“Shit, really?”
“Afraid so,” Dad confirms.
“I can talk to Kit about it and—”
“Nonsense. Cassandra and Kit are cousins.” He cuts me off. “This day was going to happen eventually, he’s gonna have to get over it.”
We go to the table when my mom calls, and I take my place next to Annie. She seamlessly fits in with my family, and I’m glad that her and Charlie have become really close over the past few months.
Parker clears his plate and grabs a cookie, then says goodbye because he has to head into work. He blows a kiss at Annie, and I grab it out of the air and throw it on the ground, then stomp on it.
He flips me off and Annie laughs, “You’re mean.”
“He’s an ass.”
“We should get going, too.” Drew gets to his feet and he and Mazie make their round of goodbyes.
It isn’t long after that Annie and I take off as well, but when I turn off down a different street, she looks confused. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
She’s smiling, looking around as she tries to guess. But when I pull into the parking lot of a veterinary office, she’s clueless. “Um, why are we here?”
“You’ll see.” I repeat. I hold her hand as we walk inside. “Hi. Thanks for meeting me.” I shake hands with the veterinarian.
“Not a problem.”
“This is Annie. Annie, Dr. Sullivan, and yes, she’s Sully’s wife.” I add.
They exchange hellos and then Dr. Sullivan takes us to the back and leads us to a kennel where Annie’s surprise is waiting.
“Aww, that cat looks just like Joan Wick.” She gleams at me. “Right?”
“Yeah.”
Dr. Sullivan quietly leaves us.
“Look, his name is John. That’s funny.” She giggles and then finally gets it. “Wait. What’s going on, Ben? Is this him?” She sucks in a ragged breath.
“It is.”
“You found him?”
For four months, I’ve been searching for the cat Poe abused to lure Annie. She’s been struggling with that more than anything and I knew she wouldn’t be okay until she knew the cat was okay, too. “I found him about a month ago. He was in bad shape, sweetheart, and he still has a couple more weeks of healing to do. But according to Dr. Sullivan, he still has eight more lives.”
She has her finger in the cage and scratches his nose. “He’s beautiful.”
“Do you want him?”
“Wait, what?” Her eyes spill over with tears. “Are you serious?”
“Of course, I am. There is one problem though.”
She looks so scared. “What?”
“We don’t have room in the apartment, so…I think it’s time we start looking for a house.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
