Chapter Eighteen
Vail
I couldn’t stopmyself from flirting with her, standing close to her, smiling at her. I was going to stay in her house as long as she’d let me and so far, she was letting me stay for a while. I hoped it wasn’t just because of the kitties. I didn’t think so. She liked having me here just as much as I enjoyed being with her.
“I think they’ll be fine to leave here on their own for the party. I’m going to try and leave them more often so I’m not so chained to the house. My job makes it easy to become too much of a hermit.”
I looked down at my empty cheesecake plate and wondered if it would be rude to get up and have another piece. Lea was still working on hers, which was about a third of the size of the whole cake. I’d been generous with the cake knife.
“Mmmm, I know what you mean. That’s why I like teaching, even though it doesn’t pay very well. It gets me out of the house.”
Lea finished the monstrous piece of cake and set her fork down. “Oh god. I think I ate too much. But I couldn’t stop. The cheesecake, it possessed me.”
We both laughed and Lea winced as she rested her hand on her stomach and leaned back on the couch.
“You probably need to get the kittens home for bed. Do cats have bedtimes?”
I snorted. “They act like they do and then it’s the middle of the night and they get up and run laps around the house, go up and down the stairs, and generally make a ruckus.”
“Sounds noisy.”
I stood up and wobbled a little. I’d been sitting too long today. “It is.”
That sounded like she was trying to politely kick me out of her house so I was going to respect that. I gathered up all the cat things and washed out their bowls and packed away the travel litter box I’d brought with me.
So much stuff for two tiny beings.
“You can leave some stuff here. Like the litter. Since you’re going to need it for the party.” I set it in the cabinet in the bathroom, making sure it was out of the way.
Lea walked around the apartment with me to ensure that I hadn’t forgotten anything essential.
Then it was time to put their harnesses on and zip them into the stroller, much to their anger and chagrin.
“I’ll walk you out.”
Lea came with me out to my car, which I’d had to move out of the guest parking spot earlier, so we walked together on the sidewalk. Me, pushing a stroller with two yelling kittens in it beside my ex-stepsister. Life was very strange sometimes.
We reached my car and Lea helped me get the kittens in and their harnesses buckled to their seats. The stroller went in my trunk, along with everything else.
“Thanks,” I said, shutting the doors and muffling the angry meows.
I didn’t want to make the kittens suffer in the car any longer than I had to, but I wanted to have a moment with Lea. It was dark out and the air was damp, like any moment it was going to start spitting rain.
“Thanks for having me over. And feeding me. And letting my kittens make mayhem.”
She giggled a bit and little wisps of hair started curling around her face. So lovely.
“You’re welcome. I love having them over. And it was nice to take part of the day off. I need to remember to do that more often.” Me too. It usually wasn’t until I started losing my voice that I’d stop working and even then I’d end up doing other things that didn’t require me to talk.
“Anytime.”
A silent moment pulsed between us, as if she wanted to say something else. Something more.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow for the party?” I’d be back here in such a short time. It was almost more work to go home and then bring everything back again.
“See you tomorrow, V.” That was the first time she’d called me that. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Did the nickname mean anything? Why had she used it now?
All kinds of thoughts spun in my head, and I needed to get into my car to sort them out. With two loud kittens in the back, it might not happen, but I could sort things out when I got home for the night.
