Dani had never been able to live up to her father’s standards of beauty and charm. In her dad’s eyes, she didn’t come close to her mother’s perfection. But living up to the memory of the gorgeous woman he’d loved and lost at such a young age was an impossible goal for his daughter to meet.
Breaking into Dani’s depressing thoughts, Ivy said, “When Dr. Detestable threw such a fit when you posted a picture of the two of you, I knew he was hiding something.”
“You’re right.” Dani swallowed the painful lump in her throat. “And working in human resources, I certainly should have thought to investigate his social media presence more thoroughly.”
“Speaking of which…” Ivy popped a third, or maybe fourth, cookie in her mouth, then mumbled, “Last week, when you announced that you had turned in your resignation, you never said why you were bailing on your job.
“It’s hard to explain.” Dani paused, distracted by Ivy’s moans of appreciation at the cookie’s peanut butter and coconut flavor. Finally, Dani said, “I really didn’t have much choice. I had to resign. I was turning into someone I hated.”
She paused, thinking about the reason behind the reason—the one she couldn’t share with Ivy. Even if she hadn’t signed a nondisclosure agreement, she wouldn’t have told her young friend about what she’d been forced to do. Although she’d resisted the CEO’s directive to dissolve an entire department and sweep a scandal under the rug, in the end, she’d gone ahead and followed orders that she knew were morally wrong—something she’d never allow herself to do again.
“Oh?” Ivy tilted her head. “Who were you turning into that was so bad?”
“A sycophant.” Dani spit out the words as if they were covered with slime.
“Huh?” Ivy’s confused expression morphed into an accusing glare. “You just made that word up.”
“I swear it’s a real word.” Dani hid her smile. Ivy was brilliant in the sciences, technology, and math, but her vocabulary lagged behind. Searching her mind for a relatable example, Dani said, “It means acting like someone’s minion.”
“Oh.” Ivy nodded sagely. “But how did you know you’d been minionized?”
Dani chuckled, then explained, “It was pretty damn clear that I was burned out. I mean, what kind of person hears that over the weekend their boss died of a heart attack and their first thought is, ‘Gee, I guess we won’t be having our usual Monday morning chew-out session after all’?”
“Yeah. Even if the guy was a hater, that was cold.” Ivy used her tongue to rescue a crumb from the corner of her lips and frowned. “Which isn’t like you at all.”
“That’s what worried me. At that moment, I knew that if I stayed, I’d only become more and more of a corporate zombie.” Dani blew out a breath. “Originally, I’d thought by being in HR, I could make a difference in people’s lives. Welcome new employees. Solve problems. Make the company stronger. But that didn’t happen.”
“Why?” Ivy played with one of the bright-pink wisps of hair scattered among her long, blond strands.
“Probably because I was working for the wrong firm,” Dani confessed. “There’s so much employee turnover, all I ever got to do was review résumés. After my inappropriate reaction to my boss’s death, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I couldn’t stand to read one more stupid response on a job application.”
“Like the one you told me about?” Ivy giggled. “The guy who circled no to the ‘Have you ever been arrested?’ question, then felt the need to explain?”
“Exactly.” Dani rolled her eyes. “He was doing so well until he got to the next question. Who knew a single word like ‘why’ would trip up someone so badly? If he would have just ignored it. But for some reason, he filled in the blank with ‘Never been caught.’”
Both women laughed until they were gasping for air. They were still breathless when the doorbell rang.
“Do you think we were too loud?” Ivy asked, swallowing the last of her giggles. “Mrs. Edwards keeps reminding us of the ‘no noise’ clause in our lease.”
“In an apartment building full of college students, I doubt the manager would consider us her biggest problem.” Dani patted her friend on the shoulder, then headed down the hallway.
Dani looked out the peephole and saw a young man dressed in a dark uniform and wearing a baseball cap that read GUARDIAN DELIVERY SERVICE.
Raising her voice, she said, “May I help you?”
“I have a package for Danielle Sloan.”
Ivy had followed Dani to the foyer, and she snickered, “Have you been ordering kitchen stuff from the Food Channel again?”
Dani shook her head, unlocked the dead bolt, and opened the door a few inches.
“You need to sign for it, ma’am.” The deliveryman thrust a digital clipboard through the gap.
Dani scrawled her signature, and the guy handed her an envelope with Confidential stamped on both sides. Thanking him, she locked up and returned to the sofa.
“What is it?” Ivy stood in front of her, bouncing like she was doing a Tigger imitation.
Having become used to Ivy’s extreme nosiness, Dani didn’t miss a beat as she answered, “It’s from a local law firm.”
“Aren’t you going to look inside?” Ivy dropped down beside Dani.
“I guess so.” Dani’s heart was racing.
Was her ex-employer coming after her? She’d kept her part of the bargain. She hadn’t said a word to anyone about the real basis for her resignation.
“Then do it before I die of curiosity,” Ivy demanded.
Frowning, Dani slid her finger beneath the sealed flap and ripped it open. After a quick scan of the letter on top, she said, “It seems that I’ve inherited a house and the attorney for the deceased would like to meet with me at
