“She can’t fire him,” Julia assured her. “Can you imagine her trying to mow the fields? Or muck the stall?”
This caused Pippa to giggle, so Julia went on. “Besides, we wouldn’t let her fire him.” She could feel Wendell’s eyes on her.
“Well, I’d best get up to that meeting,” he said. “You girls enjoy the day.”
Julia watched Wendell stroll down the path to the big barn. What a surprise adults could be. But what was more of a surprise was how Pippa had talked to him. “Hey, Pips, do you like Wendell?”
Pippa was busy scooping grain into her hands. “?’Course.”
Julia waited ten minutes. By then Raddy had eaten his fill of grain, and she was almost certain Wendell would have been invited in and the adults would be retired to her father’s office. “Let’s go up to the house,” she said. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“I like it out here,” Pippa said.
“Raddy’s had enough. Wendell’s right, you will make him fat. We don’t want him getting a bellyache. C’mon. We can play Barbies.”
“Really?” Pippa’s eyes grew wild with excitement. The promise of playing Barbie was Julia’s golden ticket, and it worked like magic every time. It was something the sisters used to do together years ago. Desperate for a playmate, Julia would sometimes allow Pippa to join her in the playroom, but inevitably, she’d get annoyed because Pippa would strip all the dolls naked and mess up the DreamHouse she’d arranged just so. It didn’t last long; because of their age difference, by the time Pippa was old enough to appreciate the DreamHouse, Julia had outgrown it. But that didn’t mean Pippa didn’t occasionally beg her to play. As such, Julia reserved it for dire circumstances.
“Yes,” Julia agreed. “If you play Barbies very quietly up in your room—and promise not to come downstairs—I will play with you. But first I have to take care of something.”
Pippa was already halfway to the door. “Let’s go!”
Back in the house, Julia set Pippa up in her bedroom with the pink DreamHouse, a bowl of crackers, and a glass of apple juice. “I’ll be right back,” she promised.
Pippa jumped up and put her hands on her hips. “Hey, no fair. You said you’d play, too.”
“I will, I will. But I have to do something downstairs first. Promise you’ll play quietly up here, okay?”
Pippa scowled. “You better come right back.”
Julia put her finger to her lips. “Before you know it!”
Downstairs, she crept through the kitchen and down the hall to her father’s study. How many times had she burst into that room to ask a question, share a story, show him a blue jay’s feather she’d found by the lake? Now, crouching outside his closed door, she missed him more than ever.
Muffled voices came from inside the study, and she knelt, listening.
Mr. Banks had a deep voice. “I understand your concerns, Ms. Lancaster. Which is why I’ve drafted this contract as per our previous conversation.”
Julia pressed her ear gently to the door to hear Candace, whose voice was much softer. “Good. Please show Mr. Combs where we’ve made provisions for his bonus.”
Mr. Banks spoke softly so that Julia couldn’t hear all of it, but she caught the tail end. “Ms. Lancaster proposed a bonus of fifty thousand dollars in addition to your annual salary to tide you over once the place is sold.”
Sold?Julia sat up.
There was a long pause.
At first Julia wasn’t sure if Wendell was in there. Perhaps they hadn’t invited him into the meeting yet. She glanced nervously down the hall behind her.
Then, “Well, Mr. Combs? Can we count on your discretion?” It was Candace talking. “Saybrook is a very small community. We don’t want word of our plans getting out before the property is listed.”
Julia’s heart began to pound. Her father owned several properties in town, from the small shopping center in the village to the gas station. There was no need to panic, she told herself. No one had said anything about White Pines. She leaned closer to the door, straining to hear more.
Finally, Wendell spoke. “As I said before, my word is good, Ms. Lancaster. But I do have one question.”
“Yes?” Candace’s tone was impatient.
Wendell’s was full of concern. “When will you tell the children?”
ThirteenWendell
