Mama, Liv’s ornery rescue cat, bolted past us toward the end of the hall with something in her mouth.
Liv startled, which caused the baby to shriek even louder. “Mama,” she hissed at the cat who paid her no attention. “Mama brought a mouse in the playroom. I was in there with the kids, and I screamed and, well, it’s been about like this since it happened.”
Ella scrunched her nose. “A dead mouse?”
The little boy behind her started to cry, and Liv instinctively reached to comfort him.
“It’sverymuch alive. I freaked out, and that made the kids freak out because things are a little...” Liv trailed off and gulped.
“Oh shit.” Ella said and then seemed to remember there were young ears among us. “I mean, snickerdoodles. Oh snickerdoodles.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I assured her. “We’ll get it out of here. The room is down here?” I pointed in the direction Mama had scampered off to.
Liv nodded. “Thank you. I’m so sorry. I panicked.”
“It’s okay, babe.” Ella squeezed her friend’s arm. “Take the kiddos downstairs, and we’ll figure out how to get it out of here.”
“See?” Liv’s voice was soft as she spoke to the kids. “My friends Ella and Cash have come to help. Everything is going to be alright.” She gathered the distressed children and started down the hall. “Let’s go get some juice.”
I raised my brow at Ella, a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. “You ready for this?”
“If I can take on a Chad, I can handle a measly mouse in my sleep.” She flicked her golden hair over her shoulder and went in search of Mama and the mouse.
We reached the end of the hall and on the right was the playroom, that was still very much a work in progress. Mama was in the middle of the floor with the mouse in her mouth. It gave off a high-pitched screech to let us know it was, in fact, still alive and well. I closed the door behind us, and without warning, Mama released the mouse and swatted it with her paw.
The mouse was flung across the room, and Mama watched for a second before raising her back leg up to clean herself.
Ella rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Mama?”
A box of blocks to my left caught my eye, and I ripped the top from it, scattering the blocks on the floor. I held on to the box and advanced in the direction the mouse had scurried off to.
“Maybe I can corner it and trap it in here,” I said. “Guard the door so we can keep it from getting out into the rest of the house.”
“I can play goalie.” She clapped her hands together. “Mickey, your ass is grass.”
I spotted the tiny grey blob as it scuttled across the floor. Every time I got close, it managed to weave its way under a piece of furniture.
“This is not going well,” I said as I waited for the mouse to pop out from beneath the toy chest.
Ella grabbed for one of the blocks I’d scattered and sent it sailing toward the chest which was enough to get Mama interested again. She began to paw under the chest, and another screech sounded through the room as it ran past my feet. I pounced on it and slammed the box on the floor, narrowly missing it. The shock, however, was enough to send the mouse fleeing in Ella’s direction.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Ella shrieked before lunging at the floor with her hand poised like one of those claws inside an overpriced arcade game. “I got it! Oh shit. I got it!” She cupped her hands together to contain the tiny rodent. “Now what the fuck do I do with it?”
“Shit,” I exclaimed, running to her and opening the door. She screeched and darted down the hall with the mouse in her hands and me close behind.
“So help me, if you shit in my hand, Mickey, I will burn down the entireMickey Mouse Clubhouse,” Ella bellowed as we bolted down the stairs. She ran past Liv and the kids who were still crying and flung herself through the front door. I watched from the front steps as she ran several feet out into the grass and sent Mickey sailing through the air.
Thirteen
Ella
I watchedas the little grey mouse ran for his life, and then I looked at my hands, suddenly remembering that the germ-covered rodent had been there only seconds before. “Ew, ew, ew, ew!”
Cash’s laughter roared as I sprinted back toward the house. I ran past him, Liv, and the kids, and I didn’t stop until I reached the kitchen sink where I proceeded to wash my hands until they resembled the color of a lobster.
“I… can’t believe… you did that,” Cash spat out as his shoulders shook. By then, Liv had dissolved into a fit of giggles, the baby had settled, and the little boy was miming my mouse-throwing curveball with a fruit snacks wrapper, cracking himself up.
I laughed. “I could have a lucrative future in organic pest control if this whole bakery thing doesn’t pan out.”
