An affair? I thought something was up but you told me I wrong. Is there anyone you won’t lie to?” He held on to her as she clawed at Verity. “Stop it. Act like a human for a change. It will be good for you.”
Andrew seemed more sad than stunned. He sank to the floor and held out his arms to Buster. The dog threw himself into the embrace.
“I guess I suspected,” Andrew said, his voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t want to believe it.” He looked at Renee. “Not her first time. It’s kind of her thing. I guess I was the idiot who thought he could change her.”
All Renee could think was to ask why on earth he’d proposed if his girlfriend was a chronic cheater, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Instead she offered a sympathetic, “I’m sorry,” grabbed her mother and headed out of the hallway.
She found both sets of parents huddled in the parking lot. “You need to go inside,” she told them. “There’s been a development.” When they’d disappeared into the building, she looked at her mother.
“Thank you.”
Verity’s eyes widened. “I ruined everything.”
“You’re not the bitch who cheated, Mom. You just told the truth.”
“You’re not upset?”
“No. I like Andrew. Hopefully he’ll grow a pair and dump Asia. I figure the odds of there being a wedding on Saturday are slim to none, so I get a day off.” She hugged her mom. “I swear, it’s totally fine.”
“I’m glad. I was afraid you were upset.”
“Not even a little. But I do have a favor.”
“Anything.”
“I need you to come by my apartment. I adopted a cat and there’s something going on with him. I’d like you to tell me what.”
Her mother looked at her. “You’re not cheating on Jasper, are you?”
Renee laughed. “I’m not. I promise.”
“All right then. How about after you get this mess cleared up?”
“Perfect.”
* * *
“OPEN, OPEN, OPEN,” Renee chanted the next morning as she waited outside the animal shelter. She was on a mission to heal Fred’s kitty heart and she didn’t know if she was too late.
A volunteer unlocked the front door and smiled at her. “You’re eager. How can we help?”
“I need to adopt a cat.”
“Excellent. We have lots of cats.”
“No. A specific cat. Her name is Lucille.” Renee held in a groan. “Not that you’ll know that’s her name. She’s gray and white and she came in with Fred nearly four weeks ago. She was surrendered by her owner. She was really sick. Skinny and throwing up.”
The woman stared at her. “Was she your cat?”
“No.” Renee had no idea how to explain what was going on without sounding insane. “Look, my mom has the ability to know what animals are thinking. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. She has a show on Animal Planet.” Credentials she was tossing around these days. Thank goodness for the network and its shows!
“I adopted Fred earlier this week. He’s obviously upset about something, so I asked my mom to talk to him.”
“Because she can talk to cats?” the volunteer sounded doubtful.
“Yes. Look, just hear me out. Fred and Lucille were brought in together. They’re a bonded pair and he misses her and he’s worried about her. She was really sick. I need to know if she’s okay and if she’s been adopted or not. If she’s still here, I’d like to adopt her for Fred.”
Another volunteer, an older woman, walked over. “I know who you’re talking about. She’s a sweet little thing. We’re calling her Misty.” The woman smiled sadly. “She had a hernia in her diaphragm. It was keeping her from eating. She had surgery and now she’s healing nicely. We were going to release her to be adopted in a day or so. Would you like to see her?”
Renee nodded. She was led back into the cat area, then through doors marked Staff and Volunteers Only where there were a dozen or so cats in various stages of recovery. Misty—aka Lucille, or so Renee hoped—was a pretty gray-and-white cat with an inquisitive expression and a soft meow.
“Hey, pretty girl,” the volunteer said. “You have a visitor.” She pointed to Misty. “Is this her?”
“I don’t know. I think so.”
Misty rolled onto her back, exposing her shaved belly and a long scar.
“That was a serious surgery,” Renee said. “Is she okay?”
“She should be fine. She’s eating well and putting on weight. Do you want to take her home and see if she’s the cat you’re looking for?”