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After bidding Lucy goodbye and corralling Matty and Tom back inside, Kat stood behind her front door and stared through the peephole at the unit across the hallway. Should she go over there? Her new neighbor hadn’t acted as though she would welcome an interruption, but curiosity burned inside her. She had to know what the woman had been doing with Andrew. Were they romantically involved? Was Andrew gearing up to end things with Kat at this very minute? She was hoping Valentine’s would be the day Andrew finally told her he loved her, not the day he dumped her back into the singles pool.
Cold tendrils of fear snaked through Kat’s insides. Although she considered herself to be independent, she also still harbored a deep-seated fear of abandonment, a carryover from a childhood spent in foster care. If Andrew broke up with her . . .
Kat shook the thought from her head. She had no proof that Andrew planned to leave her, and she was going to drive herself crazy if she continued to speculate. What she should do was call Andrew. Get an explanation directly from the source.
She just wished she wasn’t so terrified of what that explanation would be.
Tom broke into her thoughts with a meow. She looked down to see him eyeing the door. He probably figured Kat standing sentinel meant a potential stomach scratcher was due to arrive any minute.
She crouched down to pet him. “I hate to be the one to break this to you, Tom, but if our new neighbor does come over, I don’t think she’ll be interested in giving you any belly rubs. She didn’t strike me as a cat person.”
Tom’s eyes widened in apparent disbelief.
“How a person can’t like cats is beyond me, too,” Kat commiserated. “But you saw how she walked right by you when we were out in the hallway.”
Tom flopped onto the floor and curled his front paws close to his chest, peeking at Kat with his trademark ‘Aren’t I the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?’ look.
A flashback of Tom shooting Andrew the same look popped into Kat’s head. Andrew could never resist Tom’s pleading eyes. In fact, he had turned into one of Tom’s favorite people to hit up for attention.
The reminder of how fond Andrew was of Matty and Tom made the notion of him being charmed by her cat-snubbing neighbor seem ridiculous. At any rate, it gave Kat the boost of courage she needed to call him.
Springing to her feet and storming past a startled Tom, Kat snatched her cell phone off of the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. Tom leapt up to join her, watching as she pressed the speed dial for Andrew’s number. From the tilt of his head, he seemed to know something was up.
Kat tapped her foot on the carpet as she waited for Andrew to answer. After four rings, voicemail picked up. She hung up and tried again with the same result.
“It looks like we’re going to have to seek out our new neighbor for answers,” she told Tom, jumping up and tucking her phone in her jeans pocket.
Tom’s ears pricked as he rose to join her.
“Except maybe I’d better go alone,” Kat amended, giving him a few head pats. “Don’t worry. You’ll get a full report when I return.”
Tom seemed content with that plan. He dragged his cheek over her fingernails, a low purr rumbling from his chest.
With a goodbye scratch to Matty, Kat grabbed her keys and headed into the hallway.
She stopped outside the door across the hall, taking a deep breath to compose herself before depressing the doorbell. While she waited, she worked out how best to broach the subject of Andrew. ‘Keep your hands off my man’ struck her as a tad too confrontational and would likely result in a slammed door in her face, which was the last thing she wanted. No, if she hoped to walk away with an explanation, she would need to remain civil.
It seemed to take forever for the door to open, and when it did it was only a crack. Kat could barely make out the woman’s face through the gap.
“Yes?” the woman said.
“Hi.” Kat scrounged up a smile. “I came over to introduce myself. I’m your neighbor across the hall.”
The woman didn’t move. Was that because she knew about Kat’s ties to Andrew? She probably hadn’t expected Kat to confront her directly.
“May I come in?” Kat asked, doing her best to sound friendly and nonthreatening.
The door shut, prompting Kat to wonder if she’d just been dismissed. But then she heard the scrape of a metal chain lock being unhooked. When the door opened a second time, the woman was smiling. The sight caused Kat’s stomach to clench a little. With smooth, ivory skin and full lips, her new neighbor really was pretty.
“I’m Sheila,” she said, motioning Kat inside.
Kat stepped over the threshold. “Kat.”
Sheila scanned the hallway before securing the door. Kat found it interesting that she flipped the deadbolt and slid the chain lock back into place. She had figured Sheila wouldn’t want any barriers slowing her down when it came time to banish Kat from her apartment.
Sheila gestured toward the living room. “You’re welcome to sit.”
