Chapter 13 - Henry #3
Ignoring what was surely the obvious indecision on my face, Sandra bustled over to another cage without taking Solo back from me.
“This is Lady Snazzle-pants,” she narrated, reaching into the cage and pulling out a sleek black cat with a white blaze on her forehead.
“She’s two-ish, so in between Kellogg’s age and Solo’s.
” She turned to hand the cat to Jamison, who accepted her with a lot more ease than he’d accepted the first couple of kittens.
Looked like he was getting the hang of things.
“She’s low-energy and independent, but doesn’t mind being held, though she prefers to do it on her schedule. ”
Lady Snazzle-pants’s schedule was apparently full, because she was hardly settled in Jamison’s grip before she started trying to climb out of his arms and up to his shoulder.
He shot an uncertain look at Sandra, who just smiled calmly and waved a hand as if to encourage him to let the cat do what she wanted.
Before long, the Lady was perched on Jamison’s shoulder like a parrot, surveying the room regally.
She appeared far more interested in the other cats than in the person she was sitting on.
Sandra tsked, stroking Lady Snazzle-pants’s back. “Hey now, don’t you want to make him fall in love with you?”
Lady Snazzle-pants apparently did not, because she continued to ignore Jamison and me in favor of eyeing the other cats and then twisting around to groom Sandra’s petting hand.
“Ouch, the claws,” Jamison complained, waving a limp hand up to his shoulder. “I don’t think she’s interested in me as a person. I feel so objectified.”
“Hmm,” Sandra mused, still running her hand up and down Lady Snazzle-pants’s back.
“I think you might be right. I don’t think the chemistry is there.
” She stepped in and retrieved the cat from Jamison’s shoulder (with my help in separating claws from clothing when she clung on a little too hard) and popped her back into her cage.
“We’ve got a couple more you could meet, but they’re generally the more independent ones who maybe won’t want to snuggle, or won’t want to snuggle as often.
Or you can make your choice from who you’ve already met.
Or,” she added reluctantly, “if you don’t feel like you’ve made a connection with anyone, we’re always getting new cats in, so you could come back another week and see who’s new to meet. ”
Jamison glanced furtively over his shoulder at the crate holding Kellogg and her litter, then focused back on Sandra. “I feel like I should say I’ll meet the other cats, because I’m not sure how to judge ‘connection’, but honestly, I just want to hang out more with Minnie and Kellogg.”
“Sounds like a connection to me!” Sandra crowed, throwing her arms wide. “Are they your choice?”
I noticed that at some point, his intention to adopt one cat had officially become two. Jamison didn’t appear to have even noticed the upgrade, treating the two cats as a package deal. “Can I hold them again?” he asked eagerly.
“I’ll do you one better,” she told him. “Let’s grab them and bring them to the office, I’ll bring in a few toys, and we’ll see if they’ll play with you.”
Jamison made that high-pitched whine again and clapped. “Yes, please!”
A few minutes later, we were all settled in chairs in the shelter’s office space.
Kellogg and Cinnamon Toast Crunch were on the floor, rolling around in a small pile of catnip with their eyes wide.
Jamison held a wand toy with a feather on the end, and as I watched, he dragged it along the ground to get the cats’ attention.
Both cats froze mid-roll, their pupils going wide, and then Minnie pounced wildly on the toy, going ass over teakettle in the attempt.
She rolled to a stop near my foot, and I gently gave her a nudge. She batted at my shoelace, then got back to her feet and charged back into the fray with the toy.
A delighted laugh rose out of Jamison’s throat as Minnie climbed over her mother to get to the feather. Kellogg, obviously used to this treatment, allowed herself to be used as a springboard with no complaint.
“Kellogg is young enough,” Sandra said, watching their antics with a grin, “that she and Minnie should have no trouble keeping each other entertained. If you’d gone for an older cat like Solo, they might not have been interested in playing with Minnie as much as she wants to play, but Kellogg is basically still a kitten herself, so they match well.
” She side-eyed me. “Solo would probably do better in a house with an older cat who’s more settled. ”
I pretended I didn’t get her point and kept my eyes focused on the playing cats. I wasn’t adopting Solo. I wasn’t.
“You know,” Sandra went on in a tone practically dripping deliberate innocence, “we’ve had people who already had a cat bring their cat in for a one-on-one with a potential cat, to see if they get along.
Most of the time, they either get along or they ignore each other.
” I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was still watching me meaningfully.
“You’d be welcome to bring your cat in to do that test. Maybe we could do it the day Jamison, here, comes to pick up Kellogg and Minnie for good. Kill two birds with one stone.”
