I filled the sink with water and left the flowers there. “No vase,” I explained.

Isaac’s lips tugged to one side. “Of course. Do you want me to get one from my place?”

A knock at the door answered the question.

“No, that’s the food. I’ll buy one tomorrow.” I smiled and scooted past him to the door. I opened it, grabbed the food, and pulled some money from the bowl on the side table to tip him. Once he’d left, I closed the door and took the pizza through to the living room where Isaac was pouring the wine.

I put all the food down on the coffee table and sat on the edge of the sofa.

Isaac surveyed all the boxes. “Are we expecting anyone else?”

I frowned. “No. Why?”

“You ordered half the pizza place, Hannah.”

“I didn’t know what to order.” I shrugged and reached forward, opening each box. “So I went for a little of everything. Oh, wait! I have paper plates in the cupboard!”

I got up and ran to the kitchen, retrieving two paper plates and some napkins. He smirked at me when I sat down.

“Why not just get normal plates?”

“Because,” I said, handing him a plate and some napkins. “There’s a bunch of flowers in my sink where I would wash the normal plates. I can just throw these out.”

He took the plate with a roll of his eyes. “All right. You win there.”

“I know.” I flashed him a grin and pulled a slice of pizza out of the box. I took a bite off the end and popped it on my plate while he laughed at me. “Who is Snuffles, by the way?”

CHAPTER NINE – HANNAH

Hannah and Isaac Sitting In A Tree

“Snuffles?” Isaac laughed, holding onto his slice. “That’ll be Mrs. Keighley’s hamster.”

“Her hamster?”

He shrugged, chewing. When his mouth was empty, he said, “Yep. She has this tiny little Russian dwarf hamster. She’s smaller than my palm and is constantly escaping her cage, and she’s extra paranoid about her eating something she shouldn’t.”

I licked pizza sauce from my thumb. “That sounds like a lot of hard work.”

“It’s a lot of money for her,” he agreed. “She’s always bringing her in to be checked over.”

“What’s she gonna do when it dies? Don’t they live for like two weeks?”

“About a year.” His eyes flashed with laughter. “This is actually Snuffles three-point-oh.”

“Three-point-oh?”

“Snuffles the Third,” he confirmed. “When one dies, she goes and buys another one and just calls it Snuffles. Her hamsters always seem to stop eating before they die, so I imagine we’ll see Snuffles the Fourth before long.”

“Isn’t that a little strange?” I tilted my head to the side, pinching a potato wedge.

“I think she likes it that way. She’s accustomed to her hamsters, and for the most part, they don’t require a ton of care the way a cat or dog would. As long as she cleans it and feeds it every day, that’s really it. She’s not getting any younger, and I think she likes the company.”