The doorbell sounded in the Daniels home.
Sugar snatched the cat off the counter where he had been purring loudly enough to be heard across the room. The plate of tuna shifted and clattered. The cat yowled a protest.
“I can’t be seen with you,” Sugar explained. The doorbell rang again.
Sugar hustled the cat to the patio door and slipped him out. She pulled the curtains, hiding the patio from view.
The doorbell tolled one more time before Sugar opened the door, one hand holding the sweatshirt closed, her shoulders hunched. She found her neighbor, Emerald, perched on her welcome mat, holding a flaccid little fern struggling to hold itself up from within a shiny pot.
“Hi,” the neighbor lady said. “I’m Emmy from next door. I wondered if you might have some use for this little plant. My collection is just getting too big.”
Sugar accepted the plant and stepped back, pushing the door towards her visitor to close it.
“Wait!” Emmy exclaimed, one hand raised.
Sugar opened the door slightly wider.
“I just wanted to tell you that…I’m…you know…right over there if you need me. I can…I’ve got…plenty of everything. You can…come over whenever you want.”
Sugar nodded and forced a half-smile onto her face. Her eyes darted onto the road, watching for the black Hummer.
“Well. I don’t mean to keep you. I’m sure you’re very busy.”
The phone rang. Sugar snapped into a stiff upright position and slammed the door shut. She watched through the side window as Emmy shook her head and retreated muttering to herself. She answered the phone, contented that the neighbor had gone back to her own space.
Oscar’s voice bellowed, “What do you mean by making me wait? Do you have a man over there?”
Her voice quivered just as her shoulders did. “N-n-no. Just…there’s only me.”
“You’re lying, as usual. What have you been doing?”
“I’m…baking.”
“It better not get in the way of my dinner. I want a decent meal for a change.”
“No. I’ll be done.”
“Quit wasting our time and get moving. There’s a fillet of salmon in the fridge. I want it baked with rice pilaf. You got that?”
“Yes, dear.”
As Sugar pulled out the salmon, she heard the yowl of the little cat on the patio and the scratch of his claws on the door. She crossed over and opened the curtains and doors. The cat pranced in, purring, and rubbed her shin. She scooped him up and hugged him with her free arm. He grabbed for the salmon, making her giggle.
