Covering Kendall(17)
“Probably. Son, we heard there was a storm in Seattle a couple of days ago. Everything looked normal during the game broadcast. How are you doing?”
“The house has a generator, so I was fine. There’s some downed branches and stuff in my yard. Most of the people who lost power are online again.” He let out a long breath. “I expect extreme weather in Wisconsin. I don’t usually see it in Seattle.”
“The newscasters said it was odd.”
What was odd was his dad’s calling him at close to midnight his time to chat about the weather. His mom was usually where the chatty phone calls originated from. She wanted to tell him all about what his family was doing and how they were looking forward to seeing him soon.
“Hey, Dad, did Mom go to bed already?”
“She was pretty tired after cleaning up after everyone earlier,” his dad said. “She sends her love.”
“I love her too. Dad, don’t you have to get to bed yourself pretty soon? You have to work tomorrow, right?”
“I do. I guess I’d better hit the hay.” His dad was quiet for ten seconds or so. “We miss you, son.”
“And I miss you, Dad. Give Mom a hug for me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Drew heard his dad’s phone click off and stared at his own phone. Something was wrong. His dad was in bed every night by ten. He awoke at five AM each morning, whether it was a workday or not. It was too late to call back tonight. Maybe he should call tomorrow morning, just to make sure nobody was sick or something else happened he should know about.
He rinsed off the apple, grabbing the slicer his ex-girlfriend bought him out of a drawer. He dumped the apple slices onto a napkin so he wouldn’t dirty a plate and sat down at his kitchen table. The thought that there was something wrong at his parents’ house nagged at him. He took a bite of apple and ran over the last few conversations with his mom in his head. She’d seemed distracted. Even more, she seemed unusually tired. She mentioned the fact his dad complained about a bit more convenience food at dinner now that he and his siblings were out on their own. Drew had laughed it off at the time.
“Mom, you’ve been spoiling Dad for thirty-five years. I’m sure some grocery store freezer case pasta and jarred spaghetti sauce won’t be the worst thing ever.”
“Honey, he expects the same kind of dinners we had when you were young. Cooking that amount for two people is ridiculous.” She let out a sigh. “I shouldn’t complain.”
“Tell Dad I keep hoping I’ll find someone like you to make me some freezer case pasta and jarred spaghetti sauce.”
He remembered the little laugh she gave and knew her cheeks were probably pink with embarrassment. “You’re sweet.”
“So are you, Mom.”
He was so lost in thought that Kendall’s phone ringing in his pocket startled him again. He grabbed it out, hit “talk,” and said, “Kendall’s phone.”
“Hi, Drew,” she said. “It’s nice to talk with you again.”
Twenty minutes later, he’d relayed the agent’s message, written down her home address and office direct line, and promised to send her phone back by overnight mail to her house. Drew hit “end” on the call and stared into space, lost in thought.
The phone would get to Kendall’s house, but if she worked the same hours as the Sharks’ GM did, there’d be nobody home to sign for it. He wasn’t going to send something so valuable overnight without making sure she got it back safely. She’d asked him twice to not send it to the Miners’ headquarters. She’d end up going to wherever the delivery facility was located to pick it up, which might be an even bigger problem.
He rubbed his hand over his face and let out a groan. His concern about how he could return her phone in the most convenient way possible wasn’t self-serving at all. It had nothing to do with wanting to see her again, or spend a few more minutes chatting and laughing together. He’d go to the same lengths for anyone else.
He shook his head and muttered, “No, I wouldn’t.”
He got up from the table and put Kendall’s phone back on the charger. Maybe he’d figure out a better way to return the phone if he got a good night’s sleep.
An hour later, he was still tossing and turning, but he’d made a decision. He sat up in bed and grabbed his smart phone off the bedside table. He pulled up an airline site and bought a ticket to San Jose, the closest airport to Kendall’s house.
“Nothing like door-to-door service,” he said to himself.
Chapter Five
* * *
THE MINERS’ GAME in Seattle was a disaster, and it was up to Kendall to get things back on track in her organization. She needed to find a way to accomplish this, as well as to make a dent in the typical workload on a Monday during football season, all without her typical phone. The throwaway phone wasn’t cutting it by any stretch of the imagination. Once again, she wished Drew had texted her the tracking number for the overnight delivery. For all she knew, the delivery box was sitting on her front porch right now in full view of passersby who’d want to help themselves to anything important enough to justify overnight delivery.