Early Bird Special by Tracy Krimmer

 
     
     
    CHAPTER ONE
     
     
    The frigid air sliced through my jacket and ripped across my chest. I scolded myself for not packing a thermos of hot chocolate. What sort of event planner forgot something like that? Me, that's who. Known to the community as Francie A. Spiller, The Planning Princess, I never overlooked the little things. Need a pen? Grab one - I stocked up on thirty. Spill wine on your favorite dress? I keep salt and a mini bottle of water in my purse. If someone needed it, The Planning Princess never failed.
    Of course, standing in a line that wrapped around the building, I neglected to be the best at my job and keep myself up to par in these conditions. Twenty-degree weather with a cold wind whipping across my face made me unfocused. I bounced up and down, hoping the physical activity would do something to warm me up. My heart rate increased, and I could barely speak through the movement, but the fog of breath in front of my face reminded me the doors didn't open for another hour, and no amount of jumping would keep me warm. "How are you holding up, Dad?"
    My parents always got to sit on the folding chairs. This year, all the stores changed their hours, and we didn't need to sit in line as long as in the past. The big day of the year always was Black Friday, but now, in an effort to bring in more sales, more stores opened ON Thanksgiving. My family was among those standing in line most of Thanksgiving Day waiting for the doors to open. Mom brought cold turkey she made the day before, Dad sneaked in beer, my brother, Teddy, picked up the store's Wi-Fi and tuned in to the first season of House of Cards, but I didn't bring a thing.
    "Okay." He stretched his legs out. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do this." My dad was nearly sixty and no longer able to stand all day. Black Friday (or I guess now Thursday) became a family tradition before my brother and I were even born. Our parents held us in line as babies! We never sought after a particular item. Sure, we scoped out the ads, but normally we just bum rushed the store with the rest of the people as crazy as us, grabbing what seemed to be the biggest items. Since most of the stores now implemented a ticket process, we always needed to know what we wanted ahead of time if we planned on getting anything worth our time. My parents typically sold their big grabs on eBay or Craigslist, bringing in the largest profit they could. My brother without a doubt purchased a video game of some sort every single year for his own personal use, and I often came along for the family time. This year, though, I planned on nabbing a few toys for my best friend Lisa's three-year-old daughter. She obsessed over the movie Frozen, and stores advertised new toys for the holiday season.
    In the line of over one hundred people, we managed to snag a spot close to the front. I hopped out of line a few times to determine the length of time until we entered the store once we began moving. My estimate came in at about fifteen people ahead of us, and getting to the front shouldn't take too long. Over my years of planning conferences, weddings, and even children's parties (did you know how many parents hired me to turn their kid's first birthday into one they saw on Pinterest?), I got pretty damn good at determining head count at a glance.
    My parents and brother arrived about two hours before I did. The store opened at ten, and this Princess took advantage of her beauty sleep. If I was to look my best in public, I needed at least an hour to get ready after a solid eight hours of sleep. Even a sale on the top day planners couldn't pull me out of bed early. Every detail of the parties I planned rested comfortably in an app on my iPad, but every event began with scribbles in my everyday planner. I loved a strong, spiral bound book filled with monthly calendars, hourly appointment lines, and space for fun stickers and notes to amuse myself. Some people lusted after the latest, greatest