Page 70 of Wedding Season
He didn’t say anything for several moments. It didn’t speak well of her, but she couldn’t jeopardize her connection with Heather. She had to hope Alex would find a way to understand.
“Okay,” he answered finally, his mouth set in a hard line. He really was a good guy. “But I don’t like it.”
Her breath felt bottled up in her chest. She reached out and squeezed his hand before releasing it again. “Trust me. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“It sounds like you’re talking about trading sexual favors for my complicity. I should probably feel taken advantage of.”
“Just appreciated,” she clarified.
That seemed to soothe him and the tension eased like dandelion fluff floating away on the breeze. The situation wasn’t perfect, but Mariella would make this work. She was close to attaining things she hadn’t even allowed herself to want before now, and she would make sure she didn’t sabotage any of it. She forced herself to ignore her doubts and allowed joy to infuse her like warm sunshine as they stopped by the first booth at the market.
“AREYOUSUREyou want that one?”
Meredith Ventner watched Alex with a funny look on her face as he lifted the cat carrier into his arms to peer inside. A swipe of claws against the cage door rewarded his effort, followed by several rounds of intense purring.
The cat inside was orange, almost the exact color of a basketball, but with the personality of an angry tiger. Her yellow eyes shone in the shadows and the front paw that had taken a swipe at him was encircled in a white stripe.
The Furever Friends booth was located on the edge of the market, with a colorful banner and several wire pens where available canines lounged, played and generally charmed potential families who came by to look. There were also a few plastic carriers on a long table, an adult cat looking for its new owner in each one.
Meredith was like the Pied Piper of adopters with her chin-length bob, denim overalls and effusive energy. People drifted past then stopped as if they couldn’t help but choose one of her animals to make their own.
Alex had sensed this about the rescue’s sprite-sized owner from the start, which is why he’d given her a wide berth until now.
“I thought you came over here to look at dogs,” she said as the cat inside let out an outraged squawk.
Alex hadn’t known cats could squawk. He was charmed even though he knew the cat meant it as a warning. Alex wasn’t the best at picking up on cautionary cues given by indomitable women. “Turns out I want this cat. Is there a problem with that?”
“Well...”
Ryan Sorensen, an ER doctor Alex had met the night of Heather’s accident, who also happened to be Meredith’s fiancé and Emma’s brother, sidled up next to her. “The problem is that the feisty kitty you’re holding was on track to be Meredith’s latest foster fail.”
Meredith gave Ryan a not-so-gentle elbow to the ribs when he tried to put his arm around her shoulder, which didn’t deter him in the least. There was a sophisticated air that clung to the man even though he’d made Magnolia his permanent home. Despite his big-city experience, Ryan seemed right at home in the role of animal-adoption support person for Meredith.
“What’s a foster fail?” Alex asked, trying to follow along.
Ryan dropped a gentle kiss on the top of Meredith’s head. “She takes in the animals that are the hardest to love and keeps them for her own. It usually starts as a temporary foster situation, but she has a special place in her heart for the biggest challenges.”
Meredith gave a little snort but didn’t deny it. “And look at how well that turned out with you,” she told Ryan with an eye roll. The affection between these two seemingly opposite people was palpable, and Alex had to look away for a moment to hide the unjustified envy he felt.
“To qualify as an adopter for this cat, I want you to sign up for a shy-cat training session and commit to at least three follow-up home visits where we can review her progress.”
“Is that the typical process?”
“She makes it up as she goes along,” Ryan revealed.
“I do not. It’s typical in a situation like this. You’ve already said you don’t have a lot of experience with cats and Bex is special.”
“Where does the name Bex come from? Should I keep it?”
“I named her after Bellatrix Lestrange in theHarry Potterbooks. She was my favorite character.”
“Despite being a murderous villain,” Ryan added with a chuckle.
“Minor detail.” Meredith looked past Alex for a moment. If he wasn’t mistaken, something akin to understanding dawned in her light gray eyes. “Bex is special, but I think you can handle her.”
He wasn’t surprised when Mariella came to stand next to him a moment later. “What’s this?” She gestured toward the cat carrier, which had gone remarkably silent for the moment.
“I’m adopting a cat.”
