ALLISON OPENED HER EYES A millimeter and peered at her vibrating cell phone. Caller ID said it was Kayla. Way too early to have a conversation with anyone, let alone Kayla, who believed getting up at four thirty was “sleeping in.”
She probably wanted to work things out from yesterday. They’d figure it out. Always did. They always made the time and found the place where they could agree. But this early wasn’t the time, and her bed certainly wasn’t the place. She turned her pillow over to the cool side and pulled another pillow over her head to block the light from the window. That meant it was later than she thought, but she was making up for her lack of sleep since her mom’s revelation of financial apocalypse.
Just before drifting back into dreams, her cell buzzed again. Should have turned it off. She lifted the pillow. Kayla again. What time was it? Allison squinted at the phone. Whoops. Quarter to eight. Allison reluctantly sat up and let her legs dangle over the side of the bed. She needed her slippers. Her coffee. And an excuse to go back to bed.
Hard to do given what was going on with her mom. There wasn’t time to sleep. Had to figure out an answer. Wait, hadn’t she met with Derrek Wright yesterday? Yes. Not a dream. Real. It had been real! She glanced at her phone. Time to call Derrek and accept his offer. No, couldn’t do that. Kayla. Had to take care of Kayla first. She rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t thinking straight. She needed to wake up.
The buzzing stopped. She waited till the phone chirped, telling her Kayla had left a message. She’d get it after coffee. Then text and apologize for sleeping in. Somewhere in the back of her groggy mind she recalled a brainstorming session they’d scheduled for that morning. Or was that tomorrow?
Wait. Was this Friday? No, Wednesday. Oh no! They had a meeting with a new client today at nine thirty, didn’t they? Adrenaline shot through her as she pulled up the calendar on her phone. A moment later she flopped back on her bed and breathed a sigh of relief. No meeting today with a client. No meeting with Kayla. She really needed to get in the habit of waking up before she decided to think.
After her first cup, she checked on her mom, who was still asleep in the downstairs guest room. Good. Best thing for her ankle. Allison listened to Kayla’s voice mails as she made her way back upstairs to take a quick shower.
“Hey, girl, I gotta talk to you about something. Pretty interesting idea. Like extremely.”
She deleted the message and opened the second one.
“Call me, soon as you can. This could be big. Really big.”
Allison deleted the second message and texted Kayla.
Hey. Sorry. Still waking up. I got to sleep really late last night.
Got your calls. I’ll call you on the way in.
She sent the text, set her phone on the bathroom counter, and stepped over to the shower. But before she could slip off her pajamas and turn on the water, her phone rang.
Kayla. Might as well pick up.
“Hey.”
“Sorry, this can’t wait, Ally.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“I got a call this morning.” Kayla giggled.
“From?”
“Mila Matthews.” Kayla laughed again.
The bathroom suddenly seemed empty of air. “What?”
“She wants to join us. Can you believe it? A three-way partnership. She’d bring all her accounts. And get this—she’d split them with us. And she has some big ones. It wouldn’t be a ton more money, but at least a twenty percent bump, and she’d be a great addition to our company.”
A thimbleful of air puffed out of Allison’s mouth as she stared at herself in the mirror. This couldn’t be happening. Could it? Pray one day. Get an answer the morning after. This kind of thing only happened in cheesy made-for-TV movies. Not real life. “Too good to be true” in Allison’s life had often meant she needed to cover her head because the second, third, fourth, and fifth shoes were about to drop.
“Al? Did you hear me?”
“Yes, but . . . tell me what happened. What she said.”
“She’s been thinking about it ever since she mentioned it to me a year ago. Did I tell you she made a casual comment about it last year?”
“No.” The word barely made it through Allison’s lips.
“Anyway, doesn’t matter. She’s been thinking about it a bunch, and then she realized it’s tons more fun to work in a partnership than for just yourself. I mean, it can totally be exactly that, and better than that—if it’s the right people—and like I just said, she would bring all her clients over. Think about this, Al!”
Through the phone Allison heard thumping and pictured Kayla jumping up and down.
“When does she want it to happen?”
“Now. Yesterday. As soon as we agree, we write up the partnership paperwork, get it signed. We make it simple. Thirty-three percent each, and the extra percent goes into a general fund for extracurricular company activities.”
