On legs that felt like mush, Kat trudged to Amy’s office. She gave a soft knock, and Amy looked up from her desk. “You wanted to see me?” Kat asked.
“Come in and shut the door. Have a seat.”
Kat perched on a chair in front of the desk and hoped she didn’t look miserable. But she couldn’t muster a smile.
Amy leaned forward and placed her arms on the desk. “I know you’re disappointed. It was a tough choice. You have a lot of outstanding skills and qualities, and I’m sure your time will come.”
Kat swallowed hard. But when, and what else did she have to do?
“In the meantime,” Amy continued. “We need to adapt and make sure there’s as little disruption to day-to-day operations as possible.”
“Sure. When does the new person start?” Looking down, she brushed non-existent lint from her lap.
“Two weeks. The team will get an announcement in the next day or two.”
“Will Cassie still be here for training?” Or would Kat be training her new boss?
“We’ll have Cassie, me, and HR for that.”
“Who’s the lucky winner? That Blake guy?”
Amy’s face pinched slightly, and she sat back. “That will be in the announcement. I need you to welcome the new person to the team and give the same professional courtesy you’d give Cassie or anyone else.” Her brows rose. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”
“Of course not.” Kat forced a bright smile.
“Good, we’ve had a great team, and I don’t want that to change.”
“Sure,” Kat said softly. She didn’t trust herself to say more. Sensing the meeting was wrapping up, she pushed back her chair and stood. “Thanks, Amy.” What else could she say? Kat squared her shoulders and walked toward the door.
“You know, Kat.” Amy spoke again, forcing Kat to turn back.
“Yes?”
“You and the new person may not become good friends the way you and Cassie have, but I think if you give them a chance, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Them.Amy certainly was being careful with the pronouns to not give away any identity. “I’m sure they’ll be great,” Kat told her.Team player shifts into autopilot. As she made her way back to her own office, something about Amy’s tone made Kat wonder if she was resentful of the relationship between Kat and Cassie. They’d hit it off right away, but she’d never sensed that Amy felt left out. She was so much farther up the ladder, she had a different peer group.
Kat sank into her chair and blew out her breath. It was so tempting to take the rest of the day off. It was so tempting to book a flight to Colorado Springs. How she’d love to get lost in Nick’s arms right about now. The distance between her and Nick might as well be Earth to Mars.
* * *
Nick looked up from the stack of mail to find Trena waving at him.
She put a hand over the receiving end of the phone. “Someone on the phone from Denver Art Museum for you,” she whispered. “You want to take it?”
He didn’t remember hearing the shop phone ring. “Sure.” Probably just a fundraiser call, but he did have a few relationships there. He reached for the handset on his desk. “Nick Summers.”
“Hey, Nick. This is Lanie Sampson from Friends of the Denver Art Museum. How are you?”
Not anyone he knew. Nick cleared his throat. “Doing great. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’m calling to tell you that you’ve been nominated to be one of our bachelors in this year’s Summer Swing auction.”
Silence settled on the line while her words bounced around inside Nick’s brain. “Excuse me? I what?”
“You were nominated, and since you’re also a museum member, we’d love to have you on board. This is one of our most fun events. All you have to do is commit to being at the fundraiser on June seventh and agree to take your winner out for a nice dinner. You’ll come up on stage and mingle through the room, but the auction itself is silent.” She gave a little laugh. “So, don’t worry. No one will know which bachelor gets the highest bid.”
She finally paused. But Nick was still speechless. Who would do such a thing? And who would nominate him? Or, whose butt needed kicking?
