Page 4 of Keystrokes and Kittens

“Sorry, you don’t need to hear my problems. You’re sure everything’s okay?” I tried to keep the worry out of my voice.

“Yep. I have to go. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Love you.”

“I love you too. Take care of yourself.”

“Right. Bye.”

The microwave beeped. Our entire conversation had lasted less time than it took to heat a meal.

I sighed. I’d be okay. Surely I could make this work. I’d been shuffling and adjusting and making things work since the accident. Ten years. I’d been responsible for Quinta for ten years. Somehow, she’d gone from nine to nineteen in a heartbeat.

Whereas I felt like the journey from nineteen to twenty-nine had been a brutal slog. No regrets about taking care of my niece. Just…wishing I might have a reprieve. Her going away to college should’ve been that—but I’d worried nonstop.

You never stop worrying about your children. That’s the choice you make when you become a parent.My mother’s words echoed in my mind.

I pressed my hands to my eyes to hold in the tears.You should be here, Mom. To advise me. Or, better yet, Marcella and Lucius should be here to care for their precious daughter.Alas, my parents, brother, and sister-in-law were all gone. Quinta only had me—which meant I had to take care of myself.

After grabbing my meal, I settled at the table, checked my phone, and dug into my food. I had an hour before the next feeding. I prayed that I could get a lot of work done before then.

Because tonight was going to be damn long.

Chapter Two

Soren

Ieyed The Pet Pantry

And hesitated.

Several weeks had passed since Foggy Basin’s pride festivities, and I’d yet to venture into the pet store. I’d yet to see Sam. Given that we hadn’t seen each other since Christian and Noah’s Christmas party, I’d told myself that a few more weeks weren’t going to matter.

In fact, it mattered. It mattered a lot.

Heat burned my cheeks as I remembered Christmas. What had started out as a season with such promise had ended in disaster from which I had really yet to recover.

Hence my standing out with the sun beating down on me and still hesitating to go into the store.

Tibby nudged my hand. I gazed down at my black lab, who was, after more than a year, just an extension of me. “I know girl. I’m vacillating between heading back to Foggy Basin and the feed store and actually going intothisstore.” I’d been buying her food at the feed store since Christmas. Which was fine.

Zane was a great guy who always spoiled Tibby. But the feed store didn’t have toys and Tibby had, frankly, worn through everything she had. I could’ve headed to a larger town. I kept meaning to take Tibby on a trip to San Francisco, but the timing never worked. Invariably, some crisis in my business would arise, and I’d have to stay home to handle the issue that arose.

“All right. I promised you toys, didn’t I?” She’d completed her therapy-dog training with Noah last week, and he’d suggested rewarding her with a few new toys since she’d done so well. Great. Now I just had to find the balls to step into the store.

Finally, after having spent a good ten minutes waffling, I headed inside.

The cool air hit me right away. Sam always kept the store at the perfect temperature—a little cool for hot days and just a bit warm when the outdoors had a nip. In northern California, we got heat and chill.

I glanced toward the front cash desk. Normally, whoever was working would, unless they were helping another customer, shout out a greeting.

Today? Nothing.

Soon, it became apparent why.

Sam was leaning against the counter with his elbows on it. His head was resting against his hands and, to my best guess, he was fast asleep.

I was ready to back out of the store, but Tibby—my darling girl—woofed and headed toward one of her favorite people in the world. Someone I’d kept her away from for five months.

Her woof startled Sam awake, and he shot into an upright position.