“You can’t be offended at that? Do you want to look like you sell drugs?”
“Well, no.” Ed muttered, lips twitching. “I suppose not.”
Liking this new, easy-going connection they’d stumbled upon, Oliver smirked at him. “Does this mean you’ve been round for tea and cake with all the old ladies in the street?”
Ed scoffed. “It’s not all old ladies who live here.” He gave Oliver a pointed look.
While that may be true, he hadn’t answered the question. “I’m going to take that as a no.”
Reaching for his cake, Ed mumbled, “I posted a flier through their doors.”
Oliver made a show of leaning forward to hear better. “Sorry, what was that? A flier?”
“Advertising my business.” Ed shrugged, and even in the dim light, he was positive Ed’s cheeks were a little pink. Although that could’ve been from the cold. “Figured that would explain my visitors and serve as a little promo while I was at it.”
Oliver wanted to pursue the reason Betty had been granted a house call but sensed he wouldn’t get a straight answer, or whether Ed even knew himself. Sometimes you just did things on the spur of the moment. So he left it alone. “Was it difficult swapping everything over to your new place? I’m guessing you had some juggling to do since you work from home.”
Ed relaxed with this change of topic, and Oliver listened, eating his cake as Ed explained a bit about his job and the move. He laughed a little when he finished talking. “Probably far more information than you wanted, sorry.”
“Not at all.” Oliver gave him what he hoped was a sincere look. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested.” He’d never seen the point of asking questions to be polite and then not bothering to listen to the answer. It was rude, for one thing, and a waste of both their time. Besides, finding out about people’s lives was fascinating.
Seemingly placated that he hadn’t just bored Oliver to death, Ed eyed him curiously. “What about you? What do you do for a living?”
In contrast, talking about his own life was far less interesting. “I work in town, software tester.”
“Enjoy it?” From the tone of Ed’s voice, it was obvious he thought Oliver didn’t, but that wasn’t really the case.
“Yeah, it’s all right.” It wasn’t his dream job, but there had been a point in his life where he thought he wouldn’t get one at all. At least not one that paid well enough to afford his own house someday. “The work’s interesting enough most days, and the people are great, so...” He held out his hands. “Can’t complain.” He smiled to let Ed know he meant it.
The wind picked up and both of them shivered in unison.
“I’d better get back.” Ed stood and collected their plates.
Oliver grabbed their cups. He wasn’t sure what made him ask, the words popped out on their own accord. “Want to see Monty before you go?” Ed appeared to like Betty’s other cats, so why not?
Ed seemed pleased if a little surprised by the question. “Yeah, okay.”
Once inside, Oliver stacked their dishes in the dishwasher, then collected Betty’s. “I’m going to let Ed meet Monty.”
Betty set her pen down and looked between the two of them. “Be a bit careful, though. You know how he is.”
“I know, and I will.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze and beckoned for Ed to follow him through to the hall.
“Should I be worried?” Ed asked, amusement clear.
Oliver turned to face him, walking backwards. “No, he’s not nasty or anything. Just wary. He’s a rescue.” He sighed, sadness creeping in as it always did when he thought about the animal shelter. “He hasn’t had the best of starts and understandably has trust issues. They need to socialise him a bit more before he can be put up for adoption.”
“Oh.” A shadow crossed Ed’s face, and Oliver felt immediately guilty. “Maybe I shouldn’t go in.”
“No, really. The more people he sees, the better. We want to show him that not everyone’s out to hurt him.”
“Okay.”
“He’s safe now,” Oliver added. “And will hopefully be off to his new home soon enough.” He smiled, wanting to lighten the mood again, happy to see the corners of Ed’s mouth tug up.
They reached the closed bedroom door, and Oliver stopped. “When we go inside, he might object quite vocally to start with, but he doesn’t mean it. Just wait by the door with me until he’s calmed down.”
Ed nodded.
