Ellie: Perfect. Meet me at my apartment, I have a surprise.
Todd turned to me questioningly. “What surprise?”
I arched one eyebrow at him. “The. Cat. What else? I told you he has a cat and got excited at the idea of me adopting Satan.”
“Cynthia Eleanor Asche, did you adopt this cat to impress a guy?” Todd stood and put his hands on his hips. Since I was parentless, he took it upon himself to be my guiding light in life. Sometimes it was endearing. And sometimes, like then, it was infuriating.
“No, I didn’t, Theodore Wilfred Anderson-Pate. I adopted Satan because if I could handle making a date, I could handle bringing home a new friend. It felt right.” I stuck my nose in the air and resolved to ignore him.
I was distracted by Satan stalking out of my bedroom. He sat in the doorway and yowled. Todd and I both jerked our heads toward the loud cat. “What’s your problem?” I asked the distraught feline.
At the same time, Todd said, “Poor, confused, sweet, widdle baby boy. Is hims confused? Uncle Toddy will show you where to find your potty times.”
My anger with Todd flew straight out the window. I couldn’t stay mad at a man who loved my new cat enough to speak to him so ridiculously. “Good grief, Todd,” I said around my laughter. “I’ll put his food to the kitchen. Show him that next.”
I busied myself with Satan’s food. Once Satan settled in, Todd and I headed for my closet. Blossom’s wasn’t a fancy restaurant, so I could wear casual clothes. However, since Wes would be coming straight from the office, he’d be wearing a suit. Given the Texas fall evening would be chilly at worst, we settled on dark brown linen pants. I didn’t need anything heavy. The top was a thin, baby blue sweater so I wouldn’t have to fool with a jacket. For shoes, I opted for a low-heeled slip-on.
We wasted a little time playing with Satan, then an hour before Wes was due, I allowed Todd to twist my hair up with a silver clip and apply mascara. Three coats, to be exact. “Luckily, my little palette, your skin is perfection. You don’tneedmakeup, never have. But, it would be fun to put it on such a flawless complexion,” he said as he applied the sheer lip gloss, all I’d let him put on my lips.
At five thirty, he kissed my cheek and wished me luck. I sat on the edge of a kitchen chair in my pressed clothes, since I didn’t want to wrinkle them. Todd found Satan and kissed him sixteen times—I counted—and told him he loved him before finally leaving.
“He already likes you more than me,” I told the fuzzy boy, who sat on my couch licking his paws.
Fifteen minutes earlier than I expected, my doorbell rang. I flicked on my security monitor to find Wes waiting. Opening the door with a flourish, I gave him an instant view of my new friend on the couch. Satan stopped licking his paw and jumped to the floor as Wes entered the room.
He turned to me as I closed the door behind him. “You adopted him!” His smile was even more heart-stopping than the one he unleashed on me the night before.
“I realized I needed him in my life. So, I went after class and got him.” Wes picked Satan up like it was no big deal he wore a two thousand dollar suit. I had to assume its cost—Todd would’ve known for sure.
Luckily for his expensive suit, I’d bought lint rollers at the pet store. He didn’t seem to care a bit as he nuzzled Satan’s soft neck. “This cat is so chill, Ellie. You picked a good one.” Satan began to head butt him, and purring sounds reached me across the room. “My Lemmy will only allow cuddles when he wants cuddles. And not a moment longer.” Wes grinned at me. “But, he’s mine, and I love him.”
I shook my head at the duo. “Okay, so now that I know you’re a crazy old cat lady at heart… you hungry?” I walked over to Wes and smooched Satan’s head. “Let’s go eat.”
Wes put the cat on the couch, and I handed him the lint roller. Long black and white fur clung to his suit jacket. “You’ll get used to de-furring yourself every time you leave the house. Lemmy’s fur is bright orange, and it shows up on everything,” he explained as he rolled the sticky sheet over himself.
“I had a cat once before,” I said, trying not to get sucked into another miserable memory of my stepmother. “She was a year old when she died. But, that’s a sad story, and this is a happy day. I have a new cat, a new team of lawyers to win my case, and a new date.” I slung my purse over my shoulder. “C’mon. I’m starving.”
We made our way to the garage. “I’m guessing Arch gave you a key code for the garage doors?” I asked.
Wes laughed. “Yeah, he got tired of running downstairs constantly to let us in. So he talked to the building manager and got us our own codes. We’re here more often than at our own houses half the time.” He led the way to his car, a big, red, Chevy truck. “Arch is the closest to work, and we worked so many long days, we’ve crashed at his place quite often.” He held the passenger door open for me.
“Thank you,” I exclaimed. “Chivalry isn’t dead, it seems.” I teased him a little. Even in the South, most men didn’t bother with opening doors.
By the time he’d appeared at my apartment door, my nerves had lessened, plus we had Satan to distract us. But as he walked around the truck to the driver’s side, I pressed my hand to my stomach to calm the reawakened butterflies.
After climbing in, he turned on the powerful truck engine. I observed the clean interior and new-car smell. “New truck?” I asked.
“Yeah, I got it last month. We’re finally at a point where we can pay ourselves. Arch bought an apartment full of new furniture, and I got a new truck. My apartment isn’t nearly as nice as this one, but I’m more of a saver.” He pointed to a black SUV. “That’s Arch’s new rig. Gray made a big purchase, too, but his is more practical.” He trailed off as he pulled out of the garage.
“What do you drive?” he asked.
“An Accord. I love it. I’ve had it since I turned sixteen. It’s time to upgrade, especially as much as I’m in the public eye, but I can’t give her up. My dad gave her to me on my sixteenth birthday.” I stared out the window, lost in the memory.
My birthday fell on a weekday that year. It was still hot in Texas at the beginning of October. Once Todd drove us home from school, we spent the afternoon beside his parent’s pool. Dad was at work all day, so I certainly didn’t want to spend the day in a house with my stepfamily.
“When’s your stepmonster going to go to the spa?” Todd asked. She liked to spend weeks at a time at some fancy spa in Switzerland. It cost my dad a fortune, but he smiled indulgently at her every time she went.
I dreamed of the days she’d go. When she left, Michelle, her daughter, would go stay with her grandmother. Since my stepbrother, Mitch, left for college the year before, the house would be back to normal with me and dad living there.
