“Hi, Kendra,” she said into her phone. “My flight is delayed. Can you check Edward’s calendar and see if we can switch my meeting with him to later in the day?”
“Actually, I was getting ready to call you. He just rescheduled. He’s got you down for Monday afternoon at four now.”
Four o’clock?“That was a long drive in the snow for no reason. You know that Monday meeting will get pushed.”
“We both know it. The good news is he’ll feel bad for pushing you off today, and he won’t even know you didn’t make it back in for the meeting. Go treat yourself to a spa day or something.”
“There’s no sense flying in over the weekend. I’ll come in on Monday.”
“I thought you’d be jumping at the chance to come back. Isn’t that little town driving you crazy?”
“No. I’m actually enjoying it down here.”
“I’ve seen the reports coming in. Your assistant there is on point. Don’t you think about replacing me.”
“Actually, those aren’t being done by my assistant Lilene. I pulled up another resource to handle them. She’s good, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, I haven’t had to reformat or tweak a single report this time. I’ve been basically filing my nails here, and taking very long lunches to get my shopping done.”
“Thanks for holding down the fort. You know I appreciate you managing the workflow to the big guys.”
“I do,” Kendra said. “Well, if I don’t talk to you again before the holiday, I hope you and your cousin have a merry Christmas.”
“We will. It’s going to be wonderful. You’re not going to believe this, but we even put up a tree.” Vanessa could picture the look of disbelief on Kendra’s face, and darn if the sarcasm and doubt didn’t show in her sassy response.
“Is it a picture you put on your phone home screen?”
Vanessa knew Kendra so well. “No. We have a real honest-to-goodness live Christmas tree. Sap and everything.”
“Sounds messy.” Kendra tsked. “Count me out.”
“It is messy.” Anna had the DustBuster out vacuuming those needles up again this morning. “But it smells so good.”
“You’re not going country on me, are you?”
“Me? Never. I’m a city girl. What would I do there?”
“I have no idea. Cut down trees maybe? I’m just checking. I’d hate to have to break in a new boss.”
“You’re safe. I better head on back so I can get there before nightfall. Those country roads are dark.”
“I’ll reschedule your flight for Monday morning. You can always cancel it if you want to. Might as well do it on the phone at this point. He’s marked ‘out of office’ all next week already.”
“Thanks for the update.” Vanessa ended the call and headed out of the airport terminal to cash out with the valet. She stepped up to the red, white, and blue sign. “Larkin. I literally just dropped off my car. Shortest valet in history.” She handed the tag over to the older woman wearing a Santa hat.
She clicked around on her keyboard, then reached behind her on the wall. “They haven’t even moved you yet. You’re right outside by the curb.”
Vanessa handed the woman her credit card.
“No charge.” The woman handed Vanessa Anna’s key ring. “Merry Christmas.”
Vanessa cupped the keys in her hand. “Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you too.” She flipped the keys as she walked outside. The car wasn’t even cold yet. She started the engine and found a radio station, then pulled out onto the road.
The radio announcer chatted about the weather between songs. “It’s an icy-cold one out there, folks. Things here locally? Snow has subsided. Roads are passable and we’re at a balmy twenty-seven degrees. Keep an eye on the forecast if you’re traveling this weekend, though. The whole county is getting blasted right now. They should have four to eight inches of fresh snow for us tomorrow. Even more at the higher elevations. Who else will be packing up to hit the slopes this weekend besides me? How about this one to get us in the mood.”
“Let It Snow” began to play.
She sang along, glad the precipitation had slowed down abit, and that the deejay hadn’t mentioned Fraser Hills in the snow-blast alert. It was still early; if all went according to plan, she’d be back by midafternoon.
