Chapter 35
Kathy rose from behind her desk the moment they walked in.
“There you are!” she said, opening her arms. She hugged Lauren first, then dropped to her knees to give Pumpkin an enthusiastic rubdown.
“I was beginning to worry you’d experienced travel delays again,” Kathy said.
“It’s rare for me to beat you into the office.
I got here at seven this morning and nearly fainted when your car wasn’t in the lot.
You probably needed a sleep-in after your vacation. ”
Lauren opened the takeout box and set it on the floor beside Pumpkin’s empty water bowl.
Pumpkin immediately tucked into her breakfast while Lauren refilled the bowl with fresh water.
“Well, you’d better get used to it,” Lauren said, shrugging out of her coat.
“From now on I’m working normal business hours.
You won’t find me here before eight, and you won’t catch me after five-thirty. ”
Kathy’s brows shot upward. “You’re kidding.” She narrowed her eyes and studied Lauren from head to toe. “Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?”
Lauren laughed. “I decided all this yesterday on the trip home.”
“You’ve come back from this vacation a changed person. And I, for one, am delighted.” She tilted her head. “Your texts said you were having a marvelous time, but there’s got to be a lot more to the story. What happened in Newport?”
Lauren picked up her coffee and walked toward her desk. “I’m still figuring that out myself.”
“Seriously,” Kathy said, following her. “I’d love to hear.”
“And I want to tell you,” Lauren replied, setting down her bag and waking up her computer. “But first I’ve got a mountain of work to catch up on. As I said, I’m not staying late.”
“Fair enough,” Kathy said, stepping away. “One question.”
Lauren sighed good-naturedly. “Okay. One question.”
Kathy folded her arms. “Did you meet someone on vacation?”
Lauren looked up from her computer screen. “Sort of.”
Kathy’s eyes widened. “Sort of? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I met a really nice man at the hotel in Raleigh when the airline diverted my flight.”
Kathy crossed to Lauren and perched on the edge of her desk. “What happened?”
“I’ll give you the full story later,” Lauren said. “He was on the plane from Los Angeles and helped Pumpkin and me deplane quickly. Later that night at the hotel, he helped me find Pumpkin when she slipped her leash.”
Kathy clasped her hands. “That sounds very romantic. Are you going to see each other? He was on the flight from L.A, so hopefully he lives here.”
Lauren shook her head. “I’m afraid we don’t have each other’s contact information.”
Kathy blinked. “Why not?”
Lauren lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about it a lot,” she said. “He was interested, I’m sure of that. I left him a note at the hotel, but I never heard back.”
Kathy’s mouth dropped open. “That’s tragic.”
“Maybe,” Lauren said calmly. “Or maybe it’s just the universe reminding me not to hinge my happiness on someone I barely know.
” She took a sip of her coffee. “I spent the first few days of my vacation obsessing over whether he’d contact me.
Then I met all these wonderful people in Newport who welcomed me in without expecting anything.
” She shrugged. “Somewhere along the way I realized I want more of that in my life.”
Kathy slipped off the desk and nodded slowly. “Bravo.”
Lauren waved a hand. “I know, I know. You’ve been telling me this for months.”
Kathy smiled. “We all arrive at these big decisions in our own time.” She turned back toward her desk, then stopped again. “One more question.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “What now?”
“Did you actually RSVP yes to my friend’s New Year’s Eve party? She texted me last night.”
Lauren smiled at her screen. “I did.”
Kathy shook her head in disbelief. “Well,” she said, laughing as she returned to her desk, “will wonders never cease. You really did come back a changed woman.”