Page 8 of Why Not Now?

“How did you get her?” Ava asks as we start the drive.

At least this is a safe topic to discuss. So I tell her the story of how I adopted my cat.

“After I bought my place, I went to the animal shelter—with the intention of adopting a dog, actually. For some reason, I saw the kitten room and went in. I sat down and was playing with these little babies. They must have been just weaned, eight, nine weeks old. They were adorable.” I smile at the memory of the fluff balls scampering around. “Anyway, I was sitting there, playing, and Abyss came up and sat next to me. She watched me play with the kittens for a while. Then she climbed into my lap, curled up, and lay down.” I shrug. “That was pretty much it for me. She knew what she was doing, too.”

Ava laughs and I spare her a quick glance and smile.

“She was bigger than the other kittens. I talked to the people at the shelter, and they said she was five months old. She’d been born there, and no one had adopted her. It’s apparently really difficult to adopt out a black cat. I took her home that day.”

“So she took one look at you and was like, this is the man for me?”

“Considering how much money I’ve spent making her happy, I wouldn’t be surprised,” I grumble.

“What have you bought her?”

“Name it, I probably bought it. Cat tree, cat beds, toys, the best food, vet insurance. I built her a fucking catio. She lives like a queen.”

“Must be nice.”

At the wistful sound of Ava’s voice, I glance at her, but she’s looking out the side window. I want to tell her I would have done the same for her if she’d have let me. But I keep the words in. That’s all in the past. It’s been over for years. No matter that I still wonder what she’s doing. No matter that I still dream about her, fantasize about her coming back to me.

“So how long have you owned Blue Vista?” she asks, filling the awkward silence that descended. Our silences never used to be awkward.

“We opened it about five and a half years ago,” I say, turning onto the main road in Ava’s neighbourhood—the neighbourhood where my mom still lives.

“How did you guys get started?”

“We were at university together. Me, Vic, Spencer, and Adalie. We took a class, came up with a business plan. After school was over, Vic decided she wanted to bring it to life. She wanted to start a business and had the capital to do it. She didn’t want to do it on her own, so she asked the three of us if we would go in together. Demanded it, actually. She gave us each ten per cent.”

“You were all still close enough that she asked? How many years after the initial project did you start the business?”

I chuckle. “About two months. We were still close. Spencer kind of does that, though. He pulls people together and we kind of created a family of sorts. They’re my best friends. And now Lis, too.”

“Spencer’s girlfriend,” she confirms.

I pull up to her house and put the car in park. “They started dating about a month ago. Probably be living together before the year is up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he proposes, either.”

“That soon?”

“You don’t know Spencer. When he decides something, he goes all in.”

We look up at the house. I’d spent a lot of time there when we were growing up. It could maybe use a pressure wash and a fresh coat of paint, but the yard is neat, and the windows are clean.

“The place looks nice,” I say.

She shrugs. “It’s home.”

“How is Lacey doing?” I ask. She was only eight-years-old last time I saw her.

“She’s a teenager. How do you think?” She gives me a wry smile. “Well, thanks for the ride, Derek. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“I guess so.”

She gets out and gathers her camera equipment from where we’d stored it in the trunk. I grip my steering wheel to prevent getting out to help her. She doesn’t want my help. She didn’t before, and she doesn’t now.

Then I watch her walk toward the stairs leading to her door. I get out of the car before I’ve thought about what I’m doing. “Ava,” I call, jogging up to her.

She turns back to me, questioningly.

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