Chapter 3
Footsteps came pounding down the hallway.
A handful of Shenwell Holdings shareholders who backed Henry came running into the room.
"Where is Henry? Why isn't he here?" the one in front shouted, his eyes red.
Linda pointed at me. "It's her. Joanna is useless. She couldn't get Henry to come."
The shareholders grabbed a thick stack of paperwork off the table and threw it at me.
"Joanna, what exactly are you good for? We put everything we own behind Henry. If he misses this will, every dollar of it goes down with him. You are nothing but a walking disaster."
Before I could say a word, the heart monitor started alarming, and the whole room jumped.
The attending physician let out a long breath.
"He has twenty minutes at the outside. I would work fast."
Twenty minutes.
If Henry had glanced at his phone even once, or picked up a single call, the park was ten minutes from the hospital and he would have made it easily.
Linda's hope came back. She picked up the phone with both hands shaking.
"Henry, you have to pick up for your mother."
*****
Fireworks broke open across the night sky while the Ferris wheel crawled toward the top.
In the cramped car, Lydia leaned into Henry and pointed out the window.
"That ringing is making my head hurt, Henry. Turn the phone off, or just drop it out the window."
Her lashes came down, and she looked smaller and softer than ever.
"For as long as this ride lasts, I want to be the only person in your world. Can you give me that?"
Henry stopped for a second, and what Joanna had said on the phone went through his head.
Then he looked at Lydia's eyes, red from the cold and fixed on him like he was the only thing holding her up, and the doubt was gone.
It was Joanna working an angle for attention, and the old man was strong as a horse. He wasn't going anywhere.
"All right. As long as my princess is happy, the sky can fall," Henry said.
He smiled at her, and then he threw both of their phones into the man-made lake without a second of hesitation.