by A. J. Wynter
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Tickets to the Winter Carnival.”
“I don’t know...” Baxter tried to hand the envelope back to Shirley. “We have a lot of work to do.”
“Young man,” Shirley pointed her finger at him. “You’re not getting it. This kind of...” she pointed to the envelope containing the tickets, “getting involved in the town, is work. As a matter of fact, it should be your number one priority.” Shirley nudged the envelope back across the desk.
Baxter pursed his lips and slid the envelope into his messenger bag.
“Thanks for your advice,” he said.
“I’ll see you folks there,” Shirley said. She stood up from behind her desk and picked up her skis. “I’ll walk you out.”
Chapter 15
SNOWFLAKES SWIRLED under the streetlamps as Lauren arrived at work for the day. She turned on the lights and clicked the electric kettle on to boil. She had spent the past week arriving at work before dawn and leaving well after the sun had sunk behind the mountains. The snow hadn’t let up all week and Lauren realized that she hadn’t seen the sun at all. She sat down and was bathed in the light of her computer screen.
There had been a few developments in the fight against Caldwell Town, as the locals were calling the corporation’s development. They had modified the plan, so it was less like a theme park, but they hadn’t budged on the conservation side of things. She hoped that the town would stand their ground, and the proposed modifications to the official plan that would permit Caldwell to break ground would be killed at the next council meeting. Then Baxter would have to go back to the city with his tail between his legs.
She spent the morning preparing her amended recommendations to the council. She heard the creak of the office door as it opened and looked up from behind her computer to see her sister and daughter. “Hi, Sweetie,” she said. Charlotte and Tabitha knocked the snow off their boots at the door.
“Hi, Mom,” Tabitha said. “Are you ready to go?”
Lauren glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already noon. “I’m sorry Tabby. I don’t think that I’m going to be able to come this afternoon.”
Tabitha was a stoic little kid and was used to Lauren’s long workdays. “Okay,” she whispered.
Lauren’s heart wrenched when she saw her daughter’s little shoulders slump inside her puffy purple coat.
“Lauren.” Charlotte put her hands on her hips.
“What?” Lauren said. “You know that I have to get this done.” Lauren pointed to the stack of papers on her desk.
Charlotte pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her pocket. “Hey Tabitha, can you go get a coffee for your mom?”
“Okay,” Tabitha smiled. She took the cash and carefully folded it and put it into her purse. “Auntie Charlotte likes hers with cream. What do you like, Mom?”
Lauren forced a smile at her daughter, fighting the tears. “I like milk and a little sugar,” she said. Lauren felt like the worst mom in the world; her daughter didn’t even know what she took in her coffee.
“Got it,” Tabitha said. She turned and skipped to the door of the office.
“Hey, Tabby Cat,” Charlotte said. “Don’t forget the hot chocolate and sprinkle donut tip for the delivery girl.” Tabitha smiled widely and when she had disappeared from sight, Charlotte unzipped her jacket and sat down in front of Lauren’s desk. “What are you doing?” she asked.
Lauren jiggled the mouse on her computer, bringing her document back to life. “I’m working on my report to the council.”
Charlotte crossed her arms, compressing the puffy down of her jacket. “That’s not what I meant.”
Lauren looked up from her computer. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” Charlotte unfolded her arms and gripped the armrests of the metal chair. “That kid, all she wants to do is hang out with you.”
“She understands,” Lauren said, but as the words lingered in the air between her and her sister, she heard how terrible they sounded. She hung her head. “I know. But I have to get this done.”
“When is the hearing?” Charlotte asked.
“You know when the hearing is,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, I do.” Charlotte folded her arms again. “It’s Monday.”
“Glad you can read a calendar,” Lauren said.
“Don’t get snippy with me,” Charlotte said. She pointed her finger at her sister. “The hearing is Monday, and according to my stellar calendar reading skills, I have ascertained that today is Saturday. That means there is one more day in between now and then.”
“You have no idea how much work this is,” Lauren said. “I have to go through all of this.” She rested her hand on the pile of paper on her desk.
