Christmas Travel Advisory, page 1
Table of Contents
Blurb
Dedication
Christmas Travel Advisory
Author’s Note
Also by Nicki Bennett
About Nicki Bennett
By Nicki Bennett
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Copyright
Christmas Travel Advisory
by Nicki Bennett
Workaholic investment banker Timothy Wyatt is determined to spend the first Christmas since his divorce with his four-year-old daughter, Megan. Fate—in the form of the largest winter storm system in a decade—seems determined to thwart him. When his flight from Dallas to Chicago is canceled, along with every other flight for at least the next two days, Tim is willing to try any alternative means of transportation to keep from disappointing his daughter yet again.
Luckily for Tim, he’s befriended by Zach Whelan, another stranded traveler. Zach is a travel agent, and since he was only planning a solo vacation in Mexico over the holidays, he makes it his mission to get Tim to his daughter in time for Christmas instead. They have three days—how hard can it be?
For Ariel, who keeps me writing.
“PASSENGERS ON American flight 136 to Chicago….” The announcement crackled over the airport PA system.
Tim braced himself for another delay. He’d been sitting in the Admiral’s Club lounge since six thirty that morning, watching CNN’s anchors tracking the increasingly severe winter storm engulfing the heart of the country from Canada to Mexico. He’d booked one of the earliest flights out of DFW, but this would make the fifth time his departure had been pushed back. At this rate he’d be fighting rush-hour traffic leaving O’Hare.
“…we regret that this flight has been canceled. Please see the rebooking center for alternative travel options.”
Oh hell no. He’d promised Megan they’d be together for Christmas. He wasn’t about to break that promise, winter storm be damned. He shoved his tablet into his briefcase and was already heading toward the customer service desk when the agent started paging him.
“I’m Timothy Wyatt. Have you been able to book me on another flight?”
The agent shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wyatt, but it looks like O’Hare is shutting down all incoming flights due to the storm.”
He was not going to break his promise to Megan, dammit. “I have to get to Chicago for Christmas!” he snapped.
“You and everyone else on the flight, sir,” she countered, though her expression was kind.
He ran a hand through his hair and forced himself to take a deep breath. It wasn’t the reservation agent’s fault that flights were being canceled. But his flying back and forth between New York and Dallas every week had to carry some perks. “You’re right, I apologize. And I know it makes me sound like an entitled jerk, but I’m Executive Platinum. There must be some other way to get me there.”
The agent clicked away at her keyboard. “It hasn’t been announced yet, but DFW is putting a hold on all departures. I’m trying to book you on a Southwest flight this afternoon. There should be enough time to get you to Love Field….” She frowned at her screen and typed some more. “It looks like Midway is shutting down too. The closest I could get you is Oklahoma City, and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if Love stopped flights before you could get there. I’m very sorry, Mr. Wyatt.”
“What’s the next flight you can book me on?” He’d hoped to have some extra days before Christmas to spend with Megan, but as long as he made it there, he’d take whatever time he could get.
“At this point….” She studied her screen again and sighed. “Nothing’s going to be flying until this storm clears, and that doesn’t look to be anytime soon. Since you’re local, I’d suggest you head home. At least you won’t have to scramble for a hotel room or sleep on the floor like the connecting passengers. We’ll contact you as soon as we can get you on another flight.”
Tim bit his lip at the shout that wanted to break free. Reminding himself that it wasn’t her fault, he thanked the agent and stepped aside. A line of similarly stranded travelers had already formed behind him.
He retrieved his suitcase and headed out of the lounge, not really caring where he was going. Nowhere, apparently. He should probably head home like the agent suggested and wait for the airline to call him, but something told him that if he did that, he’d never get to Chicago in time to keep his promise.
Eventually he ran out of walkway and found himself at an unassigned gate at the end of the concourse. The dead end felt like a perfect metaphor for his life. Spotting a restroom, he dragged himself inside, dropped his bags, and clenched his fists. “Dammit!” he muttered. “Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!” His voice grew louder with each repetition, his last shout echoing off the tiled walls.
The creak of a stall door behind him startled him out of his funk, and he spun around as a man about his age with tousled blond hair and a tropical-print T-shirt emerged. Great, just what he needed—an audience for his meltdown. He raised his hands, palms out, in the universal symbol for I’m harmless. “Sorry about the shouting.”
“Let me guess,” the man said. “Your Christmas vacation plans got scuttled by the storm.” He stepped beside Tim to wash his hands before inserting them into the Dyson Airblade.
Tim grimaced over the noise of the dryer. “Yeah. I was supposed to be flying to Chicago to spend Christmas with my daughter, but my flight was canceled and the agent at the service desk couldn’t even guess when flights might resume, much less whether I’d actually get to Chicago in time to keep my promise.”
“I hear you. My holiday vacation in Baja is looking pretty questionable too.”
Tim knew he should commiserate, but the guy was probably heading for a week of sun and drinking and surfing. Not exactly the same level of critical as his own trip. Okay, that wasn’t fair; but somehow his being handsome and buff and exactly the type Tim could go for in other circumstances just made the whole situation suck even more. He’d picked up his bags, wondering how long he’d have to wait to get a cab home, when the stranger cleared his throat.
