Kringle, on the other hand, was playing. He refused to move from the center of her bed as she stopped in to make it, wanting every room to look as properly made up. There was something soothing about the uniformity of each of the rooms. Although the bedspreads were different and she’d put out different snow globes and figurines in each to help add to the Christmas cheer, each room was laid out the same way. Bed, dresser, small TV, window overlooking the trees. She checked underneath each bed to make sure Kringle hadn’t batted something underneath, and other than getting a face full of fur when Kringle met her halfway, she didn’t find anything.
She grabbed for him, and he dodged away playfully. She laughed. “You’re in a good mood this morning. Well, don’t get too excited. I still have plenty to do. I’m sure Mom, Dad, and Gram won’t want to eat mac and cheese, so I’ll have to go into town for some groceries. And I have to be back in time for the inspector. He’s due to arrive just before they do. So I can’t stay frolicking with you all day.”
Undaunted, Kringle chased her as she left the rooms, carefully closing each door behind her. It felt normal to walk down those stairs to the first floor, to catch a glimpse of the living room on her way to the kitchen to deposit her empty mug. The snow-covered trees, the cat running past her and lying in wait—it all felt normal. Like home. Her chest tightened as she rinsed out her coffee mug and put it aside. Kringle had taken up a post in front of his cabinet door, the rascal.
“I can’t stay.” Maybe if she repeated it out loud, that would make it feel more real. The problem was that all of her best memories were in this house, with Gram and Gramps. Again, but with far less conviction, she murmured, “I can’t stay.”
Or could she? Could she step into Gram’s shoes and run this place? She didn’t know the first thing about running an inn. But Gram was still alive, and if she came back to the inn to give Julie a little guidance…
No. No, it was a ridiculous thought. “Gram’s selling this place to Klaus Miller,” Julie informed the cat. He looked unimpressed. “And I have my life back in Boston.”
A life, admittedly, that she hadn’t thought a lot about these past few days. When was the last time she’d texted Cheryl? She’d been so focused on getting the inn up to shape that she hadn’t even had time to prepare for her impending job interview. The excitement that she’d expected about the prospect of a new job had never set in. Instead, she’d been spending time with Nolan and Ivy, with Myrtle and Kringle.
“I have to go,” she said out loud again. Kringle tilted his head and gave her a curious look. She couldn’t blame him. Even she could hear the lack of conviction in her voice.
Chapter 30
One benefit to having a friend who owned the local pet store was that Julie could stop in at any time and chat. She checked her phone before she went in and decided she had at least fifteen minutes before she had to head back to the inn to wait for the inspector. With the cold weather the way it was, her groceries would last more than that amount of time in the cab of her rented truck.
The store wasn’t empty when Julie walked in through the door. An old man was paying for a bag of dog food. He stopped to ask after the party.
Julie gave him a bright smile. “We’re all ready to go. I’m just waiting for my gram to get in now.”
“It’s been some time since I’ve had a chat with Ida. I look forward to seeing her at the party.”
Julie nodded and extricated herself. With half an ear, she listened as Ivy finished up the payment and offered to carry the bag of dog food out to the man’s car. Julie found herself in front of the cat treats, almost as if Kringle had planted the idea in her mind. But it was Christmas, wasn’t it? She picked up a bag of festive cat treats and a tin of cat food that Kringle hadn’t tried yet. A Christmas treat.
Ivy laughed when Julie laid the items on the counter. “Are you sure you aren’t keeping that cat?”
“Just a few treats for the holiday before we have to part ways.” The thought made Julie sadder than she imagined.
Her friend bagged the items efficiently. “I’m just saying, he’s going to be spoiled and not used to slumming it when he moves on to the next family who adopts him.”
“I’m sure he’ll grow on them. He did on me.”
Ivy rolled her eyes as Julie tapped her credit card to pay. “Yeah, but underneath all those too-fashionable-to-be-practical clothes, you’re a crazy cat lady at heart.”
“Hey! What’s wrong with my clothes?”
“Nothing. I’m just saying they’re not doing much to hide the ‘I Heart Cats’ T-shirt you’re hiding underneath them.”
If her friend had been standing any closer, Julie would have shoved at her. Playfully, of course. Mostly. She prided herself on the way she dressed.
When her phone chimed in her coat pocket, she almost jumped out of her skin. The cell phone signal was so shoddy around here that she’d gotten used to not hearing it. Apparently, in Pinecone Falls itself, the reception was better than at the inn.
She fished out the phone. “It’s the inspector.”
“Ted?” Ivy asked.
Julie nodded. She answered the phone.
The longer his voice rang in her ear, the more hyperaware she was of everything around her. The smooth feel of the plastic bag in her left hand. The blast of cold air and tinkle of a bell as someone stepped into the store. Ivy’s assurance that the package was waiting just right here behind the counter. The spring in Ivy’s curls as she bent to retrieve a case of cat food.
“That’s… you have to be kidding me.” Even Julie’s own voice sounded foreign to her ears.
Ted, on the other hand, sounded apologetic. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that the storm was going to blow in. There’s no way I can get out of Boston today. Maybe not for the next few days. I’m just not going to make it for the inspection.”
Without the inspection, the party couldn’t happen at all.
