Chapter 11

Greg
“Kyle, put the kitty down,” Greg said softly so as not to startle Precious, the ‘cat from hell.’

Kyle had wrapped his arms around the oversized cat’s chest, and she now hung from her front armpits, eyeing her newest nemesis, Greg. For some reason, while Precious tolerated the rest of the family, she tried to bite or claw Greg every chance she got.

David had coerced Greg and Joey into cat-sitting until Cassidy returned for summer school. At least his brother had tried to get their mom to take Precious, but she’d sent him to Greg. It hadn’t taken much arm-twisting because David had provided him and his family a home—an oceanfront fixer—in Venice Beach.

David had bought it and then rented it to them at a way-below-market rate for two reasons. First, they had to put up with the renovations that were still going on. And second, David wanted a nice place for Greg and his family to live, one that was convenient to the USC campus.

There might have been a third. David loved to surf, and Greg had found a board in their garage that he assumed was his brother’s.

Joey’s getting the job as USC’s baseball strength and conditioning coach had been their impetus to go house hunting. It quickly became apparent that prices in LA were astronomically higher than back in central Illinois. There might have been a one-bedroom cardboard box under a freeway in their price range.

So, taking a cat for three weeks had seemed reasonable at the time.

Precious began to wiggle free.

“Bad kitty,” Kyle said.

To Greg’s amazement, Precious stopped trying to get away.

“Go put Precious in her crate, and I’ll take you and your sister and brother to the beach,” he suggested.

“She doesn’t like her crate,” Kyle said.

Greg smiled at his four-and-a-half-year-old son. He’d grown up so fast. He and his sister, Mac, were too young to start kindergarten this year. But California had this transitional kindergarten program, or ‘TK,’ for kids whose birthdays were after September first and before December second. It was a two-year kindergarten program. Greg looked at it as a way to get the little monsters out of the house so he could cut back on his Mister Dad duties.

“Last time we left her loose, she peed in Daddy’s bed,” Greg reminded his son.

“Joey told me to be sure not to leave Precious out of her cage,” Kyle remembered helpfully.

It was funny how his girlfriend could get his kids to mind better than he ever could.

When Greg brought the kids home, Nate needed a nap. While Greg went to put him down, Kyle ran into his brother’s room.

“Dad! Dad! Dad!”

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

“Precious is gone.”

“Ffffudge.”

His mom had warned him that no one would find Precious if she got out and decided to hide.

His son teared up, so Greg wrapped him in a hug.

“It’s okay, buddy. Precious is just playing hide-and-seek. Your Nana Dawson says she is the best hide-and-seek cat she ever saw, so it might take us a long time to find her. Why don’t you get your sister, and we’ll start looking?” Greg suggested.

“Otay,” Kyle managed between sniffles.

Greg spent the afternoon hunting for the damned cat. It went without saying that he wasn’t in the best of moods when his girlfriend got home.

“Guess what we got today?” Joey asked, obviously excited.

Greg cringed because he knew exactly what it was.

“Your brother bought us plane tickets to Hawaii and booked us into a five-star resort for a week for watching that stupid cat. He even volunteered to watch the kids while we’re gone.”

Greg had told David that he planned to ask Joey to marry him, so David had offered to help him make it memorable. Unfortunately, the cover story that the trip was in exchange for their agreement to watch Precious was about to hit a speed bump. Granted, after the first week with the cat, Greg hadn’t been sure that a Hawaiian vacation would be enough.

Mac came in looking dejected, which Joey picked up on.

“Precious wins. We can’t find her,” Mac shared.

“What are you talking about?” Joey asked.

“Precious wasn’t in her crate when we returned from the beach this morning. She’s playing hide-and-seek,” Greg explained.

“Shhhugar. What are we supposed to say to your brother?” Joey asked.

“She’ll come out eventually,” Greg said hopefully.

“Maybe we should give the trip to your mom and dad. We can’t accept it if we lost that stupid cat.”

“Look. I’ll just call David and tell him,” Greg said.

“Okay. Do it now, so he has time to change the tickets ... and put him on speakerphone,” she said.

Greg prayed that his brother wouldn’t be a jerk as he hit his speed dial to call him.

“What’s up? Oh, I talked to Cassidy. She asked that you take a picture of Precious and send it to her. For some reason, she loves that cat,” David said when he answered.

“Greg lost her,” Joey jumped in.

“Really?! Cassidy is going to kill me,” David said.

“I’m sure she’s in the house somewhere,” Greg said.

“I hope so. If Precious gets out, she might start killing all the neighborhood dogs. I don’t want my niece and nephews to find the carcass of that little Chihuahua from next door. That’s a lawsuit just waiting to happen,” David said.

“We’re so sorry. Why don’t you give that trip to Hawaii to your mom and dad?” Joey asked.

“Uncle David! Uncle David! You found her!” Kyle could be heard over the speaker.

David hung up, and Greg looked at Joey. She had an ear-to-ear smile on her face.

“Yes.”

It took him a moment, but then Greg all but forgot that his brother was dead to him as he wrapped Joey in a bear hug and soundly kissed her. Their kiss broke when Precious yowled at him as David walked in carrying her. It was apparent that his girlfriend and brother had just pranked him. They both looked pleased with themselves.

“Boy, she doesn’t like you,” David said with a chuckle, referring to Precious. “I brought everything to make burgers. Why don’t you show her the ring up in your bedroom while I get the little wiggle-worms to help me?”

“Go ahead and start dinner if we take too long,” Greg said.

“I’ll see you in ten,” David said with a smirk.

“Come on and show me the ring,” Joey said.

Greg grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs.

“How did you know?”

“I found it when I put your laundry away three weeks ago.”

He had hidden it in the back of his sock drawer. He usually did the laundry, so it had never occurred to him that she might find it.

“Let me get it,” he said.

Joey showed him her hand. She already had it on.

“I see you couldn’t wait.”

“I had to show it off to everyone at work,” she said with a cute little pout.

Then her eyes got smoky with desire.

“Come show me how much you love me. We only have six minutes left, so try to last,” Joey teased.

David fed and entertained the kids. He even gave them their baths and had put them to bed by the time Greg and Joey reappeared.

“I’m starved,” Joey announced.

“I’ll go heat up the leftovers,” David offered.