“Thanks for the compliment and the calories, kid. Stephanie, if you get in a bind, call my cell number. I’ll send a Maximum Glide employee from the ski school to help out. I can’t risk Melanie’s getting hurt or injuring someone else.”
Stephanie started to speak, but before she could utter a single word, Patrick spoke up. “It’s company policy. Sorry.”
“Of course, I understand, it’s just that Melanie offered. I told her to stop by just in case.” Stephanie swatted at the hair clinging to her cheek. “I doubt we’ll need the extra help, but of course I will call you if we do.” She swallowed, lifted her chin a notch higher, and met his gaze.
Avoiding her direct stare, Patrick glanced at the display of flavored lip balm on the counter for fear he’d give his feelings away.
Feelings? He wasn’t going there. No how, no way!
Absorbed in a sudden rush of unwanted emotions, new and unwanted emotions, Patrick gave her a disparaging look. After all, she was nothing more than an employee. “I’ll expect nothing less. Maximum Glide can’t afford another costly mistake.”
Much to his surprise, she showed no reaction to his comment. She simply turned her back to him as though he’d said nothing.
He hurried toward the door without another word said. Feeling like the idiot that he was, he started to return and offer an apology, then decided against it. He didn’t want her to think he was sorry for his comment. He truly meant it. Maximum Glide was in the red. If he didn’t pull off a financial miracle this year, they would all be out of jobs.
Chapter 3
Expert at hiding her emotions, Stephanie was too stunned to reply to Patrick’s hateful comment. She’d spent years deflecting Glenn’s insults. One would’ve thought she would be used to such verbal abuse. Too stunned to cry, not to mention how humiliated she was to have Candy Lee witness her being reprimanded, she swallowed back any thought of an outburst.
She tossed her Christmas napkin in the garbage can and downed the last of her now-cold coffee before turning to Candy Lee. It was all she could do to keep from commenting on what a jerk Patrick had acted like, but she knew it was best just to forget about it. And him. He was right. Sort of. She had cost the shop loads of money last year. There was no way she would repeat that mistake again this season. With a new sense of determination, Stephanie set out to prove just how wrong he was about her. She was quite capable of working as many hours as needed to see that Snow Zone turned a profit. She didn’t care if she had to peddle their wares on the slopes.
As soon as the back door closed, alerting them to Patrick’s departure, Candy Lee voiced her opinion. “He can be such a nitwit. I don’t know why you let him talk to you like that. You need to speak up for yourself.” She sprayed window cleaner on the glass-top counters. “If he doesn’t think we’re capable of doing the work, he should tell us straight up.”
Stephanie thought he just had, but didn’t bother saying so to Candy Lee. They had a busy day ahead of them. Whining and arguing would only put them both in a negative frame of mind. She was sure this was the last thing the Christmas shoppers wanted to encounter on the busiest day of the year. They wanted holly-jolly-ho-ho-ho, and she would give them holly-jolly-ho-ho-ho no matter what.
Wanting to discourage further talk of Patrick’s behavior, Stephanie cleared her throat. “He’s just doing his job. Forget about it because I intend to this very second.”
Candy Lee shook her head. “Well, then you’re a nicer person than I am. I don’t even know why I work here; well, I need the extra cash but still…I was in the storage room the other day and overheard two guys that work the lifts talking about him. I guess Mr. O’Brien chewed them out after four people fell when they were getting off the lift at their checkpoints, which we all know isn’t really anyone’s fault,” Candy Lee stated as she vigorously polished the glass-topped counters. “I’m pretty good on a pair of skis myself, and I still suck ice every now and then.”
“Suck ice?” Stephanie inquired.
“Fall down, you know, suck ice,” Candy Lee informed her.
Stephanie laughed. “No, I hadn’t heard that term, but do me a favor and try not to use it in front of the girls.” They’d seen enough in their short lives. Stephanie was trying her best to make up for what they’d witnessed. She wanted to keep them innocent as long as possible.
“Sure,” Candy Lee said. “Though they’ll hear it soon enough on the slopes. Especially from the snowboarders. They always cuss and spit. It’s so gross.”
Stephanie gave a small laugh. “I’ve heard them more than once myself. I just want to keep the girls away from anything…off-color, at least for a while. Now”—Stephanie glanced at her watch—“let’s lower the drawbridge and prepare for battle.”
At precisely seven o’clock, Stephanie unlocked the main door, where a line of shoppers anxiously waited to spend their money. Stephanie said hello to those she knew, greeted others she didn’t, then headed to the register, where she spent the next four hours ringing up ski jackets, ski pants, mittens, hats, and ski boots. It was almost lunchtime before they had a chance to take a break. Tallying up the morning sales in her head, Stephanie figured if this was any indication of how busy the season would be, not only would she be working overtime, she’d prove just how wrong Patrick was about her ability to manage the shop and turn a profit. Plus, she’d have a bit of extra cash, even after putting the down payment on her dream house in Placerville. She would use the extra money to purchase a new bedroom set for the girls.
They’d been without the basic comforts for most of their lives, and for this reason they were appreciative of any gift they received, no matter how large or small. They were good girls, and Stephanie found herself visualizing tucking them into a brand-spanking-new white-canopied bed in their new home. Plus she couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when she announced they would be adopting one of the pups sired by Ice-D. They’d begged for a pet for the past two years, but Stephanie knew it wouldn’t be fair to the girls or an animal if she were to bring a pet home to the small garage apartment. There was barely enough room for the three of them as it was. As the girls grew older, she knew they would want and need their privacy. A new home with three bedrooms, not to mention two bathrooms, would be pure heaven for the three of them and a pet. Angry that she’d wasted so much valuable time with Glenn, Stephanie figured she had to make it up to the girls, and a home of their own would be a good place for new beginnings.
Cheered by her thoughts, Stephanie felt a renewed sense of purpose. She could manage her life at last, but this time around it would be on her own terms. She didn’t need a man to take care of her. Look at where that had gotten her. Actually, Glenn’s jailbreak was the catalyst that had sent her in search of a better life. Stephanie had learned at an early age that life wasn’t always easy, but at thirty-two, she felt as though she’d learned enough about life not to repeat the mistake of allowing a man to have complete and total control of her life. After her mother flew the coop to parts unknown, when Stephanie was three, she’d been sent to live with her mother’s older sister, Aunt Evelyn, who’d loved her like her own daughter. While they hadn’t had much in the way of material things, Stephanie knew she was loved. Sadly, her aunt had passed away the year she graduated from high school. While grieving for the only mother figure she’d ever known, Stephanie had allowed Glenn to step in and control her every move. At first she’d enjoyed her newfound lack of responsibility as she’d spent most of her life caring for Aunt Evelyn, who’d been severely crippled with rheumatoid arthritis. However, her independence was short-lived. She and Glenn married right after graduation; he started drinking, and within a year turned into
