Анна Керн - A Paw-sible Theory

Ethan nodded without comment.

“Okay. I’d better get going. I was wondering if you want to have dinner with Helen and me. She’s making one of your favorites––pot roast, and cherry pie a la mode for dessert.”

“No, thanks for the offer, but I’ve already made plans with Maggie. As a matter of fact, she should be here any time.”

“All right, son. Call me if you need anything. I mean it.”

“Sure, Dad, thanks for coming.”

They shook hands at the door. Bob started to say something, and hesitated. I may have heard a note of regret in his mumbled, “I’m sorry about … about everything.”

When he left, Misty wanted to know why humans made their relationships so complicated. It was obvious they loved each other. Why couldn’t they be more like cats and just be upfront about how they felt?

“My cat speaks sign language with her tail.”

–– Robert A. Stern

CHAPTER TEN: Coming Soon

After his father left, Ethan trudged to his old room and fell forward on the bed. His cell phone jingled and he turned on his back. I crouched next to his head.

“Hey, Maggie what’s up?”

“I’m on my way back from seeing a client and I’m calling to see how your day went and what you want for dinner.”

“My day has been … full.”

“You sound a little down. What happened?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here.”

“I won’t get there for a while; tell me now.”

“Okay, fine as long as you leave me alone after I tell you.”

“I didn’t sleep much last night and needed coffee when I got up this morning. I didn’t feel like making it so I stopped at the café next door to Antiques & Designs. Novie came out with a tray of muffins and told me to take one for later. She asked about Mom, wanted to know what happened, and said she’s going to send her flowers.”

He switched the phone to the other ear, and I switched sides.

“Maggie, I’m so tired of people asking me what happened. I don’t know what happened.”

“You didn’t say that to her, did you?”

He sighed in exasperation. “No, I didn’t.” He took a deep calming breath. “Then, when I turned left at the old Dixie Department Store building on the corner, I saw a large sign in the window with a picture of our building and Coming Soon––Luxury Condominiums–– printed across it … but you know that already.”

“You sound upset. Did the sign bother you?”

“It bothered me because it would really upset Mom if she saw it.”

Maggie then asked him what he did at the hospital without commenting on what he had said. He took a deep breath and started to calm down. He told her he sat with his mother, occasionally talking to her, sometimes playing games on his phone or on the internet sending and checking e-mails.

“I left for a while when Marylyn Sims came to sit with her.”

“Good; I’m glad Marylyn made it. She didn’t think she would when she called me last night––something to do with her daughter needing a ride somewhere. Did you go home when you left?”

“Yeah, I went home to pack a few things and run some errands. Some other stuff happened but I’ll tell you about it later.”

I had been to Ethan’s apartment before and could imagine Ethan running up the outside stairs of the two-story wood structure that was built to look like a seaside resort.

He had decorated the comfortable apartment himself. Alyx had offered to help. He declined, saying her style wasn’t his style. This meant that he didn’t want to end up with half the stuff she had in her store that she didn’t have room to move. In the end, he asked for her input on furniture placement. He actually liked the suggestions she made and everybody was happy.

Ethan didn’t answer the ringing phone in the kitchen and let the answering machine take the message from his aunt, Alyx’s sister. I brought him toys to play with, Misty brought him her string, and we kept him busy until Maggie arrived with bags of take-out food from the local BBQ restaurant––ribs, chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, and rolls.

“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.”

–– Mark Twain

CHAPTER ELEVEN: An Unexpected Call

Ethan carried the bags of food out to the table in the screened porch. Maggie started to unpack and he commented on the quantity.

“You can feed ten hungry people with all this. Are you sure you have enough?”

“You can handle it,” she smiled.

As it turned out, none of the humans was very hungry, and there was plenty of food left over, although neither of them offered any of the leftovers to me or Misty. Ethan helped Maggie clean up, tossing the plates in the bags the food came in, and casually telling her about his father’s visit.

“Dad stopped by. He left about a half-hour before you got here,” he said, giving her a sidelong glance.

“Oh, and what did he have to say?”

“Not much. He got my message and just wanted to know what happened.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, and he asked me to have dinner with him but I told him that I had plans with you.”

“I bet that went over big.”

“Hey, I know you don’t like Dad, but he didn’t say anything at all about you,” he lied.

Maggie retracted her claws. “I’m glad he came to see you,” she said, giving him a hug.

Ethan reached for a can of soda, pulled the tab, and offered it to Maggie. She declined and he took a long swallow as they settled in on the patio chairs. Misty and I settled in too.

Maggie moved the conversation to another subject, asking Ethan about his job, whether he had requested any time off. He said he had spoken to his boss and there would be no problem taking off whenever he needed to.

“I got a message from Lea today.”

“Are you surprised she called?”

“Well, yeah. The last time I spoke to her, she told me that she never wanted to see or hear from me again as long as she lived.”

“Did she say why she called?”

“She said she heard about Mom and called to see how she was.” He stretched out in the porch recliner.

“Don’t try to read too much into it, honey. Lea is a sweet girl and that’s just what I would expect from her.”

“You don’t think I should call her back, then?”

“I didn’t say that. Just don’t push ahead too fast, okay? She may have called simply to ask about your mom.”

“Do you know what happened between us? Did Mom tell you?” he asked, sitting up sharply.

“Not really. I just know you broke off with her and she wasn’t interested when you tried to get back with her. What I don’t understand is why you ended the relationship in the first place.”

“When we started going together, she was funny and adventurous, willing to try anything, but as time went by, she got serious about everything and wasn’t fun to be around anymore. I thought it was because she didn’t care about me anymore.

I knew I’d made a mistake the moment I told her I wanted to break it off, and I tried to get back with her about a week later,” Ethan continued. “I think her pride was hurt more than anything else was, and she wanted nothing to do with me. The last time I tried to see her, she wasn’t home; her roommate let me in, anyway. She told me Lea was seeing someone else, and sure, I could leave a note on her dresser. When I did, I saw another note that said, “ Thanks for not waking me. See you tonight. Steve.”

Steve was the guy we often met up with when we went out. She told me he was a longtime friend. Guess he was more than that. I don’t know what hurt more, the fact I loved her and lost her or the fact that she lied about Steve. Either way, I don’t know if I can talk to her without all that hurt coming back.”