Change My Mind

by Ali Parker

  “Because he is too stubborn to let anyone do it for him.”

  “True.”

  She turned her head to look at me. “Do you miss it?”

  “Miss what?”

  “Colorado.”

  “I’m there about eighty percent of the year. How could I miss it?”

  “You were there eighty percent of this year. Is that why you’re opening a new resort there? Is that your way of returning home?”

  I shrugged, staring at the water in the pool moving slowly. “A little. Mostly because Vail is a pretty hot market right now. Rich people and celebrities need somewhere new to spend their money.”

  “And you’re happy to take it,” she said with a laugh.

  I grinned. “I am.”

  “Dad is excited about it. It’s all he’s talked about for months. Chase the Golden Boy saving the family business.”

  “I don’t want to brag—”

  “Yes, you do,” she said with a laugh.

  “I took a company that was about to go tits up and put us back in black, the way black. I want to make sure he can enjoy his retirement and all the perks of the wealth he once had.”

  “And lost.”

  “And now he has again,” I replied.

  “Thanks to you.”

  “I didn’t do it on my own.”

  “You did.”

  I smiled and closed my eyes, soaking up the warm sun on a fall day. “I did. Now, are you going to tell me what you’re really doing out here?”

  “I’m avoiding Mom.”

  “Why now? Did you guys get in another fight?”

  “No, but we will.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s going to ask me if I’m going to settle down and have kids soon. I don’t know why I’m the one being held responsible for carrying on the family line. I feel like a prized horse they want to breed.”

  I laughed at the image. “They know you are the only one that has a chance of that whole husband and kids thing. They gave up on me years ago. I’m just here to make the money.”

  “Kids!” our mother called from the kitchen.

  Cori and I looked at each other and laughed. “We’re twenty-eight. When are we allowed to sit at the grown-up table?”

  “Come set the table,” she hollered.

  “Get some clothes on,” I told her and got up to go inside.

  My mom already had the nice china set out, ready for us to distribute in the formal dining room. My parents had means but my mom insisted on cooking the family meals. It was something she had always done. Even when we were pretending to be rich to our affluent friends, she was in the kitchen cooking from scratch because we couldn’t afford the expensive takeout meals most of our friends were eating.

  “I think we’re missing a setting,” I said to Cori when she came in wearing a pretty sundress over her bikini.

  “Nope, just the four of us.”

  “Isn’t, uh, Brian or Brad or whatever his name is coming? You told me I was going to meet him.”

  She let out a long, sad sigh. “David. His name was David. He’s not coming. Ever.”

  Now I understood what her mood was about. “What happened?”

  She put down a plate on one of the festive placemats. “He couldn’t seem to understand I wanted his attention. It was our anniversary. I made dinner, I dressed up, and I waited. And waited and then waited some more. When he finally showed up at eleven o’clock, he didn’t apologize. He didn’t bring me flowers or anything. I told him I was upset, and he told me to get used to it. He was a big shot and there would be a lot of late nights and forgotten dates and anniversaries. I can’t be second fiddle.”

  “Did you tell him that?”

  “I did. He didn’t care.”

  I could see she was genuinely upset. I offered her a hug. “As your big brother, I feel it is my responsibility to kick his ass. Should I do that?”

  She smiled up at me. She was only about six inches shorter than my six-two stature. “I’m okay. I already got a little revenge.”

  I groaned and moved to finish setting the table. Cori’s love life was a moving train wreck. She was in and out of relationships more than anyone I knew. She was a beautiful woman, but I wasn’t sure she knew what she was looking for. It always ended with her crushed by yet another breakup.

  “Get your father,” our mom said, carrying in one of the many dishes that would be put on the table.

  I walked out of the dining room and down the hall to the family room where he was sitting on the couch watching the game. “Dinner is ready.”

  “I’ll be right there,” he said without looking at me.

  Fifteen minutes later, we were all seated at the table that was far too big for the four of us, but my mom was holding out hope it would be filled with family and grandchildren one day. That was why they were pressuring Cori. I was way too busy enjoying the single life to even think about settling down.

  “How’s the grand opening coming along?” my father asked.

  “It’s on schedule. Construction is complete. We’re just working on the details. Linens, flowers, and stuff like that.”

  “Will you make the December fifteenth date?” my mother asked.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Have you managed to reach seventy-five percent capacity?”

  I cringed, shaking my head. “No. I’m sitting at about fifty-percent right now. I’m hoping to push more advertising and get filled up. I want to go full Christmas. I want tinsel and balls and all the trimmings. I want the guests getting the total winter wonderland experience.”

  Cori started clapping. “I love Christmas! I love the lights and the shiny baubles. You could put in a little shop for guests to do last-minute shopping at. You could sell ornaments and snow globes with the name of the resort.”

  “We have a gift shop in the lobby,” I told her. “But nothing for the holidays.”

  “You could do a pop-up shop,” Cori said with way more enthusiasm than I felt.

  “What’s that?”

