A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)

“You’re home,” she said in a quiet voice. “Alexander, come on, big guy. This is it. Where you belong.”


He slowly, cautiously, stepped out of the carrier. After glancing at her, he walked into the bathroom and sniffed. He paused at the litter box, but didn’t use it.

“I hope I got the right kind,” she said. “It has baking soda in it.”

He walked past her and went under the guest bed. Before she could wonder if he was going to hide there for a while, he came out the other side and headed for the hallway.

She’d closed the door to the master, thinking she didn’t want to confuse him. He headed downstairs, and she followed.

He made a circuit of the rest of the place, pausing to delicately lap at the water and sniff the dry food. Then he walked to the sofa, jumped up and stared at her.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs.

“I should probably tell you about myself,” she murmured, thinking she was being an idiot, but not sure how else to start a conversation with a cat.

“I’ve never had a pet before, so it’s possible I won’t get everything right. If you could just be a little patient with me, I would appreciate it. I’m, um, a dance teacher, which I like a lot. Do you like children? Because there might be some around, from time to time. I just broke up with the guy I was seeing.”

Evie paused, feeling the pain of the words. “I thought he was pretty great. I thought…” She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “I was in love with him,” she whispered, fighting tears. “Stupid, huh?”

She crossed to the sofa, sitting at the opposite end from Alexander, so as not to frighten him. “I’ve never had a successful romantic relationship, so it’s really just going to be the two of us. But I’m hoping you and I can get along. I want to take good care of you.”

Steady green eyes regarded her.

“It would really help if you could tell me what you’re thinking,” she said.

Alexander stood and walked across the back of the sofa. He jumped down on the cushion next to her and then sat, looking at her. Slowly, carefully, she reached out to pet him. She stroked the length of his back, then rubbed the side of his face. When she scratched under his chin, he raised his head up and forward.

“Do you like that?” she asked. “Is that nice?”

Without warning, he jumped onto her lap and stood facing her. She rubbed his soft fur. He turned once and then curled up on her lap and began to purr.

She continued to pet him, feeling the quiet rumble as she rubbed his chin. More tears fell. She didn’t try to stop them. She knew that acknowledging the pain was a part of the process. Eventually she would heal, and one day she would be able to look back, saying she’d learned something. Until then she had to figure out a way to survive with a Dante-size hole in her heart.

* * *

EVIE FOUGHT AGAINST a pounding headache. She’d spent most of Sunday holed up in her townhouse, getting to know her new cat and sobbing uncontrollably. She’d been forced to duck out for food in the afternoon, then had retreated to her ongoing pity party.

For a second night, she’d mostly been awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering what she could have done differently and asking impossible questions. Like was she ever going to meet “the one” and fall in love?

Alexander had settled the issue of his sleeping arrangements by joining her. He was a thoughtful roommate, curling up at the foot of the bed and sleeping silently. When she’d started crying again at four in the morning, he’d draped himself across her chest and had purred until she’d managed to calm herself.

This morning she’d heard Dante leave around five. As it was way too early for work, she’d assumed he’d been leaving for the airport. Sure enough, she’d checked the parking lot by his office and his car wasn’t there. He was well and truly gone, flying off to be with another woman.

All of which made her heart break more but wasn’t anything she could deal with right now. After spending the past two hours working with the lighting guy, she had to pull herself together for the dance rehearsal. This would be the first full run-through, with music and lights. Based on her professional experience, it could go very badly and it was up to her to stay calm and positive.