Cherry on Top, page 5
“Have you already found a cat?”
“I did. Online first. Then I went in and saw him in his cubby. The visiting room was full, so I’m waiting until they have space for me and Nugget to meet.”
“Nugget? OMG, that’s too cute.”
“Hey, do you…” Ellis stopped and cleared her throat, then shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Would you wanna meet him with me?”
“I’d love to.” God, she’d answered quick. Didn’t even think about it. That wasn’t like her. More time with Ellis? Yes, please.
What was happening?
“This place is cool,” Ellis said as her gaze wandered the room. “Do you come here often?” Her eyes went a little wide as she must’ve realized what she said. “I meant that as an actual question, not as a pickup line.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Cherry said, not stopping to wonder why she suddenly became the Queen of Flirt around Ellis, because the surprised look on Ellis’s face was totally worth it. “And I actually used to volunteer here to walk the dogs when I was in high school. So, yes, I do come here often. Or I did.”
“Really? That’s so cool. Did you want to bring them all home?”
Cherry snorted. “No, I wanted to stay here with them.” She grimaced at the words, but when she looked at Ellis, there was nothing but sympathetic understanding on her face. And before anything else could be said, they were interrupted by a tall woman with short hair whose name tag said she was Lisa.
“Hi there,” Lisa said with a pretty smile, her eyes on Ellis. “You ready to meet Mr. Nugget?”
“I am,” Ellis said. With a glance at Cherry, she added, “I’m suddenly nervous.”
“Not unusual,” Lisa said and looked to Cherry. “Would you like your friend to come with you?”
“Please.”
“Absolutely. Leave the paperwork here and follow me.” Lisa led them through a door with a line drawing of a cat on it, and once the door closed behind them, the volume of overall noise was cut by a lot.
“Oh, that’s so much better,” Cherry said. “It’s loud out there.”
“You should try working in the dog wing all day,” Lisa said with what seemed to be an affectionate chuckle. “Barking never stops. Somebody’s always got something to say.”
“I bet.”
Ellis was quiet as Lisa led them to a room with windows looking onto the hall.
“Have a seat and I’ll go get your boy.” Indicating several orange plastic chairs, Lisa closed the door, and it was just Ellis and Cherry in the room.
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” Ellis said with another grimace. “It’s just a cat.” And then she swallowed audibly.
“Because you might be about to change your whole life,” Cherry said simply. “Makes sense to be nervous.”
“Well, I…” Ellis rubbed her hands together and Cherry looked at them for the first time. They were pretty hands. Long fingers. Tapered nails. Neat. “This is gonna sound weird, but I’m really glad you’re here. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Why did it seem perfectly natural to be here with Ellis, a person she didn’t know well at all? It wasn’t weird. Why not? It felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be in that moment, and that was a feeling she’d heard people talk about and that she’d read about in books. But she’d never experienced it herself. Ever. In her entire life.
The door opened, cutting off any more overanalyzing, and Lisa walked in with an orange cat in her arms. His eyes were a golden yellow, and he seemed to take them in, looking from Ellis to Cherry and back.
“Why don’t you have a seat,” Lisa said, “and we’ll see how he likes your lap.”
Ellis grabbed the closest chair and dropped into it, like an eight-year-old trying to win a game of musical chairs. Cherry noticed her eyes had widened just a bit, likely with excitement. “Hi, buddy. Hey. Hi there. Come here.”
Lisa handed the cat over and watched for a moment. “Okay. I’ll be right out there. Take all the time you need. I’ll check back in a bit.”
The door closed quietly, and Cherry watched as Ellis and Nugget looked each other over. Phone in her hand, she took a quick photo, then slipped it into her pocket.
“He’s so soft,” Ellis said, her voice quiet with obvious wonder. “And his eyes. Did you see them?” She spoke quietly, as if she worried about scaring him away by being too loud. “Hi, handsome.” She glanced back up at Cherry, then indicated the chair next to her with her eyes. “Here, sit.”
