31. Nadia
31
NADIA
T his is torture.
I lie on my bed, letting the kittens crawl all over me.
The cats aren’t torture. I fall more in love with them every day.
But being here. In my childhood bed. No job. No friends. Nothing to do but watch fur grow.
I shift to my side. “This was a bad idea,” I tell Ferris, who bops me on the nose for my negativity. His tiny claws scrape my skin. I tap his head. “Be nice.”
Mama Cat hears my tone and leaps onto the bed. She picks Ferris up by his scruffy white neck and jumps back down. Now that the kittens are getting more adventurous, she’s been aggressive at keeping them in line.
“Thanks, MC,” I tell her.
She plops Ferris next to Cattarina, who puts a meaty paw on the kitten’s back, as if to say, “Don’t do that again.”
There’s a knock at the door, louder and faster than Mom or Dad. My heart leaps for a moment, imagining Dalton is here, but that’s dashed when my brother Axel’s voice comes through. “Hey sis, you okay?”
“Yeah, watch for cats on the way in.” I sometimes let the kittens have the run of the house, but this morning I didn’t feel like chasing them down.
Axel opens the door, his shock of sandy brown hair appearing first. He watches the floor as he enters. “Got an attempted jailbreak,” he says, scooping up the black body of Doppelg?nger.
“Normally it’s Ferris who makes the escape,” I say. “But he’s in time out.” I wave over to the cat bed in the corner, where Cattarina holds vigil over Mr. Mewler, who is a fuzzy white blob at her massive feet.
He takes in the room. “Mom said you had six cats.” He sits on the edge of the bed. He looks the same as always, mop of hair, scruffy beard, hiking boots and workout clothes. He’s always tan from his daily mountain treks. He’s known far and wide for hiking naked, although he bought an entire mountainside of property to make sure nobody encounters him.
You’d never know from looking at him that he has a net worth of half a billion from selling a hiking app before he even graduated college.
He might be my favorite brother, but don’t tell Rhett and Court. They’re salty enough as it is.
“You here to see Mom or what?” I ask. Axel and I have texted back and forth a few times since I returned, but he didn’t say he was coming over today.
“Nah, they’re not even home.” Doppelg?nger creeps over the bed as if he’s stalking Axel and is ready to pounce. Axel notices him. “You’re fierce.”
Doppy lets loose with a spring into the air, attaching himself to Axel’s back.
I lean over and pull him off. “DopBeBop, we need to get you some toys.”
“I can take you shopping, since you’re unemployed.”
“Send me a personal pet shopper. You can afford it.”
He runs the back of his hands along his jaw. “I can. But the fun is in the discovery.”
I swing my legs off the bed. “All right. Let’s go.”
He takes me in. “The sister I remember would never be caught dead in downtown Boulder in gray sweats and a messy bun. I like this new you.”
My hands fly to my hair. I haven’t gotten properly dressed or done any hair or makeup since I arrived. “I’m living up to my underachievement.”
Axel’s face twists into a frown. “You’re the smartest of the bunch. Did this move from LA do a number on you? I heard you had a roommate. A boy roommate.” He lightly punches my arm.
Doppy drops into another crouch, ready to pounce on Axel again.
“You get him, Dop,” I tell the kitten. “Use all your black cat magic because he’s asking questions that are none of his business.”
Doppelg?nger tightens his stance, shifting his little paws.
But Greyson has been watching from the pillow, and right when Dop is about to spring, Greyson leaps on top of him and bites his neck. They tumble in a blur of fur.
Axel laughs. “Saved by the sibling. Hey, there’s four of them. You should have named them after us.”
“Even the genders are right,” I say. “Three boys and a girl.”
He picks up Dop. “This one would be Rhett. Black like his soul.”
“I think that would be our cousin Diesel.”
It seems our cat toy excursion is delayed, so I sit back down. “I should call Diesel. Get some advice on avoiding Uncle Sherman.”
“If you could find him. I don’t think he’s talked to anyone but Grammy Alma in a year.”
“He didn’t get sucked into Pickle Media.”
“Neither did I.”
“You got richer than Uncle Sherman.”
Axel sighs, as if the money is a burden. “Maybe. It did get me out. I can get you out. I could make you my personal assistant.”
I roll my eyes. “For what work? Scheduling your hikes? Definitely not for buying your wardrobe when you do them.”
He grins. “Fair enough. I get it. So what do you want to do?”
“Get a job in LA. Find a place for my cats.”
“Well, let’s do it then.”
“I’ve been applying. I haven’t heard a single thing back from anyone. I don’t have any experience.”
“Let’s get you some.”
Dop and Greyson have stopped fighting and try to climb up Axel’s back. He reaches around with more flexibility than I have and plucks them off to move them to his lap. “What would be the perfect job if you knew you could make enough money?”
That’s easy. “I’d run a cat rescue.”
“Okay, done. We’ll start one. I’ll bankroll it.”
“Axel! You can’t do that. Besides, I don’t know anything about running a rescue. I need connections. Veterinarians. Volunteers. Paperwork. Permits.”
“Then go work for one. Learn the ropes.”
“I feel like a rescue is no way to make a living. They are always under-funded shoestring operations.”
He nods. “I’d say let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. First, figure out what it takes. Then we’ll figure out a way to do it better.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“If it will save you from our uncle.”
Pumpkin crawls next to my leg and curls up. I absently pet her head. “I guess I could volunteer for the rescue here. I already know them since I used to foster. Maybe they’d let me work in the office.”
“Perfect. Give them a call.” He stands up. “Now let me be uncle to your brood while you get ready to head into town. I have some kittens to spoil at the pet store.”
I slowly uncurl my legs to avoid disturbing Pumpkin.
He’s right. If I’m stuck here, I should work my connections. Would I let Axel fund a rescue?
As I run a brush through my hair, I wonder if that’s necessary. Maybe once I see the inside, I can figure out how to make this work.