Ally struggled to keep her breathing even, as she went to find her friend.
“Lara!” she called helplessly down the hallway. “All of my stuff is gone.”
Her friend came out of the master bedroom with baby Charlotte on her hip. “What do you mean - gone?”
“I grabbed the wrong bag at the airport. Well, I mean I didn’t - someone else did and I got this one instead which obviously isn’t mine, so I don’t have any stuff and …”
“OK calm down. I can lend you anything you need for the moment - I’ve got spare toiletries and we can grab the basics in town …”
“No, my stuff, work stuff. My laptop was in here and my charger and iPad … I have important calls and a couple of Zoom meetings coming up - I can’t miss them.”
“You’ll get it all back in no time, I’m sure. Just relax. First things first, let’s get you some clothes and then we can call the airline. With your status they’ll probably hire a limo to hand-deliver it all back to you.”
If only it had happened on my airline, Ally thought, unable to share her friend’s optimism. Taking a deep breath, she followed Lara into her bedroom, doing her best to focus on the clothing options she was offering, but all she could think about was a finding a way to get her bag back.
“I know - I’ll get my assistant on it. She’ll be able to figure it out with the airline.”
“Great idea.”
Though Ally wasn’t sure exactly how, since the bag she had didn’t have an airline identification tag. And neither did hers. Which meant like hers, it must also have been stowed unexpectedly.
Then she groaned, remembering that Mel had officially logged off for the holidays.
Still, she was sure she wouldn’t mind, and pinged her a quick text, before her phone ran out and she wasseriouslystuck.
“If you could just lend me something to wear tonight to sleep in? And maybe something for tomorrow morning at that ice maze thing just in case.”
With the arm that wasn’t holding her baby, Lara reached for a pair of pants draped over the arm of a rocking chair. “These are thermals. You can wear them under these jeans tomorrow. And I’ll find you a sweater and some boots.”
“Thanks.” Ally examined the pants trying to determine if they’d fit her.
“And for tonight, take this.” Lara threw her two large flannel items, a pair of decidedly unfeminine pyjamas, the kind a grandfather might wear.
Ally returned to the guest room to try on the nightclothes her friend had been kind enough to lend her. It felt strange to be wearing pyjamas when she hadn’t yet eaten dinner, but the feeling of the warm flannel against her skin was too good to pass up.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the floor length mirror on the back of the door before heading down the stairs.
Despite her worries, the festive red and green and poinsettia flowered pattern made her smile at her own reflection.
Never in a million years could Ally have imagined herself wearing Christmas pjs, but something about it had almost magically made her feel better already.
Chapter 7
“Merry Christmas,” Jake Turner called to the driver as he exited the cab in front of the chateau his family rented every year in this Maine small town for the holidays.
As a kid, having to spend Christmas so far from his friends in Boston was a total drag, but as an adult, he anticipated this break from hectic city life.
“Jakey!” his younger sister Meghan squealed and ran towards him from the doorway. She had her arms wrapped around him before he could even set his luggage down.
“Hello to you too. Did I miss anything good?”
He hated the fact that he wasn’t able to join the rest of the family when they’d arrived a couple of days ago. But the holiday shopping season was a busy time for his profession.
His publisher had somehow landed a book signing at Barnes & Noble and being in desperate need of exposure (and sales), Jake was only too happy to agree.
“Just the same ole, same ole,” said Meghan. “I’d much rather hear about your book signing.”
He let out a big sigh.
