"Dylan."
All of a sudden, Kendall called out Dylan's name with her most tender voice and stared at him with her provocative doe eyes, intending to melt his heart.
"What?"
"Is it alright if we have two cats and a dog?"
"We have a lot of dogs at home."
"I'm not talking about wolf dogs here. I'm talking about pets! The wolf dogs in our house are way too ferocious and not cute at all. Let's keep a cute puppy and two cats! Now that you have so much free time, picture yourself lounging under the sun while petting a couple of cute kittens and enjoying the beautiful garden. Isn't that wonderful?"
"I'll just keep you instead," Dylan mumbled.
Kendall was stunned when she heard his words.
Is he trying to be romantic? How cute!
However, she did still want to keep two pet cats.
"Don’t keep furry pets."
Kendall pouted before saying, "Alright, if you say so."
His house was immaculate, which could be contributed by his mysophobia nature. Previously, her request to keep some pets was also rejected by him.
Dylan later inquired whether she would want to keep hamsters instead. But she wants a cat, dude!
Seeing how she was unhappy with his insistence, he pursed his lips and compromised, "I will allow it if you can promise that they won't shed."
"How can they not shed, Dylan? You can't even promise that you won't shed a piece of your own hair." She continued to mutter, "I lose a few strands of hairs as well when I comb my hair every day."
"Well, forget I ever said that. When I get them, I'll keep them at my mother's house and I'll visit whenever I'm free." With that, Kendall stood up and walked away.
Dylan did not stop her as he simply watched her leave the gazebo.
As she was filled with rage, she walked out of the gazebo but the breeze cooled off her anger. She decided to just hang out around the neighborhood by herself. After wandering around, she came across the main house.
At this moment, she spotted her sister-in-law coming out of the main house. Alice was holding a ragdoll and behind her were two pet dogs following. Kendall thought they were cute regardless if they were cats or dogs.
After her plea of keeping pets was rejected, she became envious of Alice's pets.
"Kendall," Alice called out her name with a grin. "Aren't you supposed to be with Dylan for lunch?"
"He doesn’t need me there."
Kendall responded casually and then approached Alice. "Your cat is so adorable, Miss Alice," she commented as she looked at the cat Alice was holding.
"I've had it for a few years. I have a designated place for my pets where there are cats and dogs. Would you like to come with me for a look?" Alice was pleased to have someone to talk about pets with. She wanted to take Kendall to see her pets and her request sounded like she was offering gold.
"Sure." Kendall was on cloud nine.
"Let's go, Tiggy and Jiggy!" Alice summoned her two pet dogs. Although their fur was snowy white, one of the dogs was smaller. It was no surprise she gave them the names 'Tiggy' and 'Jiggy' to distinguish them.
Kendall thought that the place where Alice kept her pets was in the main house; however, she did not expect Alice to take her all the way to the west and they arrived in a yard after a long trek. The yard was no different from the Coleman Mansion—it had a home encircled by a low wall.
The yard also appeared serene due to the presence of flowers and plants.
She had been in the Coleman Mansion for so long and Amos had shown her around before, yet she did not expect that there was still so much more of the place! When she saw a small courtyard in the west, she realized she had not been to many other locations.
The Coleman Family's mansion is massive!
As they arrived at the yard, it was easy to tell at first glance that this was a pet house, judging from the plate that read 'Pet Palace' hanging on the gate.
"Kendall, this is a place specially for my pets. Dylan hates hairy animals and our pets are all furry. Therefore, in order to prevent him from trampling them to death, I can only let my pets live far away and rely on someone else to take care of them. I come over whenever I get the chance."
The Pet Palace was a long distance away from Dylan's house, therefore, the pets could be frequently found roaming around the yard. Even if they left the Pet Palace, they would merely walk about the neighborhood instead of running to his place.
"Miss Alice, you are very blessed!" Kendall exhaled a sigh.
A place just for her pets.
The Colemans' financial abilities had opened Kendall's eyes of what true wealth really meant. In comparison to the Coleman Family, her family could only be described as a middle-class family, not rich.
"Kendall, just call me Alice. Since we get along great, from now on, we are friends." Alice smiled warmly as she spoke to Kendall while leading her into the Pet Palace.
Kendall adored her and could very well become her sister-in-law in the future, so she was delighted to get close to Kendall.
"Miss, you're here." When the workers who took care of Alice's pets heard noises outside, they came right out of the house to greet her with a smile.
Alice told the worker, "This is Ms. Parker. She also likes pets, so I'll take her to see mine."
Kendall was greeted with a smile by the worker as well before leaving and allowing Alice to show her around the yard.
She discovered that Alice really adored cats and dogs. There were several pets of various breeds; other than cats and dogs, there were more than a dozen parrots and a row of bird cages hanging from a huge tree. When the parrots spotted Alice approaching, they became quite thrilled.
"You're here, Miss."
"I'm missing you, Miss."
"I love you like a love song, baby."
These parrots sound like they were theater-trained! Kendall chuckled as they spoke one after the other in a lively tone.
"Who taught them to speak, Alice? They can even recite pop lyrics!" She walked over and teased those parrots.
Alice smiled and explained, "Some are taught by me, but many are taught by the workers."
There was not only one worker but ten of them! She was concerned that the cats and dogs might fight. Furthermore, some pets liked to tear down their homes. Therefore, it was necessary for this many people to oversee the 'zoo'.
"The more I look at them, the more I want to have a pet."
A fluffy pet dog came running over as it was very friendly and not scared of humans. The pet dog rubbed its face against Kendall's leg, making her bend down to carry it.
"I suggest you give it up since Dylan hates these tiny pets. If you bring a dog back, he might crush it to death right in front of you almost instantly. I'm not brave enough to witness such a horrific scene. You probably don’t want to see it too, do you?"
"But, Kendall, if you're so fond of them, you can visit anytime to feed and talk to them. Once you've become acquainted with them, they will play with you."
Her eyes twinkled as she heard that. "Can I come over at any time?"
Alice smiled and answered, "Of course you can. I'll inform the workers later. You are welcome to visit anytime in the future."
"Then, I'll come over and feed them when I'm free." Kendall was ecstatic.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....