Chapter 26

When Harry Thornton called Matt Davis to offer him the job at the Thornton Foundation on Thursday morning, Kendra had just left the house to drive her grandparents to National Airport to catch their flight back to Tucson. Once she dropped them off, she planned to go back to Dotty Weller's house in Arlington and spend the day with Phillip and his grandmother, including taking Dotty out to lunch.

When they got to the airport, Bob Davis said, "You can just drop us off, Kenleigh; there's no reason to wait around."

"No, Poppy; I want to make sure that your flight is actually going to take off on time. I'll drop you and Nana off at the front, but I'm going to park and walk into the terminal."

Kendra was glad she'd made that choice when she learned a few minutes later that the flight had been delayed for several hours due to mechanical problems with the aircraft. "They've offered us the choice of rebooking for the same flight tomorrow," Bob said. "We wanted to check with you first, though."

"Tomorrow would be fine. Phillip has to go back to work, or I assume he will, but I'm still off, and Mom and Dad will be leaving for the Cumberland. Let's do that."

On the way back to the Davis house, Sue said, "Honey, I know you and Phillip have plans; don't change them on our account."

"We'll see, Nana. We might be able to do something that all of us would like."

They were almost to the house when Kendra's mobile phone rang. " Would you get that, please, Poppy?"

"Sure. Hello, Kendra can't speak with you right now; may I take a message?"

"Dad? I thought you and Mom would be at the airport by now."

"We've been, Son; now we're coming back. The flight was going to be delayed by several hours, so they gave us the option of rebooking for tomorrow, at no charge, of course, so we decided to hang around for another day."

"That's wonderful, Dad. I've been offered the job as executive director of the Thornton Foundation, pending board approval, but Thornton assures me that there won't be a problem. Deb and I are meeting with them at eleven. If you and Mom and Kendra could all be here, that would just be the frosting on the cake."

"Exec Director of the Thornton Foundation! Congratulations, Son! Yes, we will certainly be there. We're not dressed for a board meeting, but that's easy to fix."

"Deb and I are coming home anyway; she wants to change into the suit she wore to Kendra's graduation last month. We'll see you at home in about fifteen minutes. Davis out."

"They offered Daddy the job as Exec Director of the foundation? What happened to Sutherland, I wonder?" Kendra asked.

"I don't know, Baby Girl, but I suspect it had something to do with that train wreck last night. Matt will have all the details for us."

"Oh, yeah. Oh, wow, I need to call Phillip and let him know I'm going to have to change our plans. I'll do that as soon as we get home."

Phillip was reading the morning paper, something he hardly ever had time to do in the mornings, when the phone rang. "Phillip King."

"Hi, Phillip. Guess what? Sutherland must have quit or been fired, because Daddy's been offered the job as the exec director of the foundation. He's going to be your new boss, so you'd better mind your manners."

"What? When did this happen?"

"Just now. I took Nana and Poppy to the airport, but their flight was cancelled, effectively, so they've rebooked for tomorrow at the same time. On the way home, Daddy called my cell phone to tell me about it. He and Mom are coming home because Mom needs to get the suit she wants to wear out of her closet, and then we're all going over to the offices for the board meeting. Hey, do you want to throw on a coat and tie and come with us? We have room in the minivan."

"Hold for a minute while I talk to Grandma." There was a pause and then he said, "Okay, I'm back. She says we can take her to lunch another day, and that I should go. I should be there in half an hour or less."

"That's fine; the board meeting isn't until eleven, Daddy said."

"See you then."

When Matt pulled the minivan into the foundation parking garage, Phillip, who was sitting in the rearmost seat with Kendra, said, "That's Jamie's BMW. What's he doing here? He's supposed to be in New York doing a bridal portrait shoot for a big society wedding."

"I guess we're going to find out," Kendra replied. Matt parked in the exec director's slot and the men helped their ladies out of the van.

"Harry said to take the elevator up to the first- floor reception area; he'll meet us there," Matt said.

Harry was there; so were Billy Melrose and Jamie, who had his camera ready to record the occasion for the foundation's annals. As Jamie snapped away, Harry shook hands with the Davis party, saying, "I'm glad you were able to be here for this event, General Davis."

"To tell you the truth, Thornton, when they told us that our flight was going to be delayed so much that it would mean we'd miss our connection in Denver, I was not happy, but it all worked out just fine. I'm glad we can be here."

Kendra had moved over to where Abby was standing off to the side. She gave Abby a hug and said, "That dress is gorgeous. The color is perfect for you, and I love the style. You made it yourself, didn't you?"

"Yes, for our orientation session here. Jamie liked it too. I'm here because Mr. Thornton says the board owes me an apology. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he said come anyway. Jamie's job in New York was cancelled – the bride got a terrible cold."

"Well, I wouldn't wish a streaming cold on anyone, but I'm glad he could be here."

"I am too."