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“Thanks for that,” he said. “Taco is a little Houdini.”
“Does your cage have one of those metal spring clips? Or is it hook and eye?” she asked.
“Hook and eye.”
“Yeah, they can get out of that pretty easily,” Kylie said. “See if you can get a spring one. It should keep him from escaping.”
“Thanks?” He must be wondering how she’d become hamster-savvy.
“A college roommate kept rats. Same cages.”
“Rats? Plural?” His forehead wrinkled.
“Well, they are very social creatures,” she said. “If you’re going to keep rats, you need at least two.”
“That’s…good to know?” He stood up. “Sorry, supper preparation got a bit delayed with that whole fiasco.”
“No need to apologize. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Could you possibly chop some cucumber for the salad?” he asked. “If I don’t get the hamburgers on the barbeque, we’ll never eat. Oh wait, I didn’t ask you. Do you still eat meat? I know a lot of people in the city go vegan or whatever.”
She cocked an eyebrow. Was that another slight? But he seemed genuine “Burgers are fine.” She picked up the knife on the counter and sliced the cucumber.
“Kylie, here!” Charlie plopped a book on to the counter. “See, Triceratops!”
“Oh hey! There’s my main man,” she said. “I love his frill. It’s like you could hang on to it and ride him around.”
“You can’t ride a dinosaur. That’s silly!” He burst into giggles and pushed through the back door to watch his uncle work the barbeque.
A moment later, Cate came down the stairs as well. Kylie wondered if Cate would give her the same grief about leaving town as Derek did.
“Thanks, Kylie,” she said. “Taco almost made it to the front door that time.”
“No problem.” Searching for something to keep the conversation going she added, “Charlie seems like a really great kid.”
“He is.” Cate nodded. “I’m very lucky.”
Kylie didn’t know what else to say or do so she went back to her vegetable chopping. “How have you been Cate?” she said after an awkward silence.
“I’ve been all right. I work at the grocery store and have Charlie, and that’s pretty much it.”
“I’ve heard preschoolers are a full-time job on their own.” She was curious as to why Cate was still working at the job she had in high school and when she had Charlie. It would be rude to ask about though, so Kylie searched for a more subtle conversation topic.
“I love what you’ve done with this house,” she said. “You know, this was actually always my favourite one in the village.”
“I know.” Cate chuckled.
Huh?
“It’s nice you and Derek are so close. Brad and I try to get together once a month for dinner, but we’re both so busy.” Kylie kept chopping.
“Once a month? But you both live in Toronto, don’t you?” Cate busied herself washing apples.
“Yeah, but there’s always so much going on.”
“Camden must seem pretty boring to you after living in Toronto.” Cate lifted an eyebrow.
“Boring? No, actually.” Kylie thought about it and swept the cucumber from her cutting board into a bowl. “I thought I would be bored, but it’s been really nice being home. Except it’s been hard to spend time with my parents. It’s surprisingly difficult to get them to stick around the house long enough for a conversation. They’re always off playing bridge or something called pickle ball.”
