Obsession Falls(12)

The sight of my mom’s house wasn’t exactly comforting but at least I’d made it through my first day of work. I just hoped doggie daycare had worn Max out. I was feeling pretty depleted.

I parked and clipped on Max’s leash. Between my bag, the chicken salad, and Max, I had a lot to juggle, so I let him hop out first while I got my things. He ran straight to the door and sat.

“Good boy, Max. Wait there for me.”

I gathered up everything and shut the car door with my hip.

The front door opened and my mom poked her head out.

Before she could say a word, Max tore past her and ran inside.

“Duchess!” Mom yelped and darted after him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I hurried in and kicked the door closed behind me so Duchess wouldn’t run outside. The only thing worse than Max chasing her would be to let Mom’s precious baby get out. “Max! Come!”

I set my things down and rushed to the kitchen, but they weren’t there. A muffled scream came from upstairs, so I headed that way.

“Max, you’re trained better than this,” I shouted as I took the stairs two at a time. “Sort of. Come!”

He popped out of the master bedroom, his eyes wide with excitement, tail wagging like crazy.

“Good boy. Come on.”

For a second, I thought he was going to obey. But the lure of his new favorite game—chase the spoiled cat—was too much for him. Training versus temptation; temptation won.

I started to yell for my mom to close her bedroom door, but I was too late. He spun around and charged back in, the loose leash trailing behind him. Mom screamed again, because of course she did, and something crashed to the floor.

“Audrey!”

“I’m right here. Max, no. Come!”

A lamp had been knocked over but it didn’t look broken. Mom’s face was flushed and she stood in front of her king-sized four poster bed, legs in a wide stance, arms held out to the sides, as if she were ready to sacrifice her body to save her precious feline.

Max finally obeyed his command, coming to sit in front of me, eyes on mine, tail wagging happily. I picked up the leash so he couldn’t run off again.

Mom took ragged breaths and her eyes were slightly wild. “He can’t keep terrorizing my baby, Audrey.”

“I know, I know. I was just grabbing my stuff. I didn’t think you were going to open the door.”

“It doesn’t matter. The leash solution is clearly not working.”

“Mom, he’s just trying to play. He won’t hurt her.”

“He’s hurting her mentally.”

Duchess peered out from under the bed and hissed.

“I’m sorry. He doesn’t mean to. He’s just excited.”

The look Mom gave me spoke louder than words. Keep him away from my cat.

“I picked up dinner. It’s in the bag I left by the front door.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I took Max and left, closing the door behind me.

I went to my room and patted the bed, inviting him to hop up.

This living situation was not going to work. I’d never meant for it to be long term, but I’d hoped I could make it work for a few months. It had barely been a few days and I was ready to rip my hair out.

Plus, I didn’t like the idea of running into Colin so easily. I’d be nervous every time I went anywhere in this town, wondering if he’d be there.

I needed a place of my own. Even my rampant optimism couldn’t make this work much longer.

I put Max in his crate for a little chill-out time—thankfully he liked his den—and went downstairs to get my things. Mom was apparently still upstairs, probably cooing over Duchess after the latest dog-trauma. I put dinner in the kitchen and took my bag back upstairs to my room.

Max was curled up napping, so I left him to sleep and got out my laptop. After the Colin encounter, I really wanted to find a place to live outside of Pinecrest—preferably in Tilikum, so I’d be close to work. But just about anything would be better than here.

I opened my saved search and ran it again, holding my breath.

Please let there be something new.

Several listings I hadn’t seen before popped up and hope rose like a warm tingle in my chest.

The first was a two-bedroom apartment. Awesome. It was in Tilikum, near the college. That would work. Recently remodeled with new appliances, that was nice. The rent was within my budget and just when I thought I might have found the solution to my problems, I came to the end. No pets.

Shoot.

The next ad was for a house. Three bedrooms, a little out of my price range, but it did have a fenced backyard. That would be great for Max. Pets were allowed with a deposit, which was fine. I clicked on the map to see where it was and my heart sank. It was in Pinecrest. In fact, if Colin still lived in the same place, it was right around the corner from his house.

Hard no.

That hope I’d felt was fading fast.

I clicked on the last new ad. Two-bedroom house in Tilikum. Rent was in my price range. No mention of a fenced yard, but I didn’t necessarily need one. Just a decent place that was clean, not up the street from my ex-boyfriend, and without a pampered white Persian in residence.

The ad didn’t say anything about pets one way or the other. Crossing my fingers that the answer would be yes to my silly dog, I called the number.