Forever This Time (6 page)

 

Chapter 6

An hour later, Ethan looked at the check he'd just written, then shook his head and put it through the shredder. Since Molly'd left, he'd had the attention span of a gnat. That was the second check he'd screwed up in the span of as many minutes. A year ago he'd finally gotten Andy to agree to an electronic payroll system, but the boss still insisted on handwritten checks for the older employees. Said it made them feel like they were working for a real person, not a corporation.

Molly's parting jab about Avery's House had him all off-kilter, and he hated that he'd let her get to him. But she was right. Josie was here in town, and it was only a matter of time before she either saw the house herself … or someone told her about it.

He wished he'd had time to prepare for this—wished he had a clue
how
to tell her about Avery's House. He'd dreaded it for years—had been sure she'd be furious or hurt or both—but until now, time and circumstances had been on his side.

But now? Both time and circumstances threatened to conspire against him, and he needed a plan. He needed to tell her about the house before somebody else did.

His phone chimed with an incoming text from Molly.

Don't forget about Santa!!!

He sighed as he glanced at the closet door where Andy hung his Santa suit.
Shit.

When Andy got back, he'd be grateful to Ethan for keeping the office running, but if he found out Santa had been hanging on his door rather than roaming the park, Ethan would never hear the end of it.

What's a Christmas park without a Santa?
he'd bellow.
Especially on a Saturday?

Ethan got up slowly and pulled the suit from the hanger, frowning. It was one thing to pick up the extra payroll and employee scheduling. It was quite another to don a Santa suit and head out into the park with a basket of candy canes and a big, happy ho-ho voice—especially when the last thing he was feeling right now was happy.

He held the suit up to his chest and shook his head as he looked down. He had six inches and twenty pounds on Andy, who ran five miles a day and hadn't let a carb pass through his lips in years. The Santa pants would be halfway up his shins.

He looked out the window toward the igloo entrance, which was spilling a steady stream of people and strollers into the courtyard. It was nine o'clock and already seventy-five degrees, forecast to be ninety by noon. If he was going to put a damn Santa suit on, he'd better do it now before it got so hot he'd have a heat stroke inside the costume. Maybe the boots would cover up the fact that the legs were almost a foot too short.

His desk phone rang, saving him for another couple of seconds. But when he answered, the voice sent familiar chills up his spine.

“Ethan, it's Diana.”

He sat down gingerly. The last call from Josie's mom had brought him both the sobering news that Andy was ill and the accompanying announcement that Josie might be coming home. “Morning, Diana.” His voice was careful. “How's Andy?”

“Stable, which is an improvement, so that's something. They're moving him out of ICU this morning.”

“Well, that's definitely good news. Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?”

“It's so good of you to offer, thank you. I think I'm all set right now. Better now that Josie's here.”

Ethan swallowed hard. “Of course. It was … nice of her to stop by the park last night.”

“Did she? That's great! I had no idea she'd already been there.” Diana paused, apparently gathering her thoughts. “So listen, Ethan. I know you probably think you can run the entire park on your own, and maybe you can. Goodness knows I have no idea what goes on in that office, which is how Andy and I have engineered it so we don't kill each other.”

She took an audible breath. “I've asked her to see if she can help you out—just for the weekend. Just, you know, to keep busy and maybe feel needed. If you could find it in yourself to try to make her feel welcome, I'd be so grateful.”

Ethan sent his fingers through his hair, probably making it stand on end.
He
was supposed to make her feel welcome?

He gritted his teeth, then tried to loosen them before he answered. Diana didn't need him to remind her that her own daughter had been AWOL for the past ten years, and that everything about this situation was completely awkward.

“She's headed over there now, actually.”

“She is?” Ah hell.
Again
.

Apparently his little
Go away
speech last night had fallen on deaf ears. He clunked all four legs of his chair back to the floor as he scanned the courtyard outside the window. He blew out a quick, frustrated breath. No way were he and Josie going to hole up in this office and work together all weekend. No frigging way.

But what other option did he have? He might be the CFO of Snowflake Village, but Andy was decidedly still in charge. If the poor man was in a hospital bed, then his wife was the de facto CEO, not Ethan. And if his wife wanted her own daughter to work at the park for the weekend, then there was diddly-squat Ethan could do about it.

He tried to level his voice. “All right, Diana. I'll give it my best shot.”

“That might sound more reassuring if I hadn't known you for fifteen years, young man.”

He laughed bitterly. “Concerned that my best shot still might involve me throwing her in the lake if I get a chance?”

“Or onto the roller coaster, yes.” He could hear Diana smiling now. “Just find her something to do to keep her busy. We both know she can't do waiting-room duty without losing her mind. If she can be at the park, she can at least feel useful, and I can get to her if I need to.” She paused. “Do you think that could work?”

“Honestly?”
No way in hell.

He heard shuffling in the background, like she was gathering together papers. “I'm on my way to the hospital. She should be there in a few minutes.” She paused again. “Just do your best, Ethan. Maybe you could help her realize that home isn't all bad … at least not anymore.”

“But no pressure?” He grimaced, craning his neck to look out the window again toward the entrance. What in the world was he going to be able to find Josie to do here?

As Diana hung up, his eyes caught on the Santa suit he'd been trying to figure out how to struggle into before the phone rang.

Then he almost hated himself for the smile he felt creeping up the edges of his mouth.

*   *   *

Josie took a deep breath as she eyed Elf Central from the courtyard on Saturday morning. How could she be so hot already at nine o'clock in the morning? She imagined the employees going through the Horribly Hot, Humid Day lists in the snack shacks and Care Cottage as she watched three teens in red polos wheeling ice bags down the pathways. They'd be trekking those bags all over the park today in a vain attempt to keep the Slush-Bombs pouring fast enough.

