Guest of Fire - Part 1
"Sam! Hey!" I said picking up my phone. On the other end was Sam, one of my best friends from college. For the past 5 years, he and his family came to visit for 2 weeks in July. My house was good sized, with a beautiful, private pool in the back. And located only an hour from the ocean, it was a really good place to get away to for vacation.
"It's been a long time, Vince. How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm doing great!" I said. "My business is going well and Beck is debating if she wants to work again. And, of course, Sarah's just being lazy, getting ready for college to start."
"Dad!" Sarah said from the couch, looking at her phone. "I'm not being lazy. I'm relaxing!"
"Sorry," I said, "she's... relaxing." Sarah stuck her tongue out at me from my tone, but I just smiled back.
Sam laughed. "I know what you mean. Em's... relaxing... like that, too." Em, Emmanuelle, was Sam's 19 year old daughter who was the same age as my Sarah. It was a welcome surprise that we both had our first and only child the same year.
"How are you doing?" I asked. "Still expecting to come down on the 18th?"
"Well... that's why I'm calling," he said, sounding a little tired. "We had some change in plans. I think I told you I was having surgery a couple weeks ago."
"Yeah. Something about your heart."
"Well, they ended up putting in some stents and sent me home," he said. "But there have been some complications. I have another surgery scheduled next month, but until then, I'm really low on energy. They want me to be on bed rest until the surgery."
"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry to hear that, Sam," I said. "Is there anything that Beck and I can do?"
"No... not really," he said. "We're just taking it day by day. Em still wants to come down, if that's ok."
"Just Em, then?"
"Yeah... we'll all come down next year," he said. "I guess we'll be less of a burden on you this year," he laughed.
"Well, since the girls are the biggest burdens, you're not saving us much," I laughed back.
"I'll tell her you said that," he laughed. "I'll send you the flight information."
"Sounds good. Take care of that heart, dude," I said.
"I will."
"And send Jess our love."
"Will do," he said. "I'll talk to you later, Vince."
"Take care." I hung up the phone and addressed Sarah. "It looks like only Em's coming down on the 18th," I told her. "Sam had some health issues and is staying put this year."