“You know, flying isn’t the only way to travel,” he said as he pulled out his phone. He tapped at it for a minute before looking back up at Tim. “I’m sure we can find another way to get you to Chicago on time.”
“Yeah, via flying pigs.” Tim laughed bitterly. “Try explaining to a four-year-old why you have to break your promise to her—again.” Not to mention dealing with his ex-wife’s disapproval. Melissa might understand the circumstances better than Megan would, but he had a lot of history with far worse excuses to live down.
“I was thinking Amtrak, but if flying pigs are your jam, I’ll see what I can do,” the man said dryly. “Seriously, I can get you to Chicago for Christmas, if you’re interested.”
“What are you, some kind of magician?” Tim asked. “And why would you care, anyway?”
“Not a magician, just a travel agent. As for why I care, it’s Christmas. Help out a fellow traveler. That sort of thing. What do you have to lose?”
A rescheduled flight, if flights resume in time and I can get a seat on one, but he didn’t say that out loud. Besides, the reservation agent thought his chances were pretty slim, and if this guy could really help….
“Even if planes start flying again in a day or two, they’re all full for the holidays, so getting the backlog of passengers rebooked is going to take days, and that doesn’t even count the snafus because planes or crews won’t be in the right places because of the delays,” the stranger said, as if he could read Tim’s mind. “Look, it’s your call, but if I can’t get you to Chicago before Christmas, I’ll arrange a vacation for you and your daughter for New Year’s, on me.”
“On you?” Tim shook his head, but the offer was tempting. “That sure of yourself, huh?”
“On me,” the man confirmed with a cocky grin. “So, am I getting you to Chicago or not?”
“What the hell. It beats sitting in my apartment watching the snow fall.” He held out his hand. “Tim Wyatt. Get me to Chicago and you have a friend for life.”
“Zach Whelan.” Zach shook Tim’s hand, a firm grip but not crushing, with enough calluses to suggest he didn’t spend all his life behind a desk. “There’s a train leaving for Chicago at 3:40. If we leave now, we’ll have just enough time to make it to Union Station. I hope you don’t have a checked bag.”
Tim grabbed his briefcase and wheeled suitcase. “I fly enough to know better than to check anything. Let’s go.” He followed Zach out of the restroom and down the corridor but hesitated when he didn’t turn toward the exit. “Aren’t we going to catch a cab?”
“In this weather? Too much risk of getting stuck in traffic.” He didn’t slow down, so Tim trailed along, feeling a bit like a duckling trying to keep up with its mother. “We’ll take the Skylink to Terminal A and catch the DART Orange Line from there. We’ll have to switch to the Red or Blue Line to get to Union Station, but it shouldn’t take more than an hour in all. Which is good, since we only have ninety minutes before the train leaves.”
“If you say so.” Tim had never used the Dallas Area Rapid Transit—he didn’t even know it connected to the airport—so Zach was proving his worth already.
The moment they got on the tram, Zach went back to poking at his phone. “It doesn’t look like I can get a private compartment on the train, unfortunately, but there are still regular seats available. It won’t be as nice as having your own room, but the seat
“As early as I got up this morning to get to the airport, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping.” Tim laid a hand over Zach’s to draw his attention from his phone. “Listen, thank you. Seriously. You don’t know the first thing about me other than that I can throw a mean temper tantrum. I don’t know anyone who’d put themselves out like this for a total stranger.”
“You love your daughter and keeping your promise to her is important to you, which is more than can be said of a lot of men,” Zach said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. “That’s enough reason for me.”
Tim wondered what had happened to sour Zach’s lively disposition, but he couldn’t pry when they’d barely known each other for half an hour. “I’m no paragon as a dad,” he said instead. “My ex-wife divorced me because I spent too much time working and not enough with her and my daughter. I didn’t realize how bad it was until my mom passed away this summer. Melissa wouldn’t bring Megan to the memorial service. She said Megan was too young, and it wasn’t like she’d known her grandmother anyway.” He dragged a hand over his face—he was not going to cry in front of Zach. “And I realized she was right. Mom had only seen Megan twice, when we alternated Christmases between our families. I’d been a shit son and a shit father, and I swore I was going to do better. I promised them both that I’d spend Christmas with them, and I intend to keep that promise, whatever it takes.”
“That’s rough, man,” Zach said. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I admire you for being willing to change. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get to keep your promise.”
He might have only known Zach for half an hour, but Tim already believed him.
UNION STATION was bustling when they got there, a little over an hour after leaving DFW, but the board still showed the train running on time, so Zach left Tim sitting in the waiting area and went to get a printout of their tickets. He tucked his in his pocket and offered Tim the other one when he returned. “There’s a dining car on the train, of course, but the train won’t be here for about fifteen more minutes, if you want to grab a snack or anything from the vending machines.”
Tim glanced around and shrugged. “I think I’d rather get something on the train than fill up on salt or sugar now. Though maybe there’s time to grab a cup of coffee. Would you mind watching my bag for a few minutes? I can get you something too if you tell me what you want.”