Josie felt a stab deep in her gut as she thought of the icy drink and one little girl who'd probably downed five hundred of them in the two short years Josie had known her.

*   *   *

“What's this?” Avery's eyes lit up as Ethan handed her a sparkly pink bag with tissue paper sticking out the top.

“Happy eighth birthday, Aves!” He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, then sat beside her on the wishing-well bench. His eyes met Josie's questioning ones over Avery's head, but he just winked and shrugged his shoulders.

Avery pulled out the first piece of tissue paper and folded it carefully. She did the same with the second, then reached in and pulled out a purple T-shirt with letters across the front. As she shook it out to read the letters, her little body quaked with laughter. “Oh, Ethan!! I love it!! It's perfect!!”

She stood up and pulled it over her head, then put her hand on her hip in a model-perfect pose so Josie could see. “
OFFICIAL SNOWFLAKE VILLAGE SLUSH-BOMB TESTER
?” Josie laughed. “Does my father know about this?”

“Sure does. He said anytime she's wearing it, she can walk up to any snack cottage in the park and ask for a free Slush-Bomb.”

Avery started jumping up and down. “I love it! I'm never going to take it off!”

Ethan pointed to the bag. “I was afraid of that. Look inside again.”

Avery peered into the bag and pulled out six more shirts, all with the same letters on the front. “You got one for every color of the rainbow!”

“Every day of the week, Aves.”

Avery flung herself into Ethan's lap, hugging him hard around the neck. “You are the best boyfriend-of-a-pretend-big-sis in the entire universe, Ethan. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

“You're welcome, munchkin. Happy birthday.”

“Can I go test it and see if it works?” She jumped off his lap and danced in place.

“Go for it. Have fun!” Off she went in a blaze of purple, leaving Josie alone with Ethan on the bench.

Josie turned to him. “That was really, really nice of you. She's never going to wear anything else, you know.”

“I know. Thus the seven colors. At least she can mix it up a little.”

“You're going to be responsible for her teeth rotting, however.”

“Nope.” He grinned mischievously as he reached into the glittery bag. “I knew you'd say that. Ta-da!”

Josie laughed out loud as he produced a shiny red toothbrush and sparkly toothpaste tube. “Omigod, you think like a parent.”

“Nah, a parent would never let a kid eat that many Slush-Bombs. My cool-guy status is still intact.”

Josie leaned over to kiss him. “Thanks for doing this, Ethan. She'll never forget it.”

He sat back, smile fading. “It's the least I could do, Jos. Who knows if anyone at home will even remember it's her birthday?”

*   *   *

Josie shook her head to knock the memory loose. She was not going to walk around this park and see Avery everywhere. She was not going to remember Ethan as the caring, sweet, eighteen-year-old he'd been then.

Everything was different now.

Wasn't it?

 

Chapter 7

In the distance, Josie could see more young guys in red shirts erecting the portable misters that would keep the walkways cool and give toddlers something to play in while their exhausted parents camped out on the green benches. She knew from experience that the on-call medic was probably on the way to the park, and that Mario would be delivering fifty extra cases of Popsicles within the hour from his massive freezer at the supermarket.

No. Not much had changed. Even on a day where intelligent humans should be in a pool or a lake or an air-conditioned building, hordes of people would fill the park, running the employees through ice, Popsicles, and patience before noon. And through it all, those employees would paste on those fake smiles and chirp
Have a happy ho-ho day!
even though they just wanted to herd everyone to the exits, strip off their polo shirts, and jump into the river behind the maintenance garage.

Josie had woken up determined to go to the hospital, but Mom had quashed that plan quickly and efficiently.
It's Saturday. It's August. Ethan can't run that park by himself, no matter how good he is. I know it's asking a lot, but the best thing you can do this morning is head over there and help. It's what your dad would want, honey.

Then she'd almost stepped close enough to give Josie a quick hug, but had pulled back and bitten her lip instead.
I'll call you if anything changes.

Once again, Josie had tried to stomp out the spark of hope Mom's actions had ignited. The woman was acting almost … Mom-ish, and it was unsettling as hell.

Ten, twelve—heck, fifteen—years ago, Josie would have given anything for a mother who'd hug her.

Check that.

She'd have given anything for a mother who'd hug her while
sober,
not just when she needed a pair of shoulders to sling her arm over so she could find her way to bed without falling down the stairs. Again.

Turning toward Elf Central, Josie took a deep breath, glancing up at the window where she knew Ethan was probably sitting right now. Even though she'd known the arrangements before she got here, seeing Ethan sitting in that chair across from Dad's—hearing him say
I'm the CFO now
—had spun her for a serious loop.

So Dad might be the CEO of Snowflake Village, but since he'd always preferred playing Santa to crunching numbers, Josie would be willing to bet Ethan made more decisions about the park's operations than Dad did these days. And that meant he'd certainly be threatened by anyone else stepping into his office, even if it was temporary.

And especially if it was her.

She'd taken the long way around this morning, but still the drive from her parents' house to the park had lasted only twelve minutes. Hardly enough time to come up with a strategy for surviving the day.

What she did know was this: she needed to tread lightly here. Snowflake Village was his territory now, not hers, and as strange as the whole situation was, she needed to respect that. Last night he'd sat there with eyes gone icy, telling her he didn't need her help, and she couldn't imagine he'd thawed any overnight.

No, he didn't want her here any more than she wanted to
be
here, but as her parents' employee, his hands were tied.

She cringed. If this wasn't a lesson in how not to break up, nothing was. Who'd have thought ten years later they'd have to sit face-to-face in an office and work together?