I nod. “It’s a huge shock.”
Kai stands and moves toward the doorway. “You wanna get a glass of water or something? Cool down a bit?”
I follow him out. “Yeah, sounds good.”
He shudders jokingly. “Good, because I can’t stand another minute in Milo’s room.”
I sniff back the last remnant of my tears, and tease, “Too clean for you?”
As we enter the living room, Milo exits Kai’s bedroom. He stumbles on his footing, muttering to himself as he wavers on retreating into the bedroom.
He hangs in the doorway and clears his throat. “Are you okay, Jamie?”
I push for a smile, delaying my response until I can ensure my hoarse voice won’t tremble.
Kai interprets the situation, standing in front of me. “Leave her alone. She’s not interested in homework right now.”
“I wasn’t asking about homework.” Milo cranes his neck to glimpse me, but Kai continues to block his view. “She just seems off.”
“Can you just listen to me for once?” Kai complains. “Give her some space.”
“Okay, I will,” Milo murmurs, moving across the carpet toward his bedroom. “Let me get Alfie and then I’ll go back to my book.”
“He’s not in there,” I say, and Milo halts by his bedroom door. “He’s outside.”
Milo’s eyes pop with horror. “What?”
My shoulders bunch high, filling with tension I don’t understand. I point to the bedroom window. “He wanted to go out. What’s wrong?”
Kai winces. “Oh, you didn’t.”
I look at him blankly. “What?”
Milo rushes to the window, pulling it open and scanning the darkened area. “Alfie? Alfie?”
Kai and I move toward the room, and I continue to question, “What’s going on? Don’t animals like being outside?”
Milo groans, moving away from the window. “He’s an indoor cat. He can’t be outside.”
“Oh,” is all I can manage as Milo pushes past me and hurries downstairs.
Kai sighs, running a hand over his brow. “This is bad. Last time Alfred was outside it took days to find him and Milo was a wreck.”
“I didn’t know.” I raise my palms, dumbfounded. “I’ve never had a pet. He seemed eager to get outside.”
Kai rubs my shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. If you didn’t know, you didn’t know.”
I gesture to the stairs. “Should we help look?”
Kai nods and leads the way. “Yeah. Hopefully, he hasn’t gone far.”
We land downstairs as all the adults are up and putting on raincoats. Mr. Nelson grabs his keys, announcing he and Grandpa will drive around the neighborhood to search for Alfred. Mrs. Nelson coaxes Grandma back to an armchair, while Milo and Kai are already out the front door.
I follow behind as Mrs. Nelson urges me to return to the house. The temperature outside has grown icy, and the rain hits my skin like needles. Foolishly, I came downstairs without a coat, but I’m not turning around now.
“He moved from the window ledge to that tree,” I say, raising my voice so I’m heard over the heavy rain.
Kai moves toward the tree, grabbing onto a branch with both arms and hiking a leg up. “I’ll get him down.”
