Time to face the music, go home, and continue leading my dull life. My safe, afraid of commitment, can’t fall too deeply for someone life. A life without Joe.
I upend the drink, sending ice cubes careening into my front teeth. “Ow.” I wince and press my fingers against my mouth and then jump as someone pats my shoulder.
“Excuse me . . . will you touch my hand? I want to tell my friends I’ve been touched by an angel.”
I whirl on my stool—wheeee, it’s the twisty kind—and my heart stutters with joy.
Joe stands in front of me, suitcase in hand, backpack on his shoulders, sweat on his brow, and relief pouring from his eyes.
He tugs on the cat’s ear. “Hey there, Junior.”
Trembling, I stand. “How . . . how are you here? I saw you on the train to Chicago. You didn’t jump off, did you?” I check him over. He doesn’t look injured.
With halting fingers, he touches the planes of my face, as if he hasn’t seen them in weeks.
“I saw you. Getting off that other train. Mine was already moving, but I looked out the window as we picked up speed and there you were. It turns out the Chicago train stops in a little town north of Denver called Fort Morgan. I had a Lyft waiting and paid the guy extra to speed getting here. Then I sprinted from two blocks away, so worried you’d be gone. I would have run from Chicago, if I’d had to.”
I place Junior back on my stool and step closer to Joe. “But, how did you know I was here?” I gesture around at the bar.
“James told Boyd to text me.”
I frown. “What?”
“Before Boyd left, James told him you’d missed me, and told him where you were.”
I shake my head, my eyes feeling glassy. “James did that for me? For us?”
He nods and holds out his hand, palm forward. “So? Will you?”
I blink, unsure what he means. And wishing again that I’d stopped after one drink. “Will I what?”
“Touch my hand. And then kiss me. And then,” he leans in tantalizingly close, his eyes pinning mine, “marry me.”
I press my palm against his, and our fingers intertwine.
“Yes. Yes. And yes.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I swear Joe Junior’s stitched on grin grows wider.
As my mouth meets Joe’s in an impossibly tender kiss, I realize that our star-crossed Shakespearean tragedy somehow became a comedy of errors, and, finally, a romance.
Just in time.
Epilogue
“Therefore stay yet; thou need’st not to be gone.”
- Romeo and Juliet (Act 3, Scene 5)
Kathleen
The annual Love & Pets Party is especially packed this year. People and pets cram the west Denver park where the community event has been held every August since its inception. We’d had to cruise around for ten minutes before we found a parking space.
“Whew,” I say to Joe after hustling out of the way of a baying, over-excited hound. “Travis said the Party was outgrowing this park. He wasn’t kidding.”
The aqua blue Love & Pets Mobile Animal Clinic sits in its usual spot at the edge of the green space. Travis and Amelia offer free exams and low-cost vaccinations to pets while pet-related vendors hawk their wares, food trucks serve up everything from green bowls to ice cream, and party patrons catch some sun on blankets and listen to the music pumping from the DJ’s tent.
Coming to the party is the least Joe and I can do to support Travis and Amelia. They’ve been very kind to Romeo and Juliet since Joe moved to Colorado Springs after CatFest last year. Romeo caught some kind of intestinal bug soon after they arrived, and the Love & Pets mobile had trundled down to see him twice. Then Juliet caught it.
Which wasn’t much of a surprise. Those two tragically in love kitties are rarely apart. After Joe reactivated Romeo’s Instagram account, he and I accepted the joint Purina sponsorship, joined the cats’ accounts, and they were featured CelebriCats at CatFest again this year and winners of the Best Furr-ends award. Our online business grew so quickly that Viv and Jess offered to help us manage the accounts in their spare time, and we hired them gratefully.
Romeo and Juliet are with James today, basking in their fame and fortune at his apartment. James’ apartment. James’ apartment. I adore repeating those two beautiful words whenever I can. With only a teensy bit of pressure from Joe and me, he got a job at a pet daycare and boarding facility, quickly became the assistant manager, and was employee of the month last month. I’m so proud of him.
Joe and I wander toward the RV, hoping to say hello to Travis and Amelia between their appointments. A small group mills around the vehicle, also seeming to be waiting. One couple, a petite woman with cat eyed glasses and a trim dark-haired guy, has a cat in a carrier at their feet. Wait, make that two cats. One is a Russian blue and the other a tabby.
Another pair of humans, a curly haired woman in a skirt and heeled sandals who’s with a brown-haired guy, have a wiggly golden Lab puppy on a leash. A third couple, a blond man with a cowboy hat who’s with a black-haired beauty, has their son with them. The boy’s doing his best to control three dachshunds who seem to be running in opposite directions from each other at all times. Joe and I watch the spectacle and laugh.
After a few minutes, Travis and Amelia emerge from the RV accompanied by a woman and a black and white border collie wearing a service dog vest. The woman wears her dark-blonde hair in a ponytail, jeans and a T-shirt, white Converse low tops, and a tentative expression. Amelia helps her down the stairs, the dog leading by a step.
Travis greets the waiting crowd with a grin. “Hey everyone, this is Stevie and her dog, Bean.” The woman waves self-consciously.
Amelia tries to make introductions all around. There are too many people and pets to remember easily, but I get most of the human names: Bea and Seb; Tobias, Isabel, and their son Tyler; and Sarah and . . . someone. I even catch a few of the pets, like Zoom and Fluff. Amelia introduces Joe to the group as my husband—because that’s what he is. It took us all of three months after CatFest to decide waiting any longer to get hitched was pointless.
We eloped to England in March and tied the knot near Shakespeare’s birthplace in Warwickshire with only Joe’s mom in attendance. James kept Romeo and Juliet for us, and Boyd and his sweet, new girlfriend Kayley met us to travel around after. Boyd’s been head over heels about her since they met soon after CatFest last year. We’re hoping they’ll get hitched and consider moving to Colorado. I want his mom to come out, too, but Joe’s enjoying a little break from her extra-loving attention.
“And who’s this handsome guy?” I ask Sarah. I kneel to pet the yellow Labrador retriever who’s doing his best to jump on me, lick my hand, and roll around on his back at the same time. The dachshunds yank and pull toward us, desperately wanting in on the action, but Tobias helps his son hold them back.
“Ben, my husband,” Sarah says with a proud grin, touching the guy beside her. She laughs at her own joke and points at the puppy. “And Max, my wedding present. He’s your next patient, Travis. He needs his shots.”
“Before we go in, we have some exciting news to announce,” Travis says. His fiancée’s eyes sparkle as she takes his hand. “Amelia and I have been engaged for,” he pauses as if he’s trying to do the math, then gives up, “way too long. But, I’m happy to say we’ve finally found a date that works for the wedding—and you’re all invited.”