of her shoulder. “You look unsteady.”
“No. I’m not. I was just…” She patted his hand. “I’m fine. Really. I was coming over to say hello and got sidetracked along the way. Let me make this announcement. I’ll be right back.”
She walked over to the stairs and climbed to the fourth step and looked around. The crowd seemed like a hive of energetic bees below. She clapped her hands in an attempt to regain control. One second later there was that loud whistle of Lilene’s and the room quieted to a hush.
“I’m going to have to learn that whistle.” Nervous laughter broke the tension as Vanessa regained control.
“Merry Christmas. I hope you’re all feeling the holiday spirit after the great parade this weekend.” She started clapping and folks joined in.
“Thank you for gathering again on short notice. I promised to bring you updates as soon as I had them, so that’s what we’re doing here tonight. Before I go through the changes, I want to share a couple of personal observations.”
“Here comes the bad-news sandwich,” someone groaned from somewhere among the display cases.
Buck’s unmistakable voice boomed. “Hush up, Tinker. Let the lady speak. You’re always stirring up stuff that doesn’t need stirring.”
“Sorry.”
Vanessa never had seen who had made the comment. “Thank you, Buck. I admit I was in line for an assignment in Paris this holiday and I was not happy about being sent to Fraser Hills, North Carolina, but I’ve had the great pleasure to get to know many of you in the past couple of weeks as we’ve evaluated the footprint and business activities. Thank you for being such a good team.”
Nods and a few whispers spread across the floor.
“Initial plans included confirmation of warehouse space. As you know, we’ve had a team heads-down on clearing out the facility on the next block in preparation for that. The team has made quick work of it and we’ve been able to recoup some of the money for repairs by scrapping old equipment, or in some cases donating it to be repurposed for other things in the county. I want to thank Bill Campbell for his leadership on this effort.”
People cheered. No one seemed to even remember how mad they’d been with her for giving him that package not that long ago.
“Great job. Really it was a team effort. We have a few more requirements that have come through and my goal is to have that warehouse up and running, ready to begin receiving inventory by the first of the year.” She raised her hand as people grumbled. “I know. It’s super fast. Racks and equipment will be coming soon. I have a detailed plan to get us done by December eighteenth. It’s aggressive, but I want you all to have the time you deserve with your families over the holiday. It’ll mean all hands on deck, but it also includes some changes to Porter’s. Before you jump to conclusions, these are positive changes, many of them proposed by one of your own.” She waved to Misty. “Misty, join me up here.”
Buck’s mouth fell open.
Misty looked as if she’d frozen to her spot.
“Come on, Misty.”
She ran toward the stairs and stood next to Vanessa with her cheeks a bright red.
“Misty brought me several ideas to help move the needle on Porter’s. We’ll be doing some really great things, including a new online store and ramping up production goals for 2020.”
For the next twenty minutes she fielded every question about the upcoming changes, and let Misty respond to some of the Porter’s-specific ones, which she handled with ease and confidence.
“Thank you, everyone, for your support and dedication to our future here in your beautiful town, and thank you for making me feel such a welcome part of it. Our task is to have everything done prior to my meeting back in Chicago on December eighteenth. Everyone who works the entire time will get paid days off through the holiday for the extra time and dedication. And I’ll be back in town taking some time off too, with my cousin here for our first Fraser Hills Christmas.” She scanned the room for any remaining raised hands or uncertain expressions. “If there are no more questions, that’s it for tonight. I’ll bring us together when we have more news. Thank you.”
Everyone filed out of the store. Surprisingly, even with the crowd the store wasn’t disheveled, but the store employees did a quick walk-through to straighten up before they closed for the night.
Vanessa was the