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“I’ll have you know that I’m sensitive as shit,” I said wryly.
“Yeah, brainiac, you always struck me as the one that talks about his feelings nonstop,” Jasmine said, piling on the joke.
“Actually, I was just thinking, the job I came off where they needed to get to Seattle and didn’t want to wait to fly stand by, the client was so grateful I got them there as a priority that he offered me a week at his ski resort. I thought we could make a long weekend of it at least. Now that our major event is canceled for the time being, we can use our existing part-timers plus pull in a couple of Jake’s friends who do security gig work if we need fill-ins. This way the new hires can still shadow veteran security personnel and all our bases are covered. I’ll juggle the scheduling myself to make time for a little R&R.”
“I do the scheduling around here,” Jasmine said. “Stay in your lane, Maverick.”
“Jets don’t use lanes.”
“Stay in your runway then,” she said with an eye roll.
“What do you guys think?” I asked, bracing myself for the blistering resistance I’d be facing from my workaholic brothers.
Ty sidled in from the copy machine with a sheaf of papers, “It’s our lucky day. Look what I got—the printer actually worked!” he said triumphantly.
“You’re right. Who needs a first-class vacation at a ski resort when you have beginner’s luck with the printer,” I said sarcastically.
“Scoff if you will, big brother, you’re just jealous the printer likes me now. And what do you mean beginner’s luck? I have to print stuff all the time,” Ty protested.
“Uh, you mean you ask Jasmine to do it,” I countered. “Jaaaas, I just sent you an email, will you print the attachment for me? You know the printer hates me…”I gave it my best wheedling Ty impression.
“I do not whine,” he said, clearing his throat and making his voice deeper.
“I say this with great affection, Ty, but you kind of do,” Jasmine said with a giggle.
“I thought y’all promised you’d gang up on somebody else this week,” he said.
“See? Total whine,” I said with triumph.
“Whatever, I got the printer to work,” he returned.
“Good, now you’re the office machine whisperer. You’re in charge of printing everything from now on,” Jasmine teased.
“Oh shit. I didn’t think this through,” he said, aghast.
“Calm down, bro,” Drew said. “Before you came in here like the conquering hero with what I’m guessing is a hard copy of a takeout menu, we were kicking around the idea of a long weekend in upstate New York. Eli’s client offered him a cabin at a resort there, all expenses paid.”
“Are you seriously considering it?” I said in awe.
“It’s a nice opportunity to get the hell out of Dodge for a few days. If we’re lucky this dipshit from Alabama does something stupid and attracts the attention of local law enforcement. If not, at least we got to ski and sit in a hot tub with a cold beer and mountain silence,” Drew said.
“I’ve never been skiing,” Jasmine said tentatively, a smile tugging at her lips at the very idea of the getaway. There was a little sparkle in her eye, a sign of excitement, of looking forward to something after days of watching her look frantic or despondent. Her reaction alone was worth the trip.
I grinned at her. As soon as I cut my eyes to Jake, I knew that he was thinking the exact same thing that I was thinking. Namely, how much fun it would be to spoil her and really go all out on this trip. She’d fled Alabama with little more than the clothes on her back. She’d built a new life from scratch in Virginia. There was no way she had much in the way of winter clothes or sporting equipment. That meant we got the fun of treating her to new things and introducing her to snow skiing and snowboarding.
The looks we exchanged, my brothers and I, assured me that we were all on the same page. We were taking Jasmine on a long weekend ski vacation. And we would be damned if it wasn’t the time of her life. I was already imagining curling up in front of a roaring fire with her, drinking hot buttered rum or whatever the hell people drink in movies where they get snowed in.
“We’ve all been skiing before. And I think I speak for us all when I say we’d be happy to show you the ropes,” Jake offered.
“Am I hallucinating or did my twin brother actually agree to take a break and go skiing?” I marveled.
“Keep talking, smartass,” he said, “and we’ll vote to leave you here to hold down the fort.”
“Great idea, maybe you can fly the plane,” I said.
“I could,” Ty offered. “I got my pilot’s license three years ago, remember?”
“Shit, I forgot about that. Ugh. That’s what I get for trying to share my love of flying with my little brother. You’re going to All-About-Eve me and fly off on my vacation without me,” I said wryly. “Except I’m the one with privileges at the private aviation company that will get me a steep discount on the rental, plus I’m the one with the free vacation. Come to think of it—baby brothers that try to steal people’s thunder sometimes don’t get invited to go on the trip,” I quipped.
