Page 35 of Life, Love, and Other Messes

“Wow. I know people who had that many barn cats, but not indoors.”

“Oh…Did you grow up on a farm?”

“Nearby. I lived in town, but some of my friends lived on farms.”

“What did they farm?”

“Mostly corn and soybeans. They kept some animals, but they were usually just pets.”

“Oh good. I can’t handle the idea of keeping animals then killing them.”

Yeah, saw that coming. I almost mentioned that a few farmers in our area kept dairy cattle, but I stopped myself in case there was something wrong with that. “Where are you from?”

“Right here. Grew up about five miles away.”

“Do you still have family here?”

“My mother lives in the senior residence on Park. I go see her most days…Take her out to eat sometimes, run errands, and help with laundry.”

“That’s good of you.” I couldn’t imagine having a decent enough relationship with my mother to do any of those things every single day. I would have to kill myself. “I’m sure she has company where she lives, but—”

“Oh, she loves the activities. She plays bridge and Scrabble and oh, they have a little pool for water aerobics. She can’t get around too well anymore, but she used to enjoy that.”

Maudie went on for another several minutes about the amenities at her mother’s place and where they liked to go out to eat. It was tricky, she said, because she was a vegetarian and her mother was not, but she could usually find something at her mother’s favorite restaurants. I’d finished my dinner by the time she stopped to take a breath and I was getting nervous about what we would do next. So far, there had not been a hint of a click between us.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes…That was fantastic. Can I do the dishes?”

“Oh, no, go ahead and have a seat in the living room. I’ll just put them in the sink and do them later.”

I turned to the opposite side of the room just as Ralphie jumped up on the table and started licking at my plate. It wasn’t like Ollie didn’t counter surf when he was left to his own devices, but I assumed this was an everyday thing instead of an oh-shit-get-out-of-there moment. I left Ralphie to do his thing. “You have beautiful plants.” I went to the front window, where most of them sat, and came face to face with the cat on the tree. It did not hiss or spit, but it looked like it wanted to. I inched away slowly.

“Thank you! Did you see the ones on my porch?”

There was no way I could have missed them. “Yeah. The hibiscus is gorgeous.”

“I love it. Now these I grew from cuttings…”

I got the tour of her indoor garden, which was actually quite interesting. I asked about which ones she separated and which ones she took cuttings from, but that reminded me of the day Corey was showing me how to trim roses and Lisa had come out with cookies. I realized I had my back to the cat in the tree when I felt a smack to my neck.

“Oh, Arnold.” Maudie sighed. “Not everybody likes your love pats.”

I was just glad there hadn’t been claws involved. “So do all of them sleep on your bed at night?”

“Only six or seven.”

“Okay.”

“C’mon.” Maudie took my hand and led me over to the sofa. Hers was soft and cool and felt nice against mine. “Can I get you more water? Or I could put on some tea.”

“Tea would be great.”

“What kind? I have…”

She must have listed sixteen kinds. I spaced out after the first two. I finally shrugged. “Surprise me.”

As Maudie went to work in the kitchen, I took the very corner of the sofa, and the cat stood its ground, just sat there with its legs all tucked in and its eyes on me. I wondered how you could tell if they were boys or girls. It was pretty obvious with dogs. “Hi,” I said to it, reaching out one hand.