Computers had taken over from the filing cabinets full of the records of completed or future jobs. Scarlet’s growth as a child had been measured by what letter of the alphabet on the filing system she had reached. All the company’s details were ably run by Alice Judson. She was her dad’s long serving office manager. Her delight at seeing Scarlet enter the office trailing after her father had made Scarlet feel five years old again. Her father had disappeared into his office to return a call Alice had told him needed to be dealt with, leaving her and Scarlet alone. “Well, it’s about time you found your way back home, young lady. I was thinking you’d forgotten Missouri existed on the map,” Alice said. She took a hold of Scarlet’s hands and looked her over. “Haven’t you grown into even more of a beauty?” Scarlet smiled. “I was only gone three years, Alice, and I still came home for the holidays. I haven’t changed that much and I saw you at Christmas.”
