Finally, Anja glanced away. Her gaze went to the French doors, and her eyes lit up.

Susanne turned to see what had caught her attention.

Muesli was on the other side of the glass, crouching down like a sprinter in the starting block, waiting for the signal to launch himself forward. “Meow!”

“Ooh! You have a cat? Didn’t you say you don’t have any pets?”

Susanne groaned. “I don’t. He’s the neighbor’s cat.”

Tap-tap-tap-tap. Muesli did his best drummer imitation and let out another piercing meow.

A wrinkle formed between Anja’s brows. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. That’s just the usual dramatics he pulls when he wants me to let him in.”

“Can we? Let him in, I mean. I’d love to meet him. He looks so cute with that stripe across his nose.” Anja tilted her head and looked up at Susanne, her big, brown eyes hopeful.

Faced with that kind of look, Susanne didn’t have it in her to say no. When the hell had she become such a pushover? “Just for a minute. You can say hi while I go get changed and get rid of that confetti.” And maybe use the couple of minutes alone to find her backbone where Anja was concerned.

At the door, she glanced back.

Anja hadn’t wasted any time. She had already opened the French door and knelt on the hardwood floor, letting the cat sniff her fingers.

When Susanne returned a few minutes later, now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, the French door was closed. For a second, she breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Anja had put the cat back out without her having to be the bad guy.

But then she walked farther into the living room and found her in the recliner.

Muesli was snuggled up to her, lying more on her chest than her lap. His purring was so loud that Susanne wondered how she could have missed it, and it became even louder as he rubbed his head all over Anja’s chest.

Lucky cat.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but as she plopped down on the couch, she thought the cat gave her an I-win-you-lose grin.

Susanne glared at him but didn’t have the heart to pluck the cat off Anja’s lap and kick him out. She would give them a few minutes before she did that.

Anja looked over at her with a blissful smile. She scratched Muesli beneath his chin, making him stretch his neck so she could get to every spot. “God, I really miss this, and I didn’t even know how much until he hopped up on my lap. When I was growing up, we always had at least one cat, but now I haven’t had one in years.”