Page 7

Centuries of people had wandered into this entryway before Paige. The building, a remnant of the city’s architecture from the early 1800s, had only had its floors updated once during the Roaring Twenties.

What had not been updated since the building’s construction was the access to the upper floors. With no elevator, Paige mounted the well-worn stairs and began her climb to the fourth floor. She readied her keys as she reached her floor and wandered down the hall to her apartment.

She admired the brass markers on her door. As she ran her fingers across them, the three at the end of her apartment number let loose, swinging downward and wobbling from the bottom tip of the number.

She narrowed her eyes at it as she righted the number and pounded it onto the door again before sliding her key into the lock and bursting through the door into her generous, yet dated, apartment.

She dropped her tote bag next to her entryway table where she dumped her keys. “Dickens!” she called, her voice echoing off the plaster walls. “Dicky! I’ve got big news!”

Paige flung her heels onto the floor and peeled off her blazer.

“Dickens! Don’t be coy! I don’t have much time.” She peeked into her living room, scanning her shabby couch and armchair but finding them empty.

Against the far wall, her beloved bookshelves rose from floor to ceiling around an ornate fireplace. She gave them a smile before she hurried into her bedroom.

She tossed the blazer onto her threadbare duvet before she crossed to her dresser and tugged open a drawer, digging for a tunic and leggings. As she hurried to her closet, she caught sight of herself in her standing full-length mirror, the only other splurge she’d made when she moved in, outside of her bookcases.

Her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped.

“Ugh!” she squealed. “How did I ever land the job looking like this?”

Her eyes roamed her person, noting the brown mud spots on her blouse, the dirt smudges on her skirt, and the two runners in her stockings. She tore off the clothes and stuffed them into a garbage bag instead of the hamper before she pulled on her red leggings and heart-patterned tunic sweater.

She pulled the bobby pins from her hair, allowing her red mane to cascade past her shoulders. After a shake, she ran her brush through it, smoothing it back into a high ponytail.

She retrieved a pair of riding boots from her closet and plopped on the bed to tug them on. As she zipped up the second boot, a mewling sounded. A furry head poked from under the mattress before crawling out and sitting at the edge of the area rug with his back to Paige.

“Dickens! There you are!”

The gray tabby twisted to glance back at her before returning his attention forward, licking his paw before raking it over his face.

“Well, hello to you, too,” Paige said with a roll of her eyes. “Nice of you to join me. At least I can tell you my big news before I leave.”

The cat glanced back at her again.

“I got the job!” Paige exclaimed, grinning at the cat. “Are you proud of me?”

The cat returned his gaze to the doorway.

“Well, I’m proud of me! Of course, then I fell down the stairs outside.” Paige rolled her eyes at herself as she pulled her glasses off and tossed them in the wastebasket before retrieving a new pair from her drawer. “Good thing I keep an extra set of these. Now I’ll have to order another backup pair.”

The cat mewled at her.

“Yes, I know, Dickens. I’m a klutz. A handsome stranger helped me though!”

The tabby twisted to glance at her again.

“For a second, I thought he was interested in me. But really, I was just leaning on his foot, and he couldn’t move.”

Heat rose into Paige’s pale cheeks as she recalled the embarrassing incident.

“Anyway,” she continued, setting her foot down on the worn area rug under her bed, “they offered me the job on the spot!”

She grinned at the tabby as he flicked a narrow-eyed glance at her. Her grin quickly faded, replaced by a consternated expression.

“Why did they offer me the job? That was kind of weird. Especially since they said I wasn’t qualified.”

With a deep exhale, the cat sauntered from the room. Paige puckered her lips at the animal as he sashayed out the door, pausing a moment to rub his whiskers against the jamb.