Page 29 of Shadow Seeking

“Not exactly, but everything looked good, and since I’m moving in, what we don’t eat we’ll keep for later movie nights.” She shrugged off her coat and went to hang it on the coat rack as the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” she called.

I set down the bag of chips and followed her. Sure enough, it was the pizza, so I pulled out a twenty—it was a three-for-twenty special—and handed the twenty to the delivery guy. I added another fifteen for tax and tip, and carried the pizzas back to the kitchen.

Murdoch leapt up on the counter, Jangles following him. They stared at the pizza boxes, then at me.

“No, you don’t. This is notyourdinner. Scram, you mooches,” I said, laughing when they both gave me plaintive looks.

“Aw, Mom, pleeeeasssseee…” Penn said, scritching Jangles behind the ears. She slowly reached out to Murdoch, who gave a loudpurpand rubbed up against her hand. “You are a handsome boy,” she said. He purred louder.

“They don’t need pizza,” I said, retrieving plates from the cupboard. “If you’ll get the silverware, we’ll eat.”

We loaded our plates with pizza and, carrying our silverware, napkins, and soda, we headed into the living room. As we settled in to eat, I heard a thunk.

“What…I’ll be right back.” I set my plate on the coffee table and headed into the kitchen again. There, staring at me with guilty eyes, were Murdoch and Jangles. They were standing over one of the pizza boxes, which was upside down on the floor. The tile was splattered with tomato sauce and cheese. “You little sneaks!” I shooed them away and knelt, turning over the box.

Most of the slices could be salvaged—the five second rule, of course—but three were too mangled. I tossed them in the garbage and began to wash the floor.

“What’s going—what did they do?” Penn said, peeking into the kitchen.

“Apparently, they decided to help themselves, since I wasn’t going to do it.” I snorted. “Let’s put the boxes in the oven. We need to remember to refrigerate the leftovers.”

Penn tucked the boxes into the oven while I finished cleaning the floor. “Should I get out their food? I might as well get used to feeding them since I’ll be living here.”

“Sure. At night they get one big can and one small one, mixed together. And make certain their dry food is topped off. The fountain gets cleaned every Saturday.” I finished with the floor and rinsed out the sponge. “I’m glad you like cats.”

As Penn opened the cans and tapped them into a cat dish, she sniffed. “These smell good enough to eat. I love cats, but my apartment’s a no-pet building. Well, nothing out of a cage. Mr. Crumbles will be mimicking them in no time. I hope you can handle his continual talking. He likes to chatter along.” She paused, then added, “I hope he doesn’t scare the kitties.”

“I think during the day, while we’re gone, his cage should stay in your room with the door closed. We don’t want any accidents,” I said. “I think he’s adorable, but the cats are going to see him as a big old chew toy.”

She nodded. “I agree. They’d get a nasty surprise—parrots can deliver a pretty good bite. But I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen—oh! Look!”

Murdoch and Jangles came racing in, making a beeline for the food dishes. They eagerly began lapping up the shreds and gravy.

“They made friends fast,” Penn said.

“Faster than I expected. Okay, let’s get back to our dinner and decide what movie to watch.” As we left the cats to eat, I remembered Dante’s words. I turned to her. “Thank you for agreeing to move in. I didn’t realize how lonely I was until you said you’d come.”

She paused. “I’m good on my own, but to be honest, I’ve been feeling a little isolated, too. I hope you’ll feel the same in a few months. I promise to get out of your hair as soon as I can.”

I shrugged. “Don’t sweat it. Maybe…maybe you won’t need to move. If we work well as roommates, then maybe we can make the situation permanent.”

As we settled down to our dinner and decided to watch the newest disaster-of-the-week movie, the house took on a merry feel, and I realized that for the first time in a long time, I felt relaxed and truly happy.

Penn stayed the night,and the next morning I found her making waffles and sausage links for breakfast.

“I didn’t even know I had a waffle iron,” I said. “I know I didn’t have any mix.”

“You had the ingredients,” she said, handing me a plate. “You make lattes, and we’ll eat. I fed the cats already.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I said.

“We’re going to be roomies. I love to cook. I was up before you and I eat breakfast every morning. I might as well make some for you.” She carried the waffles and sausage over to the table while I made us lattes. Penn had about the same caffeine tolerance—or should I say,dependency—as I did and we had bonded over many a frustrating day at the local coffee shops.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked.

“Well, that depends on what the guys have found in their research. And I think we’ll head out to interview a suspect in a theft. I honestly don’t think he’s our culprit, but we have to talk to him.” I settled into my chair, handing her one of the quad shot lattes. “Here. So what are you doing today?”

“I have two tarot readings today, and I need to make a bunch of protection charms. Those sell out quickly,” she said, dousing her waffle with butter and syrup.

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