AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Her foster cat,” Willow answered. “Everly told us about Peanut Butter at the last meeting.”
“Oh, right.” Alanna shrunk deeper into the couch and took another bite of her cookie.
“She did so great,” Everly continued. “I’ve got three kittens on my hands. Butterscotch, Chocolate, and Whipped Cream.”
“Pictures, pictures, pictures!” Layla demanded, making grasping motions with her hand. Tess laughed.
“I want to see pictures, too,” Willow said softly.
“Of course.” Everly thrust her phone into Layla’s eager hands. “Just keep scrolling. I took a billion. Then pass it around.” She turned back to the group. “But get this, the Lumber Jackass almost caught me.”
“Oh no!” Layla cried.
“Who?” Alanna asked.
“Her evil landlord,” Tess said. “Come on, Alanna. Keep up.”
Alanna shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth.
“What happened?” Tess demanded from her seat on the floor.
“Well, obviously, somebody in the condo complex is a snitch,” Everly answered. “It’s Mrs. Whitehall, I’m sure of it. She’s my neighbor on the other side. The old bag is constantly complaining about the noise my kitties make.” Everly rolled her eyes. “That woman is so deaf, she wouldn’t hear a herd of elephants if they stampeded past her front door. Anyway, one of my other neighbors heard Mrs. Whitehall bragging that the Lumber Jackass actually reduced her rent. She ‘claims,’” Everly tented her fingers into air quotes, “that he did it when she told him that she was on a fixed income and paying for her grandson’s college.”
“Awww, that’s sweet,” Layla said as she took a seat on the floor next to Tess.
“BULL-SHIT!” Everly cried. “Obviously, he’s paying her off to spy on me.”
“Or, maybe…” Layla offered slowly, “he’s actually a nice guy.”
Silence filled the room. Everly stared at Layla as if the younger woman had shanked her in the back with a whittled toothbrush.
“Nice?” Everly choked out. “NICE? This is Hue Cairn we’re talking about here. He is NOT nice! He is the very BANE of my existence. His only reason for living is to kick me and my kittens—KITTENS, Layla! HELPLESS, ADORABLE KITTENS—out onto the street. He wants to make me a bag lady! He wants to see me camped out on the sidewalk with all my possessions in a rusty shopping cart!”
Layla was quiet for a moment, then stubbornly answered, “He’s always been very sweet when he brings his dog to the vet.”
“ARRRGH, pick a side, Layla!” Everly hollered. She turned back to the group. “ANY-WAY, the day after Peanut Butter gives birth, suddenly, the Lumber Jackass is pulling up in his shit-mobile truck insisting he needs to check the appliances to make sure they’re all in working order.” Everly snorted. “A likely story. Luckily, I have a spy network of my own.”
“Gertrude?” Willow asked as she passed Everly’s phone to Tess.
“That’s right!” Everly declared. “Good old Gertrude. I heard that Lumber Jackass’s truck coming a mile away and I was able to bundle up Snickers and her brood and stash them in Gertrude’s condo.”
Willow laughed. It was a soft, beautiful sound.
“The Lumber Jackass made a big show of checking my appliances, and I watched him like a hawk the entire time,” Everly continued. “He commented on how many litter boxes I had in my home, but that’s not a crime. He had nothing and he knew it.” She broke into a wide grin. “Everly 26, Jackass Z-E-R-O!”
Tess applauded and handed Everly’s phone up to Alanna. The screen showed a scrawny brown tabby cat surrounded by four tiny aliens. Using her thumb, Alanna flicked through the pictures. The kittens were minuscule, their eyes welded shut, their bodies scrunched. Amazing to think that Petunia had once been that small and innocent.
Thunder rumbled overhead, pulling Alanna’s gaze to the window. Her smile fell away. Was Petunia out there somewhere? Was she wet and shivering? Scared and alone? Her eyes drifted to the bright windows of Sully’s house. She suddenly yearned to call him and spill everything about Petunia. Sully would know exactly what to say to make her feel better.
“Who’s next?” Tess asked.
“Not me,” Alanna answered. “I’m just here to provide moral support and drink the wine.”
“That’s not true,” Layla said in a suspiciously sing-song voice. “Youdohave some news.”
For a moment, Alanna wondered if Layla was going to tell the women about their mother’s medical challenges. Sure, she liked these ladies a lot, but she wasn’t ready to drop that personal family hardship on the room.
“Mom told me she caught you kissing a certain handyman in the driveway a few days ago,” Layla said.
