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He shook his head. “Look, let’s sleep on that, okay?” He really wanted to get to the point he’d come in to discuss.
She nodded, grinning as though she knew she’d just adopted a kitten. He was such a softy and the thing was too cute. He’d set some ground rules before officially agreeing, but they both knew they now had a pet.
Tess sat on the edge of the bed and swung her legs. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?”
Oliver thought hard for a moment. How did he bring this up? His gaze fell on the kitten and he nodded slowly, the unexpected animal giving him an unexpected lead-in. “I wanted to chat about our family dynamic.”
“Okay...”
“Take the kitten, for example. Bringing him into our lives—ifI decide we can keep him—will change things.”
“Make things better,” she said.
“Perhaps...but also complicate things. He’ll need food and water and a litter box that will need cleaning. Essentially, he’ll need his own space and toys.”
“That stuff won’t take up much room.”
“Right... But he’ll also need lots of love and attention.”
“Not a problem,” she said happily.
“But that could limit my ability to spend a hundred percent of my time with you,” he said.
She laughed. “I can share your attention, Dad.”
Could she? “I’m just saying, for the last few years, it’s just been you and me. I’m happy with that... I’m just curious about how you feel?”
Tess’s expression changed slightly and a look of perceptiveness crept across her features. “Well, I think adding to our family will be strange at first...but more people—or kittens—to love and care for is never a bad thing, right?”
Oliver nodded slowly, a small sense of relief washing over him. “Right.”
“How do you feel about the idea of changing the family dynamic?” she asked.
Wow, he’d been wanting to feel her out, and here she was, flipping the script on him. “I’m not entirely sure, but I just wanted to open the dialogue.”
She smiled. “I’m glad you did.”
“You are?”
“I think it’s about time we consider...expanding,” she said with a grin, hearing the kitten stir. She got up, picked him up and cuddled him into her chest.
“Okay then,” he said. Was his little girl giving him permission to move on with his life, explore the possibility of a future with someone else, bring someone new into their lives?
Or was she just really trying to convince him to keep the kitten?
Either way, Oliver felt a little lighter as he turned the volume back up on her music and left her to get ready for camp.
CARLYYAWNEDASshe turned off the store lights and climbed the back interior stairs to her apartment later that evening. That day’s store traffic had been insane, with several tour buses arriving in town from other parts of Alaska. The one-day tours were always hectic as groups swarmed the shelves for Sealena souvenirs. Restocking had taken hours, but at the end of the day, she was happy to see the sales numbers. While, so far, she was on board with Sebastian’s new tourism ideas, she had meant what she’d said to Skylar; she wanted to also show him that the town’s current strategies worked well.
She opened her apartment door and entered, the scent of Crock-Pot lasagna making her stomach growl. Prepping the meal first thing in the morning and letting it cook all day while she worked was the only way to ensure she ate a balanced diet during the crazy tourist season.
It was a trick she’d learned from her mom years before and a habit she still kept.
Hanging her purse and keys on the hook near the door, she went into the kitchen and lifted the cover on the pot. Steam escaped, followed by the delicious aroma of meat and cheese and pasta sauce.
She grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and dished up her dinner, packing the rest away into storage containers. There was always so much left over. The downside to living alone. But she refused to eat single-serving microwavable food. She wasn’t prepared to solidify her fate as a spinster just yet.
No cats. No frozen dinners.
