“Then you’ve got the part if you want it. Do you think you can work it into your schedule?”

“Oh, yes!” Amber breathed. “Mr. Purvis, he’s the principal at Jordan High, told us we could take time off class if we got a part in the movie. All we have to do is make up the work later.”

Hannah watched Amber as Ross told her about the release form her mother would have to sign and when to report to wardrobe. Amber couldn’t seem to stop smiling and by the time she pushed the dessert cart away, she was practically dancing across the dining room.

“Maybe that was a mistake,” Ross said, watching the excited girl push the cart into the kitchen.

“You mean

you don’t want to use her in the movie?”

“Oh, no. I want to use her. It’s just that she’s so excited, she might forget about bringing my bread pudding.”

An hour later, Hannah was unlocking her condo door. Amber hadn’t forgotten Ross’s dessert and they’d devoured both of them with gusto.

“You’d better stand back,” Hannah said, her hand on the doorknob.

“Okay, but why?”

“Moishe has a greeting ritual when I come home at night.”

“Greeting ritual?”

“He jumps up into my arms. And since he weighs over twenty pounds, it knocks me back a step or two

especially if I forget to brace myself.”

“Forewarned is forearmed,” Ross said, moving closer and placing his hands against Hannah’s back. “If he knocks you over, I’ll catch you.

“Deal,” Hannah agreed, surprised at the reaction she had to Ross’s touch. Just this totally impersonal gesture even through his gloves and her coat made her heart beat a bit faster.

Ross gave a startled chuckle as Hannah opened the door and an orange-and-white ball of flying fur hurtled through the air directly at them. Hannah caught her cat expertly, resisted the urge to lean back against Ross even though she wasn’t one bit off-balance, and stepped forward into her living room.

“Meet Ross,” she said, giving Moishe a little scratch behind the ears before placing him on the ledge at the back of the couch. “If you act cute, Ross might make you into a movie star. Then she turned to Ross, who was smiling. “This is my roommate, Moishe.”

“Lucky cat,” Ross said with a grin.

Moishe stared at Hannah for a moment, as if he were digesting the information she’d given him about being a kitty movie star, and then he arched his back and went into his Halloween cat pose. He held that position for a moment or two, and then he relaxed his whole body and did what Hannah thought of as his kitty toupee, tucking his tail under his body and stretching out flat over the back of the couch like a miniature throw rug.