  “Oh, they are all the rage,” she said. “They are there one day and gone the next. It creates a frenzied need. People worry it will be gone and they buy up the stuff. When you limit supply, the demand is going to be there. It would be a great way to market the resort. People could make it a family tradition. Every year, they get their ornament from the resort.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” I said, truly impressed.

  “It’s a very good idea,” our father chimed in. “You need to make the resort a family destination, something that will become a yearly tradition. That’s the way you secure the future of the place.”

  “I would like to do that.”

  Cori couldn’t contain her excitement at the idea. “We could have an incentive for guests that reserve their room early. They get a free ornament or something like that. It will cost you next to nothing.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you talk shop? You never cared before.”

  “I’ll help you. I’ll go to Vail and get it all set up. I’ve been craving the snow anyway.”

  I thought about it and realized she could be a big help and it would help get her mind off the failed relationship. “All right. I’ll set you up in one of the cottages on the grounds.”

  She was smiling big. “Yes! This is going to be so awesome.”

  “I think it will be great to have the two of you working together,” my father commented.

  “We need to set some ground rules,” I said, holding up my fork.

  She rolled her eyes. “You are not actually my big brother.”

  “Five minutes says I am.”

  “You are not the boss of me.”

  “Five minutes and the CEO after my name says I am.”

  She groaned, rolling her eyes. “You better not let all this power go to your head. Remember, I know all your dirty little secrets and I will not hesitate to use them.”

  “No boyfriends. No men. No messy relationships.”
>
  She raised her brows at me. “You don’t get to dictate that.”

  “Cori, when you’re in a relationship, things are great, but when they end—and they have a tendency to do that—you fall apart.”

  “I do not.”

  “Cori, dear, he has a point,” our mother said. “Why don’t you let this little project occupy your time? It will be a good distraction and give you some time to get over, um, whatever his name was.”

  I had to hide my smile at the fact she didn’t know his name either. We rarely took the time to learn the names. We learned “the one” was a very loose term for Cori. I hoped she did find the one eventually, but I was in agreement with my mother. She needed to take some time and just get to know herself a little better.

  “Mom, you know what his name was.”

  She waved a hand, dismissing the topic altogether. “Your father and I are so proud of both of you. We know you’ll both do great.”

  “There are bound to be lots of eligible men running through there,” Cori said.

  “No,” I said. “You love them and leave them faster than any of us can keep up. And the aftermath is usually rather explosive. I just built the place.”

  She slapped a hand to her chest and gasped with feigned shock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fine, no dating, but that goes for you too.”

  “Me?”

  “Don’t bring any of those floozies around.”

  “Cori!” my mother scolded.

  My father laughed. “She’s got a point.”

  “They aren’t floozies,” I argued.

  Cori rolled her eyes. “Let’s agree to disagree. We’ll both do the single thing. No men for me and no women for you. It will be all about the resort. We don’t need the distractions, right?”

  “You’re a pain in my a—”

  “Chase,” my mother said in her warning tone.

  “Backside. Fine, I’ll leave the ladies alone. We’ll both be celibate and bored.”

  My mother groaned. “I don’t want to know.”

  Cori was smiling as she took a bite of her turkey. I was beginning to think taking her back to Vail with me was a mistake. She was really going to put a damper on my personal life. Then again, it might not be a bad thing to slow down for a bit. I’d been sowing my wild oats, as my father called it, for years. I didn’t want a relationship.

  I tried that. None of the women I dated would ever quite take the place of the one that got away. It seemed pointless to try and pretend they could. Instead, I opted to keep things very casual. I didn’t do the long-term thing. I just had a little fun and moved on.

  That was the way I wanted to keep things.

  Chapter 3

  Harper

  My feet were killing me. I felt like I had walked at least twenty miles in heels. In fact, I was pretty sure I actually had walked that far. The day had started around three that morning and I had been moving ever since. I was beat and exhilarated at the same time. The doors had opened, and the crowds poured in. Our displays were beautiful. I knew our customers enjoyed them as well. I was on the floor, constantly moving and heading off any problems that might arise.

  “Excuse me,” I said, trying to make my way around a group of women discussing the benefits of buying kids’ clothes a size too big.

  The crowds had been coming all day. It was a successful day of sales. We had sold out of our Black Friday deals within the first couple of hours. That didn’t stop people from buying the other similar items that were strategically placed nearby. The items that weren’t on sale. It was all part of the game. I was thrilled to see the credit cards sliding through the registers. There had been a handful of complaints but that was to be expected. I was going to call the day a success. The real story would be the final sales numbers for the day. It was going to be good. I just knew it.

  I just hoped it would be good enough to blot out the lack of Santa. No one was really looking for Santa on the day that was all about buying, but they would be soon. All the pretty little dresses and the cute little suits for the boys were all bought with the idea of getting a picture with Santa. We had to find a way to keep those dollars in-house.

