Also, I had forgotten to download Ryan’s résumé. But I had one other salient point to attend to first.
Ryan G. Moon,
The word is resumé with the accent mark over the e. Without it, the word is simply resume. Which the dictionary defines as: to take up or go on with again after interruption; continue. Example: to resume a journey.
Sincerely,
Preston Michael Shaw, Esquire
Her response took all of three-point-five minutes.
To whom it may concern:
You forgot the accent mark on the first e. It should be résumé.
Insincerely,
Ryan G. Moon
This time, I did not answer her missive. Instead, I summoned Ms. Finley via the phone’s intercom. “My office, please.”
That please constricted my throat.
She knocked and appeared in my doorway, without seeming the slightest bit contrite. “Yes?”
“Sit.”
She sat. Waited. Blinked innocently.
“Do you have some rapid-fire system that allows you to forward my emails to your friend in an instant? I’ve never seen anyone reply so quickly.”
April’s lips twitched. “She’s very conscientious.”
Now there was no doubting my throat was tight. “She?”
“Why, yes. Didn’t you realize? Ryan is a woman.” Now she did smile, widely. “She can’t wait to meet you.”
Two
“Are you sure you won’t take a kitten?”
I forced myself to smile for Tracy, one of the head volunteers at Kitten Around, one of our local cat shelters. “You know my lifestyle isn’t conducive to pets, unfortunately.”
That didn’t seem likely to change.
It had been four days since April’s surprise vacation announcement and my introduction to Miss Moon—I still hadn’t gotten over the fact she was female, which said something about me I didn’t care to entertain—and subsequent email exchange.
Since then, April had not decided to cancel her vacation. She hadn’t decided to select another, likely more suitable friend to fill in for her.
All she’d done was clock out for the week with a jaunty smile, a wave, and a promise to send a postcard. Yippee.
And Ryan was still coming to work for me on Monday. Assuming she could make it in eventually, since mornings were so iffy and all.
“I know, since you’re so busy. You have so many high-powered cases. So much responsibility and influence.” Tracy’s smile turned feral at the edges, accompanied by a lot of blinking her clearly faux eyelashes. “No time for a wife either?”
If I’d had a tie, she might’ve reached out and stroked it. Not the first time from her or others. My tie seemed to be a magnet for wandering female hands. Probably because I tended to wear ones in bright colors that drew the eye.
I’d pocketed today’s tie on the walk in from my car. I’d had a very long day, and the shelter was about to close. If I’d been thinking sensibly, I would’ve just gone home for a burger on the grill and my requisite single glass of Maker’s Mark every Friday evening. Never two. Always just one, no matter how arduous the week had been.