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“GOOD, YOU’RE HOME. I thought you might be working late tonight.”
“Frannie is that you?” Shayna sounded groggy. “You woke me up.”
“Sorry, shall I hang up?”
“Of course not. I’m glad you called; I’d fallen asleep on the couch after work. Where are you?”
“Still up at Mount Washington.”
“How’s that working out?”
“It’s a bit boring during the day, but you’ll never guess who I met.”
“Just a sec. I think I’d better sit up for this.”
“No kidding. It’s Galen O’Keefe.”
There was a moment’s silence. “The Galen O’Keefe? Mister Best Kisser In The World Galen O’Keefe?”
“The very same.”
“Wow. Has he still got it?”
“Shayna!”
“You mean he didn’t swoop right in and plant one on your lips?”
“Well... no. But he’s turned into an attractive man. Very attractive. We had dinner together tonight.”
“This is getting interesting. What’s he doing up there?”
“Skiing, what else?”
“Uh oh. You’re interested in him, aren’t you? You never get snarky, so something’s up.”
Frannie let out a sigh of frustration. “You know me too well. And yes, I find him interesting but he lives in Vancouver. End of story.”
“Oh, right. Vancouver is the other end of the world... not. In case you haven’t heard, you can get there in half an hour on a seaplane, or two hours on the ferry.”
“I know. It’s just that... I’m afraid to trust myself when it comes to men.”
“I understand kiddo, but this is different. You’ve known him forever... well, almost.”
“That’s just it. I don’t really know him at all.” Her voice turned wistful. “But I’d like to.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“He said he’d call me when he gets to Nanaimo. He has some business to take care of. I didn’t ask what or where, but he has my number.”
“That sounds great. So what are you whining about?”
Frannie gave a shaky laugh. “I don’t really know.”
“When you get right down to it, all you can do is see where it leads. I’m good at judging people and he’s an honorable guy.”
“You’re right of course. Now enough about me. How’s the store?”
“Busy, but it’s always like this right before Christmas. By the way I talked to your publisher to reconfirm that book signing and they said they’d spoken to you. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“No. I’m not sure how useful I’ll be, but I promised.”
“I think our customers will be interested to know that a local person creates the illustrations for such a famous author. They’ll love you.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’ll be there.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Sometime tomorrow. I’m not going to rush.”
“Okay, see you on Saturday.”
“Goodnight Shayna. Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime.”
