Something about her posture said that I shouldn’t move closer. “It’s been a long time.”

Her expression said not long enough. “Your father’s recovering?”

This was an odd question, since Ella should know how he was doing. In fact, if I knew Dad, he was probably sneaking phone calls to her every morning to check on things at Gracey Group.

“He’s not happy about the diet or the cardiac rehab ahead, but he’s gritting his teeth. He looks a little better every day.”

She didn’t reply.

“How about you?” I asked. “Are you keeping up with everything in the office without him?” And without my sister, I added silently.

Her expression darkened. “I guess you don’t know. I was fired. I haven’t worked for Gracey Group for three months. I’m a part-time receptionist for a dentist.”

I wanted to dive into the nearest display. “No one told me.”

“I guess they didn’t think it was important.” She paused. “And I guess it wasn’t. Not to them.”

“This is hard to imagine. I’m so sorry.”

“Well, I’m glad you are.” She nodded, then she disappeared down the next aisle.

In my head I calculated how long Ella had worked for my father. Twenty-five years? Even more? I couldn’t imagine what had happened to end that long, productive relationship, but I knew I couldn’t ask and upset my father at this delicate juncture of his life. I filed it away as one more thing to worry about.

Back at home I debated plowing through more proposals for Out in the Cold’s next season, but with the clock ticking and Christmas right around the corner, I had to concentrate on finding my sister. Uncovering more about her situation might not guarantee she would be home for the holidays, but at least I would have a better idea what, if anything, I could do.

I made a snack and, using a powerful search engine that flirted with sites on the dark web, I started looking for Milton Kerns. I had to exercise more care than usual, but dark web or not, nothing valuable came up.

After a futile hour I made lunch before picking up the search again afterward, this time resorting to a private investigator database. By the time one o’clock rolled around, my eyes were so bleary I shut my laptop and took Bismarck for a run. The two of us returned to find Sophie waiting at my front door.

I gave her a hug after assuring Biz she was a friend. “You didn’t say you were coming. Is everything okay?”

“Couldn’t be better.” She practically glowed. “Hello, Bismarck.” She leaned over and held out her hand. “Are you taking good care of everybody?”

He wagged his tail as he sniffed her hand, then wagged some more. Sophie looked up at me. “This is not a dog any man would allow out of his sight unless he had a personal interest in the outcome.”

I unlocked the door and escorted her inside. “Don’t start.”