“So I can have them?” Jamison cut in excitedly, apparently so caught up in the cats we were watching that he was oblivious to the polite pressure being applied to me. “I mean, I know you still need to call my references, but…really?”
Sandra, allowing herself to be distracted from me for the moment, looked down at his paperwork, which she was holding.
“Well, everything on here looks good. You’re going to keep up with their vaccinations, they’ll be indoor-only cats - that’s important, we don’t adopt to people who let their cats out - and your lease allows for pets.
The only thing that could really go wrong is if one of your references tells us that you’re not going to be a responsible owner, but I imagine that if they agreed to be your references, they’re unlikely to say that. ”
“They’d better not,” he agreed with a scowl. “Or I’ll kill my sister.”
“Oh, murder threats,” I murmured teasingly, “that’s a great way to come across as a responsible owner.”
“What?” he demanded, glaring at me. “I’m saying I’d fight for my babies. That’s good ownership.” He looked to Sandra. “Right?”
She rolled her lips, smothering a smile, and managed something resembling a serious expression.
“Oh, definitely. Though we do frown on bloodshed. Unless it’s being caused by the cat, in which case the person probably did something to deserve it.
” She looked back down at the paperwork.
“I can probably make the reference calls this evening. Then it’s just some administrative stuff, making sure the girls are finished with their go-home vaccinations, and then you can bring them home!
Probably Monday or Tuesday, if that works for you. ”
Jamison screwed up his face thoughtfully. “I have meetings all day Monday, but I could come Monday evening or else Tuesday afternoon. I’m not sure how late you guys stay here,” he explained.
“Oh, I practically live here,” Sandra said lightly, waving a hand.
“And I actually live all of three minutes away, so it’s not like I can’t make the trip here at a time that works for you.
I want to see my babies settled happily in homes, yes I do,” she cooed, reaching down to pet Minnie, who attacked her fingers good-naturedly.
“Ouch, those little needle claws.” There was no reproof in her voice, and I noticed that her arms and hands were already covered with healing scratches and what looked like a bite mark.
Clearly Sandra was a hands-on administrator.
She shook Minnie off her hand and lifted it to her lap.
“Let’s plan for Monday night, then. Can you be here around six or seven? ”
Jamison whipped out his phone to check his calendar. “Yes, definitely seven. What do…oh, shit.” He looked at me. “What do I bring them home in? I can’t just leave them loose in my car!”
Whoops. “Yeah, you’ll need carriers. We can go back to the store - I mean, you can go back to the store,” I corrected myself, remembering belatedly that we weren’t actually a couple who went everywhere together, “tomorrow and pick some up. Or you can probably overnight some off .”
“Oh,” Sandra broke in, “I can recommend some carriers from that people have liked.”
“That would actually probably be easier,” Jamison agreed. “I feel like if I walk back into that pet store I’m going to walk out having spent five hundred more dollars on god knows what. Rhinestone collars and gold-plated bowls or something.”
I grinned. I knew the feeling. “ it is. If worse comes to worst, let me know and I can lend you Curie’s carrier and we can cram both girls into that for the trip home.”
“Your cat’s name is Curie?” Sandra broke in. “Is she named after Marie Curie?”
“Sure is,” I said proudly.
“I love it!” She clapped her hands excitedly. “‘Curie and Solo’ sounds good together, don’t you think?”
I directed a half-hearted glare in her direction. My resolve was weakening with every moment. “I really, really don’t know how she’d be with another cat, Sandra…”
“Bring her Monday night.” She said it in a definitive tone, obviously brooking no argument. “We’ll set her and Solo up in the office to meet while we work through the paperwork for Kellogg and Minnie.”
A mental image of Solo’s cute smooshed face rose in my mind, and I couldn’t help but imagine both cats cuddled up in my lap, a giant pool of fur and attitude. “Fine,” I groaned. “I’ll bring her. But if they don’t get along, that’s it.”
Sandra bestowed me with an angelic smile. “I have a good feeling about them, don’t worry.”
“Cats for everyone!” Jamison crowed from where he sat with Kellogg sprawled belly-up over his lap.
“It’s like a fairy tale for Solo.” He reached down to rub her belly, and I winced, but to my surprise, Kellogg didn’t latch onto him with claws out.
Instead, she dropped her head against his thigh and almost audibly sighed.
Cats were magical creatures who always did the opposite of what you expected and made you love them for it.
“Now then,” Sandra said briskly, “let’s get you started on your paperwork, Henry.”
Oh, right. That. I sighed and accepted a pen and a clipboard, pretending I wasn’t feeling a rising tide of excitement.