Haley rushes to the big white farmhouse. "Momma!?" She shouts.

"Haley." Sam sighs, his strong arms wrapping around his little sister.

"How's daddy doin'?"

"He collapsed out in the field- laid out there for about an hour before we got to him." He tells her, sitting her at the table next to him. "He had a couple heart attacks along with heat exhaustion."

"Oh my god." Haley rolls her lips in her mouth. "Is he okay?"

"Momma's at the hospital with him. They're only lettin' her visit for now."

Haley shakes her head. "What do we do 'til then?"

"I don't know."

Those three words make Haley's heart sink. In all the years that she's known her oldest brother, he's always known what to do; how to fix the problem. But now, there's nothing they can do for this and it kills them both.

***

Sam, Wes and Haley make their way to Moore County Hospital, the trio silent as they approach the front desk.

"Clayton Mack; we're his kids." Sam says, resting his hands on the desk. "What room is he in?"

"He's in room 134." The nurse says.

"Thank you, ma'am." Sam puts his hand on his sister's shoulder as the siblings head to their father's room. "Okay." He takes a deep breath then opens the door. "Holy shit."

"Sam." Louisa May scolds weakly, her cheeks have tear stains running down her flushed skin.

"How's he doin', momma?" Wes asks softly, standing behind her with his calloused hands on her shoulders, squeezing comfortingly.

"Not too good." She whispers back, wiping her eyes. "There's a lot of stress on his heart."

Sam puts his arm around Haley's shoulders. "What're they sayin' 'bout 'em?" He asks.

He's answered by her tearful eyes causing his own to jerk in his throat. "How long?"

Haley zones out, looking at her pale father laying in the hospital bed with wires coming out of his chest and arms. She lets silent tears slip down her freckles face, her heart shattering when it finally hits her; they can't help him.

Her father is going to die.

Hayley's head snaps up when she hears the heart machine start to beep like crazy, Sam running out to the hallway, yelling for a nurse but he gets there too late.

The pandemonium is silenced by a continuous tone that drones throughout the room.

Clayton Samuel Mack, III has died.

"Oh my god." Louisa May sobs into her hands, Wes wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back as she cries against his strong shoulder.

"Haley-" Sam starts, reaching out for her hand but she pushes it away, heading out to the parking lot. She finds Sam's truck and starts it up, driving with no idea where to go.

***

Haley pounds her fists against Preston's door, tears streaming down her face.

He stumbles to his front door, his curly brown hair in a mess as he rubs his eyes, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. "I'm comin'." He grumbles, swinging the door open. He jumps when he feels arms tight around his middle and a damp cheek against his bare chest. "Haley- what- what's wrong?" He asks, immediately hugging her back.

"Daddy- he d-died." She sobs, her body trembling.

"What?" Preston rubs her back.

"My dad died." She spits, her voice wobbly. "Like twenty minutes ago."

"Holy shit." He says. Haley pulls away and slides down the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sobs against them, her shoulders bouncing with each guttural cry. Preston sits next to her, his strong arm around her, pulling her against his side. She moves herself onto his lap, kneeling on either side of him as he hugs her close against his chest.

She looks up, her eyes darting between his deep brown ones and his lips before she leans in and kisses him. "Hey." He whispers, swiping his thumbs over her cheeks to clear tears off. "Why don't you go lay down, you need rest."

"I don't want to." She whispers in a broken voice. "I know I won't be able to sleep."

"C'mon." Preston scoops her up in his strong arms and carries her up to his bedroom.

He sits her on the bed and slides her boots off for her. They share a look then she nods, signaling that it's okay for him to take her clothes off. He pulls her jeans down her longs legs then tugs her long sleeve Carhartt tee off. He grabs a t-shirt from his dresser and tosses it to her. She tugs it on then unclasps her bra, throwing it to the floor.

Haley climbs under the plaid bedsheets, curling in on herself where she starts crying again. Preston's heart aches, laying behind her with his arm over her middle.

The old flames doze off together until they're startled awake by her cell ringing. "Fuck." She whines, rolling on her back. She stumbles out of bed and pulls her phone from her jeans. "Hello?" She mumbles, rubbing her face.

"Haley, where are you?" Sam asks, keeping his voice down as he sits on the wrap around porch with his younger brother.

"I'm with Preston."

"Preston Oliver?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because." She mumbles, yawning. "What's up?"

"When are you comin' home?"

"Soon, I guess." She shrugs, sitting on the foot of the bed. "How's momma?"

"A mess." Sam sighs. "How're you doin'?" He asks, knowing that this must be even more difficult for the youngest Mack; the father/daughter duo were practically inseparable.

"You know." She sniffles, tearing up again. "Survivin'."

"I love you, Haley." Sam says, wishing his little sister was home with the rest of the family but it's better that she isn't; their mother is in shambles. "Get some rest."

"I love you too, Clayton." She manages. "You gotta carry on his name."

"I'm already the fourth." He chuckles weakly. "But you got it, Haley May. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah." She sighs heavily as she hangs up, quickly wiping her cheeks when she feels a hand on her back. "Sorry."