“I don’t mind,” Zach said. He’d eaten at the airport while waiting on news of his flight, so he wasn’t hungry. “If the coffee machine also makes hot chocolate, I’ll take one of those. Otherwise I’m good. I’m not much of a coffee drinker.”
Tim nodded and headed off in search of coffee, so Zach settled in on the bench next to Tim’s bags and reflected on the impulse that had led to him sitting in Union Station with a ticket to Chicago in his pocket despite having a suitcase full of T-shirts, shorts, and swimming trunks. The thing was, he’d been in Megan’s shoes. He knew what it felt like to wait longingly for his father to come home for Christmas, only to be disappointed year after year after year. And here Tim was, trying desperately not to do the same to his daughter. Zach couldn’t have made any other choice than to help. It just wasn’t in him.
“I can’t vouch for the quality given the state of the coffee, but here’s your hot chocolate,” Tim said, drawing Zach out of his thoughts. “You’d think they could at least put a Starbucks in here.”
“Train travel isn’t what it used to be, but it’s not as bad as it used to be either.” Zach took a sip of his drink. At least it was warm. The wind was howling and blowing snow around the windows, making him glad they’d been able to transfer trains and enter the station without going outside. Pushing his regret over the hiking and kayaking he’d planned in Baja aside, he shouldered his duffel and nudged Tim when an announcement came over the PA: Texas Eagle northbound, now boarding on Platform 5. “That’s us.”
Tim stood automatically but stopped and stared at Zach’s words. “Wait a minute—us? I appreciate everything you’ve done to get me here, but don’t you have a tropical vacation to get to?”
“Like I’m going to have any more luck getting a flight than you did,” Zach said with a shrug. He had travel insurance. He’d get a refund or rebook and go another time. “Besides, how else am I going to win our bet if I’m not there to make sure nothing goes wrong?”
Tim looked as if he wanted to protest, but after eyeing Zach consideringly, he shrugged. “The bet, right. If you really don’t mind, I’d appreciate the company. I’ve never taken the train before, and you seem to have a lot more experience than I do.”
“I really don’t mind,” Zach said. They showed their tickets, boarded the train, and found their seats in the coach. When they were settled, Zach turned to Tim. “Now we lean back, relax, and let the engineers do all the work. We’ll be in Chicago before two tomorrow afternoon.”
The train lurched a bit as it rolled out of the station, but once it was moving, it settled into the easy sway that seemed the norm for trains the world over. “So what do you do when you aren’t rushing to Chicago to see your daughter for Christmas?”
“I’m an investment banker,” Tim said, leaning back in his seat with a sigh. “I have clients in both Dallas and New York, so I spend a lot of time flying back and forth between the two cities. It’s earned me a lot of frequent flyer miles, but not so many family points. And even those aren’t much use if the planes aren’t flying.”
“I have to admit I don’t know exactly what an investment banker does,” Zach said. “Are you one of those guys who run around the stock exchange buying and selling like madmen?”
Tim laughed. “Nothing as glamorous or volatile as that. I have clients I work with to help them with funding options. Say, if a company wants to expand, they can borrow money or issue stock or offer bonds. I help them analyze the best decision based on their needs and the current market environment. I’ve worked on IPOs for private companies that want to go public, or mergers and acquisitions between companies. It can be demanding when there’s a deal pending, which was my excuse for too many times I had to miss out on family events.” He shook his head. “No, that’s a cop-out. I chose to put my job before my family. I’m trying to do better, though it’s too late for me to make it up to anyone but Megan.”
Zach thought about his father and all the missed holidays and birthdays, all the broken promises, all the times his plate at the dinner table was left unused. He would’ve given anything to have a dad willing to go to the lengths Tim was to get home. “At least you’re trying to make it up to her.”
“I’m hoping she’s too young to remember the times I wasn’t there.” Tim shrugged. “What about you? What do you do when you aren’t heroically rescuing stranded travelers?”
There wasn’t anything particularly heroic about it, as far as Zach was concerned, but if Tim wanted to see him that way, he wouldn’t argue. “I’m a travel agent, like I said before. The company I work with specializes in adventure travel. Backpacking through the Andes, horseback riding tours of Scotland, whitewater rafting in Thailand, that sort of thing. But of course before the adventure can begin, we have to deal with the humdrum travel to get them there, so I book as many train and plane tickets as I do wild and crazy transportation on llamas or horses or snowmobiles.”
“I’m guessing you have to try the trips out before you book them for anyone?” Tim asked. “You seem like a pretty hands-on guy to me.”
Zach didn’t flush at the thought of getting his hands on Tim. Really, he didn’t. Tim definitely had the look of someone who was too busy to work out—trim rather than muscular—but that didn’t detract one bit from his attractiveness, not with his glossy brown hair and chocolate eyes. “I haven’t tried all of them, because we never know what kind of requests we’ll get, but I’ve done quite a few, especially if the trip operators approach us about advertising their offerings. It’s one thing to research options for a client who has a specific trip in mind. It’s another thing entirely to present options to people who come in looking for something different and want us to guide them.”
