Sunday night, Vanessa and I boarded a chartered yacht in the Lake Worth Lagoon for dinner.
The table was set on the back deck with white flowers, polished silver, and candles in glass hurricanes. The lights of the mansions along the shore shimmered on the water.
We were halfway through the first course when my phone started ringing.
Margaret.
I looked at it. I remembered I’d promised to call her before dinner. And I decided I’d call her back later.
A few minutes later, it rang again.
Margaret.
Vanessa looked at the phone. Then at me.
“Are you going to spend this whole night talking to your wife?”
“She’s due any day now,” I said.
“I know that, Nate. But you promised me this weekend was about us.”
And instead of telling her that my wife’s health mattered more than one expensive dinner on a boat, I turned my phone face down on the table.
And I kept eating.
I put the phone on silent.
And with the sound off, it was surprisingly easy to pretend the calls weren’t happening.
A little after one in the morning, my executive assistant, Daniel Park, finally reached me. Through the yacht captain’s radio.
The captain came out onto the deck holding the handset. His face was careful.
“Mr. Mercer. There’s an urgent call for you.”
I took it.
Daniel’s voice was tight.
“Nate. Margaret’s at Greenwich Hospital. The babies are coming. She’s been trying to reach you for hours.”
I stood up so fast my chair scraped across the teak deck.
“Is she all right?”
“I don’t have all the details. Her sister Ellen’s with her. But you need to get back here. Now.”
My jet was sitting at Palm Beach International. The crew could have had it ready to fly in under an hour.
I told Daniel to arrange it. And I went to get my jacket.
And Vanessa grabbed my arm.
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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