"No way!"

James just laughed. "Why would I lie to you? How would I?"

I pretended to be taken aback. "Because you're a stalker?"

Annemarie widened her eyes to play along too. She hasn't said a word all evening, but she seemed to genuinely be enjoying herself.

James shrugged dramatically and said, "You caught me. What can I do except kill you now?"

"But no seriously. I can't believe your mom is the Linda Crowe. She's my role model. I want to take her job when she retires."

"My mom wishes I was half as earnest as you, but I just don't see myself in tax or management, you know? I want to do computer science! But none of the EYC locations even have a proper IT department. Not that they would let me hide in the server room anyways."

"Oh yeah we outsource it, huh?" I frowned. "Wait but why is your mom so adamant on you working at EYC?"

James raised his eyebrows at me from across the dinner table as he grabbed more naan. "Claira, you work there. You know how conservative everyone is. That kind of culture starts at the top. It's been like that for generations."

"That's stupid," Anne said under her breath.

I nodded in agreement then said, "What about your siblings?"

James sighed. "I'm the oldest, so you know. Gotta continue the family name and all. We should go to work together tomorrow, what do you say?"

"You're actually going tomorrow? And here I was thinking you'd skip."

"You think so highly of me, Claira."

"What can I say? You made an astonishing impression on me--what with the cat-dog debate?"

Anne gasped. "Don't tell me he's a dog person?" She whispered conspiratorially.

I sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"Okay hold up. I never said cats were bad though. I simply prefer dogs," James said, standing up to put his plate in the sink.

I stood up, too, stacking the empty plates as I went and bringing them to the kitchen. "You should come over and meet our cats. I'm sure you'll change your mind."

"I'm sure they're cute, but I'm going to adopt the cutest dog you've ever met and change your mind."

Anne looked up from her phone. "You're looking to adopt?"

"I am, and your sister told me you just started helping out at the shelter today. Tell me, are the dogs there worth adopting?" James grinned.

"Definitely."

"You'll have to show me around sometime, Annemarie."

After we loaded the dishwasher, Anne and I said our goodnights and went home. Merlin and Morgie were chasing each other around when we stepped inside, their tiny feet thundering in the dark until one of them ran into a door with a slam.

Anne laughed as she climbed up the stairs. "How can he think cats aren't the best?"