Turning, she braced her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I don’t need your approval. This party isn’t for you. You won’t even be here.”
The hairball spilled onto the wood floor, diminishing Julie’s holiday cheer. Grimacing, she retreated to the kitchen for paper towels to clean it up.
When she returned to the kitchen with the mess to toss it in the garbage, the cat was sitting in front of the cabinet that held his food. He mewled hopefully.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “Judging by what happened in the other room, your stomach is suspect right now.”
The look he gave her would have stopped traffic. She wilted. “It’s not time yet.”
If anything, his eyes seemed to grow even bigger and more baleful.
“Fine.” She opened the cabinet door and scooped half a can into his dish.
She watched the cat make a show of sniffing suspiciously at the food as she consulted her to-do list. The next item was to call Ted Thorndike about the inspection. She had been too wound up to do it first thing when she’d gotten back, even though it was the item that would take the smaller amount of time. First, she’d needed to work off her frustration over the way Nolan Miller had acted. Did he really think she was up to something? It was strange, almost as if someone had put the idea in his head, because his attitude prior had been neighborly. Oh well, she really didn’t care what he thought.
Before she could dial Ted’s number, her phone rang. It was Cheryl, and she felt a momentary pang of guilt for not updating her on her progress.
“You haven’t texted!”
“I know, I’m sorry!I’ve been so busy with the party.”
“I know, you’ve probably slowed down to a small-town-life pace.”
“Very funny. This party is a bit more work than I envisioned. I’ve had repair guys and caterers and inspectors and plumbers to call and see. Not to mention putting this place in order. You have no idea how much dust a place can accumulate in only a couple years.”
“I’ll bet.” Cheryl laughed.
“Plus, I’ve had to run into town a couple times. And that always involves talking to literally everyone I see. I guess I look a lot like my grandmother because they all seem to recognize me. Some even remember me from when I was a kid.”
Cheryl groaned.“Oh, that’s the worst! I do not envy you. I’d rather be in the city any day, where I can go about my business without everyone in town wanting to know what that business is.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Uh-huh.” Cheryl did not sound as though she believed her.
The thing was, Julie was surprisingly enough telling the truth. Aside from her run-in with Nolan, everyone had been friendly. It was nice to be met with smiles instead of people pretending she didn’t exist—or worse, that she was a nuisance and in the way. But maybe she didn’t need to mention that to Cheryl.
Instead, she said, “No, really. I went out to lunch with an old friend from back when I used to visit here. She owns the pet store now. It was really nice to catch up.”
“Well, that’s different,” Cheryl insisted. “Friends are friends. If a stranger came up to talk to you, that’s way different. Anyway, I actually called because I have some good news.” Cheryl’s voice took on a singsong quality.
“Oh?”
“HR has started making callbacks for interviews.”
Julie’s stomach cramped. “I haven’t gotten a call.” At least, not that she knew of. Maybe she should double-check her voicemail, just in case.
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
“Then how is this good news?”
“It’s good news because I happened to stop in and take a peek at the résumés still in the running.”
“Couldn’t that cost you your job?”
“What? Of course not. I didn’t go through them, I just took a look to see what was on top. And guess what? It’s yours.”
Julie’s stomach tightened again. This time, with something closer to anticipation than nerves. “So I’m next to get the call?”
