When Crickets Cry: a Novel of the Heart

Cindy calls Reese and says, “I’ve got a business proposition for you” (165). Her family owns 50 acres of a pecan farm, and she wants to know if he and Charlie want to reclaim the antique wood from an old barn on the property, sell it, and split the money with her. Seeing another way to help Cindy and Annie, Reese agrees.

Reese and Charlie head to The Well for their usual burger when Charlie tells Reese that he plans to pick up Cindy and Annie on the way. Before their meal, Charlie prays: “You’re the only one here who knows what You’re doing, so we ask that You come hang out with us a bit. Be the guest of honor at this table. Fill our conversations, our time, and our hearts” (171). From their perspective, God answers their prayer, blessing them with laughs, good food, and good conversation. 

Chapter 34 reveals what happened on the day Emma died. Exhausted from overwork and insomnia, Reese woke from a deep sleep when he suddenly heard glass breaking. He found Emma:

[…] laying faceup on the kitchen floor, her nightgown twisted around her. He eyes were open, and she was gripping her chest. Her face was a picture of excruciation. I hit my knees, felt her carotid artery and distal pulse, and knew she had about three minutes before her heart stopped (178).

Reese then opened Emma’s chest, performing surgery in their kitchen to try to save her. Charlie rushed in to help but slipped on the blood-drenched floor; he hit his head, which caused his eventual blindness. By the time the paramedics arrived, Emma’s heart had stopped, and their attempts to revive her with a defibrillator failed. Medical officials praised Reese’s attempts, but he rejected the praise, feeling that he had failed Emma when it mattered most.

Following Reese’s flashback to Emma’s death, a huge storm blows in. Charlie dances around, elated that he can see the lightning flashes. Reese watches the storm and thinks about Dr. Royer, Annie, and Cindy, who carried so much “weight on her shoulders and [had an] outer frail façade that was so close to cracking” (186). He also thinks about Emma. 

Alone again, Reese says, “Like the scalpel I was so accustomed to working with, Emma’s death severed me. I watched my heart roll through the dirt like a discarded piece of rotten fruit” (187). His life had been built around saving Emma, and when he failed to do that, he felt there was nothing left. After her death, he disappeared for eight months (but doesn’t remember where he went). Then, he left his medical practice and went into hiding. 

Reese and Charlie go to Cindy’s family property to strip the old barn of its wood. They camp out and retrieve more valuable wood than they had anticipated.

Reese and Charlie sell the planks and timbers to a man who plans to resell them in Atlanta. The man pays them $58,000, and Reese and Charlie go immediately to Cindy’s house to give her the check. Per their agreement, Cindy tries to write them a check for half the money, but Reese rips it up. 

While Reese is working on the Hacker-Craft, Cindy calls him, screaming. Reese immediately thinks Annie is in danger; he yells for Charlie, and they jump in Podnah and rush to her house. Once there, they realize Cindy is screaming because there’s a snake in her kitchen. After Reese ushers the snake outside, they talk about plans for tomorrow’s dinner.

Reese goes into town to buy ingredients for the big pig roast that he and Charlie are throwing for Cindy and Annie. There, he runs into Shirley, the woman who received the heart that Emma passed up shortly before she died. Reese tries to hide from her, but she sees him and says that she’s alive and doing well because of him. When she and her family walk away, a bystander notices Reese’s emotional state and says, “Feels good, don’t it?” (205). 

Reese uses his old credentials to hack into Annie’s file and order a test that he thinks could benefit her. He also credits her account for that test, so she won’t have to pay for it. Later, he receives a voicemail from Dr. Royer, stating that Royer knows it was Reese who broke into Annie’s account. Royer agrees to order the test on one condition: Reese must come to Annie’s next appointment; otherwise, he’ll reveal Reese’s real identity as the former Dr. Mitchell.