Julie could picture Gram’s steady glare, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
“Maybe you should go to the hospital and get that cough checked out. You might have a chest infection.”
“It’s nothing, I promise. And I don’t want you to tell your parents otherwise. You know they’ll cut short Margaret’s big trip, and she’ll miss her gallery opening. That’s more important.”
Gram was still as stubborn as always.
“How’s the house?” Gram asked, changing the subject. “I hope you’re able to find everything you need.”
“I just found the Christmas decorations, so everything is going great.” Julie decided not to mention how dusty and run-down the place was. The run-down part she might not be able to do anything about, but she would be cleaning it until she could see her reflection in the hardwood floors so it would be perfect for Gram. “Oh, and you’ll never believe what happened!”
“Oh? What happened?”
“I found a cat in the basement.”
“A cat? You don’t say. I wonder how it got in.”
She didn’t sound particularly surprised. Julie tried not to take that as an omen. If a cat could find its way in through the basement, what else could crawl in there?
Resigned, she said, “I’ll check the basement for broken windows or holes. Maybe it came in through the old bulkhead or something.”
“Don’t you worry about it. I’m sure Bob can handle it. Have you called him yet?”
“Not yet. I’m waiting until morning. But I will, don’t worry.”
“Good.”
“And I’m bringing the cat to the shelter in the morning too. Mom said your friend Myrtle runs it?”
“Myrtle!” Gram exclaimed then started coughing again.
Julie pulled the phone away from her ear, holding her breath until Gram stopped. This time, the coughing fit didn’t last long.
Gram continued the conversation as if it had never happened. “Oh, I miss Myrtle. Are you sure you want to bring the cat to her, though? It will be good for you to have something to keep you company out there.”
Was that a joke? Julie was used to being alone. She lived alone in Boston, after all. What were a few days in a spooky house that seemed like it belonged in a scary movie?
But she actually didn’t believe that. This was the family inn. As run-down as it had become, as eerie as it was to see it empty with sheets over the furniture and dust on the floor, it was still a place of fond memories for her. And for the rest of her family too. When she was little, they’d always spent Christmas here at the inn. It was family tradition.
Besides, Gram seemed to be trying to distract from that latest coughing fit. “I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own,” Julie said. Then, trying not to sound too patronizing, she added, “Maybe you should go to bed early tonight, Gram. Rest. And promise me if that coughing gets worse, you’ll go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine, honey. Absolutely fine. But I’ll let you get back to your evening. Call if you need anything.”
“I will,” Julie promised. As she ended the call, an unsettling thought crept in. What if this was Gram’s last Christmas?
If so, Julie had better put on a party worth remembering. Feeling sick with worry, she put the cat carrier on the second-floor landing and headed back up to the attic for the decorations. She had a lot of work to do.
Chapter 5
Julie woke to silence. It was strange, not hearing the rumble of cars passing on the street, the angry calls from irritable people who hadn’t had their coffee yet, the barks of dogs. Boston was a city in motion, and that motion started very early in the morning. Julie had learned to fall asleep to that white noise.
Pinecone Falls was different. When she’d crawled into bed, she’d found the silence so unusual, that she’d found an app on her phone of white noise to fall asleep to. Not that it had helped much. Her internet connection, connected to her phone signal, had cut in and out, stopping the sound at intervals for the silence to creep back in. Finally, she’d fallen asleep.
Maybe it wasn’t entirely silent. If she strained her ears, she heard steady, soft breathing. She stirred, and the breathing came closer, followed by a warm weight on her head. A cat’s white, poufy tail batted at her face. Julie smiled. Maybe the cat was warming to her after all.
Sleepily, she stretched out an arm to pet the fluffy animal currently trying its best to suffocate her. The cat reared back, hind claws digging into Julie’s cheek. She yelped. The cat bolted, its paws making a soft thud as it landed on the floor.
With that brilliant start to the day, she soon realized that the bathroom didn’t have a first aid kit—she added it to her shopping list. The scratch wasn’t deep and hadn’t bled much, but she used toilet paper and water to clean it anyway. All this before coffee.
