Jennifer Snow - Love, Lies and Mistletoe

Well, it was time.

She reached into her jeans pocket and retrieved the piece of register tape from the bar. Mike Ainsley and the position at Highstone Acquisitions might be the answer to that. Tucking it in her hand, she poked her head into the kitchen.

Empty.

She headed toward the back of the house, listening carefully for Victoria’s voice. Her friend habitually sat in the back sunroom, feeding her baby girl, Harper, around this time every day. Usually, her off-key singing voice could be heard torturing a lullaby, but today it was quiet. Maybe she hadn’t arrived yet.

One glance through the glass walls of the sunroom revealed that it was snowing heavily, big fluffy white flakes collecting quickly on the already-covered ground.

The grandfather clock in the front sitting room chimed. Nine o’clock. Cameron had texted to say Rob had reluctantly agreed to give his boss a heads-up that she would be calling and that Mike Ainsley was expecting her call at nine. Heading back to the front desk, Heather pulled her cell phone from her purse.

Crap! She had to start remembering to plug in her phone at night. The dead battery light flickered a second longer, then the phone shut off completely. Wonderful. She’d have to make the long distance call at the desk. Luckily, she’d recently taken over paying the B and B’s invoices, so she would know how much to reimburse Victoria for the call.

She wondered if her friend would accept a payment plan schedule.

But what if her friend noticed the acquisition firm’s number on the bill? She bit her lip.

Two minutes past nine.

Picking up the receiver, she heard nothing. No dial tone. The line was dead.

What the...?

Glancing at the display screen on the phone revealed the connection with the server was down. Fantastic. She jiggled the mouse for the computer and waited for the reservation screen to appear. Great, the internet was down, too.

She wanted to scream. Stupid weather caused this to happen often around here. How many times had she told Victoria’s husband, Luke, that the internet phone system may be cheap, but it wasn’t reliable? And now was not the day to have her point proven. 9:04. What had her sister said about Mike Ainsley? He was old-school and didn’t appreciate lateness.

This wasn’t exactly her fault, but unless the other man had ever lived in a middle-of-nowhere town, he was probably not going to accept her excuses. Sitting in the chair, she noticed the old rotary phone on the corner of the desk. The phone lines should still work, just not the computerized system. Diving for it, she held her breath as she picked up the receiver.

Dial tone. Success. Thank God they’d kept the landline as a backup.

Man, this thing was heavy, she thought, retrieving the number and slowly dialing it. Good thing this wasn’t a real emergency. Finally, when the phone started ringing, she sat straighter, mentally rehearsing her pitch.

“Happy holidays. Thank you for calling Highstone Acquisitions, how may I help you?” a chirpy receptionist’s voice said.

“Hi, this is Heather Corbett. I’m calling for Mr. Ainsley.”

“Mr. Ainsley, Junior or Senior?” she asked.

Great, there were two of them. Thanks for the heads up, Cam. “Senior, I believe. Mike.”

“Mike is Junior. Michael is Senior. Which is it?”

Oh, come on. “The one in charge of hiring?”

“I’ll put you through to HR,” the young woman said in a tone that made it possible to imagine her rolling her eyes.

“Oh, no, actually Mr. Ainsley, Senior, I think, was expecting my call at nine,” Heather said.

“It’s ten after.”

It is now! “I know, I apologize. I was having technical difficulties this morning.” With a phone. Wow—could she sound any less competent?

“Hold the line,” the receptionist said.

A second later, the sound of voices outside the B and B caught her attention, followed by the scrape of a metal shovel clearing the steps. Victoria and her husband, Luke, were there. Heather’s eyes widened.

“This is Michael Ainsley,” a deep voice said on the other end of the line.

She swallowed hard, watching the front door, hoping her friends would remain outside long enough to get this man to agree to review her résumé. “Hi, Mr. Ainsley, this is Heather Corbett, Rob Ashley’s sister-in-law.”

“Yes, he said to expect your call.”

“Right, yes, so I’m interested in the opening for an acquisition agent that you have for the new year,” she said quickly.

Outside, slamming of the car door and more scraping.

“Well, we are hoping to fill the position in the next few weeks, preferably before the office shuts down for the holidays. We are closed from...hmm, let me find my calendar...”

Oh, my God! “Right, for the holidays, I understand. Anyway, I’d love to send you my résumé.”

“Well, before we get to that, I have a couple of questions.”

“Okay.”

“The most obvious one, of course, is why should we consider you for the position?” he asked, before erupting in a terrible fit of coughing.

“Um...” Still coughing.

“Sorry...give me...just a sec...” he said between coughs, and she could hear him set the phone down.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against her hand. Come on.

“Sorry about that. Terrible cold...it seems to have migrated to my lungs.”

“Terrible...just awful. To answer your question, though, I think I would be a great candidate for the position based on my years of experience in a similar role with Clarke and Johnston Acquisitions in New York City...”

“We do things a little differently around here, I’ll warn you.”

“That’s okay. I’m a quick learner, and I’m loyal,” she said and cringed. Sure she was; that’s why she was desperate to get this job and bail on one of her best friends.

The outside porch door opened, and her heart raced.

“We do appreciate long-term employees. Your brother-in-law has been with us probably the least amount of time and he’s been here...”

“Ten years, I know,” she said quickly, hearing the stomping of boots in the entryway. “Anyway, sir, I really would love to send you my résumé, and I’m available for a face-to-face interview anytime.” Not exactly true, but she would make time.

Any second now, Vic would enter, and she really wasn’t ready to tell her friend that she hoped to move back to the city. She’d rather wait to tell her once she knew for sure about the job...maybe by phone. She shook her head. Victoria deserved better after all their years of friendship. She would tell her...soon.

The door opened, and Victoria came in, carrying a wailing Harper in her car seat. Weighed down with the baby, a diaper bag and several grocery bags, she struggled to close the door.

“Do you have children?” Mike asked.

“Some help, please?” Victoria said at the same time.

“No!” Heather answered Mike’s question.

“Seriously?” Victoria shot her a look before noticing she was on the phone. “Oh, sorry,” she said, setting the crying baby girl on the floor and shutting the door against the cold breeze.

“Okay...because we expect our employees to travel quite a bit,” Mike said.

Heather plugged her other ear against the earth-shattering wails. “I understand. That’s not a problem.”

Victoria unharnessed Harper from her car seat, and the crying stopped immediately.

Finally.

“Who are you talking to?” she mouthed.

Nosy much? Heather shook her head, hoping Vic would move on.

She didn’t. Instead, she bounced Harper on her shoulder as she paced in front of the desk.

“Okay, send me your résumé, and I’ll have a look,” Mike said.

“Great. Where should I send it?” she mumbled into the phone, turning her back to Victoria.