  I made my way to the door that would lead down the hall to the elevators that would take me to the top floor. I was dying to get to my office, sit down, and kick off my heels. My feet ached. I could have worn my sensible shoes but that would take away from that cutting-edge thing I had going on. I stopped by the employee breakroom to make myself a cup of tea.

  I was absently stirring in sugar, my thoughts elsewhere. I looked out the window that overlooked Boulder and stared at the snow-covered roofs that stretched on and on. It was such a pretty place. I loved the snow in November and December and even a little bit in January. By February, I always got a serious case of cabin fever.

  I sipped the tea, thinking about the coming weeks. It was going to be wild. It usually left me feeling a little wiped out, but I liked to think of it as training for a marathon. I trained all year and then pushed hard until my body was close to collapsing. I embraced the craziness. I loved it. It was an adrenaline rush. When mid-January rolled around, I always took time to reflect. That time was not now. I didn’t have time to daydream.

  I heard a familiar voice down the hall. I immediately felt guilty, like I was caught lying down on the job. I put down the tea and smoothed down my blouse, making sure it was all tucked in neatly before I walked out of the breakroom. Bob Banner, my boss, was talking with one of the customer-service ladies. He had been busy all day, avoiding me like the plague. I was sure that was on purpose, but it wasn’t like I could stop him and demand he give me five minutes. He was doing his thing, schmoozing and putting on a good face for the company.

  “Bob,” I called.

  He turned to look at me with surprise. “Harper, I thought you would have gone home by now.”

  “No, not yet. Do you have a few minutes? I need to talk to you about something.”

  He did not look happy. “Sure, we can step into my office.”

  I followed him in, closing the door behind us. “It’s been a great day, huh?”

  “It is definitely a success. I loved the displays. Artistic, beautiful, and, most of all, effective.”

  “Thank you. Me and my team wanted to change up the game a little.”

  “I love it. You have someone taking care of the replenishing tonight?”

  “Yes. Well, we plan on replenishing some and putting up new ones. We want to highlight more of the high-ticket items.”

  “Good plan.”

  We were dancing around the real reason I wanted to talk to him. I was sure he knew that as well. “What’s the status of the Santa negotiations?”

  Hearing the sentence made me want to laugh. Negotiating with Santa was something I imagined little kids did, not adults who knew the man was nothing more than a marketing ploy. “They won’t budge. They won’t sign the contracts for the year.”

  I threw my hands up in there. “Now what? Did you try to appeal to the union head?”

  “I don’t know. We aren’t going to cave in to their demands. The union head is a stubborn old fart who has this idea his Santas are kings. I don’t know where they get off making demands.”

  The we he referred to were the other business owners in the city. They had their own little union. They were all filthy, stinking rich and tighter than a drum when it came to spending their money. I hated their penny-pinching ways. I understood getting a good deal, but they were cutting off their nose to spite their faces. It made no sense to me.

  Christmas was about giving and goodwill. It was about being kind and giving to those with less. The rich bastards had more than enough to give but they didn’t want to part with their money. It wasn’t like the Santas were asking for millions. They were asking for a living wage and a few perks. I didn’t see any of the rich bastards sitting in a chair for eight hours with crying, drooling children climbing all over them. They didn’t have to deal with the mothers demand
ing Santa look a certain way or make stupid promises.

  “If they don’t work, we don’t have a Santa. It’s Christmas. We have to have a Santa. We have customers looking forward to their annual family pictures with Santa. We have the set done and I have to say it is absolutely gorgeous this year.”

  He waved a hand. “Find one. How hard can it be? There has to be someone willing to be a fat, jolly dude for a few hours.”

  “Bob, we have to do background checks. We have to have someone with experience. We can’t have some pervert playing grab-ass. I can’t just hire anyone. We need someone who knows how to deal with scared kids. We need someone that knows how to get a kid to sit still for thirty seconds. Those are all qualities that need to be taught.”

  “Back in my day, anyone could be a Santa.”

  “Would it hurt to pay them a little more?”

  “It’s not the money,” he barked. “If we give them a little, they are going to want it all.”

  “I doubt that. It’s only a little bit. We need a Santa. All of our marketing campaigns hinge on Santa.”

  “Hire a scab. There are always scabs. One of those union Santas wants to work. Find him.”

  “Pick a scab,” I said with disgust, “and they will retaliate. The Banner name would be smeared.”

  He stared at me and I realized I might have been a little loud. The man was my boss. He was part owner and I was guessing he was used to people talking to him in a certain way. Not the way I spoke to him. “I suggest you go out there and find a Santa. If you don’t want to pick a scab because it will weigh heavy on your conscious, then maybe you should think about looking somewhere that doesn’t compromise your morals.”

  I took a deep breath. My need to tell him off was strong, but my need to eat and keep a roof over my head was much stronger. “Fine,” I said, biting my tongue.

  I turned around and walked out of his office before I said something I regretted. I got halfway down the hall when my cell rang. I jerked it from my pocket and saw Parker’s number. “What?” I answered. The long hours were making me cranky. I needed a nap. And food. I was hangry.