A Christmas to Remember(57)

“No, no, no. I wouldn’t do that,” he said into the phone. He looked up, his eyebrows raised, an expectant look on his face. Olivia hid behind the door.

“Can you come with us?” she mouthed while waving her hand toward herself in the come-here gesture. To her surprise, he leaned forward like he was about to stand up. But just as she felt the excitement rise, her hopes slammed back down when his face became serious and he shook his head “no.”

She held up her hand in the number five and mouthed, “Five minutes?”

He put out his hand and shook his head as if to say, I don’t know. His jaw was starting to clench like it had the other night, and she feared that she’d come at a bad time. She was interrupting him, and he clearly wasn’t in the mood.

Olivia, who had been peeking around the corner, shrank back, her shoulders slumped. Carrie knew what Olivia was thinking: she was thinking how her daddy was always too busy. She could hardly bear to see Olivia’s disappointment. It made her chest feel tight, an ache forming there.

“Olivia,” she whispered. “You and David go get your Grandma and everyone. I’ll get your daddy since he’s on the phone.”

“He won’t come,” she whispered.

“Yes, he will.” Carrie was cognizant of the fact that she’d just made a promise to Olivia, and she never went back on her promises. She wasn’t sure how, but she was going to get Adam off that phone, no matter what work he had to do. “Go get them. I’ll meet you in the playroom with your dad.”

As Olivia ran off to find the others, grabbing David by his arm and whisking him down the hallway, Carrie turned back toward the door. She took in a breath to steady herself. She’d never pressed him when he was actually working, when he was in the middle of something important. There he was, talking heatedly to someone, and she was about to interrupt him to show him a fort made of blankets. It sounded ridiculous even to her, but she knew better. It wasn’t about the fort. It was about him being present in the lives of his children, showing them that he cared about what they were doing. She just hoped that she could make him see it. She tiptoed in and sat in the chair opposite the desk.

He kept talking, but his eyes were on her, a crease forming between his brows. “Get me the figures. I won’t make a decision until I can see it on paper,” he said, a curious expression on his face as he watched her. The sight of it made her stomach flutter. “Once I have the report, I’ll send it to Andy.” Instantly, the flutters wilted into nothing. There was Andy’s name again, mocking her, reminding her of all the moments the two of them shared. He was with her every day and most evenings. What was Andy’s personality like? Did she make him laugh? Carrie thought back to the time she’d made him laugh in the garage when she’d asked for the beer that she’d offered his family. The way his eyes creased at the edges, how he’d grinned at her once the laugh had dissipated, it was like the feeling she got sleeping in her own bed after being away. He made her feel comforted, protected. She hadn’t met anyone else in her adult life who could make her feel that way.

She mouthed, “The kids need to show you something.” He shrugged his shoulders as if to say there was nothing he could do. She pursed her lips, thinking, and then whispered, “Call him back?”

He took in a breath and let it out. “Mm hm,” he said, allowing his gaze to move away from her. His body language was telling her that he wasn’t interested in what she had to say. He was busy, and she was in the way. He was looking down, but it was clear that he wasn’t processing what he was seeing. She could feel the invisible clock ticking. Olivia had probably gotten the whole family together already, and she was still sitting there with Adam. Come on, Adam, she thought. She leaned into his line of vision and mouthed, “Please?”

“Chuck, I’m so sorry,” he said suddenly, and she felt lightheaded. “I think I’m going to have to call you back. When’s your flight?” She tried to decipher his expression, and she couldn’t. She didn’t know him well enough just yet. It was just enough to make her skin prickle with anxiety. She waited the agonizingly long time for Adam to talk again. “I’m aware of that. If I don’t catch you before you leave, I’ll see if I can’t get you first thing in the morning.” More silence. “Thanks.” He hung up the phone.

“You have no idea what kind of pressure I’m under,” he said, turning toward Carrie. His lips were pressed together, his head turned slightly to the side. He hardly had to move to make his expression intimidating. At that moment, she realized what it must feel like to be on the opposite side of Adam Fletcher in business. It wasn’t a good place to be. “No one seems to understand what it takes to run this thing. It has to be a priority, and no one appreciates that priority. Why do you need me right now?”