“Yes.”
I looked at the clock.
It wasn’t even 6:30.
“You left before sunrise?”
“We wanted to beat the traffic.”
“You were supposed to leave tomorrow.”
Another pause.
“Well… plans changed.”
I walked into the kitchen and sat down.
“And you forgot to tell me?”
Sloan laughed softly.
“Honestly, everything happened so quickly.”
I stared at the empty chairs around the kitchen table.
Ten people had left my house.
Ten people had packed their luggage.
Ten people had driven away.
And somehow nobody had remembered to tell the woman who paid for the entire trip.
“How much luggage did you take?” I asked.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
I looked toward the refrigerator.
The Christmas dinner schedule I’d printed was still attached to the door.
Christmas Eve dinner.
Christmas morning breakfast.
Ski lessons.
Family dinner.
Seven nights at one of the most expensive mountain resorts in the region.
I had spent months planning it.
$12,500.
Flights.
Transportation.
Luxury accommodation.
Private dining.
Ski passes.
Everything.
“Helena,” Sloan said impatiently, “please don’t make this into something it’s not.”
“What is it?”
“We thought you would be happier having the house to yourself.”
I almost laughed.
“So you thought I’d be happier staying home while you took the vacation I paid for?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Silence.
Finally she said:
“Maybe you should take some time for yourself.”
I looked around the kitchen.
This was my house.
My kitchen.
My money.
My Christmas.
And somehow I was being told that I needed time for myself.
I took a slow breath.
“Okay.”
Sloan sounded relieved.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not angry?”
“No.”
I smiled.
“Merry Christmas.”
I ended the call.
Then I sat there for several minutes.
I wasn’t crying.
I wasn’t even angry anymore.
I was thinking.
Because there was something Sloan didn’t know.
Something Caleb didn’t know.
Something neither of their parents knew.
I had stopped treating the mountain vacation like a simple family gift months earlier.
After several strange conversations with Sloan, I had decided to make every reservation directly through my personal account.
