“This isperfect,” she said giddily. “Are you ready to explore, Win?”
She placed him down gently in the pen and he swung his head to take it in.
“He likes it!” Emilia exclaimed.
She plopped down on the ground to watch him and I decided to join them. The Winston and Emilia Show was surprisingly adorable.
“Okay, I have to ask; why do you talk to him so much?”
Emilia stared at Winston wearing a little smile as he took a few tentative steps.
“My grandfather talked to him constantly and he’s convinced it’s the reason why Winston is so social. I vowed to keep it up for him. Have you noticed that he’s more outgoing than the average tortie?”
I tried not to laugh at the thought of a chatty tortoise. “Well, I haven’t had much opportunity to get to know the guy—or any other tortoises, for that matter—but I’ll take your word for it.”
“That changes now,” she insisted. “You’re roommates, you should get acquainted. Let’s do some Q&A. Win wants to know how much time you usually spend out here in the yard.”
“Not enough, buddy,” I admitted. “But hopefully you’ll enjoy it.”
Emilia looked back at Winston and pretended to be listening to him. “He told me he thinks that you should try to get outside more often. It’s good to get a little sunshine, and stop and smell the hibiscus. And he said that hanging out with him is healthy because it boosts serotonin.”
“Wow, big word for a little guy,” I marveled.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Winston graduated summa cum laude from Tortie University. I need to hang his diploma up somewhere. Now you ask him something.”
I laughed at the absolute absurdity of what was happening. A beautiful woman who was moving into my house was forcing me to do a get-to-know-you interview with a turtle.
Ahem. Tortoise. I knew better than to make that mistake again.
“Uh, let’s see. There’s so much I want to learn about you that it’s hard to pick just one question.” My eyes rested on Emilia as she stared ather pet. “Winston, tell me, what’s your favorite thing about your caretaker?”
She blushed. “He said that’s a tough one to answer. Probably that I know all of his top scratching spots. Like here.”
She rubbed along the back half of his shell and he paused to enjoy it.
“Thanks for letting me know, Win,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time you need a cuddle.”
“He said he appreciates it,” Emilia turned to me and I got a momentary jolt from the sincerity in her gaze. “And everything you did to make him feel comfortable. This is so much more than I expected. Thanweexpected.”
“Of course,” I replied. “He’s part of the family now. I want to do everything I can to make him as happy as possible.”
Our eyes snagged. How was it possible that we were sharing a moment about atortoise? At least we now had a cute couple story we could share when people started getting into our backstory.
Which reminded me …
“I have an unusual request for you,” I began. “You know we have to keep up appearances about being in a relationship, right?”
Emilia nodded but also looked a little suspicious.
“Would you be willing to tag along with me to a gender reveal party on the 22nd? The mom-to-be has a fairly substantial social media following, so we’ll definitely be noticed in the background of any photos she posts.”
“Sure,” she said. “That’ll be fun! The way you pitched it made me think it was going to be something awful.”
“Well,” I continued. “I probably should let you know that it’s a family party. It’s my brother Harrison’s baby.”
She froze with her hand hovering over Winston. “Oh.”
“So itissomething awful after all?”
