“Oh shit, so that wasn’t a halo I saw on your head earlier?”
She chuckles. “No, but I see why you would think so. I am ethereal,” she says, fanning her fingers in front of her face.
“Real goddess-like,” I add.
“You get it.”
I turn at the sound of a small purr to find Holden sneaking toward the pool. He swipes at his reflection in the water and backs away at the sight of the ripples.
“He does that every time,” Daria says to me. “Come here, Holden baby.” She makes a clicking sound with her tongue as she holds her hand toward him.
He skips happily over to her, wrapping himself around the base of her lounge chair, then doing the same to mine. When she reaches over to pet him, he reaches his paw out and presses down on her hand.
A loud cackle escapes from the depths of my belly. “He said unhand me.”
When she tries to pet him again, she receives the stiff arm. “He only likes to be touched on his terms. Which—I mean, go off, king—set your boundaries. But I’m your motherrrrr.”
“You gotta play hard to get. You want it too badly,” I tease.
“I guess I was due to be told that once in my life.”
We watch the sunset from our chairs and encourage Sam to join us when he returns with our food.
I don’t see Micah for the rest of the night.
The next morning, the smell of coffee brings me down to the kitchen. Daria’s mom’s nurse is pouring himself a cup while he waits for her mom’s breakfast to finish cooking. He pours a cup for me and makes idle chitchat until his job in the kitchen is done.
It’s quiet once he leaves; nothing but the birds singing in the trees outside can be heard. The stillness of the world around me amplifies the thoughts swirling in my head.
From all the work that needs to be done at home to how I left things with Micah, I can’t get my mind to quiet down.
You’re okay. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.
Micah’s heavy footsteps into the kitchen are a welcome distraction. “Morning,” he says as he makes his way to the pot of coffee.
“Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“I woke up with a cat on my chest. So, I guess good?” Of course Holden is drawn to Micah. The man is walking catnip.
“Did he let you pet him?”
He looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. “He was sleeping on my chest.”
“Right,” I say, still waiting for an answer to my question.
“He invaded my space.”
“Right,” I respond.
“So, yes, I petted him.” He holds his hands out as if that answer should’ve been obvious.
“Not what I asked. I asked did he let you pet him? Like did you force him to let you pet him or he just … let it happen?”
“I don’t think you understand. We’re best friends now. He let me pet him.” He takes a sip of his coffee, hiding a grin behind his mug.
“Daria is gonna be pissed,” I jokingly admonish.
“If it makes her feel better, he did meow very loudly in my face before he left. It sounded like a scream, it was kinda scary.”
