Page 29 of Fake It True

Wes glanced at me. “That’s a bonded pair,” he said under his breath. “Their owner passed away.”

“How old are they?” I asked.

“Conveniently, we have their vet records. They’re only two years old and already litterbox trained.”

Wes glanced over at Dora who had both cats in her lap now. “When you are out dealing with a fire, the cats won’t be lonely,” Wes pointed out with a brow waggle.

Next thing I knew, I had agreed to adopt a pair of cats. I got a big hug from Tiffany and Dora. I was prepared for Dora to beg for us to take them home today, but she was so excited that she didn’t care she had to wait.

It was Thursday, so we just had to make it to Saturday. We had dinner tomorrow with my parents, Dora, and Casey. My mom had already planned for a slumber party and movie night with Dora after dinner. I figured we’d get the cats together on Saturday. Now that I had agreed to this, I might as well take full advantage and have it be an activity with Casey that might be bonding for Dora. Our therapist had suggested coming up with something and this seemed perfect.

As we drove away, I marveled, as I did pretty much daily, at how much I had absorbed Dora into my life. Much as I wanted to see Casey every single night, I knew we weren’t in that place yet, not when it came to Dora. I didn’t mind waiting because Dora was my priority.

“Daddy?” Dora piped up from the back where she was buckled into her car seat.

When she called me “Daddy”, I thought my heart might split open from the combination of piercing joy sliced through with pain. I loved it and it also hurt that I’d missed so many years with her. For a split second, I would be angry with Diane but then I’d remember it didn’t matter anymore because Diane was gone.

I caught Dora’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “What’s up?”

“Thank you,” she said in a singsong voice.

“For what?”

“For letting us adopt two cats. I know you’re probably worried about it.”

“Why would I be worried?”

“Because now you’ll have more than me to take care of.”

I caught her eyes in the rearview mirror. “Dora, I love taking care of you. Please don’t ever worry about that. Two cats will be easy. We just have to get a few things so we can take care of them properly.”

She bounced her feet against the bottom of her car seat. “You like to do things properly. Like you take care of me properly.”

I smiled as I caught her eyes again in the rearview mirror before looking back at the road. “I try. I haven’t had a cat since I was a little boy. We used to have one.”

“You did?” The surprise in her voice drew a chuckle.

Chapter Twenty-Three

LEO

“Grammy says you’re bringing a friend to dinner.”

I looked over at Dora. “I am. Is that okay?”

My mom was so happy I was dating someone that she’d asked all around town about Casey. She’d concluded from her “reliable sources” that Casey was a good person and we should get married.

Dora blinked with her nod. “Yes. Is she your girlfriend?”

“She is,” I said slowly.

“How come I haven’t met her yet?”

God help me. I’d quickly learned the questions from children were relentless.

“Well, you’re my priority, Dora. I wanted to wait until it felt like a good time for you to meet her.” I was winging it here, but I figured the truth was my only safe option.

“Well, I think you should get married.”

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