Page 75 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

He went back to his car to get the box of cat supplies that Tessica had sent with him, and brought it in.

Butch meowed plaintively at him when he came back.

“I know, little man. It’s been a crappy day of traveling. I’ll let you out in just a minute.”

Connor quickly set up the cat box in the bathroom, and then took the cat carrier in as well. He shut the bathroom door behind them and unzipped the cat carrier.

Butch tentatively stepped out, looked around, and then meowed plaintively yet again.

Connor sat on the bathroom floor with his back against the door.

“Welcome home.” He reached out and let Butch sniff his hand. Butch took a few more steps over to Connor and accepted some petting.

Connor let Butch explore the bathroom for a good ten minutes, and made sure he’d sniffed at the litter box once before getting up and opening the bathroom door.

“All right, Butch. I’m going to go unpack and then look in my freezer for dinner while you explore.”

For the next half an hour, Connor noticed Butch in different rooms exploring the small apartment while Connor went about his usual routine. Once Connor’s dinner was ready, he poured some kibble in a dish. That sound brought Butch running into the kitchen, and Connor put the food down next to the water dish.

He patted Butch as the cat ate. “Don’t blame me if you’re still hungry after this. Doctor’s orders. Gwen says you can have a full meal with canned food tomorrow morning if you keep this down.”

Having explained the meager one-fourth cup of kibble to the feline, Connor took his own plate to the kitchen table. Frozen dinners weren’t his favorite, but he ended up eating them at least once a week. His work schedule made it difficult to shop often, or to use up fresh ingredients before they went bad if he bought a lot at once. He ate out three or four times a week, made one or two meals a week, and frozen dinners unfortunately comprised the rest of the week.

As he chewed the rubbery frozen lasagna that tasted more like tomato sauce than meat, his thoughts wandered to Tessica. He wondered what she would think of this meal. After that thought crossed his mind, he realized he missed her. Frowning at his plate, he shook his head. He couldn’tmissher. They’d barely started dating. But he knew his pathetic frozen dinner wouldn’t feel nearly as pathetic if he was sharing it with her.

He knew his son, his grandkids, and his best friend would all be happy if he moved back to Oregon and now he could add Tessica to that list. “Maybe I should make a pros and cons list.”

“Meow.”

Connor glanced down at Butch sitting beside his chair.

“You’re not getting any lasagna if that’s what you’re after. Gwen and Tessica would have my head if I made you sick with people food on your first night.”

Butch rubbed up against Connor’s legs and purred.

Connor finished his meal, put the container in the garbage, and then picked up Butch. He carried him to the couch and sat down. He took his phone out of his pocket and sat it on the couch beside them.

Butch quickly settled himself on Connor’s lap, and purred loudly.

“I could get used to this.” He absently petted the cat and turned on the television. He put a cooking show on, but wasn’t planning to focus on it. Instead he picked up his phone, opened a text to himself, and typed up the pros and cons of moving. Fifteen minutes later it was clear that the pros vastly outweighed the cons. Frowning, he deleted the text, put the phone down and tried to focus on the television.

His mind kept going back to Tessica and all the things they’d done over the past few days. Normally when he got home from a trip, he was able to relax and let go of the stress of the day, but right now all he could think about was counting down the hours until he would see her again.

As the television droned on, his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw a text from Tessica.

How is Butch settling in?

Connor took a picture of the cat in his lap and sent it to her before typing up a reply.

Seems happy in the moment. He ate his kibble and kept it down.

Great!

His fingers hovered over the phone. He wanted to text that he missed her, but refrained. Instead he sent:Wanna call and tell me how the interviews went?

Less than a second later his phone rang. He smiled and warmth spread through his chest. Maybe she missed him as much as he missed her. But then he wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. He answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

“Hi.”

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