Chapter 37 Kit #2
He disappeared down the hall and reemerged a few moments later with two kittens cradled in his arms. The black one was tipped onto her back and purring up at him, while the brown tabby was clawing at his shirt to try to get free.
“You sure you want this one?” He jutted his chin toward the tabby. “She’s a bit of a menace.”
I chuckled. “Then she’ll fit in just fine with Penny. Like calls to like, after all.”
Laughter rolled out of him, and I couldn’t help but grin.
He dipped to let me retrieve the black kitten first, who scaled my chest and tucked herself in the collar of my cloak and around my neck.
I pulled my hood up to more fully cocoon her inside before taking the flailing tabby from Gerald’s hands.
I wound my cloak around the squirmy kitten to contain her before tucking her under my arm.
“Thank you,” I said as Gerald walked me to the door. “And please tell Rosie we’re here if she needs us.”
He clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I will.”
Back out in the cold, I rushed toward home. The tabby never stopped moving, trying to pull herself out of the folds of my cloak but only succeeding in further tangling herself. By the time I pushed through the door, I was worried I’d never get her out of it.
The house smelled sweetly of vanilla, and as I stepped inside, I could barely see Penny in the kitchen, bent over the counter. He glanced back long enough to ensure it was me before returning to his task with a grin.
“You’re early,” he called over to me.
I toed off my boots on the mat by the door and joined Penny in the kitchen where he was slathering some small cakes with icing.
He looked adorable in his apron, flour streaked across his cheek and dusting his hair, and I’d have grabbed him up to kiss him if I didn’t have my hands full of barely contained kitten.
“Couldn’t focus,” I said, moving into his line of sight. “And I have something for you.”
He glanced over, and his eyes grew wide as he caught sight of the tiny tabby who was now halfway out of her confinement.
I held her out to him.
“I have it on good authority that this troublemaker was your favorite.”
He grinned as he extricated her from her woolen prison, then giggled when he brought her up nose-to-nose and she batted at his cheek. He looked up at me, and his brows creased. “What about…”
I dropped my hood, and the little black kitten’s head popped up out of my collar.
Penny’s smile widened. “I knew you wouldn’t leave her behind.”
“Rosie said she chose me. I’m going to have to agree.”
His cheer faded, and he tucked the tabby into the crook of his arm to tease her with the end of a wooden spoon.
“Did you see her? Rosie? How is she?”
I tugged off my cloak and laid it over the back of one of the chairs pushed up to the table. “She didn’t come out of her room. Gerald said she wasn’t up for visitors, but I made sure to have him pass on that we’d be happy to see her whenever she’s ready.”
Penny nodded but didn’t look up.
“She’ll be all right, Pen. Just give her some time. She’ll visit again when she’s recovered.”
He took in a deep breath and tipped his shoulders back, shaking off his momentary melancholy. When he looked up at me, he was smiling again.
“Well, I have something for you too,” he said, discarding the wooden spoon on the counter and snagging his fingers in mine.
I thought he meant the cakes until he started backing toward the hall and tugging me along with him.
I took the opportunity to pull him to a stop and step in close.
His breath caught when I cupped his cheek in my free hand and leaned in for the sort of deep, savoring kiss I’d been thinking about since I left a few hours before.
He melted against me, pinning the tabby between us until her indignant meow broke us apart again.
I snickered. “Sorry. Carry on. You had something for me?”
His throat bobbed in an audible swallow before he blinked hard to reset his focus.
“Right.” He started backing down the hall again. “I know you told me to rest, but I got bored, and…” He gave a sheepish smile, then pushed open the door to our room.
Inside, it was immaculately clean. The dust had been cleared from the top of the dresser and the shelf above the fireplace, fresh sheets and blankets dressed the bed, and the pillows I’d used for months on the couch were piled against the headboard along with Penny’s.
“The top drawers are yours.” He gestured to the dresser. “No more living out of your pack. I took the bottom ones since you’re taller.”
Whatever shadow of my father had been left in this room was long gone now, burned away by the brilliance of the man standing before me.
He was a beacon in the darkness, and I wondered how I’d resisted his pull as long as I did.
All I wanted now was to wrap him up in my arms and sink my face into his hair and never let go.
I squeezed his fingers and tried to find the words to express all he’d done for me and how much it meant. But when I finally met his eyes, I could tell he already knew.
He bent to set the kitten on the floor, then tugged me in and slid his arms around my waist. Our foreheads tipped together, and for several long moments, we lingered in the quiet peace around us and the black kitten’s rumbling purr.
For the first time in decades, it felt like I was home.