Mrs. Mets wasn't in the shared hallway when I ran upstairs less than a minute later, but she'd found her way again by the time I'd retrieved Spencer's box of stuff from my car.

"What's that?" she asked, blocking my advance in the hallway and pointing at the top of a litter pan.

Something in the back of my head warned me that Mrs. Mets did not care how Spencer destroyed Frankie's home and couldn't be left alone, which meant I had to break the "no pets" part of my lease. Frankie didn't scare Mrs. Mets. Nothing scared her.

"Oh this? It's a... litter box." I desperately grasped for a reason, but a sneeze hit my nose, and trying to hold it in became my biggest concern.

Mrs. Mets huffed and tapped the pan. "I know what it is. Why do you have it?"

I sneezed, rattling the entire box of stuff. Mrs. Mets never even leaned away from me. See? Nothing scared her.

"I'm training... the dog to use it."

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. "The dog that is absolutely not allowed in this apartment complex? The one you told me went to live with your boyfriend."

Shit. Yes, that one. Oops. It wasn't my fault. In the last three minutes, it felt like I had Niagara Falls coming out of my nose. "He's not my boyfriend." I paused. Now wasn't the time to argue Broadrick's non-boyfriend status. "Yes, that one."

"Dogs don't use litter boxes," she continued.

Ugh, couldn't she let me go die in peace? I sneezed again and my eyes watered. "It's this new thing Broadrick read about in the paper. They were talking about dogs never leaving the house at Oceanview Orchards. So he was like, 'Vonnie, I think I'm going to try it. I'm going to make him an inside dog.' And I was like 'Broadrick, that's so horrible. Dogs need to go outside and feel the wind in their hair.' But you know how men are. They never listen. So I had to steal his supplies."

Some people liked to keep their lies simple, but I found it best to override the details with enough nonsense people gave up on you.

From the bob of Mrs. Mets' head as I carried on, it was working. "Dogs belong outside."

I nodded. "I agree, but you know how those stubborn males are."

"Well, just don't let any more animals in the apartment. I don't want to be replacing carpets when you move out."

Another sneeze tickled my nose. "Right, no animals. Got it."

With that taken care of, I slipped past the older woman and casually made my way to the basement. Except I didn't know how to be casual, so I swayed my hips and then tripped on a piece of upturned rug, falling right into the basement door with the box.

"Easy on that door," called Mrs. Mets as I slipped around it and headed downstairs.

Of course, she'd be concerned with the door and not my hip that rammed into the door handle. Just once in my life I'd like things to go easily for me.

Spencer was still safely tucked away in his cat carrier, and he meowed at me something terrible when I put the box of supplies beside him. He stuck his nose right to a hole in the carrier and then opened his mouth like a demon to let out the worst growl I'd ever heard.

"Okay, there, demon child. Let's not get our kitten panties in a twist."

NB sniffed the front of the cage, but Spencer didn't care about his new canine housemate. Even when the dog pawed at it, trying to get in. Maybe that meant they'd get along.

I pushed NB out of the way and leaned my head in front of the carrier's opening. "Don't trash this apartment. I need my security deposit." I'd already mentally spent it on a new Sea Bag to use at the beach.

Spencer pushed at the carrier like he understood what came next, and I swung open the door. NB barked and lunged at the cat as he jumped from the carrier like I'd saved him from a kidnapping. All his claws were in attack mode as he dove at NB and then hightailed it toward the open doorway with a cat scream that shook the walls.

NB raced after Spencer, with me right behind them. "We are friends in this house!"

Spencer fit himself through the small gap in my closet door. NB ran straight for the opening, but hit his head and bounced back when he didn't fit. He positioned himself in front of the opening, sniffing the air like he might taste Spencer.

"Great. That went well. Good team work," I said, leaving those two to their troubles. I had other problems.

