mad at him. Then I'd tell myself that's what men did."
"That was a different time."
"It wasn't that long ago. We just made excuses for different things."
She reached over and patted his sleeve. "Don't make excuses for yourself either."
He thought of the map he'd stayed up until one in the morning drawing for Meredith.
At pickup, a line of cars ran past the crossing guard. Nate pulled into the visitor spot, walked to the office, and found Josie waiting beside a potted plant with a staff member. He was nine minutes late; he had misread the appointment's end time and hit roadwork.
"I'm sorry," he told her.
"I know," she said. "Ms. Bell said you always come."
Meredith stood at the counter signing out Maeve, who had forgotten her water bottle.
"Everything okay?" Meredith asked. "We were worried."
The concern sounded genuine until she added, "Sometimes when people don't have a structured workday, the hours get away from them."
Nate stared at her. The school secretary looked down at her keyboard.
"I was taking my mother to a doctor's appointment," he said. "And I should have left earlier."
"I didn't mean anything by it."
"You usually do."
Josie's hand tightened around his fingers. He wanted to take the sentence back before the secretary heard it.
May you like
As they left, the principal, Ms. Patel, came into the office and watched the adults' faces. Later that evening she emailed Nate: Could you come by for a conversation tomorrow? There are concerns I'd rather address directly than through the pickup line.
