Page 17

She left and the cat didn’t

Sophie

I didn’t see much of our tenant over the next couple of days. And why was I noticing that?

I’d finally finished the star designs Diane had asked me to help with. I sent the drawings to her, hoping they’d work for the client. I was excited about the project now, and had my fingers crossed that they went with the more elaborate option. Assuming they wanted to work with me at all.

I stretched out my neck and shook my arms. I should try to make a yoga class, since my muscles were stiff from work. I closed up the shop, locking it by habit though it would be safe enough inside my brother’s security systems.

Remy’s truck was in the drive outside the carriage house.

I glanced up, but there was no sound of Beast barking.

The team had an away preseason game last night, so I hadn’t seen the truck yesterday.

I wasn’t sure if that was because of the scheduling, or if he was trying to avoid me because of Ollie. Not that it really mattered.

The cleaners had been in the main house today, and the place smelled fresh.

Cash was coming home tomorrow so I’d asked them to make up his room and stock up on the food he liked to have around.

He’d hardly notice though. He was flying in for a couple of meetings, and then…

maybe Nashville? Still, it would be nice to see him in person.

I made myself a meal and was flicking through streaming services for something to watch when I got a text from Remy.

I have something to show you.

With some people, I’d assume that was a sleazy come-on. Producers that Cash worked with had used the exact line on me. But I pictured Remy’s green eyes and serious expression, and no, that wasn’t him.

I was wearing cutoffs and an old band T-shirt of Cash’s.

My first instinct was to change and brush my hair, as if he was going to care how I looked.

I refused to indulge that urge since it would only cause trouble, and pulled on flip-flops for the walk over.

Sure, he was attractive and we got along so far, but there was no way he would be interested in me since I was Ollie’s ex.

And I was not upset about that. I had no plans to get involved with anyone right now.

It was dark, and the night was still and calm.

I breathed in the scent of the plants, and relaxed.

The outside light was on over the staircase to Remy’s apartment.

I couldn’t hear Beast barking, which was good news since I had no idea where Goober was currently.

I rapped on the door, and in seconds, Remy opened it a couple of inches. He held his finger to his lips.

Curious, I nodded. He opened the door all the way and pointed to the breakfast bar.

Now I knew where Goober was. She was perched on the end of the countertop, casually licking her front paw. Her ears were up, her fur unruffled. Her tail was wrapped around her, a picture of calm.

Beast was on the floor, for once not growling. He was chewing on— I think it was the same towel I’d given him in the shop. His eyes were focused on Goober, and he was drooling a bit.

“What happened?” I whispered.

Remy shrugged. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and took a picture. Goober shot a glance at me and started cleaning her other paw.

We stood for another few minutes, watching Beast stare at Goober, and Goober ignore all of us, moving from cleaning her paws to her shoulder.

“Are you going to watch them all night?” I kept my voice low.

“I don’t know if it’s safe to disturb them.”

I reverted to my normal voice. “You need to do things like eat and sleep, so they’re going to be disturbed.”

Goober glared at me then settled down on her belly, front paws neatly folded in front of her, her eyes half closed. Beast looked at us then dragged his towel to the corner and sat down.

Remy finally moved. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important, but I thought you’d want to see that.”

“It was freaky. It still is. But how did Goober get in here?”

“I was—” Remy seemed to realize we were standing in the doorway. “Do you want to come in? Have a drink?”

I had nothing but Netflix waiting for me back at the house, so I said, “Sure.”

He looked toward the kitchen. “I have beer. Milk, juice and water.”

“Beer is good.”

“Have a seat.”

I crossed to the familiar couch. Beast grumbled, but not for long. He was still watching Goober, who was ignoring all of us. I looked around, curiously, wondering how Remy had settled in.

There were no changes to the apartment, other than dishes in the drying rack and a paperback on the coffee table.

On the cover there were bright red letters and a gun on a black background, the author’s name not one I was familiar with.

With nothing else lying around, the guy was either naturally tidy or traveled light. Maybe both.

He came back with a couple of cans, passing me one and sitting in a chair.

He glanced at the animals. “I’d just cleaned up from dinner when Beast started barking at the door.

