Page 20 of Single Dad Billionaire Boss

“I won’t do anything dangerous,” I said.

“Promise me,” she insisted.

“I promise. Is Zoe off to school yet?”

“Yesterday was her last day before winter break. She’s at Tennyson’s ice-skating party for another hour. What time is it where you are?”

“Four in the morning,” I said, rubbing my neck.

“I bet you’re exhausted. Did the jet lag from the first trip even hit you yet?”

“It’s been brutal, but this delay is making me crazy.”

“We’re fine here,” Ella said. Her voice was coming through better now, and I could hear a strain of gentleness that had not been there before. “Try not to stress out too much about it, okay? I mean, I realize who I’m talking to here. Being stranded at an airport and having no control over when you come home has got to be high on your list of nightmares.”

I chuckled in spite of myself. “You know me so well,” I said. “The only thing that makes it bearable is knowing Zoe is with you.”

Ella was silent—and for a moment, I thought I might have said something to offend her—but then she said, “That means a lot. Now go take a nap in the VIP lounge or wherever single dad billionaire bosses like you hang out. I’ll have Zoe FaceTime you later, okay?”

We hung up and I took her advice. I drank some water and slept for a couple of hours in the executive lounge. After charging my phone, I found six messages from Ella. Blizzard conditions were moving into Bear Valley tomorrow night, but still, Marsha had booked me a flight to LAX with a Tokyo layover. I’d be home in twenty hours or so. I sent Ella my new itinerary, and she replied with a text.

“You will never make it up to the cabin ahead of the storm if we wait for you to get home. I can drive Zoe up there and wait with her till u arrive. Can u change your arrival airport?”

I had Marsha make the appropriate arrangements so I would arrive in Bakersfield, which would put me less than an hour from the cabin by five o’clock local time tomorrow. I updated Ella on the new plan and thanked her. It was beyond generous of her to drive Zoe several hours out to Bear Valley so we could be at the cabin for Christmas Eve. Would I ever be able to thank her enough?

Chapter11

11

Ella

“Maybe if Ising to him he won’t yowl so much,” Zoe said, launching into an enthusiastic rendition of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” fromFrozen.Right on schedule, my cat had waited until I was backing down the driveway to screech like he was about to be burned alive. Gus hated the pet carrier.

“Buddy, I can’t let you loose in the car,” I said. “Sit tight and we’ll be at the cabin before you know it.”

Zoe, to be helpful, sang louder. She knewa lotof Disney songs. She didn’t get all the lyrics right, but she made up for it with volume. I tolerated it for fifteen minutes then whipped out the tablet and handed it to her. I needed to focus on the GPS. With the bad weather rolling in, the last thing I wanted was to take a wrong turn and get stuck in holiday traffic. Thankfully, by the time I turned onto CA-4 East, Zoe had fallen asleep.

My parents were less than thrilled when I phoned them about my change of plans. I would miss decorating the tree with them, but they were okay with me taking a late flight and being there for Christmas Day. That way, Zoe wouldn’t have to miss out on her tradition—unless, of course, Jacob’s flight was cancelled again. On the one hand, the thought of spending Christmas stranded by a blizzard in a cabin with a motherless child kind of stressed me out. But on the other, I was looking forward to snuggling up with Zoe to watchThe Grinchand have hot chocolate. I already felt like she was family to me, so I was excited about sharing part of Christmas with her.

She woke up from her nap and we stopped for snacks. We played a long game of I Spy, which Zoe kept winning. This was partly because I concentrated on driving and partly because she kept describing things that weren’t really there.

“You can’t use imaginary stuff,” I said. “Maui, the demi-god of wind and sea, is not something you can see from the car window.”

Zoe giggled. When I turned on the radio, Gus woke up and yowled in protest. By that time, I was ready to sing along with Zoe to cheer him up—or at least drown him out. I’m not sure if it was the kitty treat that I snuck through the wire carrier door or our rollicking cover of “Love Is an Open Door” that did the trick, but I let Zoe take credit for it.

We stopped again not far from the cabin for some supplies. Even though I knew Jacob would have the cabin stocked, I wasn’t sure if he’d have whipped cream and sprinkles. The sky was already thick with clouds when we made our way up the winding drive to the cabin. I should have known that Jacob’s idea of a quaint mountain retreat was more like my idea of a ski chalet. Gleaming two-story windows flanked a massive stone fireplace. Wood floors were polished to a shine beneath a high, exposed-beam ceiling.

I dropped our bags and Gus’s carrier at the bottom of the stairs and set the groceries on the granite counter in the kitchen. The crisp mountain air was scented with pine—partly due to the twelve-foot Christmas tree standing proudly in the living room. When Zoe said they always decorated the tree at the cabin, I assumed it was an artificial one, but this hulking monster had more in common with the tree at Rockefeller Center than the old plastic one I’d grown up with.

Zoe grabbed my hand. I followed her upstairs and the two of us zigzagged in and out of the bedrooms—as well as the media room, the library, and some bathrooms. We finished up with Zoe kicking off her shoes and climbing up on a huge four-poster bed where she started jumping up and down.

“Hey, get off of there,” I said. “You could knock your teeth out or something.”

Zoe dropped onto her bottom and kicked her feet. “Daddy always lets me jump on his bed in here.”

“I doubt that, but nice try. Your dad doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d let you do something that might cause a concussion.”

Zoe giggled. “Come on, it’s fun!”

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