The Sauna Part 209

I burst into sobs the moment I walked into the house. I knew it was stupid, but I couldn’t help myself. Eddie hopped on my lap the moment I sat down at the kitchen table and I stroked his soft little cheeks as he looked at me with eyes as wide as saucers. Zeke rubbed my leg and cried sympathetically.

“You guys are the reason I’m sitting here all alone, you know” I complained and Eddie nuzzled my face. “It’s a good thing I love you boys” I reminded them.

I made a cup of tea to settle my nerves and began packing my things for Colorado. The sooner I got there, the sooner I could start looking for a cat sitter and the change of scenery would do me some good. I only packed a few things for the cats as I planned to go shopping once I was there and buy them some new supplies as it would be hard to manage so much on a commercial flight. Four cats alone would be quite enough.

I decided to call Cherie and see if she might like to take a few days off work and come join me and see the new house. We always had made it a point to get together for my birthday and hers and this would be the first year I wouldn’t get to see her unless we did it early. She jumped at the idea and said she’d be glad to get away from Dave for a few days as things weren’t so good lately and she told me her news. She and Dave were talking about separating and she was finally at the point where she was thinking about calling it quits too.

“You’ll never guess who else broke up!” Cherie taunted, tickled to be able to share some local gossip.

“I have no idea, Cher. I’m still reeling about you and Dave” I admitted, feeling totally out of the loop now.

“Jim and Missy! I guess he got tired of waiting around for Missy to finally put out!” she giggled.

“Wow! When did that happen?” I asked, shocked that Jim finally saw the light.

“Just before Christmas. Jim stopped over here to drop off some gifts and told me he’d finally had it and he called her a prude! Can you stand it?” Cherie continued. “And he’s looking for work now too as the place he was at closed down.”

“Hey, do you think he’d wanna take a temporary job with me? I need a cat sitter for a few weeks while Jon is on tour” I suggested facetiously.

“Hey, couldn’t hurt to ask. He’s not doing anything right now-maybe he could drive out with me” Cherie said.

“I was just kidding, Cherie. I’m sure he’s looking for something more permanent” I explained.

“Yeah, eventually, but if I know Jim, he’d be up for a trip and you know how I hate to fly anyway. We could split the driving. How about it? Should I call him?” she asked excitedly.

“No, I’m sure he doesn’t want to drive all the way out to Colorado for a baby-sitting gig” I laughed.

“C’mon. It can’t hurt to ask” she pushed.

“Sure, Cher, go ahead. What the hell” I conceded, knowing he wasn’t likely to agree.

I continued to pack the things I wanted to take with me to Colorado and eventually to Europe when I joined Jon. The cats watched me anxiously as I zipped up the suitcases and sat down on the bed with a sigh. Eddie jumped in my lap and kissed me in the way that cats do and Floyd plopped himself down squarely on top of the suitcase.

“Don’t worry, buddy, we’re all going this time” I laughed as he blinked at me.

The phone rang and I answered. It was Jon calling from somewhere over the Atlantic.

“Hey, baby, I miss you” he purred and I felt my pulse quicken at the sound of his voice.

“It’s only been a few hours, but I missed you the moment you left” I confessed.

“And how about the boys? Are they grieving my absence or glad to have mom all to themselves?” he chuckled.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that the loss has exactly sunk in yet” I laughed back as I rubbed Zeke’s belly which he was proudly displaying at the moment.

“Richie wants to say something too” he added as he handed him the phone.

“Hey Trish, how’s my Zekey boy doin’?” he cackled and I could hear Jon groaning in the background.

“He’s plaguing me for attention now that you’re gone. Here-listen” I giggled as I held the phone next to the purring cat.

“Hey buddy” I heard Richie coo and I swore Zeke rubbed the phone in response.

“Trish, I just wanted to tell you how much we all admired the book you made for Jon. He’s had it out and showed it to everyone already. Any chance you could do one of me and Ava if I sent you some pictures?” he asked.

“Sure! I’d love to do that! You take terrific shots, Richie. Some of those pictures you took of me and Jon when we weren’t looking were fantastic” I said.

“Yeah, well, you’re easy on the eyes, Trish. I’ll send the pics from my laptop once we get settled and I can get a connection. Here’s Jon” he replied.

“The guys all say hello, babe. Let me know if you can get that cat sitter and we’ll make arrangements for you to come over sooner” Jon said wistfully.

“I’m working on it” I assured him.

We chatted a bit more and finally said goodbye until later. No sooner had I hung up with Jon when the phone rang again. It was Cherie.

“Jim’s game for the trip! Tell me when you want us in Colorado!” she said excitedly.

“You’re kidding, right?” I replied in disbelief.

“Nope, he’s looking forward to getting away too and he’ll be available as long as you need him to watch the boys” Cherie answered.

We discussed the details and I gave her the address in Colorado and Jim would map out the route for the trip. It would take them about three days to get there by car and Cherie was anxious to leave, so we planned for them to arrive on Monday. That gave me the weekend to get ready and get the cats settled. I decided to wait until all the arrangements were firm before I shared the good news with Jon.

I made a few phone calls and talked with Jon’s lawyer about the Foundation and I contacted the website designer I’d chosen to start working on planning the new set up for Backstage. I wasn’t planning to overhaul the Fan Club immediately, but I wanted to be ready when the time came. He would be sending me tentative plans in about a month as there was no immediate hurry.

I made myself a light dinner as I didn’t have much of an appetite now that Jon was gone. I decided to watch a movie and snuggle up with the cats and call it an early night as the plane was leaving tomorrow at six a.m. All I could get was a red eye, but at least I’d get in while the day was still young.

I called Jon again to wish him good night before he went out with the guys to soak up some local color. They had a number of haunts that they visited when they were in the U.K. and Richie was chomping at the bit to get going. The time change would take a little getting used to and I had to remember that there was a five hour difference.

“Sweet dreams, darlin’. I know what I’ll be dreaming of” Jon drawled suggestively before he proceeded to describe his visions for me in vivid detail.

“And you expect me to go to sleep now after that?” I giggled before we hung up, knowing it was going to be a long, restless night after that phone call.