“I’m working on the schedule.” Ava opened her planner to the scheduling page, just so she wasn’t telling a complete lie. Her meticulously color-coded system stared back at her. “Glenda and Becca have things covered out front for now. Plus, I’m interviewing Rilee Harris in half an hour. She’s going to take some shifts while she’s home for Christmas.”
“Is that in your budget?”
No. “Don’t worry about that, Mom. You’re retired, remember?” When Ava decided to go all-in on her customized Christmas basket idea, she left only enough money in her business account to cover her employee expenses. If she was forced to close her doors on Christmas Eve, she wouldn’t send anyone away without full compensation. Including Rilee.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. Though the Whitmore sisters hadn’t given her a concrete yes, their maybe was promising.
“I want the store to be a success for you, Ava. And for your daughter someday.”
Time to change the subject. “How’s Jamie?” Ava wasn’t as close to her little sister as she was to Chase. Most of her updates about Jamie and her family came from Mom. Those were the texts she actually welcomed, especially the ones with pictures of her four-year-old nephew, Trey. “Everything going well with her pregnancy?”
“Oh, yes! The doctor is quite pleased. The baby is healthy and everything is right on track. So much calmer this time around.”
“That’s good.” Ava shuffled through the mess on her desk, embarrassed she’d let things get so out of hand. She didn’t want Rilee to panic and run before she ever got started, so she cleaned things up, hoping to also make peace with her mom before the conversation ended.
“How serious are things with this Bradley?” Mom pried.
“Brayden.”
“Brayden,” Mom repeated. “Is there a ring in your future?”
“Mom!”
“It’s a fair question.” When Ava didn’t offer up an answer, Mom continued. “Is he from Alaska? Has he been married before? Any kids?”
“Mom, I’m twenty-eight, not dead. There are still single, never-been-married-before men my age.” She couldn’t say for sure Brayden was one of them, only that she thought he was. She gave up organizing the chaos on her desk and instead scooped it all into a box she promptly shoved under her desk. “We’ll talk about him later, okay? Just get that picture down before the whole town sees it.”
“Just one more thing, honey.”
“Yes?”
“I thought it was time I came and spent Christmas with you and Chase. Meet your new beau.”
Ava was thankful her coffee cup was empty. She’d have choked on it. “You can’t leave Jamie alone this year. She’s about to pop. And what about Trey? You don’t want to miss Christmas with youronlygrandkid.”
“Jamie’s fine, dear. It’s baby number two. It’s all downhill from here. She doesn’t need me hovering. And Trey is already excited about Skyping with Grandma this year. I talked to him all about it.”
This sounded . . . ominous.
“Mom, it’s fine. You don’t need to come. I’ll be busy with the store. Chase, well, you know how he is.”
“Too late.”
“What?”
“I already booked the ticket. Chose that nonrefundable option because it’s so much cheaper, you know. I’ll be in Anchorage Friday morning. I’ll get Chase to pick me up from the airport. I’m sure you’ll be much too busy with the store.”
Ava felt what color remained drain from her face. This couldn’t be happening. Things were already bad enough with Mom meddling in her life. Brayden would probably run far, far away when he discovered what a mess her family had created for him. She wouldn’t even blame him. And the store. How on earth was she supposed to keep the imminent demise of the store a secret over the holidays with Mom in physical proximity to snoop? The bank would post their foreclosure notice on Christmas Day if she didn’t pull this off.
This was a disaster.
“I’ll email you my itinerary,” Mom added.
Ava didn’t have any words left as she sank into her chair and tried not to slither to the floor.
“Oh, Jamie’s back!”
“The picture—”
