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Maybe once I get to California and spot my first palm tree, I’ll feel better.
A twinge of sadness thrums through me.
What will it be like, to be on a plane, speeding away from Nick?
He’s been my rock these past couple weeks. My safety. My protection. My source of happiness and laughter and warmth.
Abanginterrupts my thoughts. I look down and see that Outlaw’s no longer seated by my side. “Oops. That’s another thing. If you forget to latch the back screen door, he just pushes through it.”
“Shoot, my bad!” Roxie’s up out of her seat before I am. We both hurry toward the back door.
Pansy’s yard is empty. No surprise there.
I hustle toward Nick’s empty house. “He likes to go to Nick’s, to see Mittens.”
“Mittens?”
“Nick’s geriatric cat. She’s the sweetest thing. Her paws are both white, like she’s wearing white mittens. And she has no teeth. Outlaw adores her.”
I stand on my tiptoes and swipe my hand along the front frame of Nick’s door until I feel the spare key.
“He moved his key up here. You’ll have to use it, because Nick locks up. Outlaw comes over here every chance he gets, so this is the first place you should look if he’s missing. He wriggles through the cat door.”
“But he’s huge.”
“I know. It’s like magic. Don’t try to figure it out. Nick and I watched him do it once, it was like seeing Houdini at work or something. Anyway, I’m guessing Fredricka will go easy on you if she spots you using the key. She doesn’t like me because I don’t belong here anymore. In this town, I mean. According to her.”
“But you could,” Roxie says, as I open the door for us.
We both traipse up the stairs. “Please don’t,” I say, my voice wobbly. “This is hard enough as it is.”
“I have to say this, Maddie. Youcouldlive here in town. We miss you. We’ve loved having you here. And you seem happy here. And I’m worried that in LA, you’re going to lose yourself again.”
“I didn’t—” I gulp.
Did I lose myself in LA?
I push Nick’s bedroom door open. There’s Outlaw, curled around his cat friend. Mittens radiates bliss, tucked in Outlaw’s arms.
“These two are inseparable,” I murmur, as I walk over to the bed and sit.
I know I have to wrap up this orientation. My ride will arrive soon. Too soon. I’m not ready to leave yet. But I have to.
I check my watch.
The Green Cab dispatcher I spoke to this morning promised a driver would be at Pansy’s at noon on the dot, to get me up to Burlington on time.
I only have ten minutes.
I rest my hand on Mittens’ cheek and feel the soft, reassuring vibration of her purrs. “She’s a love-bug. Sometimes whenOutlaw’s cuddling with her like this, I just let them be. They’re kind of a set, you know? They need each other.”
“Yeah, like you and Nick,” Roxie says, as she perches beside me and gazes at the furry duo.
I close my eyes, force myself to take a breath.
Nick and I.
Are we a set?
