Unforgettable (19 page)

 
“To getting my memory back.”

 
We clinked and Ethan added, “And to surviving Sparkles for a week.”

 
I was surprised that he knew the name of my mother’s cat. “Do you know Sparkles?”

 
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time she has stayed with us.” I raised my brow and he shook his head. “I’ll fill you in later.”

 
I nodded and took a sip. It was crisp and delicious. I was about to sit back down but Ethan put a hand on my lower back and propelled me towards the living room. I sat down on the couch next to Lucy and Ethan sat down next to me. It was nice and familiar, like we do this often.

 
I thought now might be a good time as any to get some basic answers. “Ethan, what did we do on Friday? That’s when this started. Maybe if I can retrace my steps I’ll know why I forgot everything.”

 
“Well, I went to work, so I’m not sure how you spent the bulk of the day, but I do know that you went grocery shopping. I also know you posted an update about autumn vegetables on your blog because I read it while I was at work. Now that I think about it, you were a little anxious when I got home, but you said everything was fine so I took your words at face value. Do you think something happened while I was at work? I guess that could explain the edginess and the fact that you’re blocking something. Maybe you got a call from someone. I’ll go get your phone. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.” He jumped up and went to the kitchen for my phone.

 
“Do you mind?” He held up the phone asking permission to snoop through my calls.

 
“Help yourself; I probably wouldn’t understand what I was seeing anyway.”

 
He opened up my call log and looked through. “Hmm, nothing that I can see. You called me and Carrie called you twice.” He set the phone on the coffee table and sat back with his wine. “Maybe you should call Carrie and ask her if she can remember what you talked about on Friday.”

 
That sounded like a good idea, and was just about to tell him so when the doorbell rang and Lucy jumped up barking. Crap. Gloria was here with her odious cat. I looked over at Ethan as I got up and he gave me an unenthusiastic look. I was glad I wasn’t the only one feeling miserable about what was sure to be an awful undertaking.

Chapter Sixteen

 
The doorbell rang again just as I was peeking through the peephole. Mom stood out there looking impatient and bothered and for a split second I wished I could just pretend we weren’t here. Unfortunately, I had agreed to cat sit, so there was no getting out of it now.

 
I looked over at Lucy on the couch with Ethan. She was still barking but she wasn’t at the door. I think she may be psychic. It’s like she knows that my mom is out there with Sparkles.
       

 
I opened the door and my mother came breezing in hauling the cat crate and a huge bag. It looked like a diaper bag, but it was obviously stuffed with things I would be required to use with Sparkles. Uh, Sparkles, what a stupid name for any animal. I would almost feel sorry for her if I didn’t hate her so much.

 
“Hi Mom. How was your drive?”

 
“Hi honey. It was long as usual. I have to hurry if I’m going to make it to the airport on time. Oh, hello Ethan.” Mom gave a smile as Ethan stood up to give her a kiss on the cheek.
 
“Here is her bag of toys and food, and I brought her bed, it’s still outside in my car.” She gave me a look that said “go out and get it” but Ethan jumped in.

 
“I’ll go get the bed, Gloria.” He shot out the door leaving me with my mother.

 
“Ooh, your face looks worse than it did the other day. You need more concealer.”
I gnashed my teeth to avoid saying anything I might regret.
 
“Okay Juliet, I have the list of instructions for her tucked into the bag. The most important thing is to make sure she doesn’t get outside.”
 

 
“You know I have a doggy door, right?”

 
“Well, you’ll just have to keep it closed then, won’t you? And please don’t let Lucy chase her around the house, she’s not as young as she used to be.” This woman had balls. She was expecting me to inconvenience my baby so that her cat would be comfortable? Lucy was old too, and she couldn’t hold her bladder very long. Was I supposed to take her out every half hour? Ethan’s idea of boarding Sparkles was sounding better and better.

 
She leaned down to unlock the crate and Sparkles strutted out like she owned the place. Lucy, who was no longer barking, had retreated to the far side of the couch, she knew what was coming. “Here you go baby, Juliet will take care of you while Mommy’s gone. I’ll be back soon.” She bent down and gave the cat a kiss before straightening up and giving me an awkward hug. “I’ll be back on Sunday. Take care of my baby,”

 
What the heck am I? Why didn’t she ever treat me the way she treats her cat? Why do I even care anymore? She was making her way back to the door when Ethan came back in carrying a hideous rhinestone bedazzled, zebra-striped cat bed.

 
“Oh, are you leaving already?” He tried to make his voice sound disappointed but it didn’t work. I could hear the relief it every word. I’d be relieved, too, if it weren’t for the fact that she was leaving behind a creature that goes out of its way to be hateful to me.
 

 
“Oh, well, I’ve got to get to the airport; you know how I hate all this traffic. You two take good care of Sparkles. Bye bye.” She walked out the door while we stood there silently. What the fudge just happened here? Gloria was in and out in less than five minutes and she didn’t even ask how I was. That sucked. She’s still my mom even if she is self-centered. I looked over to Ethan, still standing next to the couch still holding the cat bed.

 
“I guess that went better than I was hoping. Faster anyway. She didn’t even say thank you.” He just looked back at me with sympathy.
 