“He’s beautiful,” Cherry said, sitting as she was asked to, then gently nudging the chair so she was close enough that their thighs touched. It was the closest she’d ever been to Ellis, and that gave her a little thrill. Also made her antsy. And she could definitely smell her now. Apples. She smelled like apples, clean and fresh, and then she knew she needed to distract herself from this woman so close to her, because wow, she could get lost in simply smelling her, and how creepy was that? So she forced her focus toward the cat. She hadn’t been kidding. He was beautiful. She’d always thought all orange tabby cats looked the same, but this guy was his own cat. His stripes were zigzag. His feet were massive because they had extra toes. “He’s polydactyl.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the things I liked about him when I saw him online.” Ellis stroked a finger across one of his paws. “Look at these mitts.” The cat blinked at her but didn’t pull his foot away. Instead, he lifted himself up and pushed his face against Ellis’s. She made a cute little sound of delight, and he did it again.
“He likes you,” Cherry said.
“I mean, that’s what that means, right?” Ellis blinked at her, the excitement clear in her voice. “A sign of affection?”
“Definitely. And his motor’s running like crazy.”
The cat nuzzled his head under Ellis’s chin, and she turned wet eyes to Cherry.
“I think you’ve got yourself a cat, my friend.” And the sight in front of her, this gorgeous woman holding a cat, with tears in her eyes and such love on her face…it put a lump in Cherry’s throat that she wasn’t expecting at all. She swallowed it down and tried to redirect things. “How old is he? Where did he come from?”
Ellis cleared her throat and took a moment, likely to gather herself. “Well, there isn’t a whole lot of info on him. The shelter said he’s been with a foster family for the past six weeks, but they just moved out of state so had to turn him back in.”
“Oh, man. Poor Nugget.”
“Right? Their paperwork says he’s the best cat they’ve ever fostered, that he’s loving and affectionate.”
“Accurate,” she said, pointing at him as he nuzzled Ellis.
“They think he’s around five years old, but that’s just an estimate. There’s no records before the foster family.”
Cherry reached out and touched the cat for the first time. “Wow. He is soft.” His fur was like the softest blanket she’d ever touched. Light and velvety. He blinked his big yellow eyes at her as he watched her, purring the whole time, his head against Ellis’s chest. “Yeah, he hates you. Clearly.”
“Pretty sure this is my cat.” Ellis said it firmly and punctuated it with a cute little nod.
“Pretty sure you’re right.” She watched as Ellis and the cat had a silent conversation with body language. “I’ll get the woman for you.” She headed for the door, intent on finding Lisa. When she glanced back through the window, Ellis and the cat were nose to nose. Ellis’s lips were moving, and though she couldn’t hear what was being said, the sight alone moved her in a way she didn’t expect and couldn’t explain. In that moment, somehow, she just knew her life was about to change. For the better? For worse? She had no idea. Only that change was coming.
A hard swallow.
The question was, was she ready for it?
Chapter Six
Clouds had moved in by the time Ellis and Cherry stepped out of the Junebug Farms main building, but Ellis didn’t care. She felt light on her feet. Excited. Like she’d turned the page on a new chapter of life, clichéd as that sounded. She inhaled deeply through her nose and stretched her arms over her head as if she’d just woken up.
“Wow,” Cherry said from beside her. “That is a happy woman right there.”
“Very much so.” She turned and smiled at Cherry, taken again by just how gorgeous she was. Pulling her gaze away, she went over things in her head. Because how weird was it that they’d run into each other here? Ellis couldn’t believe it when she’d seen her. What were the odds? Seriously. And her staying the whole time she’d met Nugget? Totally unexpected. And awesome. She turned back to Cherry, and those dark eyes mesmerized her once more. Redheads were supposed to have blue eyes or green eyes, not these gorgeous, mysterious ones the deep, rich color of coffee grounds.
