Page 104 of The Comeback Summer

“It’s okay, I’m not hungry,” Josh cuts in.

“Wonderful,” Libby says.

I glare at her. She’s being flat-out rude, and I can tell she’s making Josh uncomfortable. “Libby, you—”

“You have a cat?” Josh interrupts, brightening. “You didn’t tell me!”

“Watch out, that cat hates everyone but Libby,” I say.

And indeed, the cat is stalking toward Josh, sizing him up like prey.

“He’s an excellent judge of character,” Libby says. There’s a devious gleam in her eyes, like she’s waiting for her Patronus to deliver the scratch she wishes she could.

But to my utter shock, when Josh stoops down to pick up the cat, the little devil allows it. Not only that, he lets Josh flip him on his back and hold him like a baby, curled against Josh’s chest.

“What’s your name, handsome?” Josh says to the cat.

My sister appears to be frozen halfway between shock and rage; I can practically see white-hot flames of anger radiating from her body.

“Mr.Darcy,” I answer, when Libby doesn’t.

“Great name,” Josh says, smiling at the cat. “ ‘You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you,’ ” he quotes, then scratches the cat’s ears. “You’re a sweetheart. I bet you’re so misunderstood, aren’t you?”

And the damn thing starts purring.

Libby is still staring, but she’s melting a little. She’s like a proud mama with that cat.

“Come on, little man,” Josh says to the cat. “We’ll hang out while the girls eat.”

He’s turning to go when Libby exhales and says, “Come and have some dinner, Josh.”

Josh catches my eye, silently asking if this is a test. I nod, feeling cautiously optimistic. And when my sister pulls an extra plate out of the cupboard, I hold myself back from cheering.

“All right,” Libby says in a resigned voice. “Let’s eat.”

Thirty-Five

LIBBY

Our check-in with Lou earlier this week went really well. It’s strange how connected I feel to her even though I know next to nothing about her. I suppose ours is like most of my relationships—unrequited and mostly in my head.

Lou seems impressed with our progress—both in our challenges and in our refined strategic approach for her PR plan. It felt good to have our efforts acknowledged, and her confidence gives me hope about our chances of winning her business—which is good, since Hannah seems even more stressed than usual about our finances. But the biggest impact of her visit was on Great Scott.

When Lou questioned him about his training, he admitted he hasn’t been doing much of anything. With Lou as his witness, he agreed to one training session with us a week. Lou reminded him that, as a member of our four-person Down & Dirty team, he should carry his weight.

Which brings us to the beach today. It was supposed to be all four of us, but Josh had plans with his mom. As much as I’m trying to be supportive of Hannah, I wasn’t sad about it.

Hannah and I are meeting Scott at the beach near North Avenue—and of course, Hannah decided we should turn our walk there into more interval training.

“Run for ninety seconds?” she asks as we veer onto the lake path near Diversey. It’s crowded, even for a Saturday, and the path is filled with people running, biking, or rollerblading.

Without complaining, I pick up the pace, moving from a speed walk to a jog and finally a run. We pass a young woman who seems to be on a leisurely stroll, which gives me a little thrill. Passing people is a new experience for me.

I keep my breathing slow and steady, exhaling with every stride and swinging my arms close to my core the way Hannah taught me. We pass another speed walker, and I accidentally pick up the pace even more as we take the corner of the path and the city comes into view. The iconic skyline is made of so many different buildings: some short and wide, others tall and narrow. Some vintage and shabby, others vintage and intricate or modern and sleek. The variety makes me think of all the different kinds of people out on the lake path‚ including me. I suppose I belong here, just like everyone else.

The muscles in my legs are burning, but it hurts in the good way I used to think Hannah was lying about. I didn’t believe pain could feel good until I experienced that satisfying ache, the proof of all the work I’ve been doing.

Hannah shows no sign of slowing down. This feels like a long freaking ninety seconds, so I start counting in my head.One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.When I get to thirty, I know she’s messing with me.

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