I looked down at the cat. She was licking her privates on the floor in the middle of my living room. I glanced up and saw Ethan staring at her with a look of disgust on his face.
 
I wondered what had happened with Sparkles before to make him dislike her. Ethan loved cats. Shoot, he loved all animals. Oh wow. I know that Ethan loves animals.

 
“Ethan, you need to thank Sparkles.” He looked at me like I was crazy.

 
“Why on earth would I need to thank Sparkles for anything?”

 
“Because I was looking at you hating on her just now and I thought that she must have done something horrible to you to make you feel like that since you love animals.” I looked at him, waiting for him to understand what I was telling him but he didn’t. “I remembered you love animals. At least I think I remembered that. You do love animals, right?”

 
“Yeah, I do.” He smiled crookedly. “Thanks, cat.” He put the cat bed down on the floor near the kitchen door before he walked over and pulled the bag off of my shoulder and carried it into the kitchen. I trailed behind him and noticed the dinner ingredients still set out.

 
“Are you getting hungry yet?” I asked as he put the cat bag on the table.

 
“I’m starved.” He looked around before turning back to me. “Jules, your mom didn’t happen to leave some kind of cat box did she?”

 
“Um, not unless it’s stuffed in the bag.” I knew it was unlikely that there was some tiny portable cat box in the bag but I walked over and started dumping the contents anyway. “Nope. Nothing here.”

 
“Well, I guess I should run to the store and get something.” This was getting worse by the second.

 
“All right, you do that and I’ll get started on dinner.”

 
“No.” He practically yelled it at me. He just told me he was starved, so you would think he would appreciate me getting a jump on the food. “Just wait for me, okay? I won’t be gone long, I’m sure they have something at the drug store down the street.”

 
“Sure. You do that and I’ll finish my wine and protect Lucy from the cat.”

 
He grabbed his keys and kissed me on the cheek before he left. It made my whole face tingle and I’m sure I was smiling like a loon until I realized I still had to cat proof the house, but I was feeling resentful. All this upheaval when I’m not even myself just wasn’t fair. I went back to the living room to pick up my wineglass and saw sparkles up on the couch. Lucy was nowhere to be seen, so I walked down the hall to my bedroom.

 
When I looked at the bed I felt a wave of heat wash through me. I couldn’t help but remember what had happened there just a little while ago. When I saw Lucy peek out of the covers and look at me, though, all feelings of lust flew out the window, replaced with my protective motherly instincts. Sparkles had obviously scared her off of the couch and out of the living room altogether. I walked over and scooped her up, snuggling her under my arm and marching back into the living room to pick up my glass and carry it with me to the kitchen. After I took a big gulp I figured I might as well take Lucy out to do her business since Ethan didn’t want me starting on the shrimp.

 
I was still in the backyard watching Lucy sniff around when I heard Ethan tap on the door from the inside. Ethan was holding a cat box under one arm and a bag of kitty litter in his hand.

 
“Do you want it in the laundry room again?” he asked while motioning to the door.

 
“Oh yeah. I guess that’s the best place, out of the way and all that.” I let him take care of that while I went to Sparkles’ bag of crap. I pulled out her food and her bowl and fixed her up. The last time I watched her I had to put her dishes up on my buffet table so that Lucy wouldn’t eat it; I guess I had to do that again, but I just hated having the cat on my buffet. It seemed so dirty. After I was finished with that I went into the laundry room to see how Ethan was doing with the kitty toilet.

 
I could hear him cussing under his breath when Lucy and I walked in. It made me feel good, like he was a real person, not just the person I had been seeing since yesterday. I mean, someone can’t be sweet and helpful all the time, right?

 
“Hey. Are you about ready to start dinner now?” I sure hoped so, I was getting pretty hungry and the wine on an empty stomach was making me feel sappy. I could just imagine a cozy scene like we shared earlier happening every day. Man, that would be awesome. I needed to ask Ethan how much time we spend together, usually. For all I know we might do our own thing every evening. I hoped not. I much preferred my mental image of us.

 
Whoa. I was imagining us sitting around doing nothing and it was appealing. Maybe he was wearing me down, after all. I had to admit that I enjoyed spending time with him. I liked him. I loved him. I still hadn’t processed that fully. I realized he was talking to me.

 
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

 
“I said, “Yes, I’m ready for dinner.” Give me a minute to clean up.”

 
“Oh, okay.” I turned around and went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out the shrimp. I was glad we had cleaned them earlier; dinner would cook fast with all the prep work done. I turned to the stove and turned on the pot of water for the rice. Even that had already been measured out.

 
“Okay, you’re the chef, what do you want me to do?” I looked over at the garlic that he hadn’t gotten around to chopping and pointed to it. He went over to it and started chopping while I pulled out the pan I needed. He brought his pile of garlic and parsley over to the stove and stood next to me. It felt good, like we were a team. I didn’t even feel the usual nervousness that attacked me when I was around a good looking man. And seriously, Ethan was possibly the hottest guy I ever actually talked to. Oh, there was the waiter Jeff, at work, but he was gay so it didn’t really count.