“So, are you off to the pet store?” Cherry’s smile was infectious, and Ellis was very aware of how much time her gaze spent on those full lips. How was she so beautiful? How was that fair to the rest of the world?
“Do you want to get something to eat?” Oh my God, did she say that out loud? Holy shit. Fix your face! Fix it into something that doesn’t look as shocked as you feel right now.
But Cherry didn’t frown. Or laugh at her. She didn’t run screaming. She didn’t narrow her eyes at her and squint in suspicion. Instead, her smile grew and revealed very white teeth, and she said, “I would love that. I’m starving.”
And that’s how they ended up in The Flip at a small table for two by a window, eating the house specialty and the reason for the name, crepes that were to die for. To. Die. For.
“I think it’s interesting that you went savory, and I went sweet,” Cherry said with a soft smile. Her crepes were filled with bananas and Nutella. Ellis’s had potatoes, sausage, peppers, and onions. Cherry had taken photos of both plates before they dug in.
“That’s so we each get some of both.” She grimaced and glanced up at Cherry with her fork in midair, the presumption suddenly clear. “Do you share food?”
“Lucky for you, I want to taste your crepe more than I want to keep you from tasting mine.” Pausing only for a second or two to blink at the obvious euphemism, she watched as Cherry cleared her throat and picked up her fork. They reached across and took a bite from one another’s plates, ate in tandem, and then hummed in approval together. The laughter came next, and it curled its way right into Ellis, forged a trail around her heart, then headed south.
“So,” Ellis said. She met Cherry’s eyes as she chewed and had the sudden, overwhelming urge to know every single thing about this woman sitting across from her. Mentally talking herself into calming the hell down was harder than it should’ve been. “What do you do? I see you in the diner on your laptop, but I don’t think I know what you do.”
“I work for an insurance company. Claims adjuster. I visit clients who’ve had accidents, and I evaluate.” Cherry glanced down at her plate, cut another bite.
“You like it?”
She watched as Cherry tipped her head one way, then the other. “It’s okay. It’s a decent company. Decent pay. Benefits. I don’t have a degree, and they hired me without one, so I’m grateful for that.”
“Me neither,” Ellis said. She rolled her lips in and nibbled for a moment.
“You don’t have a degree?” Cherry’s surprise seemed genuine.
“I have half a business degree.”
“Ha. Me, too.” She lifted her glass of water. “Cheers to half degrees.” They touched glasses and smiled, and Cherry asked, “Are you new at the diner? I don’t remember seeing you, and I’m there quite a bit.”
“I’m not actually a waitress,” Ellis said, and for a split second, her brain tossed her an image of Michaela’s freshly polished toenails. “I manage the place for the owner, who now lives in Florida. We had a couple of waitresses call out sick the day I waited on you, so I filled in. Not that Kitty couldn’t have handled things on her own.”
“Oh my God, that woman is amazing,” Cherry said, emphasizing the word.
“She really is. She’s become kind of a mother figure for me away from home.”
“You’re not from here?” Cherry put her elbows on the table and propped her chin in her hands, and Ellis could feel her attention. Actually feel it, as if it could touch her, run fingertips along her spine.
Ellis didn’t talk about her family much. At least not on the first date. Wait, was that what this was? Were they on a date? Giving herself a mental shake, she tried not to wonder why she felt so comfortable with Cherry, who was essentially a complete stranger. “No, I’m from Pennsylvania. My mom died when we were young. And then…” She cleared her throat. “Five years ago, my younger sister got in a car accident. She was in a place in PA, but when my dad died two years ago, I found a better facility called Hearts and Hands and had her moved there. Here, I mean. In Northwood.”
“Oh wow.” Cherry swallowed audibly, and her expression showed sympathy, understanding, sadness. And before Ellis could even register it happening, Cherry reached across the table and covered Ellis’s hand with hers. Cherry’s was warm and soft, and Ellis instantly knew she’d remember this moment, the first time they’d ever really touched. “I’m so sorry, Ellis. That’s awful. For what it’s worth, I hear good things about Hearts and Hands. My roommate’s grandma was there for a while. Really great, caring people.”
