“Margaret told him I needed a place to live. I’m pretty sure she bullied him into saying yes.”
“Ahh. Okay. Well, that doesn’t come as a surprise.” She lets out a laugh, then says, “I actually asked Margaret to let you know if she knew of anywhere to live.”
At least now she sounds mildly amused rather than angry.
“Are you upset that I’m living with Miles?”
“No. I don’t think so. You’re an adult; you can live with who you want.”
“But you’re upset I’m not living with you…”
“No, I’m upset that you didn’t tell me,” she snaps back. “But also, yes! If you needed a roommate, I could have been that roommate.”
I set my phone back in the holder and pull onto the road, realizing that Miles is probably not going to text me back anytime soon.
“But Miles? I work with him! You could have said something!” Her volume is rising. “I’ve spoken with him multiple times over the last few weeks and didn’t even realize it!”
“This is why I didn’t tell you. You had a lot going on, and now you’re mad about it. I knew you’d freak out like this, andhonestly, I just kind of wanted you to be happy that I was living in the same town.”
“Yes, I’m mad at you!” she yells at me. “I want to have fun sister sleepovers!”
“And what about when my laundry pile is on your couch?” I asked Willa. “Or when I come home covered in blood? Or manure?”
I just learned that our clinic services several local dairy farms as well. It’s only a matter of time before I come home covered in cow crap, and Willa doesn’t like dirt.
“I’m hanging up now,” Willa says, and then the line goes silent.
I snort. She was the one who called me, not the other way around. And that perfectly summarizes why it wouldn’t be good for us to live together. I don’t want to fight with her. I want to keep fixing the sisterly relationship that our parents’ divorce nearly destroyed.
I drive the rest of the way to work with a heavy heart, wondering if I made the right choice to move to Green Valley.
Work starts out slow.
There are a couple of vaccination appointments for dogs after a wellness check for a cat. The other veterinarian is going to let me do this wellness check because he’s prepping for a spay appointment.
I walk out into the waiting area to call the patient back. I grin when I see who it is.
Meyer Dunmore stands up, holding a cat carrier.
Meyer is my little sister’s best friend. She’s someone who’s easy to like, and she’s been a good source of stability in mysister’s life. Becoming her best friend, inviting her to family gatherings, and introducing Willa to Kingston, Meyer’s brother. So, I guess the whole reason that Willa and I now live in Green Valley is Meyer. She started it all.
“Are you here for a checkup?” I ask as I reach for the crate in her arms.
Her biceps visibly flex, so I know that the cat in there can’t be light. I laugh when she lets go, and I feel exactly how heavy the monster is.
With a quick grin at Meyer, I peer through the door at a big orange blob inside. “Oh, hello, Gatsby. I see that the diet is treating you well.”
Meyer snorts and follows me back to the exam room.
“Archie and I really have been trying to regulate his food,” she says about her husband. “I’m starting to suspect that Gatsby knows how to open the laundry room door and help himself to the cat food bag. We’ve found some of it on the floor,outsideof the bag. And the thing is, Archie hasn’t been feeding him in there, and I know I haven’t, and we’ve been keeping that door closed, so I’m not quite sure how he’s sneaking in there and eating the cat food. I’m thinking about getting a special safe that’s fingerprint coded.”
Gatsby purrs as I reach into the carrier to pull him out. He really is a friendly cat.
“I just love him so much,” she says.
Gatsby looks up at me, twitching his tail. I run my hand from the top of his head down to his tail, and he arches into my touch.
“He just makes me want to scoop him up and squish him. So cute,” I say as I scratch the back of his head.
