“She’s cranky,” I corrected. “Even more than usual. She spent most of the day in the carrier yesterday, and Her Highness isdispleased.”
“Awww, and who wouldn’t be cranky, stuck in one of these things? Hmm?” She reached for thezipper.
“Be careful!” I warned. “Daph scratches when she’s pissed off. Maybe Icould…”
But Kathy either didn’t hear me or didn’t care. She reached right into the carrier and pulled out my cat. And honest to God, the traitorous little fur ball practically leaped into Kathy’s arms, curled herself up against Kathy’s chest, and glared at me likeIwas the cause of all hermisfortune.
Did I mention she was ashithead?
“Oh, so precious,” Kathy sang, petting Daphne’s thick, white fur. “What a good girl youare.”
The look Daph shot me was positively smug, and she swished her long tail at Kathy in apparentdelight.
Igroaned.
“I just wanted to get Daph checked out,” I told Kathy. “Make sure she’s fine. We were in a bit of an accident lastnight.”
“Hit a tree head-on. Likely totaled his car,” Siinterrupted.
I huffed. “I really hope not. But I called the insurance company this morning and they’re sending someone out tomorrow or the next day, so I guess we’llsee.”
“Aw, poor thing,” Kathy said, still talking to the cat who, I almost wanted to point out, wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal of handling an insurance claim or replacing a car out in the middle of nowhere. “We can take care of you.” She looked up. “Just leave her to me and stop back in later thisafternoon.”
I blinked. No paperwork or intake forms, no need to prove that I’d be able to pay for the checkup, let alone whatever her treatment cost? What strange land wasthis?
“Great! You’re a star, Kath. Come on, Ev,” Silas said, heading for thedoor.
Come on,where?
“Uh. Right. Okay,” I said, following him, but it felt weird leaving Daphne behind. She wasn’t my favorite creature in the world, but she’d been Adrian’s pride and joy. It was strange to leave her in someone else’s care, eventemporarily.
“So the insurance company isn’t giving you any trouble?” Si asked, turning to face me when we were back on the sidewalk. The sun made his brown hair glint gold and his eyes crinkle at the corners as hesquinted.
Silas wasn’t young, I realized. And damn if that didn’t make him evenmoreattractive.
“Um. Not yet, no. But the woman I spoke to had actually heard of the road where I crashed. Apparently, accidents there are pretty common.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to prove my driving competence to Si, but I was definitely still spooked by the phantom I’d seen the night before. It had seemed incredibly real. I wanted to blame anything but my own brokenbrain.
“They are,” he agreed. “Too common.” But nowhiseyes were troubled andhisvoice was hard. I remembered him saying he really hated car accidents, and it occurred to me for the first time just how many he must have seen in his line of work, with outcomes far more tragic thanmine.
Could you be more selfish if you tried,Everett?
“Maybe we could lobby the town council for some lights out there?” Isuggested.
He snorted and dropped his head to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah, I doubt it. My parents are both on the council. They, uh… they definitely know how dangerous that road is.” He shrugged. “The state had some studies done about impact to the wildlife, and it was determined that the riskfell within acceptable parameters, orsomething.”
“Well, that just sucks.” It wasn’t precisely comforting, but there were some things you couldn’t make better withwords.
He lifted his eyes to mine, and grinned. The simple gesture should not have made me feel as good as itdid.
“It does. But I guess the silver lining is that the road keeps O’Leary kind of insulated,” he said. “We don’t get a lot ofcrime.”
I snorted. “You also don’t haveStarbucks.”
He laughed. “Honey, you don’t need Starbucks when you’ve gotFanaille.” He pointed over his shoulder at the storefront next door. “Comesee.”
I frowned. “I should really be getting back…” Who the hell knew what kind of mischief my grandfather had gotten in during the last few minutes? He’d probably hacked off a limb along with hiscast.
“Nah,” Silas said. He moved to stand beside me and slung an arm over my shoulders. “Hen seems to enjoy riling you. He’s less likely to cause trouble when you leave himbe.”
