Glide

Chapter thirty-five

"Jen, it's for you!" Alice hollers from downstairs.

I pause my furious scrubbing of the toilet, my knees digging into the tiled floor, causing a dull pain to throb in my legs. How long have I been doing this?

"Be right down," I yell back, using the toilet bowl to help me rise as blood flows into my limbs again. I take off the rubber gloves, checking my reflection in the mirror. My hair is a mess of unruly curls, and I blow one out of my eyes. They're red-rimmed as a result of my lack of sleep.

Smoothing down the front of my skirt, I walk downstairs. Ever since I came back into town, friends I grew up with, who still live in the area, have been dropping by more and more often.

I appreciate their help, but I think I outgrew those friendships somewhere along the way.

But it's not one of the girls from the church choir standing in the doorway, the sun at his back.

It's Jayden Sennels.

I halt on the lowest step, squinting my eyes. Is this a stress hallucination? Have I been frantically cleaning for too long? "Jayden... you're here?"

"Hi." He smiles that show-stopping smile that makes Sophie's knees weak.

"What's, uh. Hi," I say, my brain malfunctioning, and I wave awkwardly. "Why?"

He runs a hand through his hair, looking every inch the famous athlete. With a hand, Jayden indicates to the living room, where my sister is fussing over something with her back to us. "I came to give back Marshmallow."

Just then, my white ball of love and fury comes rushing out between Alice's legs and pounces on me. I crouch to catch her, rocking my cat back and forth in my arms. "Hi, kitty," I coo. My eyes find Jayden again, a grin stretching over my lips. "This was really nice of you. You didn't have to."

He shrugs, sending the cat, who's purring like her life depends on it, a soft look. "We knew how much it meant to you."

I swallow, pressure appearing behind my eyelids. I have no handle on my emotions lately, so it's not exactly surprising that I would cry over getting my cat back. I've been discussing with Sophie how to get her across the country safely for weeks. Ever since I decided to stay. I wasn't willing to return for her yet, and Sophie wouldn't go here again, so we reached an impasse.

Besides, as much as she claims to dislike the docile feline in my arms, Sophie wasn't exactly eager to give up looking after Marshmallow.

"Did she give you a lot of trouble?"

"Nah, she was great," Jayden says, grinning. "The boys all love her, so now they want a dog or a cat or something."

Kids should have pets. Growing up, I had Marshmallow, and Sophie had Max, her horse.

My sweet little cat chooses this moment to freak out, and with a loud hiss, she catapults herself from my arms, landing on all four legs and scurrying away through the house.