Chapter Eight #2
Inside the vet’s office, Kenzie paid the bill. Anna took the carrier and disappeared down the hallway to the left of the front desk. A moment later, a tall woman in green scrubs emerged from the same hallway.
“Hello!” she said, offering her hand to Kenzie and then to Finn.
“I’m Dr. Sparling, the veterinarian in charge here at the clinic.
It’s so good to meet you both. And I’m happy to tell you that your kittens are healthy, fully vaccinated and ready to go home.
” The vet went on to talk about neutering and when to bring Tom and Ed in for that.
Finally, Anna reappeared with the cat carrier.
“Oh, look!” Kenzie teared up. “Here they are…” As if in reply, the kittens launched into a two-part chorus of meows.
At her house, she had everything ready for Ed and Tom.
As soon as she let them out the carrier, off they darted to explore their new home.
She made Finn a sandwich and then hung around for a half hour or so.
She wished she could stay longer. But he was there to keep the kittens company for a while after she left and that made her feel better.
He walked her to the door where she handed him a house key.
“Because you’ll need to get in and out now. Thank you, for babysitting my kitties.”
“Are you kidding? I should thank you. I’m going to love hanging out with Tom and Ed.”
She kissed him then, a long, slow, deep kiss. “You’re the best.” She beamed up at him.
And then she made herself turn and head for her car.
* * *
For the remainder of that week, Finn couldn’t walk down the street without everyone he passed stopping to clap him on the back and tell him what a hero he was. He thanked them for their kind words and praised the team—their talent, determination and fighting spirit.
That Friday the Titans played at home. They racked up an impressive win. Final score: 38–9.
The crowd went wild.
Much later, when Finn left the by-then quiet locker room and headed for the parking lot, most of the vehicles had cleared out. But Kenzie’s blue Bronco was waiting beside his crew cab.
She stood by her driver’s door in her maroon scrubs, that shining hair in a thick braid, her hands in the pockets of a plaid barn coat, watching him as he came toward her. “We’ve got to stop meeting in parking lots,” she teased.
He kept walking until the toes of his boots were six inches from hers. “Hey.” He touched her cheek, so smooth and soft. “It’s how we roll.”
She reached for him. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Come to my place,” she whispered. “Ed and Tom have been nagging me for a playdate with you.”
“I was there just this afternoon. We played catch the feather and bat the jingle ball.”
“What can I tell you? You’re a popular guy. And not only with Tom and Ed.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” He claimed a long, slow kiss.
A little later, at Kenzie’s place, she went off to change her clothes. Finn sat on the living-room floor sipping a Bud Light and tormenting the two playful kittens with a string of feathers on a stick.
It wasn’t long before Kenzie reappeared in gray joggers and a big pink shirt. “Mind if I join you?”
He patted the floor beside him. “You need help getting down here?”
She put on a playful scowl. “I beg your pardon. I’m pregnant, not incapacitated.”
“You are beautiful,” he said. “Even when you make silly faces.”
Ed chose that moment to leap into his lap, jump at the feather and then dart off through the archway to Kenzie’s office with Tom right behind him.
“They do make me laugh,” she said.
He set his beer on the coffee table then offered a hand. She took it and he helped her down. Settling in beside him, she managed to sit cross-legged, her baby bump cradled between her thighs.
The kittens came racing back. She rested her head on his shoulder and laughed as they batted at the uncatchable feathers.
Finn thought about how good it was between them, how easy and right. Once again, he considered bringing up the future. He ached to ask her to spend that future with him.
But was it too soon? He didn’t want to blow it.
Better to wait a while, he decided. Better to give her more time to see all the ways he would be there for her and for the baby—for Tom and Ed, too.
Eventually, the kittens ran off again, toward the kitchen this time.
Finn got up, set the feather toy on the mantel and held down his hand to Kenzie.
She took it and he pulled her to her feet.
They turned for her bedroom together, his arm around her shoulders, her hand hooked at his waist. He didn’t realize that Tom and Ed were right behind them until he and Kenzie entered the bedroom and two small balls of fur zipped around them and launched themselves up onto the bed.
