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JACQUELINE WOKE UP to the sound of meowing. After finding her glasses on the bedside table, she checked the clock. Six thirty-five. Almost time to get up, anyway. The sun was just rising, and an orangey-pink light streamed through her window. Where was that meowing coming from?
She followed the sound to the front room. Opening the door and stepping onto the front porch, she spotted a tiny calico kitten peering at her and howling as loud as its little lungs could muster. “Oh, you poor baby! Where did you come from?”
Jacqueline picked up the kitten and stroked its soft fur. She looked around and saw no one else, and no other signs of another cat. An icy wind blew open her robe and she wrapped it more tightly around herself, cuddling the kitten. We can’t stay out here, she thought. She took the kitten inside and warmed up some milk.
By the time Jacqueline was dressed for work, the saucer of milk was empty and the kitten curled, purring loudly, on the blanket she put down in the corner of the laundry room. “You be good today,” she told the kitten. “I’ll try to check on you at lunch.”
* * *
SHE BEAT MAC to the office and used her key to let herself in. She went through the “sacraments of puttering,” as Ella called it, turning up the heat, making coffee, flicking on all of the lights and computers. Soon Mac’s truck rumbled into the parking lot. At the sound, her heart rate quickened just a bit and she checked her appearance in the foyer mirror before settling behind her desk to seem more nonchalant than she felt. Why did her boss have to be so handsome? But you are not complaining, her inner voice reminded her. She smiled to herself.
“Good morning, Jacqueline,” Mac said as he stepped through the door. His glasses were fogged. He cleaned the lenses with a handkerchief and then replaced them on his nose. “Nice to see a smile this early.”
“Good morning.” She grinned, unable to help herself.
Mac removed his coat and cowboy hat, and placed them on the rack in the foyer. Eyes the color of dark, sweet honey glistened from the cold, and his hair, brown with natural gold highlights, was a bit crushed by his hat. He ruffled it with his hands to an unkempt perfection. This was uncharacteristic of him, but she liked it.
“I need a haircut,” he said, glancing in the mirror. “How was your weekend?”
He took the mail from the counter but didn’t look at it yet. Instead he studied her. He was waiting for her answer.
“It was good. Uneventful except for this morning, when I found a cat on my doorstep. Cutest thing ever. I’ll need to go check on her at lunch.”
“You left it in your house?” Mac’s face showed signs of horror.
“Well, I was going to bring her here but decided against it.”
“Good decision.” He thumped the mail with his hand.
“And of course I put her in my house. She’s an itty-bitty kitten. You don’t think I’d leave her outside to freeze?”
“Bleeding heart.” Mac scrunched up his nose. “Cats are so...nasty.”
She blinked in astonishment. “How can you say that? Have you no heart?”
“I have a need to be in control. Especially when it comes to hygiene and my surroundings. And cat hair, cat food, cat smells, cat, well, you know...bodily functions...pretty much everything about a cat contradicts that.”
Jacqueline rolled her eyes. “Come with me at lunch and meet her. We’ll see if you can say that to her face.”
“I have no problem with that. You’re on.”
* * *
AT NOON JACQUELINE popped her head into Mac’s office. “I’m going to check on the kitty.”
He jerked his head up from the paperwork he was studying, looked at her and then the clock on his desk and back to her. “It’s already noon!”
“I know. You don’t have to go. Want me to pick you up something?”
“I’m going.” He rose from his chair. “Someone has to confront this furry mass of germs before it’s too late.”
Jacqueline shook her head at him. “Famous last words.”
He helped her into her black trench coat and then slid on his own. Donning his hat, he turned the sign on the door from Open to Closed. Then he held the door for her and locked it behind them.
“I’ll drive,” Jacqueline offered.
Mac squeezed his tall frame into the Prius and she laughed. She had the feeling lack of legroom was far less disconcerting to him than not being in control, and she exulted in it. She revved the engine and Mac glanced at her sideways. What did it say about her that she enjoyed torturing him?
“I don’t have anything good for lunch at home.”
“That’s okay because I couldn’t eat with a cat, anyway.”
“Drive-through somewhere?”
“Let’s go to Suzie Q’s for burgers.”
“I didn’t know that place was still around.”
“Same location as always.”
“Sounds good.”
She pulled through the drive at the old-fashioned burger joint and ordered the brown-bag special: two burgers, two fries and two shakes. Mac tried to pay, but Jacqueline wouldn’t let him. She footed the twelve-dollar bill.
“I haven’t consumed this many calories in a day in I don’t know when. And here I am scarfing them all in one meal!” she said, eating a fry as they drove away.
“The shakes are probably over-the-top.” Mac stuck a straw in her banana shake and another in his peanut butter one. They both took a big sip. “But they’re so good, aren’t they?”
“Yes. I’d forgotten how good they are.” Jacqueline took another swig. “Joiner bought me a few of these in high school.”
“Did you guys ever—?”
“No, no, no.” Jacqueline half smiled. “I mean, I would have dated him. But he was way out of my league.”
Mac almost choked on his burger, but quickly recovered.
“I was the biggest nerd ever, Mac.”
“I remember you being pretty nerdy.”
“Thanks.” СКАЧАТЬ