NO. Don’t. If Mom finds out he ran away to YOU she’ll be weird about it. Can you keep him tonight? She works til 5 tomorrow. I’ll come get him in the morning.
Dorian
He’s welcome to stay. Although neither of us are entirely sure we want him to.
Annie
That tracks. Don’t let him trick you into giving him cheese. Mom says it’s bad for him. But somehow he always gets some. It gives him terrible toots, btw.
Dorian
Good God, no cheese then! What will you tell your mom about where he is?
Annie
She’s working late. Some kind of party at the gallery. So she’ll come home tired. I’ll just leave her a note that Poe’s pouting in my room in protest of her late night. She’s got an early meeting too, so we’re good.
Dorian
All right then. I’ll see you in the morning. The store misses you.
Annie
I miss it too. See you tomorrow.
I hung up, surprised to see that Poe had fallen asleep on the desk while I was texting. I’d have to take him home and get those burrs out of his paws. Plus, he’d need the litter box, and I had an extra in my garage. I grabbed the carrier I kept in the closet, expecting a fight. To my great surprise, he let me put him in there, without even one yowl. At least there was that.
The next morningPoe and I got to the store early. While I worked, Poe played on the floor in a spot of sunlight with a toy mouse Annie had brought to the store a few weeks back. Just playing innocently, as if he hadn’t just caused a bunch of drama.
Strangely enough, his disdain of me seemed to have lessened. Even though getting the burrs out of his paws had been an adventure neither of us wanted. He’d slept on my bed last night, curled at my feet as nice as could be. Apparently, he’d learned how to be more lovable living with Delphine and Annie. Not surprising.
Now, he sat facing the front door with his tail wrapped around his feet, waiting. A minute later, Annie came in exactly the way she used to, which made my chest ache, and went straight to Poe.
“You absoluteidiot,” she said, with her face in his fur. “You could have been coyote food. You could have been a hawk’s breakfast. What iswrongwith you?” Poe lifted his chin, clearly without repentance, then purred.
“We discussed the whole thing last night,” I said. “And I think I know what he’s up to.”
“Yeah?” Her forehead scrunched. “Is he trying to get you and Mom back together?”
“I think so.”
“He’s really bossy.”
“For sure.”
“What do you think about his plan?” Annie asked, without meeting my eyes.
“I’d like to talk to you about that. Before I open the store?”
“Yeah, okay.”
I suggested we sit in the cozy chairs near the historical fiction section. Poe followed, jumping onto Annie’s lap.
How to start? With the truth. “I’ve not handled things well.”
“You think?” Annie asked.
“Yes, well, I’m a flawed human.”
