Page 62 of This Time Around
But things unfolded a little differently.
“Where did she say those cat pills were?” Jack asked as he rummaged around in her grandmother’s kitchen cupboard.
My kitchen cupboard now, Allie amended silently as she picked up her phone to scroll through messages. She found the text she’d gotten from Skye a few minutes ago and read through it again.
“The cupboard right next to the refrigerator,” she said. “Top shelf.”
“Got ’em.”
Jack pulled the bottle out of the cupboard, along with the object Skye had described in her text as a “pill rocket.”
“You don’t have to do this, Jack,” she said. “I’m the one who told her to go ahead and stay out all night. I’m the one who agreed to pill the cats.”
“And you’re also the one who dealt with my crazy sister-in-law.” He set the pill supplies on the counter and folded his arms over his chest. “I could pill a hundred rabid cats and still not make up for tonight.”
“You had to deal with her, too,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but I’m dry. You, on the other hand—” He gestured to her still-sticky dress. “Go shower, Allie. I’ll take care of this.”
“But you shouldn’t have to?—”
“I mean it,” he said. “You have a change of clothes here?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been keeping some stuff in the Laurelwood room. I thought it would make it easier to get work done around the place if I can stay the night sometimes.”
“Then go get cleaned up. Seriously. I have this handled.”
Allie hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you.”
She turned and walked down the hall, stifling a giggle as she heard Jack’s deep baritone crooning, “Here, kitty-kitty-kitty . . .”
The coaxing was followed by a howl of feline protest and Allie paused in the hallway, straining to hear if it was Maestro’s shrill screech or Maggie’s.
“You’re officially a crazy cat lady if you can distinguish one cat from another by its voice,” she muttered to herself as she stepped into the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind her.
Stripping off her wine-soaked dress, she wondered what Skye and Wade were up to. She’d practically had to order Skye to go ahead and stay out as late as she wanted, even after the cat caretaker had admitted her reluctance to cut the night short for a round of cat pilling. Was she having fun? Was Wade on his best behavior? Allie had to admit, she’d never seen her best friend looking so smitten over a woman. True, Wade and Skye had only just met, but there was a certain spark between them that went beyond the romance of an “opposites attract” chemistry.
Allie plucked her phone out of her handbag on the bathroom counter and sent a quick text to Wade.
Got Skye’s message about staying out a little late. You’re treating her well?
There was no immediate reply, which made sense if they were getting along as well as Allie suspected. Well, maybe that was good for both of them. Lord knew Wade could use a kindhearted woman in his life, and Skye—well, Skye was a sweetheart who could probably benefit from dating a stable guy like Wade. The rest was none of Allie’s business.
She climbed into the shower and let the water sluice over her, rinsing away the sticky Pinot Gris residue and all the goop Skye had used to style her hair. By the time Allie had stepped out of the shower, there was a new text from Wade.
Skye’s perfect. Treating her like the goddess she is. Holy shit, Albatross. Where have you been hiding this woman?
Allie smiled, then noticed she had another text from Skye.
Thanks again for taking care of the kitties. And for introducing me to Wade. Kinda diggin’ this guy . . .
The message trailed off there with a bunch of hearts and a couple emojis that looked like praise hands or sausages or . . . well, maybe it was best not to look too closely.
Allie finished toweling off her hair, then pulled on a pair of yoga pants. She started to don one of her tank tops with a built in-shelf bra, which would give her the luxury of not wrangling herself into underwire, but she wasn’t ready to be braless in front of Jack, so she hooked her lacy La Perla and wriggled her arms through the straps.
She pulled on a mint-green fleece zip-up she’d left here earlier in the week. It wasn’t fancy, but it was comfy. Hadn’t she earned some of that this evening?
Her phone buzzed again, and Allie picked it up expecting to see more news from Wade or Skye. Instead, it was a number she didn’t recognize. She opened it up to see a sea of emojis that put Skye’s earlier collection to shame. There were smiley faces, clapping dogs, flowers, and a string of colorful donuts. The colorful emojis were followed by a few simple words:
