Chapter 27

Nora was beginning to panic about her job search. She figured she had about two months of living expenses in the bank before things got dire—as in learn-how-to-be-a-barista dire.

She had an idea, however. After applying to posted job openings for attorney positions around the state through the usual job search sites, she decided she'd start calling people she knew. But when she attempted to log in to work for her contacts list, access was denied.

She called James.

"Please tell me you found a job," James said instantly.

"I wish. I tried to log in for my contacts, but I can't get in."

"Yep, standard procedure. The moment someone leaves the firm, they change all the passwords and lock the doors."

"Hmm. Remember the malware attack we had last year?" she asked. "I printed a list of contacts and kept it with some other papers in the bottom right-hand drawer of my desk just in case. Can you get that for me?"

"Probably. I boxed up your stuff and put it in a storage closet in case people were sniffing around. Let me put you on hold and see if Sally moved it."

James clicked off and the elevator music played for several minutes. When he returned, he sighed into the phone. "Bad news. The box I labeled with your name is gone."

"Gone? Where did it go?"

"According to Sally, it went home with your dad. And get this... she said that he isn't assigning your office to anyone. He told her you'd be back."

Nora recoiled. She wasn't entirely surprised that he thought he could wait her out, but the thought of returning made her queasy. She realized her father didn't take her seriously. He probably thought she was having a tantrum and would come crawling back any day. It was infuriating.

"He doesn't believe you quit," James said.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "He thinks he can make me change my mind."

"Well, HR is carrying on like you've quit. They told me yesterday that when a new senior attorney is named, I'll have to move offices. To the second floor,Nora."

The second floor was where administration and accounting were housed. Nothing legal existed on that floor.

"So please hurry up and get a job."

"I'm trying," Nora said. "Trust me, I need it worse than you."

"Debatable. Okay, let me see if I can re-create your list from my files." He promised he'd be in touch.

She followed her call to James with a video call to her mother. This morning her mother was dressed in tennis togs.

"Mom... did Dad bring a box home with my name on it?" Nora asked.

"I hope the reason you are asking is because, praise God, you've come to your senses." She was walking through her enormous house, presumably on her way to her car.

"I have," Nora said.

Her mother stopped walking. "You're going back to work?"

"Not at November and Sons."

Her mother sighed wearily. She raised her arm to glance at her watch. "I've only got a few minutes, Nora, but really."

"Mom, I seriously quit. That's it. But I need that box."

"It most certainly is not it. He's still your father. You'll have to come for dinner Sunday if you want your box."

Nora laughed. "I don't think so."

"Well, I do," her mother said sternly. "Do you intend to never see him again? Or me?"

Nora hadn't thought that far ahead, but maybe. "I need some distance right now. I need to get on my feet, and when I do, maybe I can talk to him then. Mom, I really need what's in that box. Could you drop it off?"

"Absolutely not. I'm not driving through that gauntlet of homeless camps to get to your apartment. If you want it, you can come home and get it. Now listen, Nora—it could take you a very long time to get on your feet. You don't want to burn all your bridges. Come for dinner. You have my word your father won't bring it up. And I want your solemn promise you won't either."

"Who are you kidding?" Nora scoffed.

"I mean it," her mother said and brought the phone close to her face. "This is very important to me. I'm not losing my daughter over this. Dinner will be only family."

"Which I presume means Lacey but not Gus."

Her mother pressed her lips together and neither confirmed nor denied. "I am asking you as the person who gave you life, as the one who loves you, to please come to dinner. I can't bear this."

For God's sake.Nora really needed that box. "Fine."

"Good. And now I'm off." She clicked off before Nora could change her mind.

Since she was tackling family this morning, Nora called Lacey. Surprisingly, Lacey picked up. "Hey!"

"Hey, yourself. Are you going to Sunday dinner with Mom and Dad?"

"As if I would ever hear the end of it if I didn't. Are you?"

"Yeah. Mom is holding my work papers hostage. Anyway, that's not why I'm calling. I wanted to make dinner for you next Tuesday if you're free."

"Dinner," Lacey repeated, as if she'd never heard the word.

"Yes, dinner. Do you have plans?"

"Um..."

Lacey sounded like she was trying to think of a plan.

"I'm going to cook for you," Nora said quickly before her sister shut her down. "I'll come to you."

Lacey was silent.

"Hello?"

"Sorry, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that you're offering to cook."

