Free Holiday Affair by Lisa Plumley

girls, then proceeded to the terminal to wait for them. Whenever possible, Reid liked to give their nanny/tutor a little privacy—and some off-duty free time. That’s why she’d spent their overnight flight and its multiple connecting legs seated several rows away with her headphones on, watching sequential in-flight movies and scarfing down junk food from her pack.
    “Wow.” Appearing awestruck, Nicole stood on tiptoes to peer at the airport official. “You must have the coolest job ever!”
    The official blinked. And smiled. “Thanks, little girl.”
    “I mean, meeting all these people who are coming in from all over the place. Talking to them. It must be fun.”
    He paused. “You know, not many people notice that.”
    “ And it’s obvious you’re extra good at it,” Nicole nattered on, smiling at him. “The people in those lines”—she gestured sideways—“are just rubber-stamping the travelers through. But you’re being careful to check everything. I think that’s special. It’s like the Dalai Lama said to me one time—”
    The official boggled. “You’ve met the Dalai Lama?”
    Offhandedly, Nicole nodded. “He was nice. I told him I liked his robes. They were a very pretty color.”
    Startled, the airport official glanced at Reid, who nodded in confirmation. He and his daughters had met His Holiness briefly at a reception a few years ago. Nicole had been only five or six, but she’d charmed the Dalai Lama immediately.
    Sort of the way she was charming the official right now.
    “‘A spoon cannot taste of the food it carries,’” Nicole quoted solemnly. “‘Likewise, a foolish man cannot understand—’”
    “Nicole!” Alexis clutched her stomach. “No food talk!”
    “‘—a wise man’s wisdom, even if he associates with a sage.’” Satisfied, Nicole gave the rapt airport official a keen look. “You’re a sage, I’ll bet. That’s probably why those other airport people don’t ‘get’ your superior screening methods.”
    Vigorously, the man nodded. “They don’t! They really don’t!” He beamed at Nicole, then blinked. Hard.
    Reid peered at the airport official. Was he actually tearing up? He was. Nicole had officially moved the man to tears. Now if he would only move them forward, damn it.
    His grandmother’s emergency couldn’t wait.
    After a therapeutic exhale, the airport official sniffled loudly. He put aside Reid’s passport to examine Alexis’s and Nicole’s documents. He nodded. After an interminable-feeling wait of forty-five seconds, he waved them all through.
    “Welcome to the Wolverine State! You three have a wonderful stay.”
    “We will!” Nicole and Alexis chimed. “Bye!”
    The man waved at the girls. Then he gave Reid a man-to-man nod. “That’s a very special little girl you have there.”
    Reid smiled. “Don’t I know it.” Not every ten-year-old could cajole her way into the USA. “Thanks. Have a good day.”
    With the niceties dispensed with, Reid bolted into the terminal, trusting Alexis, Nicole, and Amanda to keep up as he headed straight for the rental car counter.
    Within minutes, he was there. His undoubtedly grim expression helped clear his path through the crowded terminal.
    Despite the hazy assurances of his grandparents’ neighbors and friends, he fully expected to find disaster in Kismet. He’d already steeled himself for it. All that remained now was to deal with it, by whatever means possible. Reid was ready.
    He turned. Nicole had already taken a seat on the airport’s dingy carpeted floor, sharing a leftover pack of airplane pretzels with Amanda. Their backpacks lay slumped at their feet. The two of them slouched against the wall, completely at ease, even in their bustling surroundings. Looking at them as he waited in (yet another) line, Reid felt proud of his younger daughter.
    There was nothing like travel to teach a person to be self-sufficient and comfortable in diverse surroundings. If he left Nicole there very