Her sister hadn’t stopped talking about the cat in three days. Olivia racked her brain, trying to remember when the cat had come in. She’d learned so many animal stories at once that they were blending together. She was fairly certain the cat had come in Saturday morning after spending Friday night at the gas-station attendant’s house. If so, there was a chance the cat had just been cleared today and hadn’t been picked up or transferred anywhere.

“You’ve had enough time to think it over. If you really want the cat, then you should have the cat. Just keep in mind, as much as I’ve been enjoying our sleepovers this week, staying at Aunt Becky’s long-term won’t work with a cat. Or dog for that matter. Has she shared any of how Coco was almost featherless when she took her from that family? They had both dogs and a cat, and from what Aunt Becky says, the poor thing was traumatized.”

“Believe me, I’ll lose it if I stay there much more than another week. But I can’t see why you couldn’t give a dog or cat a try. I’m sure the bird would learn to cope with it.”

“I’d love to adopt a dog—the pointer, actually—but I know not to push my luck. If Coco so much as sees a dog or cat through the living room window, she goes berserk. And Aunt Becky loves that bird. Coco’s in her will, you know. She’s good with the dog staying overnight tonight, as long as he’s only in my room.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how you’ve made it there for the last three-something months. Aunt Becky can be such a head case. Just like Dad.”

Anger flared, fresh and ripe. “Dad is not a head case. And neither is Aunt Becky. She’s just happy with her solitary life…with her cursing cockatoo.”

Ava snorted. “Yeah, well, how do you explain Dad?”

It always came down to this between her and Ava. Irreconcilable differences about their family.

“Why do you have to be so hard on him, Ava? Just because he’s not as driven as you doesn’t make him a bad person.”

“I didn’t say he was a bad person. I said he was a head case. A dreamer, if it makes you feel better. You know what Mom told me? He hasn’t managed to bring in more than a four-digit income since the midnineties when he was working at the feed store. No wonder why Mom resorted to scams like that honey fraud to make ends meet.”