He’d also considered that to be fair. Mary had already proven that she had no problem sleeping hot and naked in front of his cheap box fan. And besides, in the hottest parts of the summer, he usually took Ruth and stayed in his old room at Estrella’s, where there was an ancient window unit that made life tolerable. He’d had to shelve a surprisingly small amount of pride in order to hail the cab that was going to whisk him and Ruth away to a fancier life with a gorgeous woman.

Who wore a sundress down to her toes, her hair in damp waves down her back. She bit into a slice of watermelon when she greeted John at her door and popped a bite of the icy fruit into his mouth before she kissed him.

“Mmm,” he murmured, feeling like he was in the best part of a great dream, the part right before everything went wobbly and stopped making sense.

“Hey, Ruthie!” Mary took the kennel from John and set it down. John closed the door.

“I’m warning you, she’s usually very grumpy after a cab ride in her kennel.”

“She’s entitled. No one likes to be handled.” Mary let the cat out and clicked her tongue, like Ruth was a dog. “Come on, girl, come see your area.”

To John’s amazement, his cat actually followed after Mary.

“Her area?” he called, setting his bag down on the floor and following after them. He stopped stock-still in the doorway of a small room next to the bathroom. He hadn’t even known this little room was there. “Your laundry room has air-conditioning,” John said tonelessly.

The fact that she even had a laundry room was mind-boggling to John. But that she paid to keep it cool in the summer? Jeez.

“It’s central air,” Mary replied, on her knees next to Ruth, showing her a shiny new litter box and tall cat castle that Ruth was already getting her claws blissfully stuck to.

John blinked down at the mouse with a jingle bell that Ruth had started batting around.

“You got Ruth a bunch of toys. And a litter box. And a castle.”

Mary looked up at him. “I assumed you were going to bring food for her. But yeah, she needs a little apartment if she’s going to stay here for a few days. I wanted her to be comfortable.”

John knew that Mary was actually saying, I wanted you to be comfortable, John.

He looked down at the small, portable litter box he’d brought, clutched in his hands. He took a deep breath and decided then and there that feeling inadequate was a waste of energy. “You’re the sweetest woman of all time.”