“I can’t believe you signed on to be Mrs. UpChuck,” my cat ground out, “but then again, the role is perfect for you.”
“Thank you,” I said with a satisfied grin as the heated leather seat warmed my posterior.
“Huh?” Charles asked, briefly glancing my way.
“Thank you,” I repeated, this time to him. “For being here, for being you, for all of this.”
“Barf, barf!” Octo-Cat shouted at us.
I ignored him and leaned over to plant a kiss on my fianc?’s cheek.
“We’re here,” Charles announced a short time later, pulling into a condominium complex. “I think.”
Every single unit was a dull tan color, both the siding and the roof. It looked like we were stepping into a strange suburban desert right in the middle of Maine.
A group of high schoolers ambled past, their hands pushed down into the pockets of overly baggy jeans. One of them leered at me suggestively, sending a fresh wave of heat to my cheeks.
“Which one is hers?” I asked as Paisley barked furiously at the passers-by.
“Well, this was the one step of the journey I felt confident about. It’s the one with all the pink plastic flamingos.”
“Oh, right, the pink sentinels,” I said, remembering the directions I myself had transcribed. “Do you think she’s home?”
Charles turned off the engine and turned his full gaze toward me.“Only one way to find out. You ready?”
I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat. It was so thick, it felt as if it were stuck. Suddenly my eyes burned, and my skin tingled. My heartbeat sped to an upbeat tempo, and my chest grew heavy.
I let go of Charles’s hand and used mine to steady myself, splaying my hands out and grasping at whatever my fingers came into contact with. It felt like the car was spinning wildly out of control, but that was ridiculous. We were simply sitting here, side by side, with the engine shut off. I knew that and yet…
Charles said something, but I couldn’t make sense of the words. What was happening to me?
A million thoughts rushed through my mind, but I couldn’t grab onto any of them long enough for it to stick.
Paisley barked wildly. Charles continued talking to me in a steady, soothing voice. But I kept spiraling into an idle chaos, unmoored in a storm only I could sense.
It wasn’t until Octo-Cat climbed out of the back seat and settled himself on my chest that my breathing, heart rate, and everything else began to slow back to a reasonable pace.
I listened to him purr as I closed my eyes and rested my cheek on his fur and felt the vibrations warm my skin.“What happened?” I asked when I finally felt like myself again.
“I’m pretty sure you just had a panic attack,” Charles said carefully. He didn’t reach for me like he normally would but rather gave me some space to recover. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I told him and then lifted my face to look at the cat sitting on my chest.
This was so much like the first time I’d met Octavius that I almost feltd?j? vu. I’d had a medical issue, come to with him on my chest. The only thing missing was…
“I’m hungry,” he said, emitting a noxious cloud of day-old lobster roll breath. “How long has it been since you last fed me?”
“Yup, there it is,” I said aloud, nodding once even though I was only confirming it to myself.
“What?” Charles asked, reaching forward slowly before rubbing my arm in a steady, soothing motion.
“Cats will be cats,” I said with a small smile. For all his faults, Octo-Cat was someone I could always count on to be himself. And that made marching into the unknown easier, knowing that stability was never more than a furry companion away.
“How did he know to do that?” Charles asked, assessing the tabby.
“Who, me?” the cat asked, then stood and moved onto my lap to look out the window.
“Happened to Ethel from time to time,” he said while staring off into the distance. “Whenever she started breathing funny, she’d grab me and hold on tight. Eventually she would feel better. Figured it would work on you, too. You know, since all humans are pretty much the same.”
Funny how even after all our time together, Octo-Cat could still surprise me. I liked that. And I appreciated him now more than ever. For all his bluster, he still cared about me and was always there for me whenever it really counted.
He was here now, which meant I could do this.
I could meet my grandmother.
Learn the truth.
And keep on living my life.
It didn’t have to change me.
And I had a feeling my merry crew of tagalong companions wouldn’t let that happen, anyway.
12
Charles held my hand while I clutched Paisley to my chest with my free arm. Octo-Cat nosed around the shrubs in pursuit of a fat robin.
“Okay,” I said on the wings of an exhale.
Charles raised his finger and poked at the doorbell.
I focused on his fingers laced through mine, on Paisley shaking with excitement, on Octo-Cat making that ridiculous cat call that was meant to sound like a bird and lure them into his deadly clutches.
I listened for footsteps hurrying toward the door, but none came.
“Maybe it’s broken,” Charles said with a shrug before tapping his knuckles against the door three times in rapid succession.
“Aww, you scared it away,” Octo-Cat whined, pulling himself onto the cement stoop to stand beside us.
I didn’t bother to translate, but I did set Paisley down and tried pounding on the door myself.
“I want to help!” Paisley said before letting out a string of high-pitched barks.
“Make it stop. Make it stop,” Octo-Cat groaned and rolled onto his back, wiggling his spine against the pavement.
Still, my grandma didn’t come to the door.
“Okay, so she’s not home right now,” Charles said, turning back toward the street. “Let’s take a walk around the complex. See if we can learn anything from the neighbors.”
I nodded as he tugged me after him.
Paisley scampered after us, and Octo-Cat returned to the shrubs.
“I’m going to wait for that robin to come back. Let me know when it’s time to go,” he said before pouncing out of sight.
“You don’t think she’s avoiding me, do you?” I asked Charles as we rounded the block.
He shook his head emphatically.“Why would she do that? She doesn’t even know you’re coming, for starters, but also I’m sure she’s dying to meet you. Why else would she have moved so close?”
She had moved close. For some reason, I hadn’t considered that fact before. Hope filled my chest. “Do you think she might be looking for me and my mom, too?”
“Anything’s possible.” Charles picked up the pace. “Oh, look. There’s someone out watering the grass.”
A middle-aged man wearing cargo shorts and a sports T-shirt stood in brightly colored crocs with a hose in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
“Excuse me, sir!” Charles called, raising his free hand.
“If Susie sent you, you can forget about serving me with any more papers,” the man snarled. I guess Charles gave off that attorney vibe even when he wasn’t anywhere near the office.
“No, I don’t work for Susie or anyone else. We’re just here to see one of your neighbors. Could you tell me about—?”
The man raised his hand.“That’s enough right there. If it’s about a neighbor, it doesn’t concern me, and I have enough trouble of my own without sticking my nose into anyone else’s business. So just go on. Keep walking. Find some other poor sap, but you won’t get a peep out of me.”
I pulled Charles ahead.“Sorry to bother you!” I called to the man.
“Hey, you! Get that overgrown rat of yours off my lawn!” the man raged from somewhere behind us.
Charles and I turned back just in time to see Paisley lift her leg and let out a mighty stream of pee right beside the spot the angry guy had been watering.
He turned his hose on her and she ran away yipping.