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Putting the songs on repeat,I curled up around Jake’s pillow and the heating pad again as Ian sang me to sleep.
Tomorrow needed to be a better day.
* * *
By the timemy alarm went off, I did not want to get up. The cats were quite vocal in their need for me to move though, and the fact I wanted to get out of the apartment before any of the other occupants woke up drove me.
Dressing in a hurry, I slipped on the borrowed t-shirt from Archie over a pair of shorts. The heat was back and likely would be for a few more days. I tied the t-shirt in the corner so it wouldn’t hang down to my thighs. In the kitchen, I fed the cats and dropped in two pieces of bread to toast.
In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth then pulled my hair back into a braid. It was a mess of curls otherwise, and I didn’t want to deal with it. I cleaned out the litter box and changed it, then wrestled with whether to leave it in my room or not.
I’d prefer not, but if she shut the cats up again, they needed access. Preferring they didn’t have an accident, I left it, then grabbed a water bowl and dry food and put that in my room before grabbing my backpack.
It was barely six-forty and Jake wouldn’t be there for at least another thirty minutes, though he had said early. I stood in the quiet of the kitchen and ate my toast and drank a cup of coffee before I took some pain relievers.
The cramps were worse today, but that had to be the stress. My stomach was in knots, too. The creak of the bedroom door opening intensified the unsettled feeling racing through my system. Mom appeared, and I almost sighed with relief.
Not that I wanted to see her, but she was so much better than…
Never mind.
Mr. Standish was right behind her.
At least they were both dressed.
Well, mostly dressed.
Mr. Standish had bare feet in my kitchen.
All of my appetite fled.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Mom said as she gave me a quick squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
Who was she, and what had she done with my mother?
“Good morning, Frankie,” Mr. Standish said, a wry smile on his face, and it was like a punch to the stomach. I forgot how much Archie looked like his dad. Or maybe I’d just blocked it out. He stood there awkwardly, and for a moment, I swore he was going to give me a hug.
Coffee cup in one hand and toast in the other, I retreated toward the table in the corner. My backpack was on, and if I could have phased right through the door, I would have. Too bad comic book powers didn’t really exist.
“You’re ready to go early,” Mom said, pouring coffee for herself and then Mr. Standish like the three of us in the kitchen was a normal occurrence instead of some whacked out version of theTwilight Zone.
“Lots to do,” I said, concentrating on eating each bite of the toast and not choking on it. Tiddles wound around my leg.
“You need to lock the cats up before you go, sweetie.” Again with the endearments. Ugh. “I told you, Eddie isn’t a fan.”
“I’d just prefer not to get hair on everything.” The gaze he settled on my cat was one of distaste.
“Yeah well, they live here,” I reminded them. “Mr. Standish doesn’t have to stay if he doesn’t like them.”
The words landed like a gauntlet, and my mother glared at me. “That was rude.”
“Okay,” I responded then took a sip of my coffee. I wasn’t apologizing. “It was also the truth.”
“It’s all right, Maddy,” Mr. Standish said, running a hand down my mother’s back, and ugh. I think I just threw up in my mouth again. “Frankie is right, the cats do live here for now. We may have to make other arrangements for them when we move you two.”
“I know a good rescue…”
My jaw opened but no sound came out. I was not getting rid of my cats. Were they insane?
