Page 100 of Worth the Fall
Mrs. Green had a doctor’s appointment today, so I knew that Clara would be coming here after school. Even though I saw her every night, I still loved seeing her during the day. It was like a special treat that didn’t happen often enough. If I had my way, she’d come here every afternoon and hang out, but then I’d never get anything done. At least not in a timely manner. She was a lot of fun, but she was very distracting.
The sound of little feet running down the hall had me grinning from behind my desk.
Speak of the little devil, I thought to myself.
“Hi!” Clara said as she hauled her tiny self into my office and didn’t stop until she reached my chair.
“Hey, you! I’ve been waiting for you to get here,” I said as I hugged her as tight as I could through all her puffy layers.
“You have?” she asked.
“Of course! How was your day today?” I wondered, knowing that the kids weren’t always nice to her when she wore two different shoes. And this morning, she’d insisted on two different-colored boots.
“It was okay. Scott started to make fun of my boots, but then he stopped and said they looked cool,” she said, and I refused to hide my shock.
“He said they looked cool? Wow. That’s an improvement. Maybe Scott is growing up?” I asked as Thomas suddenly appeared in the doorway. I wondered how long he’d been standing outside, eavesdropping.
“Did you hear that, Daddy?” Clara swung around to face him as she started to take off her gloves, followed by her hat and then her jacket.
“So, he was nice to you today?” Thomas asked as he made his way over to where I still sat and gave me a kiss. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
Clara shrugged at us both. “I guess. He wasn’t mean.”
Her winter clothes were in a pile on the floor, and she bent down to scoop them all up in her little arms. I watched as she put them on top of the tiny couch, taking up as little space as possible.
“I’m going to show Clara the new decorations,” I said with a giant grin.
Thomas knew how much I looked forward to the themes here at the resort, and he’d refused to tell me anything about the winter one, even though he knew exactly what it would entail. I’d tried to bribe him with sexual favors, but he’d only laughed and told me that patience was a virtue and other stupid crap like that. Patience was a pain in my ass.
“The Christmas ones?” Clara asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
She and I had talked about them the other night, and she’d spent almost an hour telling me all her favorites from the past few years. As much as she remembered anyway.
“Yes! They’re so pretty. You’re going to love them.”
“Can you come too, Daddy?”
Thomas glanced at the watch on his wrist. “I have a call. You go see them with Brooklyn, and then we can all look at them again later, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, sounding completely unbothered.
“I can’t believe you kept this design from me.” I tried to sound annoyed at Thomas, but I truly didn’t care anymore now that they were up for me to enjoy daily.
“I didn’t want to spoil it.” He gave me a wink. “I’ll see my two best girls later,” he said as he headed out.
“Ready, Waffles?” Clara asked, shortening my nickname the way she sometimes did, and I laughed out loud.
“Let me finish up this email, and we’ll go.”
She plopped up on my couch and crossed her little legs as she waited patiently. I guessed it was a virtue, and this kid had it in spades. My little show-off.
I finished a handful of work emails, synced my calendar, and made sure the team was up-to-date on bookings for the rest of the month. Everything in my department ran so smoothly; it truly was a dream. It was nice, having a staff that pulled their weight and enjoyed what they did. I knew how lucky I was.
“All done,” I said as I pushed back in my chair and stood upright as Clara jumped off the couch.
“I can’t wait. Are there candy canes?”