When Harley Met Gracie...

Published in the final scene of "A Purrfect Promise."  Zeno the cat: and his neighbor cat Boots lounge by the pool…

Boots and I relax under the patio table, taking advantage of the shade it provides, while the people around the pool happily bake in the sun. Since it’s late September, there won’t be many more warm days like this, so they want to make the most of the sunshine.

The aroma of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers lingers in the air, making my mouth water. The humans ate their fill, but I’m a bit miffed that none of them thought to offer Boots and me anything.

“Where did Caleb and Victoria go?” I ask. They’ve been back home for a while now.

“In the kitchen, cutting up watermelon for dessert,” Boots replies.

“Does it take both of them to do that?”

“Aw, they’re probably in there smooching and getting all lovey-dovey. They’re always doing that.” He twitches his whiskers in disgust. “It’s sickening.”

“Well, they are still newlyweds.”

“Whatever.” 

The little girl, Gracie, sits at the edge of the pool, splashing her feet in the water. “Mom, can I go swimming now? I finished my lunch a long time ago.”

“All right, honey,” her mother answers. “But you can’t wear that crown in the water.”

The child obediently removes the toy crown from her head and places it beside her “magic wand” on the seat of a patio chair. She likes to play that she’s a fairy princess. Before lunch, she pretended Boots and I were handsome princes who’d been turned into cats by a mean witch.

She’d touched the tip of the wand between my ears. “Boop. You’re a prince again.” Of course, I remained a cat. That’s fine with me. Personally, I prefer life as a feline. Though I suppose I could get used to being a King.

“Aunt Shelley, come swim with me,” she says. “You too, Coach Ty. Please?”

Tyson gets out of his chair. “Sure thing, peanut.” Taking Shelley’s hand, he pulls her to her feet. “Come on, Aunt Shelley.”

They splash in the pool for a bit. Tyson’s teaching Gracie how to float when she looks up at him with big eyes. “Coach Ty, can I call you Uncle Ty?”

There’s a moment of awkward silence.

“Gracie…” her mother’s voice holds a gentle warning tone.

“Well, hon,” he answers, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea—”

“But aren’t you and Aunt Shelley—”

Her mother’s eyebrows lower. “Gracie.” 

“I know,” Tyson says quickly. “For now, why don’t you just call me Ty? Like friends do. We’re friends, right?”

The little girl gives him a wide grin. “Right!” She and Tyson go back to their swimming lesson while the two sisters exchange looks. Shelley’s face is bright pink.

Boots’ voice distracts me from the scene. “Hey, Z. Keep a lookout for me, huh?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll be right back.” Then he slips away. A moment later, he’s back, holding a hot dog in his teeth. Dropping it, he says “It was the last one left on the platter. What’re they gonna do with one measly hot dog? Better we eat it, and it don’t go to waste. Go on, have some.”

We share, because that’s what friends do.

I nibble my end of the hot dog and Boots munches his when a ruckus explodes. Our silly neighbor Harley has escaped his yard again and sneaked over here. At first, he prances around the pool. As everyone begins calling and trying to catch him, he zigzags around the patio in a game of keep-away. His tongue lolls from his mouth in a doggy grin as he eludes the hands reaching out to catch him.

“Is he back here?” An angry voice cries. A man, red-faced and puffing, appears.

Harley’s owner frowns when he spots the big black Lab. “Harley! Get over here, you bad dog.”

Harley pauses, looking confused. Then Gracie pipes up “He’s not a bad dog.” Holding her magic wand, she touches it gently to his head. “Boop. He’s a good dog.”

Harley tilts his head to gaze at her. Then, wagging his tail, he sits.

The man storms over and grabs Harley none too carefully by the collar. “Get over here, you.” As he leads the dog away, Harley gazes back at Gracie.