Like boxes to pack and more loads to move today. I stood in the middle of my living room and made a big circle, trying to decide where to start. Every step seemed to be attached to the next step, and they all piled on top of each other.

I grabbed a Kleenex from the end table and sat on the couch after blowing my nose. The morning events and Katy's early wake-up had sucked the energy out of me. If I lay down for a quick nap, I'd wake up refreshed and ready to pack the entire apartment and move it in one night.

**

An earth-shattering scream woke me from what felt like a three-minute nap. I bolted off the couch and entered attack mode. Except my head was fuzzy, so rather than landing like a dignified ninja swan, I tripped over a pillow and fell to my knees.

The sound came again. Past the curtains the sun had set outside, meaning that I'd slept much longer than three minutes even if it didn't feel like it.

"I'm coming, Spencer," I called to the cat as I fumbled my way into the bedroom around the empty boxes I'd never packed. "Get your shit together, NB. We don't have time for family feuds."

A spot of brown NB fluff ran over my feet in escape to the living room and another, smaller one followed. NB yipped as he circled around the couch and then ducked under it. Spencer, in his full-out chasing glory, dug his claws into my fabric couch and scaled it. He lay on the back of the couch like he'd taken up a restful spot, but his eyes searched the room, on the hunt for his prey.

"What in the hell?" The brown and white dog who had just been running for his life darted out from the couch and ran at me full blast.

He jumped into my arms, and I squeezed him hard so he didn't fall. Spencer arched his back, hissed in our direction, and then repositioned himself on the couch like he wasn't a demon cat from hell who wanted to eat my dog.

He yawned while all stretched out and NB whimpered. "How does he look so cute but act so horrible?" I asked NB, but he didn't answer me.

A sneeze came out of nowhere, and the movement upset NB enough he jumped from my arms and ran for the bedroom to hide. Thankfully Spencer didn't follow. Another sneeze hit me and I went for a new Kleenex.

Was I allergic to cats?

It was early in the morning-I'd slept away an entire evening and could still grab a nap-but I'd find no sleep with these two in the apartment. I spent the next hour setting up Spencer's things and showing him where to poop and pee. He rubbed against me and purred with another personality flip.

I patted him on the back with a little rub. "Yes, yes, you're a cute boy." When he wasn't trying to eat my dog or get me killed by the mafia.

Then came a long shower to help my nose and a quick outfit update. I tackled the day with a pair of straight jeans that would fit into my snow boots easily and a long maroon thermal. After having to meet a lawyer with a less-than-respectable shirt on during my case in January, I'd been trying to update my wardrobe to be more professional. Solid colored thermals were as far as I'd made it. I figured if the guys at Ridge Jefferson's security firm got away with wearing black polos every day of the week, I'd wear thermals.

I grabbed NB's leash off the table and waited for the dog. He slunk out of the bedroom, never taking his eye off the cat. I pointed the end of the leash at Spencer. "You're staying here."

Snow crunched under my feet, and the cold froze the snot in my nose. At least it stopped it from running. I let NB pee on his favorite bush and then tucked him into the car. He immediately licked a new pattern on the car window.

Cold air from the car heater blasted me in the face as I waited for it to get warm. Living in a small town had positives and negatives. I heard everyone's business, but your car rarely had time to heat up before you made it to your destination.

I sneezed-I guess it wasn't a cat allergy-and sent a quick text to Anessa at the bakery. One quick stop had to happen before I showed up for my shift.

The first tendrils of warm air made it from the vents as I pulled into the closest parking spot in the back lot attached to the bakery. The back door flew open and Anessa ran out with a small white and pink box.

I lowered the window just enough for her to pass the box through and then lifted the lid to check. "Excellent selection. Thanks."

"I stuck one of the new strawberry flavors in there. Let me know what she thinks of it." Anessa checked her watch. "You better hurry if you're going to catch her. School starts in under two hours."

"Going there now," I said, putting the window up and backing out of the space.

I had no time to waste.