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“You couldn’t be a terrible dad if you tried. And neither am I going to be a terrible mom. Are we going to make mistakes? Sure. But we’re going to learn from them, and be the best parents we can be. Same way we’re trying to be the best people we can be. Because that’s who we are.”

“Mh.” He didn’t look convinced. “If only my dad were still alive. He would have loved to be a grandad.”

“I’m sure he’s looking down on us from up there, knowing you’re doing a good job and being proud of you, babe.”

Chase let out a deep sigh, and folded his arms behind his head.“It’s tough having to be positive all the time. And not just on my facial muscles.”

“You just be you,” she suggested. “And I’ll be me, and we’ll both figure it out as we go along. How is that for advice?”

“Very wise,” he said, and planted a grateful kiss on her cheek. “Just like you.”

“And besides, my dad wasn’t exactly Mr. Positivity. If I remember correctly, he could be grumpy from time to time, especially when things didn’t work out at the office, or when Gran was being, well, Gran. And somehow I still ended up being a normal person and not an ax murderer, right?”

“Right,” he said with a grin. “I can definitely confirm you’re not an ax murderer.”

And on that positive note, she switched off her bedside light, and they turned in for the night.

CHAPTER 18

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Once our humans had finally gone to sleep—which took them long enough, I have to say—and they had extinguished the light, it was time for Dooley and myself to head on out for that most important time: cat choir time!

We had a lot to talk about, with our adventures at the office, and Harriet’s spot, which turned out not to be as life-threatening as she had thought, and I think we were all eager to relate our experience to our friends.

“Are you sure you should walk all the way to the park, Harriet?” asked Dooley. “Your paws are going to get dirty, and you have to keep them clean for your shoot.”

Harriet gave Dooley a sideways glance, to ascertain if he wasn’t pulling her tail. She should have known better. Dooley doesn’t have a single ounce of cynicism in him, or sarcasm, and was genuinely concerned about Harriet’s appearance.

“I can lick my paws clean, thank you very much,” she said. “And besides, that shoot is still days away, so I can afford to get a little dirty. Gran told me the people that run the shoot have an entire team ready and waiting to spruce me right up.”

“Oh, just like with movie stars, you mean?” asked Dooley.

“Exactly like with movie stars!” said Harriet, her excitement increasing with leaps and bounds now that she was talking about her favorite subject: herself. “They’re going to primp me to within an inch of my life before they’re through.” She sighed happily. “I’m going to look the very best I’ve ever looked. And that’s even before they apply all of that Photoshop stuff to the final results. This cover is going to be one for the books. One to save for posterity. Something to treasure.”

It was nice to see her happy again, after the cancer scare she’d had, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this shoot would actually happen. After having taken a peek at the inner workings of Advantage Publishing—a look behind the curtain, so to speak—they seemed to be a company facing a multitude of problems. Such as there were: a publicist quitting herjob, a fashion editor being fired for harassing his models, a former supermodel suing the company and its CEO for ruining her face, and an assistant embroiled in a scandal over some old tweets.

And then there was the mysterious fight with Mrs. Madison, and the general image I got from Mr. Madison was that of a man under extreme duress.

Would Advantage Publishing still exist by the time Harriet’s shoot was supposed to happen? Was the captain of the ship capable of righting his boat? Or was Advantage going under, mired in scandal? Or was this just par for the course? Just another day at the office?

One wondered how Michael Madison slept at night, with so much going on.

“So how was your day?” asked Brutus finally, when Harriet had finished extolling the virtues of herself.

“Oh, so so,” I said.

“Gran is trying to match a shy editor with a sad secretary,” Dooley explained. “The sad secretary is pregnant with her boss’s baby, who dumped her when he found out she was pregnant, and told her to get an abortion. And when the shy editor asked her out on a date, she turned him down, so now he’s sad, too.”

“What a fascinating life you lead,” said Harriet, a touch of mockery in her voice. She does do cynicism, and sarcasm, too, and does it well. “Full of excitement and stuff.”

“It was an exciting day,” Dooley confirmed, not picking up on the mockery. “Especially when Scarlett tried to teach the shy editor how to seduce a woman, and he got even more shy and all red in the face. And then there’s all the scandals.”

“Scandals? What scandals?” asked Harriet, her interest piqued. She does love a good scandal.