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“I’ve tried my best to block it out, honestly. He was going on and on about Smokeys and ten fours and whatever else. I couldn’t manage to understand the half of it.”

“Huh. Makes me wonder if you could understand animals speaking a foreign language. Like—”

“Stop the car!” I shouted as I spotted the waggy black blur of Paisley rushing down the sidewalk barking at us.

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” I heard her crying as soon as the door opened.

“I’ll park the car and catch up,” Charles called as I jumped out of the car.

“What’s going on, Paisley?” The little dog leapt into my arms and frantically licked my face.

“We found her! We found your grandmama,” the Chihuahua yipped excitedly. “Follow me!”

She leapt from my arms and began sprinting at full tilt. I glanced back to make sure Charles was coming before I started running after the quivering bullet of a dog.

I sprinted after Paisley, thankful for the time Nan had forced me to work out with her friend’s dog Cujo for a time. Of course, the husky had moved at a steady, even clip, unlike the wildly darting mini-dog I was attempting to follow now.

My current canine guide also didn’t seem to worry much about the obstacles I was having trouble getting around, over, and under. The first thing I tripped over was a sprinkler, and it sent me crashing down onto the same lawn that belonged to that grumpy guy we’d met earlier. Why? Just why?

Staggering back to my feet, very little time passed before I crashed headlong into a raspberry bush.

Meanwhile, Paisley remained blissfully unaware of my challenges and of how far I’d fallen behind. The little dog’s legs were almost invisible with her sprinting, hopping gait.

Trying to focus on Paisley meant not paying enough attention to the road ahead of me, and I thumped into a set of garbage cans, then jammed my knee into a fence post.

Maybe we should have followed her in the car. Too late for that now, I guessed.

Off-balance and disoriented, I was overwhelmed when I saw that Paisley was no longer surging forward. She now ran tight circles behind one of the condos.

“Mommy! Mommy!” she yelled. “It’s right here! This is the place!”

And there was my grandmother, sitting at a small patio table with Octo-Cat, who was happily munching on a shrimp cocktail. I stood there, woozily, my mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out. It would so leave the wrong impression if I threw up now.

Octo-Cat looked up at me and yawned before licking the sauce off his paw.

“Angela,” he purred. “This is your grandma Lyn. Lyn, Angela.”

“Hello, Angela,” Lyn said, almost as if she were responding to Octo-Cat. “Sorry for giving you the runaround, dear. I’m… Well, I was afraid you’d be disappointed, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you rejecting me.”

My heart felt like it was breaking for her. She had been just as worried about meeting me as I’d been about meeting her.

But before I could find something to say, she continued.“I was tipped off that you were heading my way when your friend… Um, what was her name again?”

“Sharon,” Octo-Cat replied.

“Ah, Sharon,” Lyn said as if prompted by Octo-Cat. “The reality star that was looking into me wasn’t the subtlest of people. So I knew you were coming here. When I saw you and your fellow sitting out in your car for so long, I knew it just had to be you.”

She poured more iced tea into her glass and added a few more shrimp to Octo-Cat’s cocktail.

“Of course, the moment you got out, I knew for certain. The family genes are extremely strong. You look so much like my sister did when we were growing up. But I’m sure that’s not why you made the trip out here.”

“Of course not,” Octo-Cat said, polishing off another shrimp. “We were here to find out why your husband decided to take your child and make a run for it.”

I winced at Octo-Cat’s bluntness.

“Relax, Angela. I understand how cats can be,” Lyn said, clucking her tongue and shaking her head. “And for the record, you’re right, Octavius. I lost my dear little Laura because her father didn’t believe me when I told him I could talk to animals. Such a shame.”

Whoa.I still hadn’t even said so much as hello, and already my grandmother had told me her big secret.

It was a secret we shared.

Did this mean…? Could I talk to animals because she could? I couldn’t wait to hear more.

16

A few minutes later, Lyn handed me an old photograph and a fresh glass of iced tea. She handed a second glass to Charles, settled back into her chair, and pulled Octo-Cat onto her lap.

I expected him to object, but he simply curled up and began purring.

“That’s your mother,” she said wistfully. “It was the only picture I had of her for so many years until I found her on the news. There’s so much I missed from all of your lives. But I guess I understand. Your grandfather wasn’t a bad man. He was just scared.”

I nodded along. Gosh, I just loved listening to her voice. She could talk forever, and I’d be her willing captive.