None whatsoever. They negotiated with our events manager like any other client.”
“Perfect.”
There was a pause on the line.
“Daniel?”
“Approve everything they want,” I said. “Give them the presidential treatment. I want this to be the best event Mountain Crest has ever hosted.”
“May I ask what you’re planning?”
“I’m planning to attend my father’s birthday party.”
“He uninvited you.”
“He uninvited me from his event,” I said. “He can’t uninvite the property owner from his own resort.”
I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Understood. What do you need from me?”
“Nothing unusual. Run the event perfectly. I’ll arrive around six-thirty. When my father asks what I’m doing there, that’s when I’ll need you.”
“I’ll be ready.”
I did not tell anyone else I was coming.
My phone stayed silent.
No calls from family asking why I was no longer attending. No one checking if I was hurt by the exclusion. No one asking whether the “adults-only” excuse had been a mistake.
The silence was its own answer.
Victoria called once, but it had nothing to do with the party.
“Daniel, do you know anyone who does website updates?” she asked. “The hospital’s donation page is broken.”
“I might know someone.”
“Great. Could you ask around? We need someone cheap, though. The budget is tight.”
My company had a web development team of forty-seven people. Our smallest contracts were larger than the budgets most departments wanted to admit.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said.
“Thanks. Oh, are you going to Dad’s party?”
“I wasn’t invited.”
“What? That’s weird. Must be an oversight. You should call Mom.”
“It wasn’t an oversight. Dad specifically uninvited me.”
There was silence.
Then Victoria said, “Oh. Well, I’m sure he has his reasons. You know how he is about professional events.”
“I do know.”
“Okay. Well, let me know about the website person.”
She hung up without asking if I was all right.
James did not call at all.
October 14 arrived with perfect fall weather.
The sky was clean and blue, the temperature in the mid-sixties, the mountain roads lined with leaves turning gold and red. I drove north from Seattle alone, watching the city fall away in the rearview mirror.
