Page 4 of Snowed

“Wow. This is beautiful,” Daria said as she wandered around.

“Yeah. There are worse places to be stuck in a storm. That’s for damn sure. Billie wasn’t kidding.”

She checked her phone. “Speaking of our boss, I wonder what time they’re all supposed to get here. I don’t know if we’re supposed to start this party without them or what.”

“Let me call and see how far away they are.” I took my phone out and dialed Billie.

“Yes, Cade...” she answered.

“Hey! Where are you all? We just got here.”

“Oh good, you made it.”

“We did. How far away are you?”

“I’m in New York, actually. Sitting in my living room cuddling my kids. And Deek and Justine are still in New York, too.”

“Um…why?” I scratched my head. “You should be at least halfway here by now.”

“Well, you see, there’s been a change of plans.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re not coming.”

“What?” My eyes widened. “Why?”

“Because you two need to figure out your shit, and you don’t need us there to do it.”

A rush of adrenaline hit me. “You set us up?”

“I wouldn’t call it a setup. More like an opportunity.”

The balls on her. I gritted my teeth. “If you weren’t my boss…”

“You’d what?” she challenged.

“I’d fire your ass.”

Billie cracked up.

Daria squinted and mouthed, “What’s going on?”

“I arranged for someone to deliver food earlier in the day,” Billie said. “So you have plenty of grub and a box full of games so you can get to know each other. Stay until the storm passes, and figure out how to get along.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Then don’t come back to the shop.”

Tugging my hair, I exhaled. “Damn, boss, you play a tough game.”

“It’s all out of love,” she said before hanging up.

Daria crossed her arms and huffed. “What the hell is going on?”

I let out a long breath. “It’s just us this weekend. They set us up. There was no retreat.”

Her eyes went wide. “What?”