She pulled a blanket over herself, and then switched off the television.
Coming to this town the week of Thanksgiving was ridiculous. She should’ve stood her ground with Edward. Then again, she wouldn’t have uncovered the discrepancies in the building use and profitability of Porter’s yet.
Didn’t really matter. What was done was done. She drifted off to sleep on the couch.
Friday morning, Vanessa woke disoriented. Never one to sleep on the couch, much less in her clothes, she put on her workout gear to get back on her schedule. Before she left for her run, she texted Jimmy to arrange for a ride to the office. Everyone except for the retail-store staff would be off today.
By the time she got to Porter’s, the store was packed with active buyers leaving with large bags of holiday gifts. Vanessa used the front door, her mood lifting instantly from the smiles of the shoppers and the Christmas music coming from the speakers.
Upstairs the offices were empty. She hadn’t noticed all the pictures hung in this hallway before. She stopped, looking at each one. The founder of Porter’s, employees of the year. Edna and Bill among them. She took note of the others to see where they fell on the resource evaluation.
Thank goodness she didn’t recognize any of the other names.
In her office, she reviewed all of the original milestones and goals. There was no reason she couldn’t achieve every single one of them without disturbing Porter’s at all. The only overlap would be if the sporting-goods company required meeting facilities, but they were not on the original plan. There was adequate office space for the day-to-day personnel at both warehouse buildings. If Edna wanted to turn down the retirement-package offer, she wouldn’t recommend it, but her job could probably be carried a while longer.
She rubbed her hands together. “More than one way to get things done.” Satisfied, she put her hands on her hips.
“Oh, sorry. I can wait out—”
“Bill? Hi.”
“I heard you talking to someone. You on the phone?”
“No. I was talking to myself. I didn’t expect to see you until after your big hunting weekend. Come in. Have a seat.”
“Gladly. Got that big buck yesterday. Best Thanksgiving ever. You should have seen that kid’s face. Man.” He grabbed the phone from his shirt pocket. “Here.” He swept and tapped, then handed his phone her way. “Would you look at that?”
A young boy in bright orange clothing stooped next to a deer with antlers as tall and wide as a tree.
“Been after that elusive buck for three years,” Bill said. “He really grew over the summer. Enough rain for lots of food. Have to say it made me even happier for my grandson to get that fine buck than if I had done it myself.”
She didn’t really understand the attitude about killing Bambi’s dad, but she kept her mouth shut, smiled, and returned the phone.
“And here you are.” She was genuinely happy that he’d killed that buck yesterday, but for her own reasons.
“Yes, ma’am. As promised, and I have a team of four guys ready to take care of things. Honestly, I don’t think it’ll take but a few days. These guys are ready to work through the weekend to knock it out. I’m assuming they can clock in and out as usual?”
“Yes. Absolutely.” She’d have paid them extra, but this worked out even better.
“We’re going to start with scrapping that old equipment. It’ll take most of the day, and then we’ll clear everything else out.”
“That works for me.”
Bill slapped his hands on the arms of the chair, then rose tohis feet. “I’ll check in with you right here on Monday morning with the complete report.”
She handed him her business card. “Call me if you hit any snags, or need anything.”
He tucked the card into his pocket and walked out.
Today was treating her much better than yesterday.
She picked up her phone and dialed Edward’s phone again. He still hadn’t returned any of her calls, but he’d surely be back home for the holiday. She closed her eyes, hoping for an answer. On the third ring, a woman answered with a cheerful hello.
“Oh?” Vanessa pulled the phone from her ear wondering if she’d misdialed, but the display showed that she’d dialed Edward. “Hi. Happy Thanksgiving. I’m so sorry to call on the holiday weekend. This is Vanessa Larkin; I work for Edward. I was hoping I could catch him at home today. I’ve been leaving him messages all week, and no luck.”
The woman laughed. “Glad it’s not just me. I had the same problem. Hang on. I’ll get him for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
