“We’vetaken down the point sheets, butI’llsay that we’ve got several people who are very close on points,”Grahamsaid, “and we’re excited to announce the winners.Meetdown here tomorrow at seven-thirty—Iknow it’s early, but we’re hoping that you’ve acclimated toSouthCarolinatime a bit—and we’ll announce the winner and have a final goodbye.We’llalso have some breakfast items that you can just grab and take with you before you hop on the shuttles to go to the airport.”
Meritstood up next toGraham. “Okay, we are done for the night, so feel free to go get some beauty sleep, go out on the town, earn more points, enjoy the game room and theater downstairs, stay up all night, whatever you most want to do.Andthank you for spending yourChristmaswith us.Wehope it was as great for you as it was for us.”
Kellijumped to her feet along with everyone else and clapped forGrahamandMerit.Thenshe walked up to them and thanked them personally.Theyhad put so much into planning this for just the twelve of them, and her heart was practically overflowing with gratitude.
ThenParkercame up to her and said, “So, how do you want to spend—”
Buther phone was buzzing, so she pulled it out of her pocket, looked at the screen, and squealed. “It’smy dad!Sorry—I’vegot to—”Hejust smiled at her and nodded, and she answered as she raced up to her room.
“Daddy!”
“It’sso good to hear your voice,CandyCane.”
“You, too,Dad.”Ithad been too long since she’d last talked with him, especially since it seemed like she’d been vacationing for weeks—or months—already.Butshe pushed her emotions down and said brightly, “Howhas your trip been?”
“Notthe same without you.I’vemissed all of our traditions!”
“I’vemissed them, too,” she said, only partially able to keep the emotion from her voice.Shebrushed a knuckle just below her eye to keep a tear from spilling over. “AndI’vemissed you.”
“I’vemissed you, too.Oncewe both get back, we need to spend a good amount of time together.”
Sheheld the speaking part of the phone away from her mouth as she let out a relieved breath that came out choked with emotion.
“Iknow that integrating with this new family has taken a lot of my time lately, butI’manxious to get things going smoothly there so thatIcan work on integrating you in with them.”
Hehad pushed her away, but he had a plan for bringing her back in.Shewas going to get her dad back, and eventuallyJoAnnand her new stepsisters, too.Shewanted to reach through the phone and give him a giant hug.
Theywere only able to talk for about five minutes before he had to go, but it was a really good five minutes that left her floating on a cloud of happiness.Shecouldn’t wait to tellParker.
Eighteen
Parker
Parkerdidn’t knowhow longKelliwould be talking to her dad, so he decided to use the time to go to his room and look up things he could do withKelliduring their bonus four days at the resort.Theresort had a lot to offer during the winter even when it wasn’t overChristmasandNewYear’s, and they hadn’t even begun to check them all out yet.Thetown ofMyrtleBeachhad even more things to do, and he couldn’t wait for the two of them to do it all.
Hebarely had time to look, though, beforeKellicame into his room, alive with happiness.Herdad hadn’t seen her at all overChristmas, and all he could spare her was a five-minute phone call?
“Ijust had the best phone call with my dad.”
“Ohyeah?”Hemet her partway into his room and wrapped his arms around her waist, then kissed her on her temple. “Tellme about it.”
Hedidn’t keep his arms around her, though, because she seemed too full of energy and excitement to stand still.Sohe sat on his bed as she moved about the room, telling him the story.
“Sowhen my dad first said that they were going away forChristmas, and it was just going to beJoAnnand his new daughters and not me,Ifelt likeIwas being pushed away.No—more like left behind.Tossedaside.ButIjust told myself that it was temporary.Itwas only coming fromJoAnn, not from my dad.Justlike how she’d asked her three daughters to be her bridesmaids at the wedding, but didn’t ask me.Butthen my dad asked me to be his best man, so everything was fine in the end.”
Sheseemed so happy and full of life as she was telling him, but he felt stabs of pain in his gut on her behalf.Itwas all awful, and he was even more impressed that she was as open and happy as she was when she had every right to be closed off and cynical.
“Butapparently,Ihadbeen worried that my dad just didn’t want me anymore and would be just as happy ifIwasn’t around even more thanIthoughtI’dbeen.Becauseduring our phone call, which was so perfect and amazing, he told me that he missed me that he missed spendingChristmaswith me, and that he hoped that he’d get integrated withJoAnn’sfamily soon so that he could start integrating me into the family.Soitisjust temporary, and not only amIgoing to get my dad back, butI’llalso be getting a bigger family out of the deal!
“Ihad no idea how muchIbelieved that would never happen until he told me it would, and it’s like a giant weight has been lifted off me and nowI’mflying.”
Heloved seeingKellithis happy.Partof him wanted to spin her around in a circle and celebrate with her.Butanother part of him—a bigger part—was worried that she was just being set up for a fall from a very dangerous, very scary height.Thather dad wasn’t going to follow through with all that he promised, and she would be back to having a very part-time dad in her life.
Andwith as excited as she was getting, that fall was going to be crushing and he worried what it would do to her.Hejust wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her from such a devastating fall, and to be a soft place to land when she did.
“Kelli,” he said, trying to figure out how to tiptoe his way in, “are you sure you want to get so excited yet?Imean, maybe it’s better to wait until you see it happening.”
Shecocked her head to the side and grabbed hold of her elbows with her hands. “Youdon’t think he’s telling the truth?”
