Hannah grabbed a stack of napkins and a bottle of diet salad dressing. “I did, but I’ll explain it all later. Let’s go eat before Moishe decides to tunnel through the carryout packs and help himself to our steaks.”

Other than the infrequent request for the saltshaker, the pepper grinder, or another napkin, no conversation took place in Hannah’s living room until they’d become members of the clean plate club. Hannah tossed Moishe a final scrap of the filet Norman had brought for her and gave a satisfied sigh. “Thank you, Norman. That was just what I needed. How about some coffee? It’s all ready to go.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take care of the dishes while you make it.”

Hannah poured water into the well of the coffeemaker while Norman handled their dishes and silverware. After he’d rinsed them and stacked them in Hannah’s dishwasher, he walked over to examine the Kitty Valet that Mike had set up next to Moishe’s old food bowl. “So this is Moishe’s new self-feeding system. I wasn’t sure what Mike meant when he told me about it. Does it work?”

“I don’t know. So far, he hasn’t gone near it. The instructions said to leave out his old food and water bowls for the first few hours to give him time to get used to it. Then you’re supposed to pick up the old bowls and he’ll switch to the new.”

“In theory.”

“Right. In theory.”

“I can see how it works, but what if Moishe doesn’t like it? Can you take it back?”

Hannah gave a little laugh. “Not really. They say that it’s fully returnable as long as the plastic wrapping on the tubes is intact. And you have to remove it to put in the food and the water.”

“So once you try it out on your cat, you can’t return it.”

“Exactly. It’s a win-win situation for the manufacturer.”

Just then Moishe padded into the kitchen and stopped by his Kitty Valet feeding system. He sniffed at the food, sniffed at the water, and then he walked on past.

“Mike may have wasted his money.” Hannah watched as her cat lapped at the water in his old bowl.

“Maybe he’ll try the new bowls once the old ones are empty,” Norman said, following Hannah as she carried two mugs of fresh coffee to the kitchen table. “Now that we’ve eaten, I’ve got a question. You were kidding about using cookies to make cheeseburgers, weren’t you?”

“Not really. I’m making a dessert that looks exactly like a mini cheeseburger, but it’s assembled from store-bought cookies, shredded coconut, and frosting.”

“Really?”