I’d heard those words before. It’d been a long time, but a much younger version of Della had delivered them when she tried convincing me that she could raise a cat without anybody noticing. Her mother was allergic though, and even if she weren’t, she probably would have had a heart attack over the fur that’d be everywhere. She was OCD and needed everything to be clean and precise.
“I’ll figure it out, Theo. I promise. Mom won’t even know there’s a cat in here. It’ll live in my room and I’ll feed it and bathe it and play with it and everything will be okay.”
The thought made me smile, just a tiny one that I doubted Della could even see. It eased the tightness in my chest that’d lasted the work week so far in the slightest way. Della always did that, even if she didn’t realize it. “I don’t see how this is going to work in your favor.”
“But…?” she hedged, eyes widening.
I blew out a breath and shook my head. “I don’t have anything else to say. You’re old enough to make your own decisions, I’m just here to tell you that they’re not the smartest.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Gee, thanks.”
I simply shrugged. “Speaking of bad decisions, you need to be careful around Samantha Pratt.”
“What?” I didn’t miss the way her face paled at the name.
“Samantha Pratt,” I repeated.
“I heard the name just fine the first time, but I don’t understand—”
“She comes from a family you don’t want to get twisted up in. I know you two used to play when you were younger, but it’s better if you steered clear now.”
Della frowned. “It’s not like Sam and I are friends, Theo. I saw her once last week, and that was the first time in years.”
Good. “Better to keep it that way.”
Her frown deepened. “You know, people say that about me too. They think it’s best to stay away from the Saint James’ because we’re all bad people thanks to Dad.”
“Della—”
“I’m just saying. I have no intention of hanging out with Sam, or the others, like we used to when we were younger. I’m not stupid. Things have changed with all of us. We’ve grown up. I just don’t like thinking that families are all alike because they share the same blood. That’s all.”
My sigh was heavy. “You’re right.”
She set the dog, Ramsay, down and it began circling around her. “What if he lived with you?”
“Excuse me?”
She beamed. “It’s perfect!”
“No.”
My answer didn’t deter her. “Come on, Theo. Ramsay is some sort of Pomeranian mix. It isn’t like he’ll get much bigger which means he won’t take up much space in that big old house of yours. And it’d be good for you.”
“How do you reason that?”
“You’re by yourself. A dog would be perfect company. Plus, I’ll come by and take care of him. I’ll buy him food, a bed, toys, everything he’ll need. You’ll just maybe need to take him outside occasionally.”
“Della—”
She latched onto my arm, her eyes widening into those goddamn puppy dog ones she used to shoot me with when she was little. It got me then and it still did now.
Son of a bitch.
The dog was ugly. Whatever it was mixed with didn’t do it any favors, and Della was right. It was too skinny. The ribs were evident through the patches of fur missing, but it seemed to be in good spirits despite its poor nutrition. But did I want a dog? No. Once upon a time I’d considered it, but a bigger one. One that could hold down the house when I was away, so people knew not to fuck with me. Whatever ran around our feet was no more than the size of a rodent. I’d seen bigger cats.
I cursed again when I met Della’s eyes. I knew better than to believe she’d relent. The idea was set in her head, so the chances of the dog showing up at my house when I was at work was more than likely.
Sighing, I stared down at the dog. “Is it housebroken at all?”
“Well…” Before she could answer, the fucker started peeing right there in front of us.
“Ramsay!” Della chided, frantically looking around. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed paper towels from the counter and frowned when Ramsay ran into her room.
She looked at me. “So, he needs some work, but I can handle it. I’ll get him a crate while he’s being trained. It’ll all work out.”