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“Hey, Tommy.” Andrew gave the cat a thorough rubdown before standing up to kiss Kat.
The kiss went on longer than usual, which was fine by her. She was grinning when Andrew finally pulled back.
“That was nice,” she said. “But you know, one of these days you’re really going to have to kiss me before you pet Tom. Every time you acknowledge him first it goes straight to his head.”
Andrew stepped farther into her living room. “You know you’re my number one girl.”
Kat followed him. “And Tom’s your number one guy. He still thinks you come here to see him.”
“Maybe I do.” Andrew flashed her a double-dimpled grin as he flopped onto the sofa.
Kat sat down next to him. Not to be outdone, Tom leaped onto the couch and climbed over Kat in order to curl up on Andrew’s lap. He closed his eyes and started purring before Andrew even had a chance to begin petting him again. The look on his face said he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From her perch on the cat tree by the window, Matty watched Tom, an inscrutable look on her face. Matty might seek out human affection when she was in the mood, but she rarely begged for it. Kat got the impression she viewed Tom’s neediness as a sign of weakness, and she was pretty sure the tortoiseshell would be shaking her head if she were human.
Kat relaxed against the sofa. “Hear that?”
Andrew cocked his head. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly. I think my neighbors finally ran out of fireworks. They haven’t set any off since Tuesday. We’re on our third full day of peace and quiet now.”
Andrew draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Thank goodness. I really didn’t want to have to start arresting people for noise violations. Processing two Berkowitzes and one Townsend last weekend created enough paperwork to last me the month and then some.”
“You’ve been busy,” Kat concurred.
“About that. Sorry we couldn’t get together all week. But I can finally see my desk again, so things must be getting back to normal.”
For us, anyway, Kat thought. She wasn’t sure everyone in town could say the same.
She sighed and snuggled closer to Andrew.
He squeezed her shoulder. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. No.” She fingered Tom’s tail. “I feel bad for Eunice, that’s all. And Presley too, I guess, although I don’t agree with what he did. But the fact that he acted out in pain . . . It’s just so sad.”
“He knew what he was doing, Kat.”
“I know. And he deserves to be punished. That doesn’t make the situation any less tragic though.”
She wondered what would happen to the teenager after his hearing. He was expected to plead guilty, but nobody knew how severe his sentence would be yet.
She supposed in a way this year’s Independence Day really was just that for some. Presley had escaped from his father’s custody. Whether the alternative would be better was another matter. But as Andrew had said, he’d known what he was doing, and now he would have to face the consequences.
And Jay’s death—however terrible—had left Clarissa and Floyd free to openly pursue their relationship, although it didn’t sound as though they had done much to conceal it before. Kat never did find out what kind of medication Clarissa was on, but a simple Google search had revealed an extensive list of drugs capable of emotional blunting. She didn’t know why Clarissa needed her prescription, but she hoped the widow, maybe with Floyd’s help, would one day find an alternative formula or dosage that would leave her more able to feel the highs and lows of life.
Ani Bedrossian was another person who had gained some freedom this Independence Day. She now had a restraining order against Mitch Townsend, a fact that had been sufficient to keep him from bothering her again—so far, at least. Kat was maintaining hope things would stay that way.
After all, sometimes hope was all a person had.
“By the way,” Kat said, turning her face up toward Andrew’s, “what did you mean by that answer you gave Niles Quayle when he asked if we were married?”
Andrew brushed Kat’s hair away from her face. “What answer was that?”
“You said, ‘Not yet.’”
“So?”
“So, what did you mean by that?”
“I meant we’re not married.” He gave her a sly smile. “Yet.”
Before she could press him for details, a boom blasted through the night air. Tom lifted his head, and Matty’s ears pricked in alarm.
Kat groaned. “Not again.”
Andrew chuckled. “Looks like your neighbors didn’t run out of fireworks, they were just waiting for the weekend to start before setting them off again.”
She punched his shoulder. “I’m glad someone’s amused by my suffering.”
“Suffering? I’ll show you suffering.”
Before she could stop him, he reached over and tickled her stomach. Kat squealed, an outburst that sent Tom catapulting off of Andrew’s lap and racing for cover. Matty didn’t flee, but she did stare at Kat as if she’d lost her mind.
Kat giggled. She couldn’t help herself. In that moment her happiness was too expansive to contain.
She sat up as that thought sank in. She was happy—with Andrew, with this home she had made here in Cherry Hills, with her freedom to mold her life into what she wanted it to be. Why would she want to jeopardize all that by getting married? If the past week had taught her anything it was that marriage didn’t guarantee happiness. Look at how things had turned out for Clarissa, Eunice, and Ani.
Okay, so maybe a divorce lawyer’s circle of influence wasn’t the best sample size from which to develop an opinion about marriage. But the fact remained that right at that moment she was happy. And that was a wonderful place to be.
Outside, another firework went off. But this time the noise didn’t bother Kat.
This time, she just smiled and counted her blessings.