Kenzie laughed. “Okay, you two. You’ve got your own bed.”
Reluctantly, Finn let her go. She scooped up both kittens and carried them from the room. Returning a couple of minutes later, she shut the door behind her.
“Do they sleep with you?” he asked, pulling her close again, getting hold of that long braid, giving it a light tug.
“Yep. Most of the time. But not right now.”
“Will they be lonely?” After sliding the elastic band off the tail of that braid, he snapped it onto his wrist.
She gazed up at him, eyes bright as stars. “Nope. They have each other. They like sleeping in my bed, but they’re just fine on their own, too.”
He smoothed her unbound hair back over her shoulder. It fell almost to her waist. He longed to say what was in his heart. But no. Not yet.
Instead, he whispered, “You are so beautiful,” and lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
Kenzie woke Saturday morning to a chorus of meows from the other side of her bedroom door. Finn was sound asleep next to her. Carefully, trying not to wake him, she pushed back the covers, slid her feet to the floor and put on her robe.
The meows got more insistent as she padded to the door and pulled it open a crack. That was all it took. Ed slithered in first with Tom right behind him.
“Shh,” she said, as if they would care, let alone listen.
They raced to the bed and climbed it in an instant, landing on the side where she’d slept. Stopping simultaneously, they stared at the other person in her bed.
They knew Finn. After all, he provided their day care.
For a second or two, they seemed to study the sleeping man.
Then both kittens started purring. They moved in close to Finn.
Ed batted Finn’s cheek gently with a tiny paw.
Tom climbed right on top of him and sat down.
Kenzie stifled a laugh as Finn opened his eyes to find Tom perched on his chest.
“Mornin’ ,Tomás.” Finn scooped up the little guy and set him down on the mattress. Then he rolled to his side and petted Ed. “How you doin’, Eduardo?”
Still in her robe, Kenzie lifted the covers and slid back into the bed. Tom’s purr got louder as she stroked a hand from his head to the tip of his shiny black tail. “Sorry they woke you.”
Finn gave her a lazy grin. “Don’t be sorry. I’m not. They’re so damn cute.”
For a while, they hung out in bed with the kittens, who wrestled with their hands and chewed on their fingers. Kenzie was scratching Ed behind the ears and he was purring away when she glanced up and caught Finn watching her.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just…it’s so good, being here with you.”
His words pleased her.
Maybe too much.
Was she getting in too deep with him? Probably.
But he was right. It was good—better even than back in high school, when she’d loved him wildly, needed him desperately. She might be seriously pregnant with occasional heartburn and ankles that now had a tendency to swell. Didn’t matter.
Finn still had that uncanny ability to look in her eyes and make her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth. Sometimes, when he kissed her, when he put his big hands on her and whispered her name, her poor heart felt full to bursting. With Finn now, it was the same as all those years ago.
Only better. Deeper. More grounded somehow.
She cared about him and she wanted him constantly. They truly were friends. As for falling in love with him all over again…
No. That wasn’t going to happen. Her heart just wasn’t up for that.
He was watching her. “What?” he asked as Tom yawned and stretched between them. The little black cat purred even louder as Ed bent his gray-striped head and started grooming Tom’s ear.
“Oh, nothing,” she lied. “How ’bout some breakfast?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
* * *
Finn had just finished his scrambled eggs when his phone rang.
Kenzie met his eyes across the table. “Not even going to check and see who it is?”
“It’s too early for phone calls.” And no way he wanted to be interrupted while he was with her. “I’ll check my voicemail later.”
He said yes to more coffee and fantasized about dragging her back to bed.
But there was recovery practice to deal with. Too soon, he was on his way to his place, where he jumped in the shower before heading to the high school.
After practice, he cleaned up and hosted an open house right there in town.
He had a steady stream of visitors. Back at the office later, he checked messages and discovered that the call earlier that morning had been from his dad.
He actually considered just ignoring his father’s voicemail.
Because no message from Finn Sr. ever made Finn’s day brighter.
But just maybe his dad was calling with family news. Maybe one of his brothers had gotten engaged. Or what if someone was seriously ill or had been in an accident?
He played back the message.