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The end of the cruise was bittersweet. Disembarking gave Claudia a melancholic feeling.
It hadn’t gone as planned, but it had been an experience she would remember for the rest of her life. She wasn’t ready for it to be over yet. She especially wasn’t ready to return to real life, where rapidly cooling temperatures and a long to-do list awaited her.
Thankfully, she and Scott had planned to spend a night in Fort Lauderdale before catching a flight home. They said their goodbyes to Emily, Kyle and everyone else. Then they cleared customs, collected their luggage and caught an Uber.
Tall palm trees lined the streets. Traffic was heavy, at least compared to Prairie Crocus. As they drove to their accommodations, Claudia caught glimpses of calm blue water behind tall buildings. She was happy her vacation hadn’t come to an end quite yet. There was still time to kick back, relax and soak up the sunshine.
“Where did you say we’re staying?” Scott asked. “It’s by the water, right?”
“Yes, it’s only a few blocks from the beach,” Claudia replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “It’s a budget motel, so don’t expect anything too fancy. But based on the reviews, it’s clean and well-kept. There’s an outdoor pool, too, and a lovely little patio area.”
“Sounds good,” Scott replied. “How’s your leg?”
“A little sore,” Claudia confessed. “But it will be fine. It has to be. I’m determined to walk to the beach bright and early tomorrow morning. I want to watch the sunrise.”
“You’d better set an alarm,” Scott advised, stifling a yawn. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I’d probably sleep until noon tomorrow if given the chance. Is it just me?”
“I’m tired, too. How can we be so exhausted? All we’ve been doing is sitting around suntanning, reading and stuffing our faces with food. Shouldn’t we be feeling well-rested?” Claudia asked.
“Well, a little more happened than that,” Scott reminded her as they pulled up outside the motel and collected their bags.
“True.”
They entered the building and walked toward the check-in desk. Claudia caught a glimpse of the patio area out the window. It was presently deserted. The small swimming pool looked cool and inviting. Half a dozen lounge chairs were surrounded by lush vegetation and tall trees.
She smiled to herself, relieved that the place looked every bit as nice as the photos on the Internet had led her to believe. She couldn’t wait to take a dip in the pool and then have a leisurely snooze in one of the lounge chairs.
“Mrow?” a friendly grey and black striped cat said, brushing up against Claudia’s ankle.
“Oh! Who’s this?” she asked the hotel owner.
“That’s Julie. She and her pals run the place,” the man replied with a wink. “We’ve adopted three elderly cats from the animal shelter. You’ll likely see them lounging on the patio, if you spend any time out there.”
“Well now I’m definitely going to be spending a lot of time on the patio,” Claudia, a hopeless cat lover, declared. She crouched down and stroked Julie’s head. The cat purred loudly, clearly loving the attention.
“Julie here just turned sixteen years old. But you’d never know it by how spirited she is. The other cats are fourteen, twelve and...well, we’re not sure how old the fourth one is, exactly. He had been at the shelter for six years when we adopted him.”
“Aw, poor thing. It’s so nice that you were able to give him and the other cats a good home.”
“Yes. It was important to us to adopt cats that were getting up there in age. Everyone always wants a kitten...sometimes the older animals get overlooked. I don’t know why. Our cats are so affectionate and absolutely love people. They live at the motel and basically have full control of the place,” he laughed.
“That’s fantastic.” Claudia looked at Scott. “Maybe we should adopt some elderly cats.”
“You’ve already got two cats.”
“But we could get more.”
“No.”
“Keep working on him,” the motel owner advised with a chuckle. “With enough persistence, you might eventually be able to wear him down.”
“She won’t,” Scott insisted.
“We’ll see,” Claudia said with a knowing smile.
No matter how much Scott claimed to despise her troublemaking cats, she knew he secretly would do anything for them. Convincing him to add another cat or two into the mix wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Convincing her territorial cats to be welcoming to the new additions, however, could prove to be a bigger challenge.
“Are there any good places to eat around here?” Scott asked as he and Claudia finished signing in and collected their room key.
“There’s a place a couple blocks that way that makes delicious pizza,” the man advised, pointing. “I highly recommend it. Or if you’re up for a little hike, you’ll find half a dozen restaurants about ten blocks past that.”
Scott glanced at Claudia’s leg. “I’m definitely in the mood for pizza,” he announced.
“That does sound good,” she agreed, her stomach rumbling. “We just got off a cruise,” she told the hotel owner with a laugh. “We’ve been conditioned to eat every two hours!”
“I’ve heard that before,” he said with a smile. “Enjoy your time here, folks.”