Preston just wraps his arms around her again, rubbing her back as she starts crying. "Shit." She sniffles, laying back with her hands covering her face. "This ain't fair." She whimpers. "Why would God take him away from his family?"

"I don't know, baby. I- I just don't know."

***

Haley pushes the front door to Morgan's house open and sighs. She drops her bag on the floor and rubs her sore, bloodshot eyes. "Hey, how's your dad?" Morgan asks when he sees her after he rounds the corner from the bedroom.

Haley starts to get misty eyed again.

"What?" Morgan's tone goes serious. "What's wrong?"

"He died." She manages out, her voice so quiet that he almost misses it.

"Holy shit." He sets his drink down on the table then wraps her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." She nods and wipes her eyes. "What're you doin' home then? Shouldn't you be with your ma and 'em?"

"I want you to come with me to the funeral."

"Wow, okay, yeah. Yeah, I'm there." He nods, kissing the top of her head.

She sniffles and pulls away, heading to the laundry room to wash the clothes she's been wearing for the last week while Morgan starts packing.

"What happened to him?" Morgan asks quietly, trying to break the awkward tension between the two.

"He had a couple heart attacks and when they got to him he had heat exhaustion." She mumbles, looking down at the faded Eagles tee her father had gotten for her. "Then it just gave up, I guess."

"Wow." Morgan says, shaking his head. "You doin' okay?"

"Yeah, y'know." She shrugs, laying the t-shirt in her suitcase before she grabs a bag covered dress. "You almost done?"

"Yeah." He grabs a nice shirt and a pair of slacks, folds them neatly then lays them in his suitcase before zipping it closed. "You good to drive or do you want me to?"

"I-I'll drive." She says, heading out to her Dodge.

***

After an incredibly painful service, the Mack family and Morgan are sitting around the dinner table, one chair left vacant.

"Found it." Wes says, sliding a box in front of his mother.

"Y'all's daddy wanted this opened if anything were to happen to him." Louisa May says, her bony fingers drumming against the lid. Morgan gives his girlfriend's shoulder a squeeze. "Okay." She lifts the lid and picks up an envelope. "'For my oldest, Clayton Samuel Mack IV, this one is for you." She slides it down to him. "For my second born, Wesley Clayton Mack." Wes takes his. "For my youngest, my favorite daughter, Haley May Mack."

The three sibling look at their mother then at each other. "I don't know what your daddy was up to when he did all this." Louisa May says, motioning to them to open their envelopes.

Sam goes first. "I got a third of the land."

Wes goes second. "I get a third of the land and the farm business."

Haley goes third. "I get a third of the land and the house." Her heart stops as everyone looks at her. "I got the house." She repeats to herself. "What? That- that ain't right."

Louisa May can't help the smile on her face; all her kids together again, taking over the farm together like Clay's always wanted.

Morgan looks over her shoulder at the letter in her sweaty hands and smiles. "Hey, congrats."

"No, no, I can't handle the house- you kiddin' me?"

"Hey, it'll be alright." Sam says, patting her wrist. "You know Wes and me live like ten minutes away and momma'll still be here."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." She fans herself with the letter. "This is- this is a lot to take in." She breathes, standing and stumbling her way to the porch, tears jerking in her throat.

Morgan follows her and sits her on a bench. "Take a deep breath, Hales." He says softly, rubbing her back as she has her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She doesn't listen, her chest heaving as she tries to fight off an incoming panic attack.

With shaky hands, she pushes her hair back, sweat beading in her hairline as her belly turns. "I got the house. I- I have to leave Nashville."

Those words sink in Morgan's belly. "I know." He whispers.

Tears form in her worried eyes. "I can't leave now." She wipes her face off with her sleeve. "I don't wanna leave you and Michael and- and Caleigh."

"We can visit each other. As for us, we can do long distance or somethin'." She looks up at him. "What?"

"I can't ask you to come with me. It's selfish of me. You have your music and everything and I- fuck." She takes in a shaky breath. "We should break up."

"What!?"

"I can't be in Nashville anymore if I'm gon' be runnin' the farm with Sam and Wes. I'm- I'm movin' back here."

"Haley-"

"Don't make this any harder than it is." She whimpers.

Haley stands and heads back inside with her family, leaving Morgan heartbroken out on the porch. He loves this girl- truly loves this woman and it kills him that things are ending.

"Haley, wait." He grabs her arm. "I'll quit."

"Quit music? No, no." She shakes her head. "I'm not worth quittin' your music career."

"If that's what it's gonna take for us to be together-"

"Morgan." She cuts him off. "Don't quit. I won't be able to live with myself if you quit for me." She sighs heavily, blinking back tears. "I'm sorry."

Haley heads back inside and grabs her keys. "I'm gonna grab my things and I'll be moved back in by the end of the week." She manages out, looking between her family and Morgan.

"Drive safe." Louisa May says, giving her a sad smile.

"I will." She gives her mother and brothers hugs before she's back on the road with Morgan.