“So then stay up all night,” Charlotte said. “The Winter Carnival comes one day a year and it’s all that Tabitha’s been able to talk about all week.”
“I didn’t know that,” Lauren said. She had gotten in late every night that week, and Charlotte had already put her daughter to bed for the night.
The door thudded as it opened and then shut again. Both sisters turned their heads to see Tabitha pressing her back up against the glass, trying her best to keep the tray of coffees upright while trying to get inside. Charlotte jumped up from her chair and opened the door for her.
“Coffee delivery,” Tabitha shouted.
“Did the delivery girl already sample her tip?” Charlotte laughed.
“How did you know?” Tabitha smiled wryly.
Lauren stood up and stepped out from behind her desk. “Because you have a purple sprinkle stuck to your face.”
Tabitha handed Lauren the tray of drinks and brushed at her cheek, the offending sprinkle falling to the floor. “Yours is the one with the ‘S’ on top of it.” Tabitha pointed to the to-go cups. “The ‘S’ stands for sugar.”
“Thanks, Tabitha.” Lauren took her coat from the hook on the wall and pulled it on.
“Where are you going?” Tabitha asked.
Lauren slid her hand into her gloves and picked up her coffee. “To the Winter Carnival,” she said. “You coming?”
Even if Lauren had to stay up for two nights straight, the squeal of delight from her daughter had just made it worth it. The three of them put on their hats and gloves and headed out into the snow. As they walked down the street, Lauren’s eyes were constantly scanning the sidewalk for any signs of slick businesspeople. “Have you seen him?” she whispered to Charlotte.
“I haven’t seen any of them,” Charlotte said. “My sources tell me that they’ve been holed up in their chalet.” Then she whispered. “Have you decided what to do yet?”
Lauren pointed to Tabitha who was excitedly walking a few steps ahead of them and shook her head. “Not in front of her,” she mouthed. She would’ve been lying if she said the only reason she’d been holed up at her office was because of work. She had been avoiding any possibility of a chance encounter with a certain executive.
“What if he’s there?” Charlotte whispered.
“At the Winter Carnival?” Lauren laughed. “I don’t think that’s really their scene.”
The Winter Carnival was a local tradition, and Lauren’s pass, a wooden round disk with the year 2020 and a snowman artfully burned into it, bounced against her jacket.
They walked into the community center parking lot and were immediately met with the smell of frying dough and cinnamon. “Mom, can I get a beavertail?” Tabitha grabbed her hand.
“Didn’t you just have a–,” she started to say but was promptly elbowed by her sister.
“Sure,” Lauren said. She reached into her purse to pull out some money.
“I still have some money left,” Tabitha patted her purse and jogged away.
“I wish I could bottle that energy,” Charlotte smiled.
“That energy is fueled by sprinkle donuts and beavertails,” Lauren said. “She’s going to be bouncing off the walls later.”
“It’s a specia
l day,” Charlotte said.
“You’re right,” Lauren said.
“What?” Charlotte yelled. The chainsaw carving competition had just started and the sisters’ voices were competing with the ear-splitting buzzing of the saws. They walked away from the flying sawdust and headed toward the ice sculpture display.
“Thank you,” Lauren said. She looked around the busy festival and saw many familiar faces, but thankfully, none of them belonged to Baxter. “It looks like the entire town took the day off.” She took a sip of her coffee and felt her shoulders relax. The snow had stopped falling and for the first time in weeks, the sun peeked out from behind the thick layer of cloud cover. Small fires were scattered around the parking lot and Charlotte and Lauren sidled up to one of them to warm their legs.
“You’re welcome,” Charlotte said. “I’m sorry for being so hard on you, but I know better than anyone the damage that can happen when you put your work ahead of everyone – even yourself.”
“I know,” Lauren sighed. “I’ve been so wrapped up in this case. And the whole Baxter Brock thing has thrown me for a loop.”
Charlotte glanced around and then whispered. “Are you going to tell him?”
