“She has a husband!”

“He still works,” Isaac replied. “She’s alone most of the day. It’s why she’s always in her garden. I think her hamsters give her companionship when her husband is called away.”

“I guess I never thought of it like that.”

“But to answer your question, yes. It’s a little strange.”

I fought a smile and looked down at the pizza slice on my plate. It was weirdly comfortable being here with Isaac, even as the conversation wound down and we both ate. Lucifer got up and left at one point, clearly unhappy that no pepperoni was forthcoming from the pizza.

“How is he doing?” Isaac asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Is the medicine working?”

I nodded, patting the corner of my lips with a napkin. “He’s still a little snuffy and there are snot marks all over my kitchen wall where his bed is, but he’s back to normal and playing with my socks every ten minutes.”

“Sounds about right for a kitten. Has he bitten your toes yet?”

“We’re not here to discuss the kitten, are we?”

“No, but I was just trying to keep you talking.” He grinned and leaned back on the sofa, running his fingers through his hair.

“I’ll talk.” I sat back and tucked my feet to one side. “What made you decide to become a vet?”

“Wow. We’re going there, huh?”

“You’re the one who decided this was a date tonight. This is what I want to know on a first date.”

He inclined his head in my direction. “Fair enough. I guess I decided to be a vet when I was about ten. My grandparents owned a farm in southwest England and when we were there one summer, their dog fell ill. The vet could never figure it out, and the dog died. They did an autopsy to determine the cause of death and it turned out one of the workers Grandpa had hired for the summer hadn’t closed the barn door properly and she’d gotten into some of the poison that was put down for rats.”

“Oh, no.”

He nodded solemnly. “The vet should have realized she was poisoned and moved to help her throw it up. My grandparents were devastated, and I told my grandma then that I was going to become a vet to make sure that didn’t happen to any other dogs.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Also somewhat misguided.” He smiled wryly. “I almost went into human medicine, but then my grandma was diagnosed with cancer and I knew I had to keep my promise to her. She died two weeks after I qualified.”

“I’m sorry. I bet she was happy to see you qualify though.”

“She really was. I really do love animals, so it’s not like it was a hard decision to follow this path.”

I propped my head up on my hand. “What’s your favorite animal?”

“That I see in the clinic?”

“No, the ones we’re waiting on the aliens to drop off.”