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Sighing, Adaze tossed her phone aside and reached out to scratch his ears. “Sorry I’ve been stealing your mom so much lately.”

That’s when her fingers brushed against something on his neck and she froze. She moved his jet-black fur aside to see the collar she’d gotten him.

“I’m glad to see you both like your present. I was worried it might be a bit much.”

He rammed his head against her hand, demanding attention.

She relented, giving him the ear scratches he deserved. “But then again, I guess you do have a whole wardrobe.”

Well, that was only half true. Leilani had taken a small cabinet intended to be used by children for baby doll clothes and made it into Jaspurr’s closet.

“You’re really lucky she spoils you so much,” Adaze said, but was unclear to herself if she was thinking about the cat or herself. “She’s always showing you off to everyone. It's really sweet. You’re lucky.”

He made himself comfortable on her lap.

“I guess we both are.”

13

LEILANI

Leilani tried not to think about Adaze’s strange behavior when she’d left, but alone in her car, there wasn’t much else to focus on. Adaze hadn’t said anything was wrong, but she just seemed…off. Leilani hoped she didn’t upset her too much by forgetting to tell her about her lunch plans.

She sighed. Last night had been so incredible. Why was it that whenever it was just the two of them it was perfect, but then sometimes, whenever other people were involved, Adaze just acted weird?

She could only hope Adaze would let her make it up to her when she got home. Well, she could only hope she’d still be there when she got home.

But she didn’t have time to think about that as she pulled into the parking lot and headed inside.

Veronica was already seated when Leilani entered the local diner. She greeted her with a smile. Leilani couldn’t help but notice Veronica looked stressed. Her hair wasn’t quite as neat as it was when they’d met before and the casual sundress she was wearing looked a bit wrinkled.

“Hey, how’ve you been?” Leilani asked her, taking her seat.

She just let out a sigh. “If I’m honest, I’ve been better.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Nothing happened, and nothing is even really wrong, per say. I just haven't had a chance to check out any of the trails you told me about. I feel bad for poor Sebastian.” Then she sighed. “Actually that’s not right. He’s driving me up the wall. He has so much energy and he wants to play so badly, but there’s just not enough room where they’ve got us staying. He barely lets me get any sleep.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Have you just been busy with work?”

“That’s part of it. This assignment is definitely more demanding than a lot of the ones I’ve been on, but I’m also a little worried about getting lost. The parks here seem a lot bigger and less populated than I’m used to.”

Leilani lit up. “I think I can help with that! Why don’t you give me a list of days you’re free and I’ll invite a few people, we can go out as a group!”

She blinked in surprise, a smile slowly coming to cover her face. “You’d really want to do something like that?”

“Of course, besides,” her grin turned smug. “I’ve got a few people I’ve been hoping to get a chance to introduce you to.” Maybe even one in particular, she thought to herself.

“Then, yeah, I think I’d like that.”

“Hello,” the waitress interrupted. “Are the two of you ready to order?”

The pair placed their order then got back to their conversation.

“I’m so glad you want to meet the others,” Leilani gushed. “I’ll get something put together as soon as possible.”

“Sounds good to me. Thanks for doing all this.”