Page 29 of Ten Christmases Without You
From her sister’s accounts, he led his department.
“When I was a kid, I can’t ever remember saying I wanted to head up the cybersecurity unit at Bachman Global Services.”
“What kid would, though?”
He made a turn past a dairy farm, the road ahead of them leading through the hills.
“Do you remember what I wanted to be?” he asked.
“Something outside in nature?”
“Yes. Everything changed after I took that family trip to Yellowstone National Park when I was ten. I fell in love with white water rafting, camping, hiking.”
“It was before that. You and I made paths through the slip of woods between our houses and pretended to be in the wilderness. How old were we? Eight?”
“Oh yeah.” He rested his hand on the gearshift between them, his fingers more masculine than she remembered from their youth. “Pretty much all my life, I wanted to be outdoors. And what career did I choose? One that offers me a cubicle in a windowless office, under fluorescent lights that hum in my ears all day. In winter, I get up before the sun and come home in the dark. I haven’t seen daylight in weeks.”
“I had no idea you felt that way.”
“I had my head in the clouds when I went to college. I decided to major in something I was good at that would make me money. What I hadn’t considered was that all the money in the world isn’t worth giving up your days for. It is what it is now, I guess.” He glanced back over at her.
He didn’t love his job, but he also didn’t seem to let it spill over into his personal life. She’d had no idea how he felt about his choice of career until just now. He’d always seemed so happy. How did he do it?
“So tell meyournightmare job situation.”
She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Well, my boss is a friend of my mother’s.”
“Oh, really?”
“Mm-hm. I didn’t know my mom knew her until the funeral.”
“Who is she?” he asked.
“Vivienne Moreau. You might remember her.” She’d walked into that dark day like a ray of sunshine, and with her oversized black hat and razor-sharp heels, Emmy instantly knew she was someone important.
“I think I do remember her. She stood out.”
“It was hard to miss her.”
Vivienne was beautiful. With her dark shiny hair wrapped tightly into a bun at the back of her neck and bright red lipstick, she was a picture of glamour.
“My dad had sent out invitations to Mom’s celebration of life service from her list of contacts. At the funeral, Vivienne introduced herself to Madison and me. She told us that she’d studied in Paris with my mom, but she was only there for a semester and then she went into marketing while my mom stayed in design. Then, she told us that if she could do anything for us, to let her know. She wrote her personal number on the back of three business cards and slipped them into our hands.”
“That seems like a nice gesture.”
“I thought so too. I saved her card all those years.”
Charlie’s kind eyes and relaxed demeanor made it easy to be honest, and Emmy enjoyed the chance to unload her thoughts.
“At the time, I didn’t have a need to contact her, but after college, with a degree in marketing and PR and zero experience, I struggled to get my foot in the door, so since she owned a PR company, I gave her a call. I think she offered me the job because she felt sorry for me. She was kind in giving me a meager paycheck and the title of Communications Assistant, but she won’t give me an opportunity to really show her what I can do.” Emmy shook her head.
“Have you asked her about it?”
“I scheduled a meeting with her for after the holiday.”
“That’s a good start. What are you going to say?” he asked.
Emmy hadn’t thought that far through the upcoming conversation. Whatwasshe going to say? “I suppose I’ll ask her outright to give me a shot, let me show her what I’m capable of. It’s so weird. She trusts me with her sushi order—she doesn’t trustanyonewith that. Why won’t she give me a shot?”
