Chapter 23
On Friday afternoon, before heading to Ansley’s place, Frankie stepped out to get the mail and saw an elderly woman across the street looking confused. She hadn’t seen any silver alerts for the area, but worried that the woman might not know where she was.
“Hello,” Frankie called out.
“Oh, dear. I lost my cat.”
Frankie pulled out her phone and set the house alarm, not wanting to even cross the street without the alarm being set. She checked the street, making sure it was clear before heading over.
“Do you have a photo of your cat?”
The woman nodded and reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. The splash screen showed an orange cat with a regal look, like maybe he’d been a king in a past life, if that was even a thing. This cat probably thought a lot about himself based on how he sat.
“He looks impressive.”
“Oh, he thinks highly of himself. He turns his nose up at cheap cat food and only likes the expensive stuff. Thank goodness my husband, God rest his soul, was good with money or his majesty would starve to death.”
Frankie snorted a laugh. “What is your cat’s name?”
“Mr. Wiggles. Not a regal name, but he was so wiggly when he was a baby. I wonder if he’s mad at the name now. I should have called him Lord Wiggles.”
Frankie snickered at the name, thinking the woman was probably right. Lord Wiggles would fit the cat better. “Let me walk around and see if I can find him.”
The woman reached back into her pocket and handed over a tin of sardines. “If you find him, he will follow you forever for a sardine. Just lead him back this way. Oh, and my name is Sonja.”
“I’m Frankie.”
“Nice to meet you, Frankie. I’m glad that old sourpuss has a woman living with him now. He always looks so serious when he comes home from work.”
Frankie chuckled. “Yes, well, he’s very nice.”
“I’m a little surprised. Though maybe it’s you who has turned him nice.”
Frankie shook her head. She knew that wasn’t the truth. Forest had told her time and time again that she made him mean. There wasn’t any way she could have made any man nice.
“I’m sure he’s always been nice, he’s just very intense.”
Sonja shrugged. “Probably. Thank you for helping.”
“Sure. Any time.”
Frankie wandered down the block, calling out for Mr. Wiggles. She passed by Sonja’s place, hearing her call from the backyard. On the second pass, Frankie spotted an orange cat.
“Mr. Wiggles, I have sardines.”
The cat stopped with one front paw up, contemplating his path forward before turning to her.
She waved the can at him. “Sardines. Do you want one?”
Mr. Wiggles side-eyed her, then sat down and lifted his front paw before licking it. Frankie chuckled and tapped the can, which made Mr. Wiggles stop licking his paw and contemplate her deeply.
“You know you want to go home with me and see Sonja again.”
Mr. Wiggles stood, and for a moment she thought the cat would run away. Instead, the cat came closer, so she started walking back to Sonja’s place.
The cat caught up and walked beside her. Mr. Wiggles was beautiful in person, and maybe not as haughty as she’d first thought.
“Did you like your adventure, Mr. Wiggles?”
The cat meowed like maybe he understood her words. She had never owned a cat since her mother had been allergic. Would Keel want a pet? He didn’t seem like a cat guy. Or maybe he was. She wasn’t really sure about him.
So much of her life was mired in bad judgments. She wouldn’t make any decisions about a pet, especially with Keel away. It wouldn’t be fair, and she knew pets could be a source of manipulation.
A shiver snaked through her. Forest had used his dog against her.
When she’d first gotten with him, he threatened to not feed the dog if she didn’t behave.
She’d almost forgotten about that. Of course, she’d done whatever Forest wanted.
Letting a dog suffer because of her disobedience was cruel.
The dog had run away, but looking back, she wondered if Forest had gotten rid of the dog.
“So, do you do this often?” she asked Mr. Wiggles.
A definitive meow was given as an answer. She had no idea what his meow meant, but she was taking it as a yes. She led Mr. Wiggles up the steps to the front door and rang the bell. After a long moment, the door swung open, and Mr. Wiggles entered like he owned the place.
“Oh, Mr. Wiggles. You came back.”
Frankie handed over the tin of sardines. “I promised him some sardines. You should probably give him some.”
Sonja nodded. “Would you like to come in for tea?”
She glanced around, worried about her safety. Could Sonja be part of Forest’s cruel plan? She let go of a heavy sigh. Sonja was one of Keel’s neighbors, not one of Forest’s pawns.
“Sure, thank you.”
Sonja’s house was nice. It was also immaculate.
There was no layer of dust on the furniture or on the picture frames.
The curtains were dated, but the woman obviously loved her home.
With the decorations, it was almost like stepping back in time.
Lace doilies and colored glass bowls were set out on multiple surfaces.
Sonja smiled as she ran her hand over a uniquely iridescent purple glass bowl and smiled.
“My mother collected carnival glass and passed it down to me. Most of the pieces are over a hundred years old. She had some depression glass and a little bit of uranium glass. I used to love the uranium glass. She had Vaseline and jadeite uranium glass, but I keep that put away for most of the year, except close to Halloween. But I always wear gloves, and I’m careful with them.
I’d never eat off the uranium glass, though some people say it’s safe.
I think it’s way too dangerous to eat from. It’s for display only.”
“Oh, I had no idea there ever was glass like that.”
“Oh yes. There’s a long history of making glass with toxic substances. That’s why it’s best to buy new glasses if you’re going to be drinking out of them. The glass bowls I put food in are safe. Like I won’t put an apple in an antique bowl because I don’t know the substances used to make it.”
“That makes sense.”
“I also have boxes and boxes of china patterns. My grandmother loved to collect them. Here, follow me, and you can see.”
Sonja led her to a back bedroom that had rows of boxes stacked four high and then a display case in the corner with ten different plates.
Sonja flicked on a light in the display case. “These are the patterns.”
“Wow, very impressive.”
“I haven’t used them since Ricky passed.
He was a joy to cook for. He would rave over the dishes if I got them out.
That man was a treasure. Once I burned dinner very badly, and he never said a word about it being awful, and let me tell you, it was terrible.
Instead, he told his friends I was a wonderful cook.
One day, when I was tired and sassy, I asked him why he lied about my cooking.
He looked me in the eye and said that he once made a mistake at work that cost the company a lot of money, and he wasn’t fired.
The owner helped him learn to never make that mistake again.
No one held it against him. They used it as a learning opportunity.
He said he wouldn’t hold my mistakes against me. He was a good man.”
“It sounds like he was very nice.”
“Oh, he was. He would have loved it if a lot of military guys moved in. He served for a few years but didn’t really enjoy it. But it was a different time, different wars. But he held a cookout every year and invited the few military men over for food and beer. He was that kind of man.”
Frankie nodded, wondering how she’d allowed herself to be taken in by Forest. Mr. Wiggles brushed up against her leg, and she glanced down, realizing that she’d been brave by leaving Forest, and she was trying to change.
That counted for something. She wouldn’t dwell on the negative, because focusing on everything negative wouldn’t make her life better.
“He sounds very nice.”
They sat at her kitchen table while Sonja told stories about her life. It was nice to sit and listen to good stories of a life filled with happiness. Sonja did warn that there had been bad times, but those times had been few and far between.
When Frankie said goodbye, they hugged, and she promised Sonja to visit next week for more tea and talk.
It was weird to her that just moving here with Keel had opened her world to friendships.
These women were very nice, almost too nice, but not in a fake way.
It was refreshing, like a fresh breeze she didn’t know she needed.