Reluctantly, Stan admitted, “No. There was a P&S signed, but Ida can still back out, though she’d forfeit her deposit.”
“That old bird is up to something,” Gramps muttered. “I don’t like it.”
Nolan didnotwant to get in the middle of this. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
Gramps turned to him with a calculating look. “I think we need to watch this Julie character a little closer. Maybe it’s time you took a walk after dinner.”
Nolan glanced at Snowball whose ears had perked up at the word “walk.” They usually did walk after dinner, though he’d been steering clear of the Cozy Holly Inn property since the last incident. “I am going for a walk, but I’m not going to peek in windows or try to listen to conversations, and I’m sticking to our side of the property line.”
Gramps snorted. “Maybe you could step over the line a little bit, and if you happened to see or hear something… well… that might tell us something about their intentions. That’s all I was expecting.”
* * *
“You sound better,”Julie said into the phone. It was a relief to hear Gram without a fit of coughing interrupting her. She shifted on the rickety chair at the kitchen table, keeping one eye on the pot of water she was waiting to boil for her night’s mac and cheese.
“I told you it was nothing to worry about,” Gram said firmly.
“I’m glad.” Julie didn’t tell her grandmother that she had been and still was worried. Gram would just brush it off as usual.
“I’ve sent out the invitations.”
At least that was one thing Julie wouldn’t have to worry about. She crossed her legs. The cat, lying on his back on the kitchen floor, batted playfully at the new toy Ivy had given him.
“Oh? Who’s coming?”
“Not as many people as usual,” Gram answered. “Andnotthe Millers. I don’t want that grouch of a man to ruin the party.”
“Which man would that be?” Julie asked. Gram couldn’t possibly mean Nolan. Gram hadn’t seen him in years, and even though he’d been frosty in town today, he usually made an effort at being civil. She couldn’t picture him being grouchy to Gram. He seemed like the type of guy that would be kind to grandmothers.
“Klaus. He’s only gotten worse with the years.”
“That would be Nolan’s grandfather?”
Gram hesitated before answering. “You’ve met Nolan?”
“I knew Nolan from my trips here as a kid.”
Julie didn’t know why she was avoiding the question. Maybe because when she thought of Nolan, she didn’t think of the cold way he’d treated her in town today. She thought of the breadth of his shoulders and the indulgent smile he gave his dog. Or maybe it was the hopeful tone in her grandmother’s voice.
Julie cleared her throat and added, more softly, “But yes, I ran into him again. He walks his dog along the property.”
“His or ours?”
“Both.”
“Has he given you any trouble?”
“No,” she lied. “In fact, he saved the cat from a tree the other day.”
She didn’t mention that his dog had been responsible for the cat’s climb in the first place.
“Well, Nolan always seemed to take after his mother more so than the men in his family. He’s a good boy.”
Julie chuckled. “He’s a man now, Gram. Not a little boy.”
“So, you’ve noticed?”
Oh, no. Julie didn’t want to get this from Gram as well as Ivy. She said, “Weren’t we talking about the party? You didn’t say who you invited.”
