Page 22 of Sweet on You
Meow.I glanced to the right where Frost was now walking in figure eights between Penny’s legs.
No. No one would go to this much trouble to keep a lie going. Adopting a dog just to make good on an excuse not to have a drink? That was crazy.Legitimatelycrazy.
Ronnie sighed, dropped to her knees beside Frost and Penny and he immediately went onto his back, offering her his belly. “I’m just fostering him,” she said, scratching his barrel chest.
I exhaled in relief. “Oh, that makes more sense. And it explains his separation anxiety.” I picked up the last of the garbage and stuffed it in the bag, tying it off. “For a second I thought you meant you’d lied about having a dog at all. I’m going to be honest, it seemed like a lie when you first said it. It just seemed ridiculous. You’ve never had a dog before, you always seemed uncomfortable around your siblings’ dogs. And the second I invite you for a drink, you claim to have a dog—a boy named Penny.”
She bit her lip, not looking at me as I tossed the garbage bag by the front door, planning to take it with me when I left.
“What if ithadbeen a lie?” she asked.
“Honestly, it wouldn’t have been a big deal yesterday. I mean, we all say stupid stuff in the moment when we’re put on the spot.” I shrugged. “And if you didn’t want to have a drink with me, I understand.”
She exhaled. “Well, that’s good to hear.”
“Not that it matters,” I walked back over and fell back into the couch, reaching to pet Frost as she hopped up onto the armrest beside me. “You didn’t lie. Only a psycho would adopt a pet to keep up a lie like that.”
Then her chuckle morphed, choking in her throat. “Right. A psycho,” she said. “A pathetic psycho.”
“But you’re just fostering him… for Yvonne, I take it?”
She nodded. “Yeah. For Yvonne. But I might send him back. He’s too much… everything. He’s too much energy. Too much work. I think I’m just not meant to have a pet. I’m used to being alone… and maybe it should just stay that way.”
Something hollowed in my chest at her words. They were so sad. So empty. “You don’t really mean that, do you?”
She nodded, but continued petting Penny in slow, steady strokes on his belly.
“Huh,” I said, leaning back. “I never took you as someone to run from a challenge.”
Her eyes snapped to me. “Excuse me?”
I shrugged. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. You seem like the kind of person who doesn’t mind a little work. A challenge. I thought you’d be the type who would enjoy the victory of training a dog like Penny.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I see what you’re doing,” she said. “You’re so transparent, I might as well call you Mr. Cellophane.”
“And you’ll never even know I’m there?” I said, joking, quoting the song from Chicago.
Her brows jumped at that. “Did you really just quote Broadway to me?”
I shrugged again. “What can I say? I’m worldly.”
She made a thoughtfulhmmsound.
“Let me tell you a story about this little lady,” I said, lifting Frost and putting her on my shoulder. “I inherited her from my ex. About three years ago, she came home with this little fuzzball in her arms. She found her alone in a cardboard box on the sidewalk. All her siblings had been taken and she was all that was left. I didn’t want any pets. I hated cats. Or I thought I did. My knowledge of them was that they were standoffish little pricks who scratched your furniture to hell.”
Ronnie lifted a brow. “Well, aren’t they?”
“I guess they can be. Those first few months with her were tough. She was so tiny that she would crawl into the oddest small spaces and fall asleep. We would search for her for hours, convinced she had snuck outside only to find her curled up in the tissue box. She did scratch the corner of my couch when she was a kitten… but she got over all those bad habits. And what she offered was a sweet, loving companion that accompanied me during some of the hardest times of my life. Within a week of having a kitten, my ex wanted no part of the responsibility. But for some reason, I couldn’t let her go. It was winter in Manchester and the poor thing would have died if we had put her back outside in that cold weather. It was almost like she knew thatIwas her person… not my ex. And when London left me, Frost was there, kissing my face in the mornings. She stayed by my side when I detoxed from my cocaine addiction. And she moved to good ol’ USA with me.”
Ronnie’s eyes widened. “When you… when you detoxed?” Then, she immediately shook her head. “I’m sorry. I had no idea…”
I waved away her concern. “I don’t go around advertising the fact that I’m a recovering addict,” I said. “But I also don’t hide it. My ex was toxic. She got me started on cocaine and heroin.” I stared right into Ronnie’s bright, blue eyes. I respected her too much to avoid the eye contact. I might not be in any good spot to date anyone, but if we were going to be friends, then she deserved the truth about me. The whole truth. “It ruined several years of my life. My relationship with my sister, grandmother, and my parents crumbled. I’ve been clean for two years, but they still don’t fully trust me.” I sighed as Frost nuzzled my stubble. “Nor should they. I can’t blame them. I stole from every single one of them. I lied. I was a high functioning addict… I even managed to keep my job the whole time, unlike my ex. But, I was also a violent person when I wasn’t high. Irritable didn’t begin to describe me, and I burned a lot of bridges.”
I exhaled the deep breath I’d been holding as Ronnie’s eyes watered. She blinked and looked away.
“Wow… I-I don’t know what to say.”
“That was a lot to unload, I know. The point of my story is… Frost wasn’t easy at first either. But animals—much like people—sometimes need second chances. And third chances. Maybe Penny deserves a little understanding and compassion. He’s a stray, right? There’s no telling what cards life has dealt him up until now. Maybe he came from an abusive home that locked him in a room for days without food or water. Maybe breaking down that door was his survival instinct kicking in.” I ignored the tightness that clawed up my throat. I knew all about those survival instincts.
