She almost smiled. He still looked more like one of the guys she used to see
as a little girl hanging out on the park benches on the square, jawing about how
bad the Cubs were that year. Not the head of a multi-million-dollar international
corporation.
“You must be Kate,” he said in the same booming voice as he approached,
hand out.
“I must be,” she said, shaking it. “Kate Brady, from the Garman Group.”
He was studying her, eyes slightly squinted. “Your company said you used to
live in Golden Grove?”
Terrific. She briefly thought about lying. “Well, yes. A long time ago. My parents are—”
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Joe and Emily Brady. That's right.” He grinned. “Always liked those two.”
She returned the smile weakly. “Mr. Wells, I think the Garman Group can help you make Nitrovex even more visible in your industry.” That's it. Get right
down to business.
John nodded. “I'm sure you can, I'm sure you can.” He spread his arms wide.
“Well, why don't we start by having our VP of Operations show you around? Get
the lay of the land? Then we can chat some more.” He peered past Kate's shoulder into the waiting area. “Looks like she's just arriving.”
VP of Ops? Uh-oh, and oh no. She'd done her research on the company and knew exactly who that was.
“Sorry I'm late, John,” a bright and disturbingly familiar voice said.
Kate turned and squinted into the morning sunlight that glanced through the
tall windows of the open lobby, hitting her teenage nemesis at just the wrong angle. Same long black hair and perfectly white smile. Just add twelve years, some crow's feet (yes! Even she gets old!), and a navy-blue business dress, and it was her, the Wispy Witch herself. Penny Fitch.
Penny was busy putting her sunglasses in her pocket and hadn't really taken
notice of her yet. Kate cleared her throat and waited. She'd expected to meet her
sooner or later but had hoped it would be later. Much later. As in, never.
But they were all adults now, right?
“Penny Fitch, this is—”
“—Kate Brady,” Penny enthused, her hand extended. “So good to see you
again!”
Was it? Was it really?
“Hi,” Kate said, shaking Penny's claw. You're a professional, remember?
“You two know each other?” said John.
“Sure,” Penny said. “Katie and I went to high school together.”
Kate had the odd thought of what Penny's head would like if it just
spontaneously exploded right now. Kind of messy, she guessed. But somewhat satisfying.
“Well, then, you two probably have a lot to talk about,” John said. “Kate, I'll
leave you in Penny's hands for a while.”
That thought caused her skin to creep sideways. “Okay,” she said, watching
John saunter away down the hallway.
She turned back to Penny. The blaring sun behind her made it look like she
had horns growing out of her head. Kate tried to smile but just grimaced.
Penny gave her a quick once over and a grin. “You look great, Kate. I almost