Hang on.
“Your roommate?” she asked, going for nonchalant.
“Yeah, I have two. Adam and Shea. Adam is gay, single, juggles several jobs, and is a big sweetheart. Shea is a graphic designer, also currently single, but certain that Idris Elba is going to give her a call any day.”
Ellis wasn’t happy about the relief that flooded through her over the fact that Cherry likely wasn’t sleeping with either of her roommates. She didn’t want to analyze that. “I mean, if you’re gonna get a call, you could get one from worse than Idris Elba, right?”
“Seriously. I’d take that call, and I like girls.” Cherry flushed pink then, and Ellis wasn’t sure if it was because of what she’d said or because of the way Ellis was looking at her. The eye contact was serious. Intense. Weighted.
“Me, too,” Ellis said simply, then lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. Yup. Nonchalant. That’s me.
Cherry grinned. “Glad to see my gaydar is in proper working order.”
And then there was silence as they ate, but it was a happy silence. One filled with occasional glances and grins.
When Ellis had eaten all she could manage without exploding her entire stomach, she asked, “So, what about you? Are you from here? Family?”
“I am from here, yes.” Cherry dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “From Cleaver, just outside the suburbs, in the sticks. I never really knew my mom. She bolted when I was just a toddler, so it was just me and my dad. Who was not the nicest guy around, but he did the best he could with what he had.”
“And where is he now? Still in Cleaver?”
“Nope. Been at St. Anthony’s Cemetery over off Main for three years now.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Cherry.” Cherry’s shrug and clear indifference surprised her, though.
“Thanks. Like I said, he wasn’t the greatest guy.”
“But he was your dad.”
“True.”
“Siblings? Grandparents?”
“Nope. None. Just me.”
“Seems we are quite a pair,” Ellis said and smiled at her.
“Seems that way.”
Gazes held and Ellis was struck again by how weird it was that they had clicked so thoroughly so fast. Given their circumstances, maybe the Universe wanted them to find each other. There wasn’t a lot that Ellis took on faith, but she did believe almost anything was possible.
“Well,” Cherry said as the bill came, and she snapped it up before Ellis could even think to grab it. “I should probably get home. And you have some cat supply shopping to do.”
“I do! I almost forgot.” She’d been having such a great time with Cherry, she’d totally spaced on the earlier part of the day. She had supplies to buy if she was going to welcome Nugget into her home the next day. “And next time I invite you to a meal, you have to let me pay.”
“We’ll see about that.” Cherry’s grin was flirty, and her dark eyes sparkled.
They walked out of The Flip together and saw that it had rained while they ate. Ellis gave an involuntary shiver.
“It’s cooled down.”
“April in Upstate New York, am I right?”
“Totally.”
“Well.” They stopped in the parking lot and stood between their cars. “I had a lovely time with you today, Ellis.”
“Right back atcha.”
Cherry made like she was going to open her car door, then turned back. “Do you want to exchange numbers?”
“Yes,” Ellis said, so quickly they both laughed as they pulled out their phones. Numbers were exchanged, and Cherry sent Ellis a text with a cat emoji. Then she surprised Ellis by leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. When she pulled back, it occurred to Ellis that maybe Cherry had surprised herself, too. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes darted a bit.
“Okay. I’m off.”
“Will you be at the diner next week?” Ellis asked, sounding more hopeful than she cared to admit.
“Definitely.”
“Good.”
Cherry did get in her car then, and Ellis stood and watched as she drove away, and she felt something she hadn’t felt in a really, really long time.
Longing.
Chapter Seven
Editing was Cherry’s favorite part of posting. She loved the creativity of it. The way she could take only the best parts of things and stitch them together like a master seamstress making the most beautiful of gowns, so the pretty things were front and center and the mistakes and blemishes were left on the floor in strips.
