Fed Up - By Jessica Conant-Park & Susan Conant Page 0,28

care. Adrianna had certainly cheered me up and distracted me from dwelling on Francie. And tonight I would see Josh! I tried to take a short nap, but visions of Francie danced unpleasantly in my head. The ringing of the phone rescued me from the atrocious images. Caller ID showed my favorite number.

“Hi, Josh,” I said happily into the phone. “How’s it going there?”

“Good. Good,” he answered. “Um, how are you?”

“You know, as well as can be expected after yesterday.”

“So . . . what else is going on? You know . . . you doing anything?” Josh sounded strange.

“No,” I answered hesitantly. “Josh, is something up?”

“What? Oh, no. It’s just, um, do you want a cat?”

“A cat? No, not really. I already have Gato. Why? Do you know someone giving away a cat?”

“Sort of. Yeah. This guy is giving away this Persian cat, and . . .” Josh’s voice trailed off.

“Spit it out, Josh.”

Josh coughed. “When I went out to get a coffee on my break, I walked past this guy outside the T station who was stopping people and asking them if they wanted a cat. He stopped me, too. He said he just broke up with his girlfriend and moved, and he didn’t want the cat anymore, so he was trying to give it away.”

“Josh, I’m sure someone will take it. Especially a Persian. Or he’ll take it to a shelter.”

“Maybe,” Josh said skeptically.

“Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“Josh, did you take the cat?”

There was a long, long pause. “Yeah.”

I sighed. As much to myself as to Josh, I said, “You took the cat.” Turning practical, I asked, “Where are you? You didn’t bring it into the restaurant, did you?”

“No, I’m sitting in my car behind Simmer, and it’s in a cat carrier next to me.”

“Oh, my God.” Josh was hardly ever at his own apartment. He certainly wasn’t there enough to take care of another living creature. In other words, I knew whose cat this was going to be.

“Chloe, I asked the guy what he was going to do with the cat if nobody took it, and he said he was going to throw it in the river! The Charles River is only a few blocks from here, and I think he was serious.” Josh was talking a mile a minute now. “He was a totally normal-looking guy, too, which was weird, but he said it was his ex-girlfriend’s cat, and they broke up, and he didn’t want to deal with it, and so I took it. Her, actually. She’s a girl. And she is so beautiful. She’s got white fur and orange ears, and she’s just sitting here looking at me, and I feel so bad for her.”

I was momentarily torn. On the one hand, I was irritated with Josh for taking in this strange cat that would end up with me. On the other hand, I felt overwhelmed with appreciation of how sweet and adorable my boyfriend was. How many men would even have stopped to listen to some idiot on the street trying to give away a cat? And Josh hadn’t just listened but had gone on to rescue the cat from her heartless owner.

“Do you know how old she is? Has she been to the vet?” I asked.

“He said she’s not even a year old. And I don’t know if she’s been to the vet, but I sort of doubt it. Her fur is all matted, Chloe, and she looks so scared and sad. I had to take her.”

I smiled. “Of course you did. Should I come get her?”

“I guess I could take her to a shelter if you don’t want—”

“No!” I cut him off. “We are not taking her to a shelter. Do you know how overcrowded those places are? Who knows what would happen to her! I’ll come get her.”

I was suddenly excited. In the wake of Francie’s death, I suddenly had a new pet, a rescued cat to smother with love. I kissed my quirky black cat, Gato, and did my best to explain to him what was about to happen. “Now listen, mister. Someone is moving in with us, and you’re not going to like her right away. I accept that. But I expect you to be on your best behavior nonetheless.”

Gato rubbed his head against my cheek, swatted my hair, and then ran off. Maybe a feline companion was just what he needed.

NINE

I flew down Newbury Street into the heart of Boston, my heart racing with eagerness at the prospect of meeting my