Page 40 of A Recipe Called Home

After a few moments of silence, she asked, “How’s your mother?” It was the first time Grandma Rosa had mentioned Barb in the last few weeks.

“She seems good. Better than I’ve seen her in a long time,” responded Jules. “She’s going to school to be a vet tech, you know.”

Grandma Rosa’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Well, that’s nice, I suppose. Where is she living now?”

“She’s in Naperville. Living by herself. Well, I guess with a cat, too.”

“Oh. I don’t think she’s ever lived alone.”

Knowing this could be an opportunity to help heal things between her mother and her grandma, Jules treaded lightly. “She seems happy and determined to finish her studies while working. I’m cautiously optimistic.”

“Hmm. We’ll see,” Grandma Rosa said, rising from her chair. “I’m going to call it a night and get some shut-eye. You should, too.”

“I’m right behind you. Just need to rinse the cups,” Jules said. “Thanks for your help tonight. It meant a lot to me you were there.”

“You would have been just fine on your own, but I wanted you to know that you always have support,” she said before disappearing around the corner to climb the stairs for bed.

Sitting alone in her grandma’s kitchen, Jules felt the familiar blanket of comfort that she knew so well growing up. This was the place she always went when she needed advice, comfort food, or just to be with someone who loved and cared about her. Although it wasn’t much more than a modest kitchen, it was everything to her. She may not know what the future looked like, but she was sure this kitchen would always feel like home.

That evening, sleep washed over her like a steady wave. Both her mind and body were empty, and she fell into a deep slumber that caused her to wake with start when she glanced at her alarm clock that read ten in the morning. She hadn’t slept that late since college. But it didn’t matter since she had no plans for the day. Her next shift at The Landing wasn’t until the following evening, so she did the thing she’d been putting off: catching up on emails. Surely, they’d contain official instructions for ending her employment at the Treasury Department. She’d written her resignation letter last week before her flight home but hadn’t paid it any attention since.

At the top of her inbox sat a message from the Human Resources department outlining next steps and other details about her benefits. Jules groaned, deciding to deal with it later.

Scrolling down, a message from a name she didn’t recognize caught her eye. It was a journalist from theWashington Post, asking her to call him to chat about her employment. She hesitated. If they wanted her to give them inside information about the secretary, she wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t her story to tell, and Jules didn’t want to be the reason his wife found out about his affair, if she wasn’t already aware. But the journalist had been vague enough to pique her curiosity. What could he want with her? Her head swam with possibilities as she reached for her phone.

Benjamin McAllister picked up on the second ring with a proper eastern seaboard accent in tow.

“Hi, this is Jules Cuccia. You emailed me yesterday.”

“Hi, Miss Cuccia. Thanks for taking the time to phone,” he responded as they dispensed of the common pleasantries.

“I wanted to talk to you about your recent resignation from the U.S. Treasury Department. You were Secretary Monahan’s Chief Speechwriter, correct?” he asked.

Jules responded with a suspicious, “Yes.”

“And before that, you wrote for several members of Congress, correct?”

Another curt, “Yes,” from Jules. “What is this about, Mr. McAllister?” she added. She wanted him to get to the point already.

“Well, I would love to know why you resigned from your latest role but also wanted to inform you we have an opening on our staff here atWaPo. Given your background, I think you might be a good fit for it.”

Jules didn’t quite understand. Was he offering her a job? And was it in exchange for a scoop? She couldn’t tell.

Picking up on the discomfort coming from her silence, he added, “I’m only interested in your resignation as it pertains to your current employment status. Are you available for and interested in other professional opportunities?”

Interesting, Jules thought. Was she open to other opportunities? She hadn’t considered that people would seek her out this fast.

“Possibly. But may I ask how you found out about my resignation? I haven’t told many people yet.”

“It was in a news bulletin the Department sends to the Associated Press each Monday.”

That made sense. Becca was trying to get ahead of things, although she’d never considered that her resignation would constitute news.

“Got it. Tell me more about the open role,” said Jules.

Benjamin explained the role was new, and they were looking for a professional writer, not a journalist, to pen a weekly column about Federal and Congressional staff in the D.C. area. The vision would be to give a voice to government workers and the issues that mattered most to them, highlighting what their day-to-day looked like. Apparently, she was an ideal candidate because she was an experienced writer, had worked in government, and of course already lived in the district.

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