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“You’re young—you don’t understand. Wait till you’re my age. Five hours makes a big difference.”

“And these must be your lovely cats,” said Tessa, eyeing me with affection.

“Yup. These are my babies,” said Odelia.

“Odelia has always been a cat lover,” Tessa explained for the sake of Dante. “Even when we were little she would take in strays and feed them behind her mom’s back.”

“That’s me,” said Odelia. “The stray cat lady.”

“We better take them in,” said Gran. “We don’t want them to catch a cold.”

I had to admit it was a little chilly in England, or at least a lot chillier than over in the States. Then again, this was an island, and aren’t islands usually colder than the mainland? Clearly I was ill-prepared for this trip. I should have studied that travel guide more closely!

Everyone filed into the cottage and then… promptly forgot all about us!

“Um… can someone please get us out of these damn boxes!” Brutus yelled.

The car had left, and the cottage door had closed, but we were still out there.

“They forgot about us,” said Harriet, summing up the situation nicely. “Can you believe that?”

“I can believe it,” said Dooley, “because I’m living it.”

“I have to tinkle,” I announced.

“Tinkle in your box,” Brutus suggested.

“I want to tinkle in my litter box.”

“Newsflash, Maxie, baby. They didn’t bring our litter boxes.”

“What do you mean they didn’t bring them? I need my litter box.”

‘They probably want us to tinkle in the bushes,” said Dooley, glancing around. Darkness had fallen and the sounds of the night pierced the silence.

Owls were hooting, twigs were snapping, and critters were scurrying.

Just then, the front door opened and a strange-looking creature shuffled out in our direction. He looked like a dog, but I wasn’t sure he was a dog. He had one of those weird faces, with the snaggleteeth and the flaps of superfluous flesh dangling all over the place. Almost as if he used to have a face at one time but it had gotten scrambled up in a cement mixer somehow.

“So you’re the cats, huh?” said this strange creature.

“That’s right,” I said. “And what are you?”

“I’m Fluffy,” the creature said gruffly.

“What are you exactly, Fluffy?” asked Harriet with a look of distaste.

“I’m a dog, of course. What did you think I was?”

“Oh, I’m not sure,” she said. “Celebrities keep all kinds of weird pets these days.”

The creature laughed loudly, indicating it possessed a sense of humor.“You’re funny, cat!” Then the laughter stopped, and the face was wreathed in a mournful expression. “People have called me ugly. Do you think I’m ugly?”

“Of course not,” I said. “You’re just… special.”

“If you have to know, I’m an English bulldog.”

“Of course you are,” I said.

“Could you do us a favor, Fluffy?” Harriet asked. “Could you go and fetch your master and tell her to get us out of these boxes and into the house?”

“Oh, sure,” Fluffy said, and instantly turned on his heel—or was it her heel?—and returned indoors. There was loud barking, and moments later Odelia came hurrying out.

“I’m so sorry, you guys!” she said. “I must have fallen asleep.”

“Lamest excuse ever,” Brutus growled.

“I know, right? I thought I closed my eyes for only a second but it must have been minutes. Must be that dreadful jet lag.” She quickly opened the snaps on our boxes and finally we were free again!

“I have to tinkle,” I announced. “Please point me to my litter box.”

“You’ll find everything you need inside,” she said with a smile and a pat on my head. “Tessa has made arrangements for you guys and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

We followed her in and then into a room off the kitchen, and the moment I set paw inside I saw she hadn’t lied: four litter boxes stood lined up against one wall, with a row of bowls against the other, and the scent wafting in from those big bowls told me this vacation may not have gotten off to a good start, but from here on out it was only going to get better and better. And better.

Chapter 9

Odelia was impressed with the cottage. When she’d heard the word cottage it had brought to mind something cute and small and romantic, but maybe also a little musty. The first image the word had elicited was the cottage Kate Winslet lived in—and Cameron Diaz moved into—inThe Holiday, still one of her favorite holiday movies. But Tessa and Dante’s home wasn’t so much a cottage but a big house. There were several very spacious bedrooms, a large living space with open kitchen and a large office. The whole thing had been recently renovated, and looked more like an upscale hotel than an old cottage.

It was all very nicely done. The room she and Chase had at their disposal had a luxurious ensuite bathroom, and was itself the size of a small apartment.

Tessa explained that the cottage used to be four different units, where four different people lived. Now it had been converted back into a single-family home with space for guests and family to come and stay when they wanted to.