Page 31 of Karma Kitty Christmas
THE NEXTmorning, he woke up with Euclid breathing cat breath in his face, begging for his breakfast. Isaac made him work for it, petting him until he forgot about breakfast, flopped over, and drooled so Isaac could go back to sleep for another half hour.
But only a half hour.
He needed to spend an hour cleaning off the kitchen table, down to the tablecloth, which was… dusty, at best. He found another one—something bright and green and yellow—and a table runner that he’d crocheted with orange cotton yarn that Todd had kept hidden in the back of the linen closet out of mortification. When the table was set, he grabbed the vacuum and made an extra pass—the maid service came on Wednesday, and he had a cat now, so company on Saturday meant a little extra effort.
And speaking of cat….
He changed Euclid’s litter out, wiped down the bathroom and put fresh soaps in the dish, and got out his good towels, making sure the pretty little flower insignia was turned out.
Todd used to insist on the good linens, but they never had guests. Isaac had gotten used to using the regular, comfy, faded towels in the last year and a half, but now, with guests coming over, he was remembering some of the joys of a little formality.
Little touches—histouches—helped make his home welcoming.
It felt like a whole new house.
With an hour left to spare, he made a quick trip to the market—crackers, cookies, tea, and fruit—as well as, just for himself, a bouquet of flowers.
By the time Allegra knocked on the door, he felt likehe’dbloomed, for the first time after a long, long winter.
Allegra came in, carrying groceries and ushering in her grandmother, while Isaac peered around them, wondering where Luca and his grandfather were.
“Luca’s taking him on a tour,” Allegra said. “He’s redone the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the hardwood in all the bedrooms. Painting comes next, and they can put it on sale by the fall. Grandpa’s really excited.”
“Not you, Mrs. Giordano?”
“Call me Sophia,” she said happily. “Since my Allegra and her baby are going to move in here, you can call me Sophia, and I can call you Isaac.” She smiled, her lined face showing off the same dimples she must have had as a girl.
“Of course, Sophia,” he said, offering his arm. She allowed him to escort her to one of the stuffed chairs, which had a small coffee table next to it at the perfect height. She could work on her project and sip tea and chat in perfect comfort. She could also(and Isaac had seen her do this before) fall asleep mid-sentence, tilt her head back, and snooze without needing to be moved.
“Well,I’mmoving in first,” Allegra said from the kitchen. “Isaac and I are going to see if it will work before we commit. I’m something of a slob, you know.”
Sophia laughed softly. “I know,” she said, leaning her head conspiratorially toward Isaac. “I used to watch her and Luca when they were children. Luca, he could be counted on to clean up his toys. This one? She would get so unhappy. ‘Nonna!’ she’d say. ‘I want to wake up and have my dolls in place to play the same way!’” She laughed, and Isaac nodded, but inside he was thinking that was a very wise way to play.
“Oh my God, Isaac!” Allegra called, coming down toward the dining room so she could peer out at Isaac and Sophia. “The flowers, the clean table—it’s so wonderful! And this table runner. Did you show Nonna?”
“Is it the orange one?” Sophia said. “With the flowers worked in filet crochet?”
“Yeah,” Isaac said, unable to hide his proud smile. “It looksreallygood. You’ll see it when we eat. In the meantime, stay right there and I’ll get you some tea and cookies.”
“You spoil me,” she said happily, getting out her yarn.
Isaac had already put the kettle on and was pleased to see it was almost boiling so he could set up the tea service while Allegra put away groceries. Together they achieved a sort of dance around the kitchen where they each accomplished a task without getting in each other’s way.
“The place setting really is special,” she said as she pulled out a covered glass bowl full of vegetables soaking in some sort of dressing. “Now I’m going to put this in a sunspot and leave it, okay? It’s part of the pesto, but it doesn’t need cooking, it just needs warming.”
Isaac gave her a bemused glance. “You can cook pesto without cooking?”
“Very funny. No—you cut up the cherry tomatoes and the cilantro and the garlic and then add oil and vinegar. You leave it in the sun for a few hours to season, and then you cook the pasta and grill the chicken. When it’s all cooked, you cut up the chicken and toss it with the pesto and the pasta, and voila! This really good fresh dish that’s not too hot for summer.”
“That’s amazing. Luca knows how to make this because?”
“Because Nonna told him about it once,” Allegra said, laughing. “Luca’s funny. He doesn’t cook on the regular, but he’ll watch YouTubers and TikTokers, and sometimes he’ll see something that makes sense to him and he wants to see if it will work. The only drawback to this is you have to praise him to the skies—like,forever—when he does it, or he may never cook again.”
“Good to know,” Isaac said. He pulled the kettle off as it started to whistle and poured the boiling water into three rose-themed porcelain cups. They’d been a gift from Todd, Isaac recalled, stunned still for a moment.
“They’re lovely,” Isaac said, pleased as he pulled the wrapping off the set of six. The matching teapot had been in the first box he’d opened, surprised to see the two big Christmas gifts under Todd’s small and tasteful tree. “Thank you!”
“The neighbor is always commenting on how plain the white is,” Todd said with a sniff. “This way she can just drink the damned tea.”
