“So how do we stop the bleeding?” Franzi asked.

“I have a few ideas, but I need to do more research before I recommend anything. The stationery business is more complex than I thought.” Susanne strolled back into the living room, the phone pressed to her ear. “But we’re going to Paperworld next—” She paused in the doorway at the sight that greeted her.

The cat had gotten comfortable in her recliner and was now grooming himself.

“Oh, no, no, no. Shoo! That was not part of the agreement! Get your furry little ass off my recliner!”

Muesli glanced her way and then continued to lick his paw.

“Pardon me?”

Susanne burst out laughing. “Not you. I’m talking to the cat.”

“You got a cat? You? Are you working up to getting a girlfriend?”

“Hahahaha.” Susanne lifted the cat off the recliner, ignoring his protest, dried off the wet leather with a tissue from the coffee table, and sat before he could jump back up. “I don’t have a cat, and I don’t want a girlfriend right now.”

“So it’s an imaginary cat you’re talking to?”

“No. It’s real. It’s just not mine. It belongs to a neighbor, but it’s always trying to hang out here.”

Franzi chuckled. “You’ve got a feline stalker! And you thought your life in Freiburg would be boring. I was thinking of coming down next weekend to entertain you, but apparently, that’s not necessary.”

“I’d love that! Wait… Next weekend? Damn, that’s not going to work.”

“Hot date?” Franzi asked.

“I just told you. I’m not looking for a girlfriend or a date, especially not while I’m here. We’re going to be in Frankfurt on Saturday. There’s a trade show that’ll give me a better idea of where the stationery industry is going.”

“We?”

Her sister never missed much. “Anja and me.”

“Ah, the famous Anja,” Franzi said before Susanne could explain who she was.

“You’ve met her, of course.” Susanne kept forgetting that her sister had spent more time in Freiburg than she had.

“Not yet. I visit Uncle Nobby mostly on the weekends, when Anja isn’t there, and the one time I was in Freiburg for a week, she was out sick. But Uncle Nobby talks about her all the time. Don’t you ever call him?”

“Of course I do. On his birthday.”

While her sister lectured her on not keeping in touch with the family often enough, Susanne’s mind drifted. Should she ask Franzi what Uncle Norbert had told her about Anja?

And that would be important why? You’re here to keep an eye on the store, not its employees.

The cat chose that moment to jump up on her lap, probably adding more muddy paw prints to her already stained slacks.

“Hey, I’m not your cuddle buddy! Get off my lap!”