Page 3 of Lee

Normally, she didn’t really care too much about her appearance when she wasn’t at work. Comfort was more important than looks.

However, she hadn’t even considered that the vet might be tall, dark, and handsome. He’d probably taken one look at her and seen a crazy cat lady. Only she wasn’t crazy about cats. She was crazy because of a cat.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Rori backed out of her spot and headed home to spend the rest of the day trying to coax a purr out of Queenie. It felt like a lost cause, but she was going to persist, mainly because she didn’t have much else to do.

After working full time for all of her adult life—and a good portion of her teen years—Rori had always assumed that if she had nothing to do for a long stretch of time, she’d love it.

And she did love moments of it. Reading late into the night, then being able to sleep in. Taking leisurely baths. However, she couldn’t fill all her hours with those things.

Grooming and playing with Queenie didn’t take much time since the cat usually ignored her. That left her with long stretches when she didn’t have anything to do. And after finishing several books already, boredom was truly setting in.

When she got back to the house, she parked the car, then carried Queenie into the house. She set the carrier down in the foyer and opened it to let the cat out.

As she exited the carrier, Queen Charlotte lived up to her royal name. She turned to stare at Rori with her bright blue eyes.

“Stop with the attitude,” Rori told her. “I only took you to make sure you were okay. I wouldn’t have had to do that if you’d just purr.”

Queenie’s fluffy tail twitched high in the air as she turned around and headed for the sunroom at the back of the house where her throne—her elaborate cat tree—was situated. Rori took the carrier into the kitchen to return it to Essie.

“Thanks for getting this for me,” Rori said as she set it on the counter.

“Was everything okay?” Essie asked, concern on her face.

“Yeah. Apparently I’m worried for no reason.”

“That cat has a… challenging personality.”

Rori gave a huff of laughter. “That’s one way to put it. She’s snooty and stingy with her approval. Kind of like my mom.”

A quick smile crossed Essie’s face, but she didn’t respond to Rori’s words, probably figuring that holding her tongue was necessary to keep her employment.

“Have you lived in Serenity for long?” Rori asked as she sat on a padded bar stool at the island counter.

Essie looked up from where she was pouring coffee into a mug. “All my life.”

“So, are you still here because you like to live here or because you haven’t been able to leave?”

She set the mug in front of Rori, then went to get the cream and sugar for her. “Probably a bit of both. I think if I’d really wanted to leave, I could have found a way to do that. Why do you ask?”

“I’m just wondering about maybe moving here. I’m between jobs at the moment, so if I wanted to make a move somewhere new, now might be the time.”

“There are worse places to live than Serenity. There are lots of people who choose to raise their families here and plenty more who retire here.”

Rori wasn’t sure yet if she wanted to live so close to her mom. Although, it was far more likely that her mom wouldn’t want Rori to live close to her.

“Thank you for this,” Rori said as she lifted her mug of doctored coffee and took a sip.

Since coming to Serenity, she’d learned that there was coffee, and then there was COFFEE. She’d apparently been simply surviving on the coffee she’d been drinking her whole life because what Essie made her each morning gave her life!

“Is this coffee grown by gnomes and harvested by elves?” Rori asked, unable to keep the smile of delight from her face.

As Essie slid a bagel into the toaster, she chuckled—the first time Rori had heard that from her—and said, “I have no idea. It’s a blend that Mr. Cannon provides. Who knows where he gets it.”

Rori was glad that her day was on the upswing. Though her conversations to date with Essie had always been fairly short, she’d enjoyed them. Not only did they help to alleviate the monotony, but Essie had a friendly vibe that made chatting with her easy.

“I wonder if there are any places in Serenity hiring,” Rori mused after another sip of her coffee. “I asked at the vet clinic, but they had no openings.”

Essie paused, then pushed down the lever on the toaster. “You’d want to work?”

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