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Barley wagged his tail and jumped up and down when I walked back through the door with a slight grin on my face. He sensed my change in demeanor and was properly supportive of it.
“Hey, boy. We’re going to see Ava later,” I said, rubbing his head.
Even though he had no idea what the heck I was saying, he seemed even more excited than I was about it.
“Well, she didn’t say you could come, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Right? Ava loves you.”
I walked in my bathroom and shook my head when I caught sight of my reflection. Ava should have screamed when she saw me, not looked at me with desire in her eyes, which was what she had done. The face staring back at me was at least still recognizable, not like it had been after I first lost Lydia. I had become a shadow of my former self, fading away right in front of everyone’s eyes, and no one could have done a damn thing to stop it.
Turning on the water in the shower, I grabbed my razor and set it on the shelf. I wanted to look my best before going to her place later. There were a few other stops I needed to make as well before the shops closed for the night, so I needed to get a move on.
I got a text from Ava a little after ten, letting me know she was heading to her apartment and that I could swing by anytime if I was still up for it. She didn’t trust me not to change my mind.
Holding Barley’s leash with one hand and a bag in the other, we walked the short distance to her place from mine. Barley was pulling, and I was afraid I was going to drop the bag I was carrying, so I let his leash go. He ran straight toward the back door of Ava’s restaurant and waited.
“This way, bud.” I nodded toward the stairs that led to her place, and he started bounding up them, creating a ruckus.
The door swung open before I reached it, and Barley ran inside, his leash dragging behind him.
“Barley!” I shouted, but it was too late. He was gone.
Ava appeared. “I didn’t realize you were both coming,” she said before we heard a loud crash and the sound of a cat meowing loudly.
“Shit.” I started hustling at the same time Ava shouted at her pet. “I forgot about your cat.”
How could that have slipped my mind?I’d seen the cat before staring at me from its perch in the kitchen window. I chastised myself before getting inside and shutting the door behind me.
“What’d he break?” I asked because I knew it had to be Barley’s fault. His giant tail was always knocking things off of tables.
“It’s nothing,” she said, but I saw the table lamp on the ground, thankfully not in pieces, like I’d feared.
Ava stood there, both hands on her hips as she watched Barley trying to reach her enormous cat, who was on top of the kitchen countertop, swatting her paws at him every time he jumped. Barley wanted to play, and the cat was not having any part of it.
“He’s never seen a cat before,” I said as I walked into the kitchen and put the bag down. “Want me to take him home?”
Ava’s gaze swung in my direction. “No. They can work it out. Right? Dogs and cats can be friends, can’t they?” She was clearly asking, and I had no idea, but I assumed it was possible.
“I’ve seen videos of it, so it definitelycanhappen.”
Her cat started hissing, and Barley cocked his head to the side, fascinated by the sound but too dumb to understand that it meant the cat hated him.
“Snickers, don’t you be mean.” Ava reached for her fat cat, but it hustled out of her grasp just in time.
I laughed at the name. “Snickers. That’s your cat’s name? Boy or girl?”
“Yeah. Snickers is a girl. And don’t you be mean either,” she chastised me, and I quickly snapped my mouth shut.
“Your cat hates my dog,” I informed, watching the way Snickers’s tail was swishing in a such a quick motion that it looked like she might pounce and attack at any moment.
“Who could ever hate this face?” Ava asked before bending down to kiss Barley’s nose.
He started licking her cheek, and she turned away, wiping the affection from her face.
Snickers let out a sound of disgust, and I had a new mission in life—to win over Ava’s cat and make it love me.
I reached inside the bag I’d brought, and the sound made Snickers turn her attention toward me. She pranced across the top of the counters, leaping over the sink with little to no effort, and I wondered how a cat that big could even get off the ground. She stopped at my side, silently asking me what I’d brought over and if anything was for her.
Meow.
