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“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
David paused for a moment, before saying, “It’s just a non-starter.”
“A non-starter for who?” Evan frowned, only to have his expression almost immediately clear. “Oh. A non-starter for Cat Lady?”
“Don’t call her Cat Lady.”
“What should I call her, then? I don’t know her name.”
“And you’re not going to.”
“Okay, well, until I know her name, she’s going to be ‘Cat Lady’. If you don’t like it, tell me her name. It’s that simple.”
David gave him a long look, remaining silent.
Evan rolled his eyes. “It’s for Cat Lady, right?”
“No comment.”
“She doesn’t want to fuck around on a used bed, I take it?”
“No comment.”
“She doesn’t,” Evan surmised. “So, did she ask you to buy a new bed? Because that seems like a bold request, given you’ve only been ‘seeing’ each other casually for a few weeks.”
“No comment.”
“Or was it your idea to buy a new bed?”
“No. Comment.”
“It must be your idea. You’re buying a new bed for Cat Lady. Just … wow.”
“Can you just shut the fuck up and help me move this?”
“Would it kill your ass to answer a question or two? I’m spending half a day moving a bed for you. Make that two beds.”
“God, you bitch a lot.”
“That’s because I have to help you move a lot of shit. How many times have you returned the favor? Oh, that’s right. Never.”
“That’s because you’ve never had to move shit,” David pointed out before adding, “Christ. I’ll buy you dinner, all right?”
Evan wasn’t completely appeased. “Yeah, you will. And I want a steak. An expensive one.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” Evan mimicked, doing a spot-on imitation of David’s annoyed tone. “Jesus, I hope Cat Lady’s worth it.”
Chapter 18
When David arrived at his mom’s house on Friday night with Jacob, the little boy was no sooner out of the car before he was running up the front walk with his backpack. Since it was like his second home, he threw open the front door without bothering to knock first and disappeared inside, leaving David to follow behind.
By the time David made his way into the kitchen, Jacob had already spread out several pieces of his preschool artwork on the table for Valerie to look at. As always, she took her time picking a favorite to grace her fridge, making a production out of it. After Jacob had taken down an old picture and replaced it with the new one, he then ran off down the hall with his backpack to his room. Since he had clothes and toys already there, he never had to pack much, but he always brought extra books and stuffed animals ... because he was three-and-a-half-years old.
“So, have you got big plans for tonight?” Valerie asked when they were alone.