The apartment’s layout was a mirror image of Kat’s own one-bedroom unit. However, with only two rather beat-up folding chairs occupying the living area, the space looked much larger. There wasn’t even a coffee table or television present, let alone any items that might hint at Sheila’s personality. Although, Kat considered, Sheila’s lack of possessions might actually be a reflection of her personality in itself.
Kat thought about sitting in one of the chairs but dismissed the option when Sheila leaned against the wall. Having Sheila towering above her during this conversation wouldn’t help to banish her nerves.
Needing some distance, Kat crossed her arms over her chest and wandered over to the opposite side of the room. “So,” she said, “you’re new to Cherry Hills, huh?”
Instead of answering, Sheila asked, “How long have you lived here?”
“I grew up here.” Kat left out how she’d moved away after high school and had only returned this past summer. If Sheila intended to reveal as little about herself as she could get away with, Kat wasn’t going to volunteer anything she didn’t have to either.
Sheila crossed her ankles. “You must know everyone in town then.”
“I know quite a few people.” There were also quite a few townspeople whom Kat didn’t know, but she didn’t feel compelled to point that out. “You know how it is in small towns.”
Sheila nodded, and they lapsed into silence. Kat twined her fingers together. What now?
She squared her shoulders, deciding to skip the small talk and just go for it. “So, Sheila—”
A loud knock on the door cut her off. Sheila looked slightly panicked as she straightened away from the wall and rushed over to peer through the peephole. She stood there for so long that Kat started to question whether she planned to open the door. Maybe she didn’t intend to let anyone in while Kat was here.
Which made perfect sense if Andrew was the person currently standing outside.
The thought scorched through Kat’s body like a bolt of lightning. Could Andrew really be here, having snuck over for a visit?
“Hello?” a male voice called out.
Kat pressed one hand against her racing heart. Not Andrew.
“That’s Larry, the landlord,” she told Sheila. Except, Sheila had to already know that, given that she’d signed a lease with the man.
Sheila didn’t acknowledge Kat’s statement, but she did undo the locks and open the door. “Yes?”
Larry, a burly, bald, middle-aged man, grinned. “Hiya.”
Kat joined Sheila by the door. “Hi, Larry.”
“Kat, good, you’re here, too. While I’ve got both your gals’ attention, I’d like to extend a very cordial invitation to our building mixer this evening.”
“Mixer?” Sheila said.
“Mixer, meet-and-greet, whatever you wanna call it. Just drinks and snacks in the lobby starting at seven. Nothing fancy.” Larry shook one stubby finger at Kat. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t throw a mixer when you moved in. But I wasn’t at full capacity then. Now that I’ve rented out my last unit, I can afford to treat you folks.”
“That’s nice of you,” Kat said. “Except you still have one vacant unit left, the one next to this one.”
“Nope. I’m proud to report that as of today, that unit is occupied. The third floor is now officially home to four lovely ladies.” He chuckled. “Sounds like that would be a good premise for a TV show, huh?”
Sheila apparently didn’t appreciate Larry’s humor. “Since you have money to burn, perhaps you should consider investing in a security system.”
Larry swayed backward, as though startled by her suggestion. “A security system?”
Sheila rapped on the door with her knuckles. “Anyone could bust through these flimsy doors, and that includes the building entrance downstairs.”
Larry flapped his hand. “Eh, that’s your Seattle mindset talking. You’re in Cherry Hills now! We don’t need nothing like that here.”
“Security is important anywhere.”
“I’ll give you that.” Larry rubbed his chin. “Tell you what, I’ll look into getting a better lock fitted on the main door. Would that put you at ease?”
Sheila fingered the chain lock. “Something sturdier than this wouldn’t hurt either.”
“That’s a leftover from the couple that used to live here,” Larry informed her. “Most of these units don’t have one of those, so consider yourself special.”
Sheila frowned at the chain lock. “Frankly, I can’t see this thing keeping anybody out. I’d feel much safer if you replaced it with a second deadbolt.”
“I’ll keep that under consideration.”
“Good.” Sheila paused. “Are we done here?”
Larry held up his palms as he backed away. “Don’t let me keep you. The mixer is all I came up for.”
“Thank you, Larry,” Kat said, smiling to ease some of the sting of Sheila’s dismissal. “I’ll see you later this evening.”
Larry tipped his head at her before retreating down the hall.
Sheila held the door open and turned toward Kat. “I presume we’re done, too.”
Kat hadn’t gotten the answers she had hoped for, but what could she do? Sheila’s hard expression made it clear she was no longer willing to chat.
Kat stepped into the hallway, then turned back around. “Maybe we can catch up—”
The door slammed in her face before she could finish the statement.
