Chapter 21
Kat
After returning to the house, Dad went straight for a nap. I didn’t blame him. There was a lot to process and between the drive, the waiting, and the actual appointment, we’d been gone for four hours.
Noodle was due for her afternoon walk. I changed into my workout clothes, hoping a run after Noodle’s walk would burn off my anxious energy. As we were about to step out the back door, my phone rang. I swallowed a groan and answered.
“Kat! How are you? How’s your dad? How’s that North Carolina weather?” Hearing my HR director’s voice was just about the last thing I’d expected for today.
“Hey, Becky. I’m doing well. Dad’s…” None of your business, I wanted to say. And did she really care? It’s not like we were friends. “He’s getting there and the weather’s fine.”
“That’s awesome!”
There was a long silence. “So… How’s work?”
“Oh hon, I didn’t call to talk about work. I wanted to check in and let you know you’re in our thoughts. We haven’t forgotten about you.”
Well, obviously. They didn’t have dementia. And my name was still on the stationery.
She gave an awkward chuckle. “You are on family leave, after all. We respect our employee’s right to a healthy work-life balance.”
I rolled my eyes.
“But since you brought it up…” There it was. Company policy prevented them from contacting me about work while I was on family leave. But there was a loophole if the employee asked first. “I’ll transfer you to Alexa’s line right now. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. Bye!”
“Kat!” Alexa’s warm voice came over the line. “So good to hear from you. Becky tells me you want an update on the budget?”
“I—sure.” It was shady, but I was curious and could use the distraction. I shifted back into CFO mode. “How did the meetings with the department heads go?”
“Laura managed to get through them.”
That sounded ominous. The meetings should have been easy. Departments had been warned that this would be a lean year with no new expenditures. The flop of the last app had put a major dent in our revenue stream.
“They’re just not used to Laura. And maybe they thought without you there, they could sneak some things in that you’d never go for.”
Noodle barked and I sighed. “So what’s the bottom line? Did Laura get it worked out?”
“If you count layoffs as working it out…”
“What?” I practically screeched. Yes, we’d taken a hit with that app, but it wasn’t that bad.
“That’s what the board is suggesting. Laura has some ideas, but I’m not sure they’ll take her word for it.”
I sighed. This was partly my fault. If I’d brought Laura into more meetings with me, the department heads would have realized she had my full support and backing.
They’d have known not to test her and would have worked with her to find cuts in their departments.
And now she’d had to figure out where to make cuts on her own without any help.
It was no wonder she was floundering. I’d set the poor woman up to fail, and now people would be fired because of it.
Because of my poor planning. As if I didn’t have enough guilt to weigh me down.
“I want to help, but I can’t leave my dad by himself. Maybe we can set up some zoom calls?”
“That’s not going to work. The board needs to see you live and in person. What if we found one of those home health aides to stay with your dad?”
“Good luck.” I snorted. “There’s a waitlist.”
“Meh, that’s what they always say. But if we found someone, could you come back?”
I chewed my lower lip. I might be spinning my wheels with Dad for the next century, but this was something I could solve. I could slice and dice numbers until I found the reductions that kept everyone employed. And if they could find Dad a home aide too, that would be a huge weight off.
Noodle barked again. “I’ve got to take Dad’s dog out before she explodes. Can I think about it?”
“Of course! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And no pressure, but the presentation is Thursday,” Alexa said, the relief clear in her voice.
Five days from now. I hung up the phone and set it on the counter.
No more phone calls. “Come on, Noodle, let’s go.
” She shot out like a rocket the second I opened the door.
I laughed as she bolted out, chasing who knows what.
I’d learned not to worry about her getting lost. She knew these woods better than any of us.
I stayed on the trail, keeping an eye on her as she darted in and out of the trees.
The pine straw crunched under my Hokas. I stopped, taking a deep breath of the fresh, clean air.
I would miss this when I went back to my condo.
We weren’t so remote that I couldn’t hear the occasional car pass by on the road, but it wasn’t that constant stream of traffic.
Not the frequent blaring of horns and emergency sirens.
Just nice, quiet, and peaceful. Well, until I jinxed it.
“Kitty Kat! What are you doing out here?”
My heart fluttered as I heard Mav’s voice from behind. The tension I’d been carrying in my shoulders moved lower. Much lower.
“Walking Noodle.”
He laughed. “Obviously. But you crossed the line.” He pointed to a blue spray-painted circle on one of the trees. “You’re trespassing on the MC side now.”
I reared my head back. “Wait, really?” I looked around. This was the path I took with my dad every day. Or was it? All the trees looked the same, and I had been distracted.
“The property line is jagged. At one time there must have been a creek, but it’s long since dried up. You can see it though, if you know what to look for.”
He reached for my hand and tugged, walking me toward a place in the woods where the ground dipped. “See how it goes down here, and if you follow it west,” he pointed it through the trees, “you’ll see the line. Or look for the blue dots. Either way, you’re on the MC side.”
“I was following Noodle.” Blaming it on the dog? What was this? Sixth grade?
“Remind me to thank her later,” he said with a wink.
“And thanks for not shooting me, I guess. How did you know I was out here?”
“We have our ways.” He smiled mysteriously. “The property is too big to be completely fenced in, so we have alarms. You set one off, but luckily, I was already out here and got to you first.”
“You were going for a stroll?”
He shrugged. “After finding that trail cam, I decided to do a check of our property to make sure we didn’t have any.”
“Oh, right.” Not everything was about me. “Did you find any?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. Well, I should get back to Noodle.”
“Noodle’s fine. She’ll run back home when she’s had her fill. Come with me, I want to show you something.”
My eyes narrowed. “Is that a euphemism?”
Maverick laughed. “No, but it can be.”
I shrugged. Dad was asleep. Noodle was happy after being cooped up all day. I thought I wanted some time to think through everything that had happened, but thinking was overrated. Thinking never relaxed me in the way that being with Mav did.
“Lead the way.”