Free License to Shop by Kelly McClymer Page A

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brushes is already maxed out.”
    No one laughed. I guess
adopting the puppy did not get me even one point. That seemed
unfair.
    The young man was Robert
Quartermaine, the star Admissions Counselor du jour. He was almost
as movie-star handsome as James Connery, the green-eyed FBI agent
I’d had to deal with last month, when I was dragooned into looking
for a serial killer.
    Robert’s eyes were not
green, they were a warm hazel, but the rest of him was on par with
Agent Connery. He dressed well, in a tweed blazer that matched the
color of his eyes, and when he shook my hand, I noticed he wore a
gold signet ring, with a square-cut aquamarine in it. I couldn’t
make out the engraving on the ring, but I assumed it was a
fraternity ring. The perfect accessory for an Admissions
counselor.
    He was obviously
Henriette’s pet, and he knew how to curry favor with her. But he
also seemed to like me. He was warm, friendly, asked lots of
questions, and even volunteered that he’d had Seth for freshman
Physics when he was an undergrad.
    The interview went well
enough. They asked questions. I answered them without sounding like
an idiot. I asked questions, they answered them as if they were
good questions.
    I could swear Robert
Quartermaine was in my corner. But then, I could also swear that he
thought Henriette Stubbs walked on water, which seemed like dubious
judgment to me.
    By the time I stood up to
leave, I was sure of one thing. I could manage to get through an
interview without looking like a total loser. But did that mean I
looked like the right candidate for the job?
    “ We’ll be in touch,” Dr.
Stubbs said. The words, again, were fine. But the sentiment
underlying them seemed to be regret that she’d have to be in
touch.
    As I started to walk out,
she said, “By the way, tell your husband that I’ll be delighted to
attend his get-together.”
    Robert Quartermaine joked,
“Molly! You’re having a party and you didn’t invite me? Tell me it
isn’t so.”
    I managed to turn and
smile at Dr. Stubbs as I processed what she said. “Great. I look
forward to seeing you.” I smiled at Robert and Dina. “You two are
welcome to drop by, too, if you like.” Seth had invited my
potential new boss to our dinner party Friday night? Was that good?
Or bad? I needed advice. Fast.
    Dina said she had other
plans, fortunately. Robert, on the other hand, seemed embarrassed
that his joke had gotten him an invitation. “I was kidding,
Molly.”
    “ No, really,” I assured
him. “Seth would love to catch up with a former student who knows
all about the incoming freshman.”
    His smile was warm and
mesmerizing. “Then I look forward to it.”
    And I looked forward to
getting the job and working with him. It was Dr. Stubbs I wasn’t
sure about.
    As soon as I waved goodbye
to Kecia, who was surrounded by a cloud of eager young high school
students, I called Dierde. “Can you talk?”
    “ Absolutely. I have
surgery all day tomorrow, so today’s prep work will be light. Want
to meet for coffee?”
    “ Thank you!”
     
    “ Molly, this is a good thing,” Deirdre reassured
me, with some amusement. “She’ll get to see you in a more informal
context. And I’m so proud of you for reaching out to your new
colleagues. That’s the way to network, just like we talked about.
Everyone will love you.”
    Love me? Not likely. Think
I was up for the job? Possibly. That was my fear. Informal suburban
chaos didn’t seem like the kind of thing to impress Henriette
Stubbs. And no matter how much cleaning got done, my house was not
going to rise above chaos status for very long. Four people and a
new puppy can do a lot of damage to order in a very short
time.
    “ I’m not sure. It’s one
thing to be the kind of wife who can throw a party for my husband’s
colleagues. But when one of them may — or may not — be my future
boss, things really get sticky.”
    “ Yes, they do,” she said,
suddenly getting serious. “Which is why you