A Paw-sible Theory

“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.”

“I know what you mean, Ethan; I’ve had some experience with that myself.” Maggie smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

If she was going to say any more about it, she didn’t get the chance. Someone was pounding on the door.