“I . . . uh . . .”
“Mila has worked with some of the biggest contractors in the state, Al! She has the clout to get us in front of some really big fish. It will still take time, but the three of us . . . Oh wow, just thinking about it makes me want to party.”
Party? Allison agreed. But not for the same reason. This was her out, her answer. Clear as crystal.
“What do you think?”
“I think I’m stunned.”
“I know. Me too.”
“I think this is a direct answer to prayer.”
“Prayer? Yeah, sure, I know you’ve been doing your thing in regard to this. I guess it worked!”
“I didn’t believe, even a little bit, that it would.”
“But it did.” Kayla laughed. “So you’re in? I can call Mila?”
It worked. It had really worked. God had come through. Kayla would be taken care of. She’d exchange a good partner for a great one. And Allison would get exactly what she needed to save her mom. Plus, she’d get to work for her friend. No, not work for him, with him, be his partner! A man who shared her faith. A man she could learn a great deal from. A man who had hinted at her someday buying him out and taking over the company. Her mom would really, truly be okay. Crazy. Absolutely crazy.
“Al?”
“Sorry, I was just trying to figure something out.”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. We can talk about it later.”
“What’s your definition of later?”
“I don’t know. I have to make sure my mom’s okay.”
She realized showing up at work meant Kayla would know she was hiding something and pry it out of her. Plus, she needed time to think. Away from Kayla. Away from her mom. A chance to jot down the debate raging in her mind. Go work with Derrek? Stay? But there was no debate, not really. It was only her love for Kayla telling her there was still a decision to be made. No, she was supposed to go. How much clearer could the answer be? This was God as front and center as she’d ever seen him. But it would still hurt Kayla, even if she joined with Mila. And yet they were tearing each other apart.
“I’m probably going to work from home or the coffee shop. I want to be close by if she needs anything.”
“We need to talk about this now,” Kayla pressed.
“We will. Tonight.”
“What’s tonight?”
“Sip and Paint, right?”
Kayla laughed. “Right. Good timing. We can celebrate our new account and celebrate our new partner. I like it.”
“I’ll see you there.”
“You okay, Allison?”
“Yes, sure. I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine. I can hear it in your voice.”
“I am. Just a lot on my mind.”
“Like?”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
Allison hung up, sprinted downstairs, and found her mom easing slowly into the kitchen. “You’re not going to believe the phone call I just had.”
“Oh?”
After a quick review of the call, she saw the flicker of a smile on her mom’s face. “Maybe God is in this, Ally. Maybe he’s going to help.”
Allison nodded.
“So what are you going to do?” Mom asked as she settled into a chair and propped her gray aluminum crutches against the wall.
“I have a client meeting, then a lunch, then two more clients to see, and then I’m going to the coffee shop for the rest of the day. I’ll get a bunch of work done on my laptop and have some alone time to think about what I’m going to say to Kayla.”
“You’re not going to the office?”
“No, I don’t think I can be around Kayla with this on my mind. Plus, I want to be close in case you need—”
“I told you, I’m fine.” She motioned at her crutches. “I can get anywhere I need to on those.”
“But if you fall—”
“Do you see any ladders in this room? Or in any of the rooms in your house?”
Allison laughed. “Not unless you’ve hidden a few.”
“Don’t worry. Do what you need to do. I’m fine.” She smiled at Allison like she did when Allison was a child. “I’m giving up my high-wire act. Promise.”
“Good to hear, Mom.”
“Speaking of hearing, have you heard anything from Parker?” A wistful look passed over her mom’s face. “It would be nice to know if he’s okay.”
“I’m sure he’s okay, Mom.”
“How? How do you know he’s okay?”
She didn’t. She’d called his cell three times since her mom’s accident, but he hadn’t responded. Probably because she’d told him Mom was fine on his voice mail. Should have said they were going to amputate her foot.
“Since hearing from Parker is the rare occurrence, not hearing from him, or anything about him, is probably a good thing. And that means he’s good.”
“Nice try, Al.”
“Thanks.” Allison grabbed a bagel and cream cheese. “But I mean it.”
“I know you do. It would just be nice to hear from him.”
“We will. I promise.”
She went back upstairs to shower and get dressed and pray she was right.