Page 110 of Unlikely to Stay
His mom was saved from answering when his phone rang.Brant looked at his phone.It was an Oklahoma City number but one he didn’t recognize.“Mom, I need to take this.”
“Don’t you eventhinkthis conversation is over, mister!”his mom said, a frown on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.
Brant rolled his eyes.In no way did he think he was going to get out of the conversation with his mom the phone call interrupted.He’d lived with the woman for too long to even think he’d be lucky enough for that to happen.Before he could answer, his phone stopped ringing.He quickly pressed the missed call on his phone and blew out a breath when it wasn’t a generic phone line and he got an actual person on the other end.
“Hi, I just missed a call from this number,” he said.
“Is this Brant Billings?”
“It is.”
“This is Mary Grant, head physician at Great Plains Hospital in Oklahoma City.We received your application from a couple of days ago and I’ve had time to review it.”
“Wow.That was really fast,” he replied.
“Let me be honest.Our turnaround isn’t usually this fast.But I was really impressed with your resume.You excelled in nursing school and practicums and it seems as if you are getting a variety of experience at the clinic you are currently running.”
“I have definitely met a plethora of different patients,” he said.
“In a small town in Oklahoma, I believe it,” she chuckled.“I was wanting to see when you’d be available to come in for an interview.It needs to be this week.We plan on narrowing our candidates to three at the end of this week and then finalizing in the next couple of weeks.Do you have a day that works best for you?”
Brant thought about it.He could probably manage to squeeze in an interview on Thursday if he could get someone from his mom’s church to sit with her.“Would Thursday work?”
“Thursday was actually the day I was going to suggest so that’s perfect.Morning or afternoon?”
“That is completely up to you.”
He heard the sound of a pen tapping on a desk.She was probably consulting her calendar.“What about two p.m.?”
“That works for me.Thank you so much, Dr.Grant.I look forward to meeting you.”
“You’re welcome.I’ll see you at two on Thursday.”
After pressing end on his phone, Brant walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch.His mom was still sitting in her recliner, staring a hole in his forehead.
“Well?You take that all important call?”she asked.
Brant tried not to roll his eyes.“Yes, I did.”
“Care to tell me who it was?”
“It was a hospital here in the city, Mom.They want me to interview with them.”
“And?”
“And I set up an interview.”
His mom rolled her eyes and opened her crossword puzzle book.He thought he heard her mutter the wordsidiotandstubborn assbut he wasn’t sure.He sure wasn’t going to ask.“Mom, why don’t you want me to stay here with you?”
At first, Brant thought she wasn’t going to answer.But she finally sighed, placed her puzzle book on the same end table that had been sitting next to her recliner since Brant walked through the doors of her home, and looked him in the eyes.
“It’s not that I don’t want you here, baby.I do.I love you.Don’t you know I’dloveto see you running around my house chasing a gaggle of grandbabies?Seeing you every Sunday after church for lunch?Taking my friends to the hospital cafeteria just so they can see my boy dressed all fancy in his hospital scrubs?”
“Then why does it feel like you’re pushing me away?”
“Because you need to be in Parker with your redhead.I know you love her, you daft boy.”
Brant looked at his mom in shock.Sure, he’d told Freckles.But he hadn’t evendiscussedit with his mom.“What did you say?”