Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
The following day, Simon received the email from Raven approving the adoption in principle, and he immediately texted Sarah.
“That’s good news. I just received my approval too.”
“Which day would you like to go and get them?” he asked, feeling some comfort that this might be the first of many conversations. He liked the idea that he would have a reason to connect with Sarah often and that Sally and Riley were good friends.
Riley was teaching Sally to be a little more self-assured, and he thought Sally might teach Riley some patience. They seemed to be good for each other, and anything he could do to nurture their relationship was positive.
It certainly didn’t hurt that Sarah seemed to be a good parent to her daughter. Stable. Steady. Reliable. So very different than his ex-wife, Willow, who dropped into their lives on a whim every so often but whom he hadn’t seen in person in nearly five years.
He had stopped tracking and obsessing over Willow’s safety or location. That way lay madness. Though he had not unfriended her on social media, he no longer spent hours looking for any inkling of her or trying to see if she had made contact with any of their mutual friends.
She didn’t want to be found, and he had to respect that. He just wished Sally had a mother who was steadier. More self-assured. More like Sarah.
Right, he had to stop that train of thought. This was a partnership about cats and nothing more. He could not afford to make it more than that, because Riley and Sally were friends and that friendship was worth a lot to him.
“Hey, Sally,” he called, just as his daughter ran into the room with an anxious look on her face.
“Did she say yes to us?” asked Sally. “Riley said they’re getting a kitten.”
“Yes,” he said, and found himself laughing and jumping around the room with her, reveling in her delight.
“When can we go and get them?”
“Well, I just messaged Sarah, and we thought we would meet at the pet store—there’s a list of items we need—and then we can drive out to the shelter this afternoon.”
“Let’s go!” she said, pulling him toward the door.
He snatched up his car keys, checked his pocket for his wallet, and stepped into his sandals, his favourite thing about summer. And they were off.
When he pulled up in front of the Pawsitive Pet Supply store, they found Sarah and Riley waiting for them. The two girls ran to each other and hugged, hopping around the parking lot. Meanwhile, Simon locked the car and approached Sarah.
“It looks like they may be happy about this,” he said.
“Just a little.” She nodded, her lips turning up. “I haven’t seen her this excited in a very long time.” She frowned. “I just hope it all turns out well.”
“What about this concerns you? If it’s the work, I can assure you I can be relied upon to hold up my end of the bargain.”
“What?” She looked up at him and shook her head. “No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that Riley has a tendency to be interested in something until she gets it, and then she loses interest pretty quickly.”
“Well, it’ll be up to us to keep her on track, then,” he said. “If we gamify the whole thing maybe?”
“Gamify cat care?”
“Just, like, keeping track of what each girl is doing to make sure that the care is being completed. Did you clean out the litter box, did you spend time with your cat? I do it with Sally’s chores.
Any time she finishes them all without a fuss, we do something like get a pizza, make cookies, or go to a movie.
She needs to understand that chores—including caring for cats—must be done before fun.
But then I try to make the fun worth her while, because really, who likes to just work all the time? ”
“I may have to see this chore list one day,” said Sarah. “Meanwhile, it looks like we have two girls interested in going into that store.”
He followed her to the door and held it open for the three to walk through. Sarah seemed surprised by what was a natural inclination for him, and thanked him genuinely. He shrugged and followed them to the cat supplies.
There they weighed the pros and cons of the beds, the food bowls, and the food itself. Sarah consulted a list that Raven had sent and found the brand of food she had recommended for new kittens.
Finally, they settled on cat food, water dishes made of metal so they couldn’t easily break, beds that were brown because they reminded the girls of chocolate and had cute paw prints on them, and cat carriers that they got on sale with a coupon Raven provided.
“You’re getting one of Raven’s rescue kittens, are you?” the young woman at the cash register asked.
“We’re getting the Tumble Twins,” said Riley.
“Wow, I’ve seen them on the kitty cam. They’re so cute,” said the woman, “Your mom and dad must be cool to let you adopt two cats at once.”
Sally and Riley looked at each other, and they both said, “Yes, they are.” Then each looked up at their parent, smiling widely, and neither he nor Sarah spoke up to correct the woman. Maybe Sarah hadn’t noticed. Or maybe she just didn’t have the energy to correct them.
