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The Mazda slowed, and Sully realized he’d taken his foot off the gas. He’d intended to ask Dede for Alanna’s address so he could drive Sheba to her in Los Angeles. He should have had more time, hours in fact, to corral his thoughts and attempt to weave them into something resembling a romantic declaration before he had to face her.
But she was here. Right here. And his time was out.
Well, shit. Suave was out the window. Stammering mess, it was going to have to be.
Sully pulled into the driveway next to Alanna’s car. He looked at his passenger. “This is where you belong,” he said gently. “Go easy on Alanna, okay? I don’t want to hear about you hiding under the bed all day or hissing at her.”
From the carrier, the cat released an unhappy yowl. “You’re better than that, Sheba,” Sully said to her sternly. “Be sociable. Alanna is a really good person, okay? It just takes her a while to warm up. You two are actually a lot alike. She really will give you a wonderful home, if you let her.”
With that little pep talk out of the way, it was time. Hauling in the biggest breath of his life, Sully stepped out of the car and retrieved his grumpy passenger.
Just speak from your heart,whispered a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like a certain gym co-owning romantic. Sully forced his legs to move his body up the stairs of the porch.He stood in front of the door.
This was it. Everything on the line. His heart. His future. A lifetime of smiles, kisses, and touches.
He raised his fist to knock...
The door flew open, and Alanna barreled into him. She screeched, and Sully might have let out a slightly unmanly noise. The cat carrier rocked in his hand, and Sheba joined the raucous with a howl of her own.
“Sully! God! You scared the shit out of me!” Alanna clapped one hand to her chest and the other onto the porch railing to support herself. “What are you… I was just going over to your—”
“It wasn’t true,” Sully blurted.
“What?” Alanna shook her head as if she wasn’t quite sure any of this was real. Damn, she was just so beautiful in the moonlight.
“What I said at the winery,” Sully attempted to clarify.Stammering mess, you are a go for launch.“I said you didn’t care about anyone but yourself. It wasn’t true. I was just… afraid. Afraid you were going to Los Angeles and you’d forget about me. Leave me behind.”
“Look, I was an ass, too,” she confessed. “I should have never assumed you didn’t have money, much less announce it to all and sundry. I’m sorry about—"
“I think we can make it work,” Sully said, cutting off her apology. He couldn’t stop himself. He had to get all the words out, everything he’d been holding inside his heart through this dark, never-ending week. “I thought the solution was to convince you to stay here, in Yucca Hills, with me. But that was selfish. You have your agency to build in Los Angeles, and I don’t want to get in the way of that. So, we just have to think of another solution. There’s always a solution to every problem.” He shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I could drive up and visit you every weekend, or we could meet halfway. I know you’ll be busy, but it’s not actually that long of a drive, especially outside rush hour. I could listen to audiobooks on the way, or podcasts. There are so many great podcasts I’ve been meaning to start.”
“Sully.” Her hand was on her hip.
“I can’t afford to live in LA,” he continued. “Not now, anyway, but—and this is very preliminary—I was thinking I could take on some contract engineering work. Or maybe ask my old company for a remote position. I just have to readjust my calculations for LA’s cost of living. Of course, that’s if you want to try to make this work.”
“Sully.”
Sheba yowled again. The cat! Of course! Why hadn’t he started with the cat?
“Here,” Sully held the howling case out to Alanna. “Sheba… Petunia should be with you. She’s your cat. I shouldn’t have tried to keep her. Your sister was right. You adopted her first. And I know you really do love her.”
“Sully.” Both hands were now on Alanna’s hips.
He gazed at Sheba’s fluffy face within the carrier. “She prefers wet food over dry food,” he informed Alanna. “Though, she’ll eat dry food if you put certain toppers on it. Her favorite wet food flavor is turkey. Next is salmon. I actually made a list of all her favorites in order based on her eating speed. I’ll email it to you. I’ve also got all her toys and supplies in the car. She really likes a certain feather toy, and if you do this thing with your wrist…” He demonstrated the movement, “it’ll flutter, and she’ll jump and flip in the air. It’s incredible. We usually have two play sessions a day. I know you’ll be busy, but she loves them so much. I’ll bring her cat condo over tomorrow…” His throat was closing, his words growing tighter. “You should…” his voice cracked.
“Sully.” The word was almost a growl.
“You should put cat nip on the highest platform of the condo. She’ll rub her face all over it. It’s unbelievably adorable.” He wasn’t crying. Definitely not crying over a cat. “Oh, and her favorite brand of kitty litter is—”
Alanna took a step forward and slapped her hand over his mouth. “I don’t want the cat.”
Carefully, as if edging off a landmine, she peeled her fingers away from his mouth.
“What? You don’t want Sheba?” Sully felt a surge of indignity on the cat’s behalf. Of course, Sheba wasn’t perfect but—
“I want you,” Alanna said, then rolled her eyes. “And obviously you’re bonkers over the cat. Tearing you two apart would probably make the angels cry.”
He didn’t have to give up Sheba! Relief exploded inside Sully. The angels weren’t crying. They were singing a barbershop quartet ofHallelujahin his heart. Then Sully’s brain registered the other thing Alanna had said.
