Page 27 of Love Fast

If only every part of my life was that easy.

As if the universe wants to make sure I understand that is absolutely not an option, my phone vibrates with a text. A sense of dread shivers down my spine—a response that’s starting to feel remarkably familiar whenever an alert arrives.

I’m going to take my wins while I can still get them, so I set down my coffee and lean forward to close the door on the cat carrier. “I’m going to take you into town to see if we can find your owner, Athena.” Maybe that name will stick. She certainly has the attitude of a Greek goddess of war. When I take her to the vet, she’ll probably be registered as Fluffy Bumpkins. And if she is, that’s probably why she ran away from home in the first place.

The cab pulls up, so I abandon my coffee and head into town.

In a couple minutes, we’re pulling up in front of the vet. I recognize the woman behind the reception desk. She was the person who came into Snail Trail when I was there on my first morning in Star Falls—the woman with red hair who was being taken advantage of. Donna, I think. I explain that I’ve made an appointment to see if the cat is microchipped.

“No problem,” she says. “I can help you with that.” She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re not from around here, are you? But I’ve seen you before.”

“From Snail Trail.”

Her face breaks into a grin. “The girl in the wedding dress. How could I forget? And you got that coat,” she says, nodding at my black puffer coat, also known as my most favorite purchase ever. “I’m Donna.”

“I remember,” I say. Then, pointing to myself, “Rosey.”

“And now you have a cat,” she says. “Looks like you’re settling in nicely.”

“It’s not mine. She just turned up outside the cabin I’m staying in.”

“Maybe.” Her eyes twinkle, but I’m not quite sure what she means. “Let’s see.” She turns back to her computer. “We keep a register of missing pets.” She clicks away at the screen. “Nope. Not on here,” she says. “We’ll check her for a chip, but honestly, owners that have chipped their animals usually register them as missing as well. And I don’t recognize her. We usually get to know our patients pretty well here.”

She opens her desk drawer and pulls out what looks like a remote control. “She seems pretty sedate.” She glances at me, and I wince.

She laughs and pulls open the door. “Hey, kitty cat. Can I scan you, please?” She doesn’t make a move to try and pull Athena out of the carrier. It’s the right decision. She might lose a hand or at least a finger.

“So you’re staying at Mike and Beth’s cabins?” she asks. “I thought they were fully booked, just like the rest of town.”

“Yeah, I managed to get in. How did you know that’s where I was staying?”

“Oh, you know, small town and all.”

The girl who arrived in town in a wedding dress. I’m never going to escape that particular label. Part of me wonders whether I should move on. I didn’t arrive in town expecting Star Falls to be my new home. I just wanted a bed for the night, but the fact that I’ve been able to get a job and a place to live is more than I have back in Oregon. It doesn’t make much sense to leave right now.

“I’ll be moving up the mountain next week,” I say.

“Oh, you got a job in the Colorado Club?”

“Yeah, I’m a waitress there. Or I’m going to be. I’m still training.”

“I hear the training is brutal. There are tests and everything, right?”

“They’re very thorough. They want you to be able to deal with any request from a member. You have to know the Club inside out.”

“It’s beautiful up there, huh? I know it’s not finished, but like, it’s super nice.”

Super niceis the most lukewarm description of all time. The Club is more like a palace in the mountains. “I haven’t seen any of the cabins or chalets yet, but the communal areas are… amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. Carpets so deep you could twist your ankle in them, light fixtures twice my height. Fresh flowers on every surface. It’s beautiful.”

Donna searches my face like she’s willing me to say more. She lowers her voice to a whisper, even though there’s no one in the waiting room. “Every time I have a bad day here, I think about applying. I hear there are a lot of people from out of town there, though. I don’t know how I’d feel surrounded by people I don’t know.”

“I guess you’d get to know them.”

“You’re right,” she says enthusiastically. She switches on the contraption she has in her hand, just as Athena decides to exit her carrier.

Donna has the feline touch, because Athena sidles up to her like she’s catnip. Donna strokes and fusses over the cat while she runs the tracker over her body several times. “You’re so beautiful,” she says. “But no one’s looking for you. I think you found yourself a new momma.” She smiles at me. “I can put her details down on our register so if someone does come looking, we can call you. It could be that her owners have gone off on a vacation and she’s feeling a bit lonely. It’s just odd, because I don’t recognize her.”

“I can’t keep her,” I say. “I’m moving into staff housing at the Club next week. They don’t allow pets.”

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