Chapter 14

I bought the tickets for Hawaii after I found a place to stay in Napili Bay, on the Island of Maui. Years ago, they used to call this the "Canadian Island" because of all the people from our part of the world that would go there during the winter months. Many owned condos year around in Kihei and Kaanapali. I knew about Napili because my folks had been there with some friends several times and it was a little off the beaten track in those days. It probably wasn't any more, but I didn't care. It was a place for the two of us to escape and enjoy each other for a few days.

We were scheduled to leave on January third, and that gave us a few days to figure out how to schedule our crews to make sure things got done while we were away. The most important thing for us to decide was who would be the "boss" while we were away. We must have talked about it for hours before we came up with a compromise. We had two crews and we had two crew chiefs. If there was any dispute or problem they couldn't resolve, Tom would be the arbitrator. Dana and I agreed that whatever Tom decided, we would support. It would take the pressure off him, we hoped. All we had to do now was to get Tom to agree to the extra work.

Once again, he stepped up to the plate. He wasn't as enthusiastic about it because he knew the kinds of things that could go wrong, but nevertheless, he agreed. He did extract a promise from us that we would do the same for him when he took Jenny and the kids to Hawaii. We could hardly refuse. Besides, he had Robbie Delgado and we both knew he could handle anything that came up. I did get a lecture from Tom on finding one of my guys who could be a leader and get him prepared to fill in for me. It was something Dana and I had been thinking about, and as usual, Tom was right. The time had come for some additional support in running our operation.

The workload between Christmas and New Years was very light by design. Unless we had an urgent deadline, very few of our customers were anxious to have us pounding nails at this time of the year. Dana's skillful planning had thinned out the crews so that everyone had at least five working days off between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. The period that we would be away was a low volume time as well, so we were confident that things would be fine for the nearly two weeks we were gone. I thought about taking my cell phone with me, but Dana put a stop to that idea right away. I was getting the feeling that she was in charge of me and it was a good feeling.

Dana suggested we have a small Christmas party for our crews and I immediately agreed. We had a completely sheathed job that would give us cover if it rained, and a couple of space heaters to keep the place warm. We decided to hold the party at two o'clock on the 23^rd, since we weren't at full crew on Christmas Eve day. I had arranged a mini-bus to take home any of the guys who had a couple too many beers and we told the crews that if the wives or girlfriends wanted to come, they were welcome. The party turned out to be a great idea.

I can't tell you how many times the various guys came up to Dana or me and told us how much they liked working for us. It was a great Christmas present all by itself. Everyone was congratulating us on our engagement too. The guys were all envious and more than one or two of the girlfriends were relieved that Dana was out of the picture, I think. We had great fun. I had pizza, beer, pop, sandwiches and all kinds of snacks catered from one of the mobile kitchens that serviced the jobsites. They were happy to have the business and I was happy to get prompt delivery. It didn't cost us a lot of money but I think it earned us a lot of 'brownie points' from the guys and their gals. We promised ourselves to do it again next year.

Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent at Mom and Dad's house. It was tradition and since Dana was the newest member of our family, she was expected to be there. It may not be official yet, but she was a Blanton as far as we were concerned. Usually, everyone opened one present on Christmas Eve, just to take the edge off, and then the main presents were opened on Christmas morning. Since Dana knew all about Hawaii, I decided that gift would be for Christmas Day. I wanted to surprise her on Christmas Eve and once more, Jenny came to the rescue.

Jenny and I met at the jewelry store and I showed her the rings we had chosen. With her help, we found a pendant and chain that would look wonderful on Dana and then I really splurged again with Jenny's advice. I chose a pair of diamond earrings as a special gift. A year ago, I would never have guessed I could afford this, but for Dana I didn't think twice. Once again, the owner gave me a special discount to soften the blow. I think he figured out that I was going to be a regular customer over the coming years. He was a very smart man.

I can remember a lot of happy Christmases in my youth. Our family was all together and it was a fun time. It had been a while since I had felt that way, probably because Tom and I had grown up and I had drifted away from the family circle. This Christmas brought it all back again. With Dana beside me and my place in the family restored, I felt better than I had in a long time. I was surprised at how sentimental I had become about my family. I think that Dana had something to do with that when she made sure I understood how important family was to someone who didn't have one.

Except for Mom and Dad, who were seated in their usual chairs, we were all sitting on the carpet near the tree, with Nikki bubbling away, anticipating when we would let her open her present. I had carefully put the earrings out of sight so that they wouldn't be spotted ahead of time. Only Jenny knew what I planned. The jeweler had wrapped them in a special paper he said he reserved for diamonds. It was a bright, metallic blue, and the tiny bow on the top of the diminutive package was an opalescent white. I was sure Dana would guess what was inside the moment she saw the package, so hiding it under some other presents was the only way to delay the inevitable.