A meow and a surprised gasp pull my attention back to Lily. Hank’s rubbing shamelessly against her legs, begging for attention, as if he hasn’t been the sole focus of my life for the last five years.
“You have a cat?”
I laugh at how shocked Lily sounds. “Yeah, found him outside my law firm a few years ago. It was the middle of winter, so I decided to take him in just long enough to get him fed and to a shelter. But the little asshole decided he didn’t want to leave. So here we are.” I walk into my kitchen. “His name is Hank.”
Lily squats down, petting Hank, and he just eats up the affection. Something about seeing them together makes my heart feel weird. Scooping him up, she stands, clutching him to her chest as he nuzzles into her neck.
“Aw, little Hank. You’re so adorable. Who knew such a grump like your dad would have the world’s sweetest cat?”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. If Mandi were here, she’d probably high-five Lily. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s a pain in the ass.”
Lily snuggles him tighter into her luscious body and, suddenly, I’m jealous of a cat.
“Hank, I’ll never believe him,” she murmurs into his fur before setting him down. Hank stays at her feet, patiently waiting for more attention.
“Did you eat?” I ask.
She nods. “I grabbed something at the hotel before I went to the house.”
“Do you want something to drink? I have water, soda,wine, and bourbon.” I pull open the fridge. “Some possibly expired milk.”
That pulls another smile out of her. “A glass of wine would be great.”
“Have a seat on the couch. I’ll grab us some drinks.”
She turns away and walks the few feet to the couch, Hank right on her heels. I hurry and grab our drinks before joining her. My lips lift into a smile when I see Lily sitting cross-legged, Hank curled up on her lap, purring away.
Handing her the wine, I take the far side of the couch. “Sorry about your pants. You’re going to be covered in hair in no time.”
She shrugs my comment away as she stares down at her newly acquired admirer. “I don’t mind at all. I love animals. Getting covered in hair is worth it.”
I take a sip of bourbon as I watch her, then ask, “I assume you didn’t have any pets because of Blake? Obviously, I didn’t know him, but from what I’ve learned, he didn’t seem like the kind who would enjoy having one around the house.”
Sighing, she rolls out her neck. Not that it lessens her beauty, but I can see the stress lining her features.
“Yeah, he didn’t like animals. And even if he had okayed it, I probably wouldn’t have gotten one. I don’t think I could have trusted him with them. Not that he would’ve hurt them necessarily, but he would’ve been neglectful at the very least.”
Lily looks so serene, curled up on my couch, loving on my cat. I can’t help but think, for the hundredth time, what a fucking idiot Blake was to miss what he had.
I take another sip, letting the alcohol dull the anger I feel toward a man who doesn’t deserve a second thought. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you two meet?”
“It was the classic story of the older, rich man coming into the young, poor girl’s work and wooing her.”
I don’t say anything and wait for her to continue.
“I was twenty-two when we met. I’d just graduated from college and hadn’t found a marketing job, so I was working as a waitress in a restaurant in downtown Seattle.”
“Is that where you’re from? Seattle?”
Lily nods, clearly lost in memories. “Yeah, I grew up in the suburbs right outside the city. Anyway, Blake started coming in all the time and requesting my section. And eventually, he convinced me to go out with him. Then marry him. Then he moved us here a year after we were married.”
Needing to know, but also concerned I won’t like the answer, I ask, “Was your relationship ever good?”
She’s quiet for a few moments before she tells me, “I thought so in the beginning. But looking back, I just thought it was good because I didn’t know any better. And what I thought was Blake being nice was really him not being an asshole.” She holds up her pointer finger to accentuate her statement. “Which are two very different things.”
“And when did it start getting bad?” Another question I need to know the answer to, but I know it is going to piss me off.
Lily lets out a heavy breath and takes a sip of her wine. “Right before we moved here. Then it started to get worse. In addition to the physical abuse, there was a lot of him yelling at me or insulting me. Or not talking to me at all.”
