Page 20 of Holiday Hitch
Holding open the door for Zoey, Daryl replied, “I just like my traditions and haven’t had a day to myself in a long time.”
As they walked through the brisk air toward the back parking lot, Zoey took a deep breath, “You mean your tradition of staying home alone all day and then tagging along as a third wheel to my family's Christmas?”
“Yes, that one,” Daryl said defensively. The Greenwoods loved having Daryl come for dinner, but considering the other option was spending Christmas with her long-distance girlfriend, Zoey had assumed Daryl would be skipping this year.
But Zoey should have known better. Daryl was a creature of habit, and it would take a real push to get her out of her comfort zone. Zoey just hoped that that push wouldn’t cause too much of a strain on the young relationship.
Daryl really wanted to do right by the people in her life, but if someone wasn’t explicit with her about what they needed and why, she was much more prone to keep doing what she always did. And based on Daryl’s waffling on the matter, Zoey suspected that Leah’s request hadn’t landed with the impact Leah had intended.
Hoping to help Daryl out, Zoey challenged, “Don’t you think it’s worth the change in scenery to make Leah's Christmas special? When I moved back, it took a lot of adjusting, but I’m thankful every day that I took the time to integrate my life with Robin’s. That includes spending more time with you, you grumpy old hag.” Zoey nudged Daryl with her shoulder.
Deep down, Daryl knew that Zoey was right; she owed Leah some more consideration. Over the last few months, she had seen just how difficult it was to care for John, and it probably would make Leah's day just a little bit easier to have Daryl nearby. Especially since they weren’t sure how many more Christmases they’d have with John.
“You’re pushy,” Daryl grumbled as they neared Zoe’s SUV, “When are you gonna get rid of this ugly thing?” Zoey rolled her eyes, “When are you going to finish the wedding florals?”
Daryl reluctantly pulled Zoey in for a hug and whispered, “Oh, and I’ll just say a premature congratulations.”
Zoey smiled, caught off guard by the comment, but Dar didn’t stick around for a response, throwing Zoey a wink as she headed toward her own car.
As she climbed into the truck, she thought over what Zoey had said about Leah and the holidays. She was reluctant to accept her meddling friend’s advice, much more comfortable sticking to her usual routine, but everything Zoey had said made sense. Sitting in the silence of her truck cabin, Daryl knew in her heart what she had to do.
10
Dani
With the weeklyprogress meeting settled and just seven days before Christmas, Dani felt better about the state of the adoption drive. They needed to clear as much space as possible to make room for new rescues next year.
Luckily, a new addition to the family made a pretty popular Christmas present around these parts, and their publicity push had been doing wonders for the pace of pet adoptions.
Dani walked down the hallway toward the back office as the volunteer staff returned to work.Taking a peek into the kennels along the hall, Dani was proud of how much space they’d made so far and was excited to see how much more the adoption drive would do for them. It was always hard to say goodbye to the animals, of course, but it felt amazing to know they were all going to loving homes.
Halfway down the hall, Dani smiled at the photographer who had volunteered to take Christmas photos for the adoptable pets.
“Hey Drew, good to see you again. Thanks for coming in,” Dani said, patting her on the back. Zoey’s old assistant, Bobbi, had connected the shelter with Drew after the benefit concert, and her contribution played no small part in the recent surge of adoptions. Although she could be a traditionalist when it came to style, her unique perspective made each pet stand out.
Drew smiled, “Anything for a rescue.”
Dani made her way to the back office and closed the door behind her. It was the closest thing to peace and quiet she’d had in a few months, and even then, the sound of barking dogs on the other side of the door was inescapable.
She took a deep breath before picking up her phone and checking her texts, certain someone needed her attention. Sure enough, there were a few dozen unread messages and some missed calls from both Zoey Greenwood and Jamie.
Though the messages from Zoey had been a constant fixture on her lock screen since wedding planning started, missed calls from Jamie were unusual. When one of them was working, they tried their best to give one another space to do their thing.
Before she could find out what she had missed, the office door flung open to reveal a flustered Jamie.
“Hi honey, what are you…” Dani began before Jamie interrupted.
“Where have you been? We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for hours,” Jamie said, the annoyance in her voice undeniable.
Dani shrugged, surprised by Jamie’s irritation, “I was in a meeting. What’s the emergency?”
Jamie scoffed, “Apparently there’s a problem with the wedding permits, and Zoey needs both of us to sign some paper or we’ll lose the venue. It’s a whole thing, but we don’t have time to get into it.”
Before Dani could answer or ask any further questions, Arden appeared in the doorway with a puzzled look on her face, not used to hearing Jamie or Dani argue – at least not since they had gotten together.
“Is everything okay?” Arden asked.
Jamie waited for Dani to answer, not wanting to overstep.