“How did she know where to look?”
“She followed the sound of his snoring.”
I almost smiled. “Go on.”
“So she calls out to him, and he’s extra grumpy because she woke him up, but he listens to her story about her cat Tigger running up the tree.”
“Does he agree to help?”
“No.”
“Why not?” I frowned, annoyed that even in ogre form I was a jerk.
“Because the ogre has a secret he doesn’t want her to know.”
“And what’s that?”
“He’s afraid of heights.”
“The ogre is afraid of heights?”
“Yes. So he won’t go up the tree to save the cat, but he can’t tell her the real reason, so he just sort of grunts at her and tells her to leave him alone.”
“Does he at least feel bad about it?”
“Yes, because he can hear her crying as she runs back home through the forest. But not bad enough to overcome his fear of heights. He’s a very stubborn ogre.”
“Clearly.” I got off the couch and wandered over to the sliding door. Pulling it open, I stepped onto the patio, feeling like I could use some fresh air. “So then what happens? Does the cat die? Or does the ogre get over himself and help the princess?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s as far as I’ve gotten.”
I glanced over at Winnie’s patio and thought about kissing her the night we’d met. I’d been so drawn to her—I still was. Now I’d never feel those lips on mine again. “Well, let me know how it ends.”
“I will. Can I talk to Freddie Purrcury?”
I frowned. “No.”
“Why not?”
“He’s being rude.”
“What did he do?”
“He’s ignoring me.”
She laughed. “He only likes it when we’re there. Want to talk to Luna?”
“Yes. I love you. Goodnight.”
“I love you too, Daddy. Night.”
Luna came on a few seconds later. “Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Winnie’s not gone yet, is she?”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay good, because we want to give her a going-away gift. We saw something purrfect at the store,” she said with a giggle. “Will you take us to get it?”
“Yeah.” I closed my eyes, the ache of missing her already deep in my bones. “It will have to be Wednesday when I get you. I’m pretty sure she leaves the next day.”
“Okay.”
We chatted for a few more minutes, then said goodnight. I stayed outside for a little while, watching it grow darker.
If I hadn’t broken things off, Winnie and I would probably be together right now. Maybe I’d be helping her pack. Maybe we’d be eating dinner at my place. Maybe we’d be in bed, taking advantage of every last minute we had before she left.
My body warmed thinking about it, and I was tempted to go knock on her door. Apologize. Tell her the truth. Make her understand that I’d only lied to protect her—because that’s what I did when I loved someone. I protected them.
But in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and I went back inside alone.
Justin and I arrived at work Tuesday at the same time and parked next to each other. As soon as we got out of our cars, I held up my hands in surrender. “I know, I know. I’ll apologize to Bree.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“Does she hate me?”
“No. She feels bad. She thinks she said things that pissed you off so much, you’ll never speak to her again.”
“She did piss me off. But only because she knows how to push my buttons.”
“Sisters are good at that.” We started walking toward the station. “So what happened with Winnie?”
“We broke it off.”
“Mutual decision?”
I frowned. “Not exactly. She had it in her head that we could try long-distance or something.”
“And you really don’t want to?”
“No, Justin! I’m not her fucking high-school boyfriend. She’s not going away to college—she’s moving to another state. She took a job there.”
“Maybe she didn’t know you wanted her to stay.”
“There was no way I could’ve asked her to stay.”
“Why not?” Justin asked as we reached the building. “I told Bree I was going to marry her on our second date.”