Heart of Clay Read Free Page A

tacky comb-over graced his shiny bald
dome, creating a vision similar to limp, greasy gray noodles
stretched across the top of his head.
    Callan had yet to decide if Arty was an
improvement over the last general manager. Jane was a shrewish
woman in her fifties, in cahoots with the receptionist, Bev. She
disappeared for weeks at a time while she had something else
tucked, lifted, or sucked and Bev had an unlimited supply of
excuses for Jane’s absences. Fortunately, the two women managed to
tangle their stories one day with some of the board members and
that was the end of Jane and Bev.
    The new receptionist was a big improvement
over Bev. Although she was young, Rachel worked hard, was
professional, punctual and sweet. They had a good management team
and a strong staff.
    Except for Arty.
    Callan knew, though, that given enough time
and rope, Arty would hang himself. However, in her current state of
fatigue and stress, she didn’t know if she could wait that long.
Arty constantly pushed her closer and closer to the edge of a
complete breakdown.
    She entered the conference center and pasted
on a smile, offering a friendly greeting to Rachel. Briefly, she
popped her head into the sales manager’s office for a sincere
hello. Jill Taylor, a fiery redhead who didn’t take flack from
anyone, had become a good friend.
    As she strolled toward her office, she took
a moment to admire how beautiful the convention center looked,
decked out for the holidays.
    Callan just needed to make it through the
next week. After that, Christmas would be over, her schedule would
calm down, and she could try to make some sense out of the mess her
life had become. In addition to her full schedule at the convention
center and her own clients’ events, she and Clay were hosting all
their family Christmas Day. Out of a sense of duty or guilt, she
wasn’t sure which, she had agreed for both her family and Clay’s to
converge at their house for Christmas dinner again this year.
    Callan walked into her office, set down her
purse then took off her coat and hung it up. Quickly perusing the
stack of messages waiting for her return call, she turned on the
computer and sat down in her chair. She removed a to-do list from
her purse and gave it a glance.
    Christmas dinner invitations were issued.
Most of the baking was completed and in the freezer waiting to pull
out and defrost. She’d purchased the last gifts from the shopping
list last week. She still had several gifts to wrap and a few last
minute treats to make, but other than one major haul from the
grocery store, she felt confident the to-do list was manageable. If
a Christmas miracle took place, Clay would muster some spirit of
the season and help her finish the final details.
    Stuffing that list back inside her purse,
she pulled out her list of the top five things that needed her
attention at work that morning. She picked up the phone and
immersed herself in her job. No matter how hard she worked, there
never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything
accomplished.
    At noon, she sat at her desk eating a cold
lunch when the phone rang. She hurried to swallow the bite of
sandwich in her mouth and answered the phone.
    “Good afternoon. Thank you for calling River
Garden Convention Center. This is Callan, may I help you?” Her
voice held a cheery brightness in stark contrast to her true
feelings. If anyone needed a lesson in perfecting a fake sense of
cheer, Callan could provide an excellent example.
    “Callan, its Laken. How are you? We haven’t
talked for a while and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
    Callan smiled as she heard the voice of her
best friend come across the line. She met Laken Johnson years ago
when they were both working at the local newspaper. Even though
they ventured off in different career directions, they remained
close.
    Laken and her husband, Tyler, and their two
children, Alex and Brant, would be among those gathered around the
Matthews’ table for