Scott woke the next morning when his phone rang. He groaned and rolled over at the familiar ring tone. He answered the call from his brother with, “If you’re not in the hospital, I’m going to put you there.”
He normally didn’t mind an early-morning wake-up call. He and Jeff got up brutally early in the summer to beat the Carolina heat, and he enjoyed getting done with his work in the early afternoon. Their winter hours, however, allowed more time for sleeping in, and it was the holidays. They weren’t even working today, tomorrow, or the next day.
With Joy in town, Scott had also arranged to be gone from the landscaping business he owned and operated for an additional two days beyond that. Then he’d be back in the truck, out in the community, mowing lawns, and clearing beds of pine needle
