Page 55 of Something Old

He could hear Gwen’s smile in her voice. “She does make a person cheery, doesn’t she?”

“Yes,” he agreed, and it felt amazing to have another Madeline fan to talk about Madeline with.

“Anyway,” Gwen rushed on, “I only have a minute, but I wanted to let you know. I found him—and you were right! Good call.”

Grant fist-pumped the air as Gwen quickly filled him in on the details and then said she’d text him the address. Yes! This week was only getting better, and now, whether Madeline was swamped or not, he was definitely going to interrupt her at work.

“Thanks, Gwennifer,” he said, using a silly nickname from their grade school years that he hadn’t even remembered until now, making her laugh. “I owe you.”

“You do not.”

The instant he ended their call, his phone buzzed with two incoming texts—the address as promised by Gwen and one from Madeline. Finally.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to worry you. Was trying to give you breathing room.”

Breathing room? What the heck did that mean? Ah, well, he’d get to the bottom of the cryptic comment when he saw her in half an hour. For now, he settled for, “I breathe better with you close by. You know that.”

It was kind of a cheesy thing to say, but just one of the things he’d realized this momentous week that he wanted to discuss with Madeline was that he wasn’t doing himself or her any favors by holding back how he really felt.

Madeline sent a rolling eyes emoji. It was good to see it. She was obviously fine, probably just busy like he had been.

The first part of the mission took longer than Grant thought it would because it turned out he knew the folks at the address Gwen directed him to, and he stood around gabbing for a while.

The delay was a blessing in disguise because when he opened the door to The Second Chance Shop, it was five minutes till closing, and there weren’t any last-minute shoppers. Thus, no one was around to witness the emotional scene when Grant placed a fat, disgruntled bundle into Madeline’s arms. “Here’s your cat back,” he said simply. “And he’s all yours, like permanently, so no fears going ahead.”

Madeline’s face blanched, and she opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again—then shook her head once, swallowing hard. Boots butted her chin, and Grant winced; the cat was a monster. His head bumps looked painful—but Madeline seemed to like it. She gave a wobbly smile. “I don’t understand. How did you manage this? I didn’t even know who took him—and how did you ever get them to part with him again?”

“Well, first off . . . I had the idea to try to get him back, but Gwen did all the legwork. She mentioned to Kelsey over at Jack’s Hardware that your cat had finally been claimed, but how it was sort of a mystery why it had taken so long for them to step forward. Kelsey didn’t know anything about it, but when Gwen popped back to the hardware store not even twenty-four hours later, Kelsey had the name of the family and all the ‘dirt’ about their extended trip—”

Madeline held up a hand. “I get the picture.” She raised her voice over Boots’ now-roaring purr—and Grant felt sure the cat was mostly turning the volume up to drown him out. “But why did they agree to let me have him back?”

Grant smiled and touched her cheek. “I told them—only in point form, I promise—about how much he means to you and why, and well, they have three other pets that they find a lot more agreeable than him, plus they’d written him off as a goner, so . . . It wasn’t that hard at all, actually.”

Madeline stared at him.

“I hope I haven’t screwed up. I didn’t tell them much, I promise, just—”

“No, it wouldn’t matter if you told them everything. I can’t believe it. I’m overwhelmed—but I still don’t really get it. You don’t even like Boots.”

“I don’t not like him.”

Madeline raised a dubious eyebrow, and Boots twitched an ear.

Grant laughed. “Okay, well, more importantly, I really like you.”

Madeline bit her lip, her eyes wet. She nodded.

In unspoken agreement, they settled on two curve-seated stools by the front counter. Grant was about to launch into possible solutions for her van and bathroom needs, but Madeline beat him to the punch. Her face was radiant as she explained about Luke and Matt and the not-completely-unaffordable van fix—and even better, the “miraculous and so sweet” offer from Aisha and Jase regarding the bathroom repair and renovation.

She looked down when she was finished speaking, then fiddled with Boots’ rhinestone-studded blue satin collar, which his old owners hadn’t removed. When she met Grant’s eyes again, she looked . . . almost as if she felt guilty or something.

“Even with all my wonderful news and how generous and kind people are being, I was still feeling a bit flat, but now?” Her normally low voice was high-pitched with happiness, and Grant’s heart rose with it. “Having Boots back? It makes all the difference. I can’t even begin to—just . . . thank you, Grant. So much. I mean it.”

“You’re very welcome, but also, it really was the least I could do after all you’ve done for me.”

Madeline shook her head, dismissing his thanks, and Grant shared the first part of his own good news. “My insurance broker responded to my last batch of photos. I can get regular insurance on my dad’s place. No more conditional coverage and extra fees, etc. There’s still a ton of work to do, of course, but I’m closer to being able to put up a for-sale sign all the time—and not having to tell potential buyers it’s uninsurable is a huge bonus.”

Madeline’s smile froze. “Are you still sure you want to sell it, though?”