"Maybe you built a policy that said they could."
The words struck her.
She looked toward the lodge.
He continued gently.
"Now you have to find out whether they believed it."
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered, "I think we've failed them."
Her father didn't deny it.
He simply said, "Then fix what you can, and be honest about what you can't fix overnight."
She nodded.
Her throat tightened.
"I wanted to come see you today."
He laughed softly.
"Sweetheart, I'm seventy. One Christmas dinner isn't going to make or break me."
She smiled through tears.
He continued.
"But the people in that hotel need someone to do the right thing."
The woman closed her eyes.
Then whispered, "Thanks, Dad."
He smiled.
"Now get somewhere safe. Those roads are terrible."
She laughed.
"Yes, sir."
"And eat something."
She laughed harder.
"All right."
When the call ended, she remained beside her car.
She had spent years trying to prove she was capable of running a company without her father's guidance.
Now she realized that asking for his perspective hadn't made her weaker.
It had reminded her why the business existed in the first place.
She looked toward the dark road.
Then started the engine.
The single father was somewhere in Denver, sitting beside his daughter's hospital bed.
And for the first time, the CEO understood that helping him would require more than reversing a dismissal.
She had to make sure no other employee would face the same choice.
Christmas morning arrived with a pale blue sky and fresh snow covering Denver.
At the hospital, the single father awakened to the sound of his daughter whispering to Captain Snow.
He opened his eyes.
For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was.
Then he saw the little Christmas tree beside the bed.
The wooden star.
The cream-colored blankets.
And his eight-year-old daughter smiling at the stuffed rabbit in her hands.
He sat upright.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."
She turned.
"Daddy!"
He smiled.
"Merry Christmas."
She reached toward the small tree.
"Santa came."
He looked surprised.
"Did he?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Look!"
Beneath the tree were several wrapped packages.
Her grandmother had arranged them late the previous evening.
There was a coloring book.
A soft blanket with snowflakes.
A small puzzle.
And a cardboard box containing a new set of colored pencils.
The little girl looked delighted.
Her father watched quietly.
He knew the gifts weren't expensive.
He had been worried that Christmas would feel disappointing without the celebration they'd planned at home.
But his daughter seemed perfectly happy.
She held up the colored pencils.
"Twenty-four colors!"
He laughed.
"That's a lot."
She nodded.
"Captain Snow says we can draw the whole mountain."
The father smiled.
"Sounds like a good plan."