Page 300 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“All right, let’s get dressed as quickly as we can,” I told him instead.
“Okay!” Ethan chirped, leaping out of bed and rushing towards his little dresser.
I helped him get ready and then carried him out to the car and got him strapped in. “Let me know if you start feeling yucky again,” I told him, adjusting my rearview mirror so that I could see him nod. “And when we get to the resort, I want you to stay right with me, okay? I’m going to have to leave you with someone so I can ski over to Dasher, and I want you to mind your manners.”
Yet another complication to this whole plan; normally, he would stay with Gretchen if he was with me at the resort and couldn’t actually tag along on the work that I was doing. But today was Gretchen’s day off. I fought the urge to swear. What a messed up day. I would probably have to leave him with Kayla and whoever was at the front desk, but that was exactly where Bailey was most likely to see him.
I’d figure it out when I got there, though. Right now, all I could think about was the lift and what might be wrong with it. I hadn’t noticed anything out of the usual with it lately, so I wasn’t sure why it would spontaneously quit working. Unless maybe something had iced over. With the way it had been snowing this year, that was entirely possible. Not meant to happen, of course; we knew that these pieces were going to be used outside, and there were certain precautions made to ensure that the lifts kept spinning whatever the weather. But if a little water had somehow dripped into somewhere it wasn’t supposed to be, that could cause all sorts of problems.
“I’m going to try to make sure that we don’t have to stay very long,” I promised Ethan as I helped him out of the car. “But I don’t really know what’s wrong with the lift. I brought some things for you to do while you’re waiting, though.”
“That’s okay,” Ethan said, slipping his little hand into mine as we walked towards the lodge. “I know it could take a while. I like it here, though.”
“I know you do, buddy,” I told him with a small sigh. Internally, I still wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. “You make sure you let someone know if you start feeling yucky again, though, okay? They’ll give me a call on the radio and we’ll go back home. Or to a doctor.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Dad, I’m fine,” he promised me. “I feel all better now. Don’t you always tell me that sleep is the best medicine?”
I had to laugh in response to that, because hearing those words come from the mouth of my six-year-old was hilarious. Some people said that kids never listened. Not true with Ethan; I could count on him to parrot my words back to me at the most random of times.
I wanted to say something more to him about staying back behind the counter with Kayla, or in general just staying out of sight. But there was no way to really tell him that without making him suspicious. And again, it wasn’t like I was trying to hide the fact that he existed. The only thing that I could think to tell him was that my new boss was scary and that he wouldn’t want to see her.
But I didn’t want to make him not want to come to the resort anymore. And besides, that would only make things more awkward when Bailey eventually found out about him.
I tried to tell myself that the only reason I was so sure that Bailey was eventually going to find out about him was that she was my boss and she had shown that she planned to be around the resort a lot that winter. She and I were going to interact a lot, and it was only a matter of time before she found out about Ethan.
But in my heart, I knew there was more to it than that. I actually wanted Bailey to find out about Ethan, when I really thought about it. I was still worried what it would mean for her and I, what she would think about me for having kept his presence from her. But I wanted Bailey to know him, and I wanted Ethan to know Bailey.
I shook my head, trying to forget about that for right now. But as though my thoughts had summoned her, the first person I saw when I walked into the lodge was Bailey herself. “There you are!” she said, sounding at wits end. “We’ve got a snowmobile waiting outside for you.”
“I’m here,” I agreed, my eyes flicking down towards Ethan as I tried to think of a tactful way to raise the issue of who was going to watch him while I went and worked on the lift.
“Who’s this?” Bailey asked in surprise.
“This is my son. Ethan,” I told her.
Bailey’s eyes widened fractionally, but she knelt down in front of Ethan. “Nice to meet you, Ethan,” she said solemnly. “I’m Bailey.”
“She’s my new boss,” I explained to Ethan. “The new owner of the resort.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ethan said, on his best manners, and I saw the corners of Bailey’s lips twitch with a smile.
“He’s actually the reason I called in today,” I admitted. “He was sick. I’m sorry, though, I didn’t realize that there was anything wrong with the Dasher lift.”
“I know you didn’t,” Bailey said, shaking her head. “And anyway, you’re here now. Just see if you can get it fixed.”
“Ethan –” I started to say, but Bailey interrupted me.
“He can stay here with me,” she said. “If he’s sick, he shouldn’t be out in the cold.”
“I’m not sick anymore,” Ethan protested. “I’m all better now.”
Bailey laughed. “You probably still don’t want to go hang out with your dad while he works on the lift, though, do you? I bet that’s going to be super boring.” She winked up at me, and I grinned when Ethan wrinkled up his nose in thought. “I bet we could probably have some hot chocolate in here, too,” she whispered conspiratorially.
Ethan’s eyes lit up. “With marshmallows?” he asked excitedly.
“Of course!” Bailey said, and just like that, she had him.
“All right,” Ethan said. He turned back towards me, a wicked smile on his face. “Take a long, long time, Dad.”
