By the end of the afternoon, Penny felt more at peace than she had in weeks. Every session had gone well, and she had four hundred and fifty dollars to add to her bank account. It had been a hassle to set up the business, and she did have to pay credit card processing fees, but she was taking home more than double what she made in a regular office with her contracted rate.
More than quadruple what she was making in Danny's office, though that had been because of the blinders she had on coupled with a healthy dose of stupidity. She was closing up the garage when she got a message on her text chain with Emma and Kelty.
Kelty 4:11pm
Hey Penny, we're planning a camping trip for the weekend. Want to join?
Penny hadn't gone camping since moving to Calgary. Danny always said it would be disrespectful to their ancestors who paid such a heavy price to put roofs over their heads anytime friends invited them along. At the time, she’d thought it was clever.
Penny 4:20pm
Give me the details
Based on how this week was going, if she scheduled the same three patients for the next six weeks before she needed to head home for the anniversary, she'd almost have enough to contribute her full share. If she could get two to three more patients a week or land a job . . . The idea of a job made her stomach twist.Did she even want a full-time job?
She’d thought she did. When she'd moved up here to stay with Kelty, she'd been sure she wanted to stay in the area and stabilize things before she went back home licking her wounds. But now the only thing she could think about was getting to Vancouver.
Andrea had texted yesterday and announced she was flying through Calgary and had a twelve hour layover. Purposefully. The idea of seeing her sister had nearly made her burst into tears.
Kelty 4:24pm
Just headed to a place past Canmore next to a lake. Beautiful site, great hiking. We'll leave Friday afternoon and come back Sunday night. Sean's got the van so we can all drive up together
Penny processed this. Of course Sean would be coming, probably Tyler too.So were they really inviting her to be a fifth wheel?
Penny 4:32pm
Who all is going?
Kelty 4:32pm
We're texting some people from the team. Fly and his girlfriend are a maybe, and of course the four of us. And I think Tyler's texting Brett.
Okay, at least it wouldn't just be the five of them.
Penny 4:36pm
I would love to come, but I don't have any of my camping stuff. It's all back at my parents' house
Emma 4:38pm
No worries, my parents have plenty. They have a four-man tent you could borrow and a sleeping pad. They probably have a sleeping bag too, as long as you're not picky.
Penny wasn't picky. With six kids growing up, they were glad if they had anything to sleep on.
Penny 4:40pm
Sounds great. Do you want me to grab food, plan a meal or something?
Emma 4:43pm
?? ?? ??
Kelty 4:52pm
I'll create a list once we know who all is in, and we can go from there. Is it OK if I text you Thursday night?
Penny gave her message a thumbs up. She was free as a bird until Tuesday morning. When she reentered the house, she found Brett still sitting at the same spot at the table.
