“Besides, it won’t go to waste. We can always donate what we don’t use to the animal shelter.”
“We don’t have an actual animal shelter…”
“What?” Gia whipped her head to look up at Marley.
“There’s no animal shelter in Willowbrook.”
Gia raised her brow in disbelief. “Weird. I assumed every town had one.”
“We have a vet in town, but that’s as close to a shelter as we’ve got.”
“What do you do with all the stray animals?” Gia wondered.
“I… I don’t know. I know the vet has some abandoned animals in the back.”
“Well, what are we going to do once we catch this cat of yours? Keep it?”
Gia watched as Marley’s eyes widened comically. If she had to bet, it was probably what Marley was hoping to happen as the best-case scenario. She was a sucker for heartwarming stories of stray cats finding loving homes.
“Oh my God,canwe keep it?”
Gia grabbed two cans from the bottom shelf and stood up gracefully.
“Now, that’s between you and Jake. I can’t be involved with anything that man does.” She probably should not talk badly about Marley’s guardian or whatever Jake was to her, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she thought about his stupidly handsome face and their almost-kiss, it drove her nuts.
Does he not want me anymore? Am I too broken for him now?
The yawning chasm inside her stretched wider. It hurt to know Jake didn’t want her, even if she was definitely not interested in rekindling anything with him.
“I know.” Marley bit her lower lip. “But it would be pretty cool if I could keep it.”
“Let’s focus on catching the target first.”
“Right. Do you think we’ve got enough food for now?” Marley hefted the overfilled container in question.
Gia nearly grimaced at how packed it was.
“I think it’s a great place to start.”
“There’s enough food for a whole cat sanctuary here.”
“Now, that’s an idea.” Gia smiled warmly at Marley, taking the carrier and cradling it against her chest as they made their way back down the aisle in search of the checkout lanes.
“Oh my God, is that you, Gia Lien?”
While walking past the chip aisle, a shrill voice stopped them in their tracks.
Fuckmy life.
Gia turned stiffly, keeping her face blank as she faced the blond woman who used to make her life miserable.
“It is you! I never thought I would ever see the day you’d come strutting back into town.”
Gia and Marley stood still as the overly made-up woman stalked closer.
“Don’t you recognize me? It’s Ruth. We used to sit next to each other in biology class freshman year. Remember?”
How could I forget the asshole who made fun of my brother?