Lauren’s eyes widened and then she also glanced around, checking to see if anyone was within earshot. “No,” she said.
Charlotte turned to face her. “No? Why?”
Lauren glanced around again. “Why would I? I mean, he doesn’t know who I am. I’ve thought about it long and hard, Char. It just doesn’t make sense to kick that hornet’s nest.”
Charlotte opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it and tightened her lips.
“What?” Lauren hissed.
“I thought you said that you felt something when you saw—”
Lauren reached and gripped her sister’s forearm, she shook her head, a silent motion telling her to shut up. Charlotte turned her head to see the bleached blond duo, Carrie and Stacy, approaching from behind.
Carrie shot Lauren a dirty look and then whispered something to her sister. The two of them cackled, butted out their cigarettes, and then headed into the community center.
“Don’t they get cold?” Lauren pulled down her hat as she watched to ensure that their nemeses were long gone before speaking. The sisters had been wearing pleather jackets, both unzipped, exposing their sun-damaged chests to the cold air.
“You don’t get cold when you’ve got ice in your veins,” Charlotte said. “What were you saying before?”
“I wasn’t saying anything.” Lauren wanted to get off the subject of Baxter Caldwell.
“No, you were saying that you felt something for him,” Charlotte prodded.
Lauren shook her head; she knew her sister wasn’t going to let it go. “I felt something for him when I didn’t know who he was.” She glanced around. “And what am I going to say,” she whispered. “Hey, remember me? The cleaning lady that you banged nine, no ten years ago?”
“You could.”
“And then what? Oh, have you met my daughter? How old is she?” Lauren raised her voice and pretended to be in a conversation with Baxter. “Oh, she just turned nine.” She returned to her regular tone. “He would put the pieces together.”
“Would that be so bad?” Charlotte’s voice was abnormally soft.
Lauren’s face flushed red. She couldn’t believe that her sister actually thought she should tell Baxter about their love child. “Yes,” Lauren hissed. “Nothing good would come out of that conversation. And I probably wouldn’t be able to keep working on the case. Nope.” As Lauren spoke the words out loud, she confirmed what she had been thinking all week. Telling Baxter Caldwell that Tabitha was his daughter was out of the question.
“You’re probably right,” Charlotte said. She finished her coffee, pulled off the plastic lid and tossed the paper cup into the fire.
“It’s a smaller carbon footprint if you just recycle that.” Lauren pointed to the cup that was quickly burning up in the fire.
“The fire was already going, and if you think about all the gas that it would take to get this to the recycling depot...” Charlotte didn’t finish her sentence.
Lauren didn’t have the energy to fight her sister on the issue. “Actually, I’m just glad that you didn’t throw it in the garbage.”
Charlotte smiled and shrugged, then her face became serious again. “I’ll drop it. I promise. But don’t you think that it’s weird, after all these years, he shows up here and you’re on the case. I mean, that’s kind of crazy.”
“You know that I don’t believe in that stuff.” Lauren finished her coffee. “It’s just a coincidence.”
“If you say so,” Charlotte said.
Lauren took a deep breath. She couldn’t wait for the case to be over, and for Baxter Caldwell to pack up and slink out of town so she could get on with her life. “You’re judging me,” she said.
Charlotte held up her mittened hands in front of her. “Never,” she replied. “I just... I mean, I saw the way he affected you. I haven’t seen you like that in years. I know you don’t believe in fate, but maybe there’s a reason he’s here, and it’s not to ruin this town with his terrible development. Maybe he’s here for you.”
“You’ve really lost it.” Lauren rolled her eyes. “There’s no happily ever after here. He’s not going to drop his project and become and insta-dad with some cleaning lady.”
“But Lauren,” Charlotte shook her head. “You’re not just some cleaning lady anymore.”
Lauren marched over to the recycling bin and made a production of removing the plastic lid from the paper cup and placing them in the appropriate bins. She returned to the fire. “I’ve had enough.”
“Fair enough,” Charlotte said. “Should we go find that daughter of yours?”