"Well... that's the plan, anyway. You're my little sister and I want to do this for you. But at your house, in a real kitchen."

"Huh."

Nora's hopefulness was beginning to fade. Why did everything have to be so hard right now? "Could you maybe sound a little more excited or something?"

"Okay. I will admit I'm intrigued. But I don't have the stamina right now to get my hopes up that we're going to be friends, only to have you flake on me."

Nora winced. "Okay, that hurts."

"You've done it before."

"For the record, I didn't flake. I battled depression, remember? I'm just asking you to give me a chance." She curled her hand into a fist to keep from buzzing, her nails biting into the skin, waiting for Lacey to answer. She could hear shouting in the background and the wail of traffic and sirens on the street. Then Lacey said, "Sure. I'm being cautious, that's all. I've had enough with the letdowns lately."

"Understood. But, Lacey... trust me when I say I'm not the old Nora anymore."

"We'll see," Lacey said. "But I accept your gracious offer. See you Sunday at Mom and Dad's?"

Unfortunately, she would.

***

Nora spent the next afternoon at the tax appraiser's office, learning what she could about Catherine's property. She spent another day writing cover letters and sending out résumés. In the evenings, she kept tabs on her social media posts about Jack. And there was the garden, always needing her attention.

Today, after a trip there, she stopped in at Nick's. She showed him some leaves she'd clipped from one of her tomato plants. Nick examined the way the edges of the leaves were curling up. "Too much water," he said immediately. "Better hope you don't have root rot."

"Too much water? But the leaves were turning brown."

"You underwatered, and then you overwatered."

"Oh my God." Nora groaned and sank onto a small barstool he had at the counter. "I'm ruining it."

"You're learning it. No two garden plots are the same." He put two bulbs that looked like potatoes on the counter. "These are dahlia tubers, ready to sprout. Plant them just below the surface."

She looked at the tubers and shook her head. "I'll kill them. I'm a terrible gardener."

He cocked his head and looked at her. "What, you've never done anything hard before?"

"Growing tomatoes is not supposed to be hard."

"You're a novice. You'll learn. And the calla lilies?"

"Nothing."

"You've been keeping the soil moist?"

"I'm trying. But I can't be there every day. I soak it when I am."

"The plot has sun?"

"Plenty," she said morosely.

"Then the only thing you need is patience." He handed the leaf back to her. "And fertilizer. And a couple of dahlias to brighten your day."

"Yeah, well, I'm running a little thin on both these days."

He put a container of fertilizer on the counter between them.

"I let it go too long, Nick," she said and handed him her credit card. "I killed Grandpa's garden and now I can't bring it back." Her remorse for letting her grandfather down would never leave her—she'd regret it all her life.

Nick rang up the sale. "You remind me of the elephant with the rope."

She looked at him—was it a joke?

"Never heard that story? A long time ago, before people cared much what happened to animals, baby elephants were trained to stay put with a rope around their leg, staked to one spot. Just a thin garden-variety rope holding them to the post. They'd try to get free of it, but they weren't strong enough. The babies grew to adults, and still, all their keepers ever needed to keep them in place was that bit of rope. Because the elephants never believed they could break the rope."

Nora sighed. "Yeah, okay, I get it."

"There you go," he said with a hint of a smile. "You know, I was an elephant once, stuck in a small town with no job. Had no money. Thought I'd never break free."

"Until you believed you could?" She smiled wryly.

"No," he scoffed. "I knew I could. I just needed to save up a few hundred bucks and buy a plane ticket. Your card has been declined."

Nora blinked. "What?"

"Declined."

"That can't be right."

Nick ran the card again. And again, it came up as declined.

She'd paid the bill, hadn't she? She'd never had a card declined, couldn't imagine how it had happened. A flutter of fear ran through her—she'd screwed up somewhere. She reached into her wallet for money for the fertilizer as she tried to think.

Nick gave her change, then went into the back while she stared into space trying not to panic. He returned with two small pots. "I cut these bell pepper plants for you. I'm giving you only two, because you can't plant willy-nilly, Nora. Gardens require careful planning. You don't want to find yourself with the same dead spot next spring that you had this spring, do you now?"

Lord help her if she found herself in the same dead spot next year.

He handed her a can of iron supplement. "That's complimentary. If you have time, go now and apply this."

"I will. Thanks, Nick," she said. "I'll pay you back, I promise." Her whole body ached with worry. She gathered her things and started out.

"Read the instructions," Nick called after her. "And don't you dare give up!"