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My meeting in Salt Lake City went as well as expected. Greg Thorne lived up to his name as the ultimate thorn in my side, and his assistant, Samantha, lived up to her reputation of being a cunt.
Greg danced around giving me the numbers I needed then hedged on allowing me to speak to workers on their break. As if my name wasn’t on his check and all the parts fabricated at the plant he managed. As if he wasn’t replaceable at the snap of my fingers. As if he could readily find another job at this level in fucking Utah.
When I reminded him of all this, his overgrown head filled with so much blood, I feared an explosion. There were pulsing veins in his forehead, eyeballs, neck…a nightmare.
Shira always found a way to look at the bright side of her days, so I followed her lead and did the same. In this case, the bright side was I now had the ammunition I needed to fire Greg. As soon as our lawyers completed the paperwork and we had a plan for his successor, it would be done.
Thomas would be pleased to know cunty Samantha would be going with her boss.
I leaned back in my seat on the plane and closed my eyes. There were a million things I needed to do, but it wasn’t often I had the chance to just relax in the middle of the day. Once we took off, we’d be home in under two hours, and I would hit the ground running. After my torturous meetings, I decided I deserved a little rest before getting back to work.
I let myself drift…
Someone tapped on my shoulder, and my eyes flew open. I was disoriented at first, forgetting where I was. I expected to see Nellie, but the face of the flight attendant filled my field of vision.
“We’re about to take off, Ms. Rossi. You’ll need to buckle up, please.”
“What?” My brows drew together, and I looked out the window. We were still on the ground, which was strange since I felt like I’d slept for quite a while. “What time is it?”
“Just past four.” She smiled, her ruby lips curving over snow-white teeth. “We were worried we’d be grounded until tomorrow, but the storm over Denver passed in time for us—”
“It’s past four?” I sat up in my seat. “I’ve been asleep for over two hours? How could you let me—how is that possible?”
She stutter-stepped backward, eyes wide with alarm. “You seemed so peaceful, and since we weren’t going anywhere, I thought it best to let you get some rest. I’m sorry if that wasn’t the right choice. I—”
I waved her off, too filled with worry to be polite. “I have some calls to make.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“We’ll be taking off imminently?”
“Yes. As soon as we’re given clearance.”
If we left right now, we’d be getting back to Denver at six—the same time Nellie’s day care closed. I’d thought I had given myself plenty of padding in my schedule to get back in time, but it seemed I had been wrong.
I went to Luca’s name in my contacts, intent on asking him or Saoirse to grab Nellie from day care, then I remembered they were already on the road to the ranch for the weekend. My parents would have picked her up in a heartbeat, but they were on a two-week Mediterranean cruise. And as stupid luck would have it, Marina was off for the week, staying with her son’s family in Idaho.
Panic banded around my chest, squeezing tight.
I told myself this was okay. I might be a little late to pick her up, but her day care wouldn’t abandon her. They’d make me pay a hefty fee, but that was fine.
I made a call to the day care, giving them the heads-up on my situation, then exhaled a heavy breath, attempting to calm down. But every minute that ticked by and the plane didn’t move, my heart rate picked up.
The flight attendant kept checking on me, promising we would be leaving any minute. We were only waiting for clearance, but an hour passed before our wheels moved.
I couldn’t be an hour late picking Nellie up.
My thumb hovered over the contact on my phone. I did not want to make this call, but I couldn’t think of another solution. She’d be safe with Jake, I knew that, but would he agree to do this, or would I be crossing a line even asking? And if he turned me down, would I be able to forgive him?
Despite my fears, I pressed the call button. This was for Nellie. My fears could take a hike.
“Hey, mama,” Jake answered smoothly. “It’s a nice surprise to get a call from you.”
“Jake, I—”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Yes. I’ve been in Utah for the day and my return flight has been delayed. I’m not going to be back in Denver before seven. I hate asking you to do this. I know you have Sage. It’s just…there’s no one else I can ask.”
