“She quit.”
“She… quit?” These words do not make sense to me.
“Oh.” He pauses, frowns sadly at me with tight lips. “You didn’t know.”
“No. I had no idea.”
He draws in a breath and squints at me. “There are movers at the inn.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No!” I say it forcefully. “I was literally just at home an hour ago. We weren’t packing. We’re not moving!”
“I…” He hesitates. “I got a call from campus security. The movers arrived thirty minutes ago and no one was there, so he let them in. They are packing up your apartment as we speak.”
“What?” I stand up.
“Sit,” he commands. “We’re not done here. And as you can see by my reception area, I have a lot of other issues to deal with this morning.”
“But my stuff is—”
“I’ll make a call.” He slides his hand inside his suit coat, pulls out his phone, and taps the screen. “Yes. Can you please tell me what is happening at the Hunter apartment?” He nods to whatever the other person is saying. Looks at me. Looks away. “Thank you.” He ends the call. “I’m afraid it’s all loaded on the truck. They just pulled away.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “That’s not possible! No one can pack up an entire apartment in thirty minutes.”
“You didn’t own the furniture. It was just clothes and such?”
“Yeah, but—”
“I’m afraid it’s gone. Your mother did have plans.” He shrugs. “I’m sure it will all arrive safely.”
“Arrive where?”
“I don’t know.” He must see the panic on my face because he says, “I’ll make a call and find out for you. Don’t worry.”
“What? No! This is not happening!”
He holds up a finger. “Give me a moment, please.” He makes his call without waiting for my approval. “Sheriff, can you run down a truck for me? It just left the Alumni Inn with Cadee Hunter’s things inside it.” He listens for a moment. “Oh.”
“What?”
“Oh. I see.”
“What? What is he saying?”
The Chairman hushes me with a sharp look. “OK. I will let her know. Thank you.”
“Let me know what?”
“Well, apparently you were moving to North Dakota.”
I laugh. There is simply nothing else to do.
“I’m serious, Cadee. That truck is on its way to North Dakota. The sheriff already looked into it. He thought it was suspicious as well, but they produced paperwork. Your mother bought a house there.”
“In North Dakota?”
“Yes.” He looks concerned for a moment. “It’s an odd choice. Isn’t it?”
“Odd? No. This is crazy. None of this is happening. Tell the sheriff to make them turn around.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. There is no legal reason.”
“The legal reason is that they stole my stuff!”
He frowns at me. “Cadee, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to be so… combative. You’ve never been a problem before.”
“What?” I just blink at him.
But before I can string together some sort of cognizant response to that completely bizarre statement, he says, “Your things were not stolen. The movers and packers had a work order. It was all done in good faith.”
“Chairman Valcourt, respectfully, my mother is dead! Her orders don’t matter anymore.”
He walks across the room and takes the seat across from me at the tea table. “I didn’t want to bring this up, but this move was spelled out in the will.”
“What?” I just stare at him. “No. It wasn’t. I went to the reading a few days ago. I was there. I inherited… well, nothing. We didn’t have anything. But—” I shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “That doesn’t even make sense. Why would—”
“Listen, Cadee.” He makes one of those smiles that is nothing but clenched teeth. Like he’s got something to add to that, but he doesn’t want to. Then he inhales quickly and reaches across the table and takes both my hands in his. I’m so startled, I pull away. But he just grips them tighter. “I’m not sure any of this matters.”
“What are you talking about? Of course it matters! You’re telling me that my life was just packed up in a truck and it’s now on its way to North Dakota!”
“Perhaps you have relatives there?”
“I do not!”
“Stop it now, Cadee.”
A chill runs down my arms. I don’t like the way he’s saying my name.
“You’re going to work yourself up into a frenzy, Cadee. And there is no point in that.”
“I’m—”
He lets go of my hand and the next thing I know two fingertips are touching my lips. I’m so startled that he did this, I go quiet immediately.
“Shh. Stop talking, Cadee. I’m telling you, this doesn’t matter. You will not be leaving for North Dakota. In fact, you will not be leaving this campus.” He pulls his fingers away.
“I won’t?”
“No. I called you here to make you an offer.”
I blink at him. Stunned. Desperately trying to catch up with this conversation because I feel like I’m still stuck on the words ‘North Dakota.’ “What kind of offer?”
“School, of course. I heard some rumors that you were having trouble getting accepted into the community college?”
“Oh.” I sigh, then look down and realize he’s still holding one of my hands. And his thumb is caressing my wrist. I swallow and look up. What the hell is happening?
“You don’t need community college, Cadee.”
“I don’t?”
He’s still caressing my wrist and I’m trying to come up with an idea to make him stop when he says, “No. You’re going to college here.”
“I am?”
“Yes. We have a special scholarship program. A summer internship. In the kitchen of the Glass House.”
“The what?” I’ve never heard of this place. And I’ve lived on this campus my whole life.
“There is a lake across the lake.” He smiles at me. I want to pull my hand out of his, but it’s like he’s reading my mind and grips just a little tighter. “Behind my mansion. You’ve probably never been over there.”
“I haven’t,” I admit.
“And a really interesting club house for the residents of Monrovian Lake Estates. We call it the Glass House because, well, it’s made mostly of glass. That’s where the job is. Would you like it?”
“The job?”
“All of it.” He finally lets go of my hand and leans back in his chair. Smiles at me. “The job, the scholarship. The education that will propel you into a completely different life.”
“Well… um. I guess? I mean, I wasn’t expecting this when I came up here, so I don’t quite know what to think about this.”
“Say yes.” He smiles again. “And then we’re done here. Your life is settled. I’m truly sorry for your loss, and I know this won’t make up for it, but anything I can do, just ask. I feel like you’re… one of mine. I’ve known you since you were born.”