Lauren nodded. Daughter of mine, she thought. She didn’t tell her sister, but part of her was afraid to tell Baxter the truth, because well, what if he wanted to be in his daughter’s life?
“Mom,” Tabitha came running up to her, a paper plate balanced on her mittens. “Want some?” She held up the fried dough and cinnamon concoction in front of her.
“I’d love some,” she said. She tore off a corner of the beavertail and as the delicious warmth melted in her mouth, she realized that Tabitha was watching her, her crystal blue eyes wide. “Isn’t it good?” she said grinning. Those eyes, Baxter’s eyes, cut right through Lauren’s heart. What if Baxter did want to be in his daughter’s life? For the first time, she thought about the reality from her daughter’s perspective and not her own. She was worried about her daughter being taken from her, but she hadn’t thought about Tabitha. Would she want a dad in her life?
“Come on,” Let’s check out the ax-throwing contest. “They have one for kids,” Tabitha pulled on her hand.
“Of course, they do,” Lauren smiled, holding in her tears.
Chapter 16
“DO WE HAVE TO?” THOMAS moaned. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the dining room table. “I have a lot of work to do today and the game is on.” He pointed to the big screen TV in the designated media room.
“Yes.” Baxter pointed to all three of his crew. “You all have to go, and you all have to pretend to have fun. Got it?”
Baxter didn’t want to go to the Winter Carnival either. But, if showing up at some rinky-dink small-town carnival was going to save their project, hell, he’d organize the damn thing.
“What happens at a winter carnival?” Barry asked.
“Beats me.” Baxter shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve never been to one.”
Nicole was hunched over her laptop, eating her bowl of granola and yogurt over the keyboard. She leaned into the screen. “It looks like there are ice sculptures, some kind of sawing contest, a hockey game—”
“There,” Baxter interrupted. “There’s your game.”
Thomas rolled his eyes at him. “Thanks, boss.”
Baxter smiled as he imagined Thomas watching a team of kids
falling all over each other chasing a puck. “Look, do I want to go to this thing? No.” He sat down at the table. “But you heard the mayor; we need to do some damage control in this town.”
“How about we bring in Miranda?” Barry suggested.
Miranda was the firm’s PR executive and had gotten the company out of hot water on more than one occasion. Baxter grimaced when he realized that the last big public relations nightmare had been about an oil leak on one of the job sites. The environment wasn’t totally off Caldwell’s radar, but it fell well below profit on the list of importance.
“Not yet,” Baxter said. Bringing in Miranda could make things worse for them. “Let’s go, mingle with the townspeople, drink some hot chocolate, and maybe get a few of them on our side.”
Both Barry and Thomas crossed their arms across their chests, clearly not happy about the afternoon excursion. “I know that this is unorthodox. But we take clients out for dinner all the time, just think of the residents here as potential clients, and this carnival thing, a lobster dinner.”
He couldn’t help holding in his smile, and all four of them burst out in laughter.
“Fine,” Thomas said. “Let’s get this over with.”
AFTER LUNCH, THE FOUR of them piled into the SUV, and Al took them downtown. The car slowed to a crawl as they headed toward the community center. Cars were lined up along the side of the road for as far as Baxter could see. Fathers were dragging toboggans down the sidewalk, filled with toddlers in puffy one-piece suits. He found himself smiling at the dedicated fathers who were actually spending time with their kids. It was something he had always yearned for when he was a kid.
“Can you drink at these things?” Barry asked.
“I’m not too sure,” Nicole said. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling. “Yep,” she smiled and held up her phone triumphantly. There’s a beer garden and it’s even craft beer.
“That’s surprising,” Thomas said.
Baxter saw Al raise his eyebrows in the rearview mirror. He elbowed Thomas hard and flicked a glance to indicate the driver. Compared to the eyes that were always on them in Chance Rapids, he was starting to appreciate the anonymity the city afforded them. He wondered how many of their conversations Al had relayed to his buddies at the bar.
