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“Stay here and call me on FaceTime if she comes back before we do,” I instructed Octo-Cat, who agreed without too much pressure. Hmm. Maybe he felt guilty about driving up Pringle’s payment by sharing what I’d agreed to give him—or maybe he just wanted to avoid the car trip.

Charles placed my phone into the clip on his dashboard and studied the map for a moment before starting up his engine.“She’s got close to a half-hour lead on us, and she’s still driving. “Wherever she went, it’s pretty far.”

I leaned closer to the dash to study the map.“She’s almost made it to Pineville. That’s all the way at the other end of the bay. Maybe she really is running away in a desperate ploy to keep the kittens.”

We turned onto the main road and began the trek toward Pineville.

Charles took a pack of gum from the cupholder and offered me a piece before taking one for himself.“Why would she run away? I mean she has to know she’d eventually need to come back. Right?”

“To bribe me, maybe?” I sat back in my seat and watched the trees pass by my window.

My mean old boyfriend laughed at me.“Man, you’re just letting everyone manipulate you today.”

“Don’t get used to it, and don’t try anything,” I warned in a growl.

He laughed again and turned on the car’s radio. An upbeat pop song danced forth from the speakers, and we sang along in a horrible, notalent duet. It gave us a nice break from all the kitten, cat, raccoon drama back home.

“Look!” I cried, just as we’d finished our third sing-along. “She’s stopping!” I unclipped the phone and zoomed in on the map. “A Donut A Day?” I read the address label aloud. “Why would she drive so far just for some donuts?”

“Maybe A Donut A Day is to donuts as the Little Dog Diner is to lobster rolls. Worth the long drive.”

My stomach growled at the thought of fresh cinnamon donuts straight from the oven. But no, this still didn’t make sense even if it seemed delicious.

I returned the app to navigation mode and clipped it back into the holder.“She prefers to bake her own desserts, though, and she’s never once mentioned this place to me.”

“I’m sure it was just an oversight. Your nan always has a million things going on. It can be hard to keep track.”

“Are you saying she told me and I forgot?” I grumped. “Oh, look! She’s moving again!”

Nan’s dot carried on for a few miles, then stopped again about five minutes later. I zoomed in but couldn’t see any nearby businesses. It seemed Nan had chosen a residential area as her destination.

This time she stayed put until Charles and I were able to catch up.

Charles parked beside the curb behind Nan’s gleaming red Audi. “I feel kind of out of place here,” he mumbled as we both surveyed the neighborhood. Everything was well-kept but tiny—a far cry from my palatial manor home back in Glendale.

We emerged from his luxury sedan while a rusted-up beater rumbled down the road ahead of us.

“Who does Nan know here?” he asked as we watched the other car disappear around the block.

“I have no idea.”

“Well, let’s go find out.”

We held hands as we walked up to the nearest house and pressed the doorbell. An exuberant cacophony of barks greeted us almost instantly—one clearly belonged to our Paisley, but the other was that of a much larger dog. Could this be the same Great Dane she’d bested in wrestling earlier that day?

It was Nan who opened the door. If she was surprised to see us there, she didn’t show it.

“You might as well c’mon in,” she said while a massive furry dog strained to push past her.

“Jasper, get back!” another voice called from inside the house, a much younger voice.

A woman about my age appeared and put the dog in a sit-stay.“Sorry,” she said with an apologetic grin. “We’re still working on Jasper’s doorbell manners. Anyway… You must be Angie.”

Who was this girl? And how did she know me?

“Mommy!” Paisley ran over the moment I stepped through the door and danced on her hindlegs. “Pick me up! Pick me up!”

I did as instructed, still confused out of my mind.

“Sorry. My name’s Sunny. I should have started with that,” the young woman said, letting go of her dog then wiping her hand off on her pantleg before offering it to me in greeting.

I let go of Charles’s hand to accept it.

“Your grandma is friends with my neighbor who’s kind of like a grandma to me and—”

“Just call me Nan, dear,” Nan interjected while fussing with her hair in the hallway mirror. “Everyone else does.”

“This is Charles,” I said, reclaiming Charles’s hand, so thankful we were in this together. “And you’re right, I am Angie. Angie Russo. Um, are the kittens here by any chance?”

“Oh, yes! I was just picking out which one I wanted. It’s so hard. They’re all adorable!” she gushed.

I glanced toward Nan for an explanation.

She just shrugged.“I called my old friend Tilly to see if she knew anyone in need of a kitten, and she put me on to Sunny here.”

As the girl nodded, a strand of dark hair shook loose from her messy braid.“Jasper needs a friend, but I’m afraid our place isn’t quite big enough for a second dog.”