She hated seeing her daughter’s pain.
And the new arrangement meant she was the only constant in Riley’s life.Sarah had to stay strong, set boundaries, and give consequences.Perhaps in seven years, when Riley graduated, she could let her guard down and relax.But not yet.Not while Riley needed a parent to put her first.
“You’re still able to watch Riley tonight?”she asked her mom as she was finishing her meal.
“Of course.We only have a few more days to finish our book, don’t we, sweetie?”
“Yes!And then we can go to the bookstore next Saturday?”Riley said.hopefully.
“Libraries have books too, you know,” Sarah said.
Her daughter’s face fell.
“Sometimes you’re too easy to tease,” Sarah laughed.“Yes, we’ll go.”
Her daughter beamed just a little too brightly, leaving Sarah with a niggling feeling that she had been played, but she didn’t care.You could never have too many books, and she’d been meaning to pick up the romance her friend Tamara at the knitting store had recommended.If she couldn’t have real romance, at least she could read about it.
She finished her last bites, put her dishes in the dishwasher, and excused herself.Eighteen minutes later, she was sliding into a chair at the back of the school library just as the meeting began, nodding to familiar faces before turning toward the front of the room.
The speaker—Raven Johnson—was introduced to discuss the Pages and Paws initiative.As Raven spoke and a video of the Cat’s Meow Rescue Centre showed footage of a pair of cute Russian Blue kittens called the Tumble Twins, realization dawned.
No wonder Riley was so eager to go to the bookstore.This wasn’t a setup to get her to buy a new book.Her daughter was conspiring to convince her to adopt a cat.And her mother knew about it.She was sure of it.
Thanks a lot, Mom.
She clenched her jaw, determined to resist.Another responsibility was the last thing she needed right now.Sitting forward, she listened hard, in the same way that she would listen to a client she had to defend in court.She needed arguments.Arguments that would counter any her daughter could come up with.
The last thing she needed was to bring a pet into their lives.Not this year.
Not ever.
As she listened to Raven—a funny name for a cat lover—and watched the short tour of the Cat’s Meow Rescue Centre on the screen above, she found herself grasping for strategies to avoid pet ownership while satisfying Riley’s interest in interacting with cats.
At first, she considered letting Riley volunteer at the center, but it was at the end of town opposite from where they lived, and she would have to be driven.Then she thought Riley might be able to volunteer at the bookstore where some of the cats lived, but no.Riley was only eleven, not old enough to be left alone at a retail shop for hours.
As the other parents oohed and aahed when the camera panned back to the kittens, her shoulders slumped with dread.Those tiny bundles of gray fur were adorable, and therein lay the problem.
Saying no was going to be difficult.
Sarah touched her hand to her temple, sure that she could feel a headache coming on.
ChapterThree
Across the room, Simon Ward sat, half listening to Raven’s presentation while watching the kittens on the screen.He recognized the footage immediately—his daughter Sally had been glued to the kitty cam on the center’s website for weeks.
As a fourth-grade teacher at Sunshine Bay Elementary, it was Simon’s turn to attend the school meeting, to listen and to support Ms.Lane, the school’s principal, by helping to smooth over any issues that might arise.
He was also interested in the presentation for his own reasons.Sally had been begging for a cat, and with summer break approaching, he was considering it.Maybe it was time to bring an animal into their lives.It had been just the two of them for eight years now, ever since Sally’s mother had left when their daughter was three.
He smiled to himself.Maybe he was finally ready for another long-term relationship—even if the relationship was just with a cat.
Raven finished her presentation to polite applause, and Ms.Lane stepped forward to open the floor for questions.
He rose and picked up the microphone, scanning the audience.His attention shifted momentarily to Sarah King, the mother of his daughter’s best friend, Riley.
Sarah looked skeptical.As skeptical as he’d felt three weeks earlier when the girls had first started their campaign for a pet.He wondered if she would be any better than he at resisting their well-planned campaign.
“Can we get the mic over here?”Ms.Lane was asking.He sidled over to hand it to a woman who was now standing.