You’d found Goober there a couple of times, so I was pretty sure that’s what was going on.

I opened the door. Just a sliver, so I could see, but I didn’t want to let Beast escape. ”

I held in a grin, because I could see where this was going.

“The cat slid in like it was wide open. Beast leapt for her, she jumped on the counter, and sat down.” He opened his can of beer and I did the same.

“Beast barked while I tried to grab him, but he can be hard to catch when he’s determined to escape.

I went into the bedroom to get his leash and suddenly things got quiet.

Made me nervous. I rushed back and they were like that.

Beast grabbed the towel and stared at the cat, but he wasn’t growling.

And the cat acted like no one else was here. ”

We both looked at the animals, still in the same positions. “I’m glad they’re not destroying each other, and your place, but I have no idea where we go with this.”

“Me neither. I mean, if the cat is going to keep coming by—I can let her in when I’m home so Beast doesn’t bark, but that isn’t all the time. And I don’t think I’d trust them together on their own. This could be a one-time standoff.”

“How long has it been going on?”

He glanced at his watch. It wasn’t flashy and didn’t look expensive. “Twenty minutes?”

Not a long time, unless he was waiting to do something and couldn’t because of the cat. “Is this holding you up? Do you want me to take Goober away?”

He scratched his chest. He was also in a T-shirt, one with the logo of another hockey team in the league. It looked as worn as the one I was wearing.

“Do you mind waiting a bit? Just to see what happens? I didn’t have anything planned.”

I settled back into the corner of the sofa and curled my feet under me. “Not at all. I’m also curious. I’ve never seen Goober like this.”

“How long have you had her?”

“Technically she’s not my cat but my brother’s.

Or, to be even more technical, one of his previous girlfriends’ cat.

About a year and a half ago…yeah, not long after Ollie and I split and I moved back, his girlfriend of the week brought a large suitcase and her cat with her.

” Cash had been out. I’d been working at the shop but had come back to the house to see what was going on.

“So, they were serious?” Remy guessed.

I snorted. “Cash doesn’t do serious. But she thought they were. She actually told me that perhaps I should find another place to stay.”

He froze, his can of beer partway to his mouth. “That was ballsy.”

I quirked a fake smile. “I didn’t start packing.”

He watched me for a minute. “You didn’t think maybe your brother had asked her to move in?”

“No, but it really wasn’t my business. I could have moved into this apartment if Cash wanted space, but knowing his M.O. with women, I didn’t think she’d be around for long.”

His mouth had softened, almost smiling. “What happened then?”

“Cash came back, ready to pack up for another trip. I wasn’t there, but the end result was that she left and the cat didn’t.”

He looked at Goober again. “He didn’t try to send the cat back?”

“He had a flight in the morning.”

“So you were stuck with the cat?” He was upset on my behalf and I liked that.

I shrugged. “I couldn’t let it starve. And the thing is half wild. I used Cash’s credit card to pay for a vet visit and supplies, and told him he now owned a cat, unless he wanted to convince the woman to take her back.”

He looked from Goober to me. “Apparently he didn’t.”

“He might have tried, but he avoids confrontation as much as possible. On his next visit home, I told him I was getting the animal tagged as his unless he made other arrangements, and those would not include taking it to a shelter or euthanizing it.”

“And?”

“He got the cat tagged with the name Goober. And left it for the rest of us to take care of. It’s not a lot of work. She doesn’t like people and stays outside as much as possible. So I put out food and water, and the cleaning service deals with the litter box.”

Remy was watching the cat again, and something in that look made me suspect he was feeling like he had when he rescued his dog.

“You don’t need to feel sorry for her. She’s got a good life. She gets excellent food, hangs around sometimes when she wants company, and mostly lives a solitary, pampered cat life the way she wants.”

I hadn’t asked for a cat and would have been happy if Cash had dealt with her when she was dumped here. But now I was used to her being around. The house was large, my brother was rarely at home, and another breathing body was nice. Goober had grown on me, apparently.

Since we were still waiting on the animals, I glanced at the coffee table and brought up a new topic. “You’re a reader?”

He stiffened. “Surprised?”

“My experience of hockey players is Ollie, and he only reads nonfiction, relating to hockey, on an e-reader.”