And waited.
When she didn’t return after a full minute had passed, I got up to check on her…
And found Octo-Cat nestled on top of her hoard of toys with the little lamb clutched between his paws, claws extended and pressed right into the soft fleece.
“Why?” I demanded, thrusting a hand on my hip.
“You’re anxious, which makes her anxious, which makes me anxious. It’s a whole vicious cycle,” the tabby said around a yawn. He let out a low growl as he so often liked to do when he was feeling testy, which was almost all the time. “I’m ending it here.”
“No, you’re only making things worse,” I countered, reaching down to snag Paisley’s toy from him.
Octo-Cat growled again and batted my hand away. He didn’t even bother to retract his claws first.
Paisley began to bark and kick back her feet again. Unlike Octo-Cat, who always had something to say, Paisley sometimes stuck to the pure guttural sounds of barking, whining, and woofing—no added context necessary.
“Ouch,” I cried, ripping my hand away. “Why do you have to be so mean?”
“It’s for your own good,” he answered, eyes narrowed and tail flicking. That thing was like a metronome, steadily counting the beats until his next tantrum.
I narrowed my eyes right back at him and crossed my arms over my chest.“No, it’s not.”
“Fine, whatever.” He sighed mightily, as if this very conversation were miles beneath him. “It just makes life more interesting, you know?”
I rolled my eyes. Why could he never give me a day off from his signature snark? And it was even worse when he admitted that he bugged me simply for entertainment’s sake.
“Well, I don’t exactly need your help with that,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
“Because waiting by the window for Prince Charming to ride up on that white horse and rescue you from your boredom is oh-so riveting?” Octo-Cat shook his head then sneezed.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you subscribe to Disney+,” I shouted in a huff.
He let out a laugh worthy of a classic animated villain but refused to relent.
“Sorry, Paize,” I said at last, drifting away from the bad kitty and taking up my seat by the window once more.
Did my cat have a point?Yes.
Would I ever admit that to him?Oh, heck no!
Doing so would only make his sizable head even bigger. That cat was already vain enough without any added assistance from me.
“I’m coming, by the way,” the feline bully informed me once Paisley had finally stopped barking at him and come to settle on my lap. He walked over, placing one foot carefully in front of the other, tail and nose both held high. I imagined him on a tight rope in the jungle with angry crocs snapping underneath, but that only made me feel marginally better.
“Who says you’re coming?” I demanded, blinking hard to clear my eyes of the imaginary crocs.
“I do, and as you know, I’m the highest authority on this and all other matters.” He jumped up onto the coffee table and sat before me, padding at the polished wood as if it were a warm blanket.
“Why do you even want to come? Remember how you used to hate the car? What happened to that?”
“What can I say? I’m evolving. It’s possible for some, though not for others.” He shot a sideways glance at Paisley and sneered. Sometimes I really questioned his love for her, but he liked the little pound puppy as much as he could like anyone, I guessed.
I waited for him to go on rather than pointing out the slight to Paisley. It would only hurt her feelings.
He sighed when I didn’t take the bait. “Okay, maybe Pringle got me somewhat invested in his reality TV programming.”
“So you’re going because you want to see Sharon and Chessy again?” He’d hated meeting them both last weekend, so this made zero sense to me.
Octo-Cat made a terrible noise like he was about to barf on the carpet.
And then he actually did it.
“Eww, gross!” I cried. “What is wrong with you?”
He chuckled.“Oh, it’s not about what’s wrong with me. This time it’s about that whole messed up family dynamic you have going on, and I refuse to miss out on the big reveal.”
“So glad I have your support,” I mumbled, then went to get a roll of paper towels to take care of his mess.
If there was one thing my cat excelled at, it was adding the occasional injury to the steady stream of insults that worked their way off that sandpaper tongue.
Sometimes I really wished he would find a hobby.
5
“So how did you find this place again?” I asked Charles as we rolled up to a small bed-and-breakfast that sat near the shores of a beautiful lake. We’d elected to stay a short way out of Katahdin proper because Charles and I both liked it best when we were near the water—him being a California boy, me a Maine girl.
“One of the associates at work told me about this site that only lists hotels and rentals where pets are allowed,” he explained as he pulled to a stop in the small gravel parking lot out front. “I filtered by waterfront properties, and this was the closest property with a vacancy. It also haddecent reviews, so I figured why not?”
“Decent, huh?” I asked, raising one eyebrow in extreme suspicion.
“Yeah, but don’t read too much into that. You know how online reviews can be.” He paused for a moment, regarding me carefully. “Not everything is a mystery just waiting to be solved.”
“Says you,” I shot back as I unbuckled my seatbelt and clambered out of the car. I held the door open so that Paisley and Octo-Cat could hop out, too.
“I love it here!” Paisley cried and then took off running in wide, looping circles. “Wheeeee!”
“Why did we bring her again?” Octo-Cat demanded of me with a sneer.
I didn’t get a chance to answer, though, because Paisley zipped and zoomed out of view. I was just about to call her back when a sharp yelp rent the air. We all took off running in pursuit of the sound.
Octo-Cat moved the fastest out of the three of us, which meant he was first on the scene. I couldn’t see anything, but I heard a mighty hiss followed by a low, ominous growl. When I finally rounded the corner, I found my tabby in a beach stand-off with an enormous orange Persian.
Paisley cowered behind Octo-Cat, shaking violently as the two cats stared each other down.
“Nobody hurts my kid sister,” Octo-Cat hissed at the strange feline.
The orange Persian extended his claws and took a swipe at Octo’s face.
“You s-st-struck me?” he sputtered in shock. “You actually struck me?”
The Persian wore a satisfied expression on his flat face.“Maybe next time you’ll remember who lives here and who’s simply an unwelcome intruder,” he said, then raised his tail high and sauntered off down the sandy beach.
“That does it! I’ll end him! I’ll— “
I grabbed Octo-Cat in my arms before the fight could escalate any further. The last thing we needed was to get kicked out of our accommodation before I even had a chance to meet my grandma.
“Be the bigger person,” I said through gritted teeth.
“There’s so much wrong with that statement I don’t even know where to begin,” my cat shot back. “Just keep that giant, fluffy wad of mouse breath away from me.”
Funny how much he hated this cat with its long hair and flat face, when his true love Grizabella was a former show Himalayan and looked quite similar if you ignored the coloration. I guessed that meant my cat wasn’t a breedist, and that was a good thing for sure.
“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Paisley ground out, coming to stand at my feet. “I was just so happy to be out of the car.”
“It’s fine. It’s not either of your faults. Just calm down and try to put it out of your mind,” I cooed.
Charles grabbed Paisley and clutched her against his chest.“Everything okay?” he said, expression askance.
“It will be,” I assured them all. “It’s just been a long week for all of us.”
“So we’re staying?” Charles wanted to confirm.