Nope. Putting those memories right back in the vault where they belonged.
Shame didn’t excuse some of the things he’d said to me.
Unfortunately, being a child didn’t absolve me from my part in the drama, either.
My kitten jumped into my lap and settled in the middle of my book like the world’s cutest, fluffiest, most misshapen bookmark.
“It’s very difficult to read through you,” I said.
She purred.
“I suppose you want to be petted?”
If there had been a subtitle for our situation, it would’ve said “purring intensifies.”
“How am I supposed to learn about embracing vulnerability and shame if there’s a cat in the middle of my book?”
She rolled over on her back, baring her belly and blinking slowly at me.
That little, fuzzy belly called to me. I wanted desperately to feel her fur, but would she close her claws over my hand and bite me to form the world’s cutest bear trap?
She arched her back and exposed more belly.
“Oh, so you’re going toshowme how to be vulnerable, huh?”
My only answer was more purring and tiny air biscuits. Tentatively, gently, I reached down to rub her belly, and it was as soft as I’d imagined. She did close her paws around me, but no claws.
“Look at you, my little queen of vulnerability. I’m gonna call you Brené Brown.”
Wait. My queen? I was not going to keep this cat, much less elevate her to royal status.
I couldn’t even finish the thought still believing it was true.
It was too late.
I’d named her. We were bound together for the duration, so there was no need to call the cat shelter.
At the mere thought of taking my sweet Brené Brown to a shelter, my heart hurt. I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t.
Unaware of my inner turmoil, she yawned before sliding out of my book and curling up to sleep on my lap. Trapped, I had no choice but to continue reading her namesake’s book.
While I was brushing my teeth before bed, I got the phone call from Trista that I’d been half expecting. She didn’t even bother with hello. “Did you mean it when you said you could find my husband?”
“Yes. Finding people who don’t want to be found is one of the things I do,” I said cautiously.
“Money’s back on the table if you can find him in the next month and serve him with divorce papers.”
“You’re on,” I said.
“I just want this all to be over,” she said.
“Then I’ll do my best to make it sooner rather than later.”
We made arrangements for me to meet her the next morning.
Chapter 19
We met for coffee after she got the kids to school. I almost didn’t recognize her at first. She wore her hair in a ponytail, had on no makeup, and wore yoga pants.
