But not this year. Her mother was “throwing together” a Thanksgiving meal in the rental house. It wouldn’t be the same. Not without Nonni and everyone crowding around the dining table as they had for generations. But it was what they had to do if they wanted Merry to have the merriest Christmas to date.

Dinner at seven.

That would give her enough time for a quick shower and a chance to peruse the latest entries into the school location contest. Lorinda’s idea for the location contest had gone better than expected. Apparently, a trade school for women was big news. Cat had taken time out of her schedule two days ago to video chat with the hosts of a New York morning show about the initiative. In those forty-eight hours since, traffic to the website Henry had set up exploded. She even had a few applications for the school’s location already as well as dozens of information requests by potential students.

Cat flexed her fingers in her pockets as she headed back toward the street where her truck was parked. She could feel the momentum building. There was a point in every project where the flow seemed to take over. But she felt like Merry and the school were warring for her attention, and she wasn’t sure which one needed to take precedence.

If she were being honest with herself, Cat knew she was spreading herself too thin. She needed a little time off to recuperate, get her head on straight, and come back at both projects full steam. An outsider would suggest that she delegate. But when she was the one with the vision, it was too time-consuming trying to transfer that vision to someone else.

She hauled herself behind the wheel and cranked the heat. A little vacation would be nice. She closed her eyes and leaned against the head rest. Maybe a nice tropical island. White sand beaches. A hammock. A pink umbrella in her drink.

The knock on her window scared the hell out of her.

Drake was grinning at her. “Naptime?” he asked when she rolled down the window.

“Har. As if we have time.”

“Just wrapped shooting at Mrs. Pringle’s.” Paige had assigned Drake to Mrs. Pringle’s because the woman absolutely adored handsome men. Cat had seen some of the footage with the duo’s banter and agreed it had been a solid gold decision.

“How’s it coming?”

“Got the occupancy permit ten minutes ago,” Drake grinned.

“Awesome,” Cat sighed. They’d shoot a reveal at Mrs. Pringle’s and one at the diner this week. Despite the mountain of work yet to be done, they were on schedule. “Are you coming to dinner tonight?” she asked.

Drake’s family lived in sunny southern California, and due to the shooting schedule, he wasn’t able to join them this year.

He bobbed his head, grinned. “That was the plan. But something came up.”