Heart of the Country Page #5

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It might help, and it might not.

No, anything helps,

so thank you.

OK.

Hi, this is Luke Carraday

calling for Dr. Gordon.

Luke Carraday.

It's a rather urgent matter.

Dr. Gordon and I are members of the...

I see.

Do you know when he might be back in?

Like I mentioned, this is urgent

and I would really appreciate it if...

Just tell him I...

Why can't we just take the truck?

I don't want to go up there

in this Yankee car.

Because I have a garage for this car

and your truck won't fit in it.

- Well, at least let me drive it then.

- No, Daddy.

All right then,

let's get this over with.

What's that?

He started it when you were 14.

Kept track of everything I could since.

My gosh.

I can't believe you did this.

- Thank you.

- Always on your side.

Can we go?

Daddy, your medicine's in the glove box.

- Yeah.

- Every four hours.

All right, all right.

You know what?

I'm just gonna call and remind you.

We're gonna be fine.

# Don't tell me love is something...

Welcome to New York.

You lived in all this

how long now?

# But, baby, right now maybe

what you need is a friend

# Well I'm here for you

# I will be by your side

# If ever you fall

deep in the dead of the night

What do you wanna do?

I wanna go to a show.

# I'll see you through

Ooh-ooh

# And I won't give up

# No, I won't give up

# I won't give up on you

# I will be by your side

# If ever you fall deep in the...

So...

what did you think of the show?

Beautiful.

# And I won't give up

# No, I won't give up

# I won't give up

# You can call it love

# I won't give up on you #

Don't take that plea.

- Are you serious?

- Yeah, I'm serious.

It's an admission of guilt.

I mean, I think I...

...deserve to be punished.

Maybe you do.

But Dad doesn't.

I don't.

My kids don't.

- You understand?

- Yes.

And with the phone.

Look, I know it's Faith.

What is it?

Her dad has brain cancer.

She asked me to get him into Dr. Gordon.

I called Gordon...

but I'm not exactly a guy

people want to do favors for

right now, you know?

- Yeah.

- Oh, my gosh. Luke?

- Maria. Hey.

- How are things?

Good to see you.

This is my brother, Jake.

- This is Maria.

- Maria.

Hey, have a seat right here.

So, is this a party night

for you boys?

It is now.

What are you drinking, Maria?

- Tequila.

- All right, tequila.

Where's Sophia? Sophia!

There she is.

Three tequilas right here.

Three of them.

What?

My daddy actually likes show tunes.

Well, you know what? I do.

Ooh, I still wanna get

one of those pretzels and a beer.

- These guys sell beer?

- No.

Well, how much would they cost up here

anyhow, about $100 a can?

Oh, Daddy, it's Livy.

Tell her I died and see what she does.

Stop it. Hey, sweetie.

- Daddy sleeping?

- Actually, no.

He's choking down

a flaming pretzel right now.

- What?

- No, we're fine.

We actually just got done

singing some show tunes.

What's up?

Listen, the hospital

just called the house.

They can see Daddy.

Did you hear me?

Yeah. Yeah, I heard you.

I'll call right away.

Looks like your Yankee boy

came through after all.

All right.

- How much do I owe you?

- There you go. Five bucks.

Come on, Daddy,

let's take a seat.

Not tired.

Yeah, well, you have to take your pill.

Lord. You're starting

to sound like Olivia.

Ooh.

That was a nice thing Luke did.

Kind of thing a man does

when he loves somebody.

What's that supposed to mean?

What does it sound like?

- Here we are.

- It's a nice place.

Listen, it was so great to see you.

You really want me

to run over there and forgive him

for lying to me.

No. I think you ought to talk to him.

And say what?

That's between you and your husband.

Well, I'm not gonna leave you here.

Honey, I might have a brain tumor,

but I don't plan on dying tonight.

Hey.

You got tonight.

You might not have tomorrow.

All right, Gary,

I'll see you at 8:00pm tomorrow.

Hey...

Will you hand me that purse?

Thanks. Drive safe.

I'm such an idiot.

Thank you.

- Here's your second chance.

- I think you should go home.

No, I'm serious. You gotta go...

Faith?

Hey...

No. No, no! It's not...

Faith, stop. Open up.

Faith, wait.

Let's not have this moment.

Faith, nothing is happening.

Nothing's going on up there.

Just, please, come talk to her.

I am not talking to her ever again.

Faith, I'm not with her.

I've heard it all before, Luke.

I'm not gonna hear it again.

This marriage...

...is over.

- No, no. Stop.

- Stop, please.

- Thank you for helping my father.

- Well, that was awkward.

- Get out.

Come on.

I said get out!

I can see why you like coming here.

Feels a bit like home, doesn't it?

I'm gonna get some coffee.

You OK?

Never been better.

You must be Luke.

Please... come in.

Nice place.

Thank you.

- Can I get you a drink?

- No. No, I'm good. Thank you.

You go ahead though.

Help yourself.

Have a seat.

I didn't come here to grill you.

I want you to know that

I never touched another woman,

not last night or ever. I was

always faithful to your daughter.

- I don't want to talk about that.

- And I didn't commit fraud.

I don't wanna hear about

what you didn't do.

I wanna hear about what you did do.

Fair enough.

When I took the job,

I did not know that they were a Ponzi.

I mean, I heard rumors on the street

that their earnings were bogus,

but I didn't know.

After I started

working there for a while,

making some serious money,

I found out.

But they didn't know that I knew.

Most of us junior guys,

we got fleeced for a major buy-in.

And they kept us legit.

I never had a client

who's money went into that fund.

Everything was always legal.

I went out of my way to

make sure it stayed that way.

But you knew, didn't you?

- I did.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Well why don't you

take a plea deal and testify?

My family has been a mainstay

in this city for over 150 years.

A plea is admitting wrongdoing.

That taints my father, my brother,

and any future Carraday that follows.

Including your future grandchildren.

So you're willing to abandon my daughter

to protect your family name.

- I'm doing the right thing here.

- Ah, hell.

Most of the wrong done in this world

has been done by people

who thought they were

doing the right thing.

You a religious man, Luke?

I believe in God, sure.

You think that God can redeem a man

if that man will let him?

I do, sure.

Good.

'Cause I need it.

I'm gonna die.

No, sir, you're gonna get treatment.

No, I'm not. No, sir.

Mm-mm.

I'll let you in on a little secret.

Just you and me.

I didn't come up here to get any

treatment for this... cancer.

Had a good run, I'm not gonna let them

fill me full of poison

just so I can stick around

for another month or two.

Why are you here?

Because my daughter has a husband.

When I'm gone, she's gonna need him.

- And I wanna be there for her...

- Then be there!

You and Faith, both,

you're just the same. You're...

You're just the same.

Both of you, runners.

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