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“We’re too old to chase a puppy around all day,” Mr.Abrams said.
“Speak for yourself, Joel,” Mrs.Abrams shouted down from the front door. “Bring him up here, Nikki.”
Mr.Abrams muttered under his breath as I led Oliver past him to the landing, where Mrs.Abrams scooped him up. “He’s precious,” she said.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“Ignore Cranky Pants.” She jutted her chin toward her husband. “Go on, now.” Still, I hesitated, not sure I should leave Oliver with them. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of him,” Mrs.Abrams promised.
An email from Elizabeth marked urgent sat at the top of my inbox. Pressure built behind my eyes as I read it.I’ve scheduled an interview with Hank at one thirty on Wednesday afternoon at Pendleton 88.The pressure intensified.He said to come with an appetite.
I hadn’t seen Hank or stepped inside the restaurant since it reopened with its new name four and a half years ago, and now Elizabeth had arranged for me to see him tomorrow with no time to prepare for the meeting. I couldn’t imagine how I would sit at a table across from him and eat a meal. No matter how much I dreaded it, though, I knew I didn’t have a choice. I would have to suck it up. Ringing from the other side of my office pulled me from my thoughts. I scrambled around my desk to the back of my door, where my coat hung on a hook, and reached into a pocket for my cell phone.
“How’s Deeogee? Why haven’t you sent any pictures?” My sister’s jovial tone grated on my nerves. No doubt she’d slept like a rock last night while I stood outside, freezing my butt off and waiting for her puppy to do his business.
“Oliver is fine. If you want to see him, stop by. Take him for a walk.”
“Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“Three different times when I took your puppy outside to pee.”
“Three times? You only have to take him out every five or six hours.”
“You’re an expert on training dogs now?” Back in my chair, I scrolled through my email as she spoke.
“Obviously I did research before I got him.”
“Maybe you should have researched if you could have a dog in your town house.”
“Still no word from Kyle?” Dana asked.
I sighed. She was right. I wasn’t mad at her. Oliver was a godsend. I stopped scrolling and turned toward the window. In the parking lot below me, Elizabeth maneuvered her SUV into the space next to my Acura. “I have to interview Hank this week. At the restaurant.”
“You’re talking to Hank? In person?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh. Listen to me. Hank ... he isn’t ... he’s not a bad guy. Give him a chance.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have a meltdown when I walk in and see all the changes he made.”
“Want me to come with you?”
A warmth spread across my chest. As much of a pain in the butt as Dana could be, she was always there for me. Once again, I regretted not having confided in her when Kyle and I were trying to have a baby. She might have been able to help me through the darkest days.
“Thank you, but my new boss is coming.” I watched Elizabeth step out of her ridiculous status symbol of a car, shaking my head as she wobbled across the icy parking lot on three-inch heels. Did she have any sense at all? No one wore shoes like that this time of year here. Just before she made it to the clear sidewalk, she slipped and fell to the ground. I jumped to my feet, but before I could move, Jerry from IT was by her side, helping her up. Elizabeth appeared to laugh as she brushed herself off, and in that brief moment, I liked her more than I had at any other time since I’d met her.
“It will be fine,” Dana said. “Just fake smile your way through it.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
Dana sighed. “You have to get over your anger, Nikki. Hank didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He lied.”
“Well, let’s hope Kyle’s more forgiving of your lie than you are of Hank’s.”
Chapter 22
