paperwork. Less than an hour later, she was back at her apartment, the recovering Lucille with her.
“Fred, I’ve got her. At least I hope I do.”
She opened the carrier. Lucille took a tentative step into the living room, offering a soft meow as she walked. Fred raced in from the bedroom. He skittered to a stop and stared at her. Lucille stared back. At first there was nothing, then they hurried to each other. There was lots of sniffing and then they started to groom each other.
The movements were frantic, but loving. Fred sniffed at Lucille’s healing incision, then returned his attention to grooming her face. She tucked her head into his chest. Renee could hear they were both purring.
* * *
“SO NOW YOU have two cats,” Jasper said.
“I do. Fred and Lucille. He had a different name before but he told my mom he likes Fred, so we’re keeping that.”
They were out to dinner, on a Saturday night. Something Renee couldn’t remember happening for years. She was never free on Saturday night. There was always a wedding. But perhaps not shockingly, the Halloween wedding had been canceled.
“Is he any more friendly?”
Renee smiled. “He’ll never be a lap cat, but he’s stopped hissing at me. This morning, he let me pet him without grumbling about it. Lucille is a total lovebug. She slept curled up next to me all night. She’s sweet and I adore them both.”
“Are you stopping with two cats, or do you want an even dozen?”
She laughed. “I’m happy with my two.”
“I heard about the wedding drama. Was the bride really taken away by the police?”
“Who said that? No. There was just a lot of screaming. She threatened to sue us for I’m not sure what. Andrew said he would make sure that didn’t happen, but I’m thinking he has a lot less influence with her now. He ended things with her and he kept the dog.”
“Do you think they’ll get back together?”
“I hope not for his sake, but he already knew what she was like when he proposed, so I don’t know.”
Jasper frowned. “Why would he do that? Was she really beautiful?”
“She’s lovely but she has the personality of a viper. I don’t know what he saw in her. At least Buster has a good home now.”
“Buster is the dog?”
“Uh-huh.” She picked up her drink. “Enough about the wedding or nonwedding disaster. What’s going on with you? How’s the book?”
“I’m nearly done. I’m working on the ending. It’s not going well. I can’t figure out what is supposed to happen.”
She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “Isn’t your hero supposed to stop the bad guy?”
“Is that it?” He smiled at her. “It’s adding the emotional element that’s more challenging. I’m still figuring it all out.”
“Want me to help you block out the final action scene?”
“Could you?”
“Sure. I’m going to see my mom in the morning, but I could come by after that.”
“That works. Thank you.”
She smiled in anticipation. She liked helping him with his books. Not that she did any of the actual writing, but blocking out scenes was a lot of fun. Maybe Vidar and Mandy would have sex and Jasper would want to act that out, as well.
She held in a laugh. A girl could only hope!
* * *
“I CAN’T BELIEVE it’s already time for you to go back to San Diego,” Renee said, folding the T-shirts her mother put on her bed.
“I know. The time has gone by so quickly. I’m just glad everything worked out for us.”
“Me, too.”
Renee thought about how upset she’d been when her mother had first arrived, how she’d been convinced having Verity around would ruin everything, but that wasn’t true at all. If anything, having her mother around had been a positive experience. She was closer with her friends, Jasper understood Koda better, Carol knew what was going on with her giraffes and Renee had two cats. It was kind of a miracle.
“I hope you can come to the show’s premiere,” Verity said. “It won’t be for a couple of months. They want to film the first few episodes before rolling out the big reveal.” She smiled. “I’m sure they call it something different, but that’s what I call it.”
“I’d love to be there, Mom.” Maybe she could bring Jasper. Oh! She was going to have find a cat sitter for Fred and Lucille. She smiled. Responsibility in her personal life. It felt good.
“The premiere will be in Los Angeles,” Verity said. “It’s not that far. You