Or…?
But that idea had to go back in the box before he let it out completely. They were just cat co-parents, and that was it.
As he picked up one of the bags and followed the trio to the door, he couldn’t help but wish—just a little—that the woman at the cash register had the ability to see the future.
Because the simple act of shopping for cat things with Sarah and the girls had been one of the more pleasant experiences of his life. Drama free. Normal.
He liked drama free, normal days.
In fact, he kind of craved them.
When they arrived at the Cat’s Meow Rescue Centre half an hour later, Sarah felt better about the decision to adopt the cats. Riley chattered on about cat care facts as she drove. It was clear she’d read the book Sarah bought her—or at least had looked things up on the internet.
“Which one should I get?” asked Riley. “Dot or Dash?”
“Why don’t you and Sally decide together? Or let the cats decide?”
“I really want Dash.”
“Why?”
“Dash is more like me. He likes to run and tumble around a lot. Dot sits more. I don’t like to just sit.”
“That’s true. Have you talked to Sally about it?”
“I think she’ll like Dot better.”
“What makes you say that?” Sarah glanced over her shoulder and changed lanes to take the next exit to the center.
“Sally’s different than me. She likes to go home after we play and read books. She needs a cat who would like to lie around with her. I need one that would still want to jump around.”
“Maybe Dot will pick her, then,” said Sarah, scanning the road ahead until she saw the big sign for the center. She turned into the driveway.
“Maybe I can just tell Sally I want Dash.”
“You could do that too. Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion. As long as you both agree. It must be best for the cats too.”
“That’s not what Dad does,” said Riley, as they drove into the parking area.
“What do you mean?” Sarah placed the car in park, turned off the engine, and turned to Riley.
“Well, Dad left and married Tanis, and now he’s having a new family. So he isn’t thinking about me. Just about his new family.”
“He still loves you. That will never change. And you still see him when you go to Vancouver. And you have me. And Grandma.”
“I know. But I miss Dad. He’s more like me.”
“Is he?” Sarah’s chest tightened.
“He’s the one always running around and doing things. Having fun. All you do is work. I need someone like Dad to run around with. Like Dash.”
“I see,” said Sarah, tears threatening to fill her eyes. “I suppose you miss running around with your dad. I’m sure when you visit him this summer, you’ll have lots of activities you can do together.”
“I know. But I only see him a few times a year now. It’s not the same as it used to be. So I need someone who likes to jump and play and run like I do. So I thought maybe Dash…”
“I could put you into more lessons. You could join a team.”
“You don’t understand,” said Riley. “I want someone to talk to who understands, and I don’t think Dot will understand. Dash is a doer. He will.”
“Ah, I see. Well, why don’t we go in, and we can all make the decision together.”
“Okay.” Riley climbed out of the car, looking glum, but she brightened up when they went inside.
“Are you ready to see the cats?” asked Raven, who came to greet them. “They’re in our transition room.”
“Yes, yes!” Riley and Sally chimed together, their eyes bright with anticipation.
“I’ll take them to the room, but before we go, I need you to understand the rules.” Raven squatted down to eye level with the girls and they both stood silent, waiting for her to speak.
“Dot and Dash have been in the room since we came back yesterday. They are comfortable there, but we can’t rush up and scare them. We just need to sit and be calm so they feel safe with us. Let them take the lead.”
“Okay,” said Riley. She looked up at Sarah with worry on her face.
Sarah squeezed her shoulder, understanding now how important it was to Riley that Dash choose her, especially since, in her mind, her father seemed to have chosen someone else.
She would have to speak to Graham and ask him to work a little harder at connecting with Riley.
Though, with his new marriage, job, and baby on the way… well, she didn’t expect much change.
“So we agree on the need to be quiet and calm and let the kittens approach us?” asked Raven, looking between the two girls. “We need them to feel safe.”
They nodded again.
“Good.” Raven stood and led the way down the hall, and Sarah found herself hoping Dash would pick Riley.
As they walked down the hall behind Raven, Sarah’s phone buzzed in her purse. She fished it out without thinking and read the text message from Graham.
Riley said the kittens you are getting are shared with Sally and her dad. Just checking I’ve got the right picture. Don’t want Riley to be confused.