Page 34 of Mishaps and Mistletoe

“Okay, then. Thanks.” He slung the strap of his satchel over his shoulder and walked to his office.

This was fine. He’d just talk to his boss tomorrow. What was one extra day, anyway?

* * *

“Well, color me impressed, young padawan.”

“You’re Yoda now?” Josie asked her boss as she clicked through the slides of her promotion presentation.

“It’s appropriate. Not to mention, Rob has me binging Star Wars movies, shows, and anything else he can find. Besides”—she pushed back from her desk and shrugged, pointing at her computer screen—“I feel like I’ve got nothing left to teach you. I think it’s time for the force of Christmas to be with you.”

Josie scrunched her nose. “I’m not so sure that worked like you thought it would.”

“Heard it as soon as I said it,” Nora said, shaking her head.

“Truth is—I wouldn’t be where I am without you. I hope you know how much you mean to me.”

“Likewise.” Nora’s eyes may have shimmered under the fluorescent office lights, but Josie wasn’t certain of anything she saw through the sheen of moisture covering her own.

Nora clicked through a couple more slides. “How did you come up with all this?”

The Old-Fashioned Christmas idea of Kevin’s sprouted organically with every adventure they had. The cookie decorating party would be a hit with the children at the resort. As would the Seasonal Silly Sock contest. And the live, on-site Christmas tree farm? It would make a festive background for the outdoor ice-skating rink.

“I can just picture the outdoor rink—it’ll be like a Christmas movie come to life!”

Josie nodded. That’s exactly what it had felt like last night in Kevin’s backyard.

“I guess you could say I was inspired.”

“Ha!” Nora barked, slapping her knee as she cackled dramatically. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Calling what? And what kids?”

Nora shook her head and pointed at the photographs on the computer screen. Kevin had given Josie a flash drive of photos last night to use in her presentation. She spent until about two o’clock this morning reliving snippets of their time together in the memories that filled the screen. She’d seen him snap a photo here and there with his phone, but there were too many photographs to count. He’d apparently taken most of them when she didn’t know. And they were so much better than the selfies she always took, most from unflattering angles showcasing peoples’ nostrils as the focal point of the picture.

“Let me ask you this,” Nora began. “Were any of these photographs staged?”

“Nope. All candids.” Which made the fact Kevin hadn’t once captured her triple chin as she laughed openly all the more impressive. No, in these photos, she looked happy. Joyful. Free.

“That’s what I thought.” Her boss took a sip from her to-go cup of the Mountain Brew cappuccino Josie had brought her. “You claim to be inspired. But from where I’m sitting, I see someone in love.”

Josie gasped mid-sip, and her espresso took an unpleasant detour down her windpipe. Caught in a fit of coughing, she cringed as the drink burned just as much on the way up as it had on the way down. “I’ve definitely fallen back in love with this job. With Oglebay. Just like you wanted.”

“Oh, Josie Ward, apple of my eye, and closest thing to a daughter I’ve ever had.” That line should have flattered her. Poignant instrumental music should have filled the air, sitcom-style. But with the way her boss leaned across the desk, pinning her unblinking glare on Josie, some villainous score seemed more appropriate. Something that could scare an audience because Josie was a little frightened herself. “Haughty Scotty—h-a-u, by the way—did a number on you. I don’t even think you realize it still. But, honey, you’re finding yourself again. And in doing so, you found yourself a little extra blessing along the way. You found a man who looks at you andseesyou.” Her eyes trailed to the computer screen and Josie’s eyes followed. A photograph of her spinning on the ice, catching snowflakes in her opened mouth. He must have taken that one with an auto-timer because he was in it too. And although he only took up about ten percent of the photo, his look toward her said more than a million words ever could. “He sees you, honey. And he seems content to watch you shine.”

Choking on scalding espresso had brought tears to her eyes moments ago. But hearing this from her mentor, her friend—well, that made the tears fall. “I tried so hard not to fall again.”

“I know, sweetie. But you know as well as anyone that in life—good or bad—there are a lot of things we don’t get to control.”

“Now you really do sound like Yoda.” They both chuckled.

“If I was Yoda, you would have listened to my sage relationship advice years ago and not made me—”

Josie’s eyes rose slowly from her cup to meet her boss’s face that now sported red-tinted cheeks that weren’t that shade moments ago. “Made you what?” Now it was her turn to lean across the desk.

“Alright! I’ll confess! Don’t keep pressuring me!”

Josie smiled. “Boy, you sure crumbled like a piece of paper.”

---