The older guy handed the kitten over to him, then gestured to me. “I think so. This gentleman said he brought the injured cat in last night.”
Deacon looked at me for a second before giving the man a nod. “Yes.”
“He said these kittens were nearby?”
He looked at me to clarify his question.
“Yes,” I said. “At my store. I’m opening the bookstore on Short Street, and that’s where I hit the momma cat. Then today we heard little meows under the floor, so the fireman had to cut the siding to get them out. There were only two. They’re very young, so I thought I should get them checked. They’ve been a whole night without their momma, which means no food, and I don’t know how to look after them. So I thought I’d bring them here to get them checked out and maybe some information on what to feed them, because I have no clue.”
Deacon blinked at my word-vomit, and the older guy smiled and took some pity on me. “Deacon here was worried last night there might have been kittens left behind because the mother was feeding. We checked the camera footage this morning to see if we could find your car, maybe find out where you’d hit the cat. But we couldn’t see anything, and we didn’t get a name.”
“I was a bit of a mess last night. I’ve never killed anything in my life, and Deacon quotedNorwegian Wood,and it’s one of my favorite books, and anyway my name is Winter Atkins.”
Deacon was staring at me. Like,staring, staring at me but not at my eyes. Almost as if he’d picked a spot at the outer corner of my eye, or maybe he was staring at the space between us. I wasn’t sure. His cheeks were a little pink.
The older man looked at Deacon for a long beat, then back at me, and he smiled. “Okay. Well, Mr. Atkins?—”
“Please, call me Winter. Actually, most people call me Win.”
His smile became a grin. “Well, Win, I’ll leave the care of these two little kittens up to Deacon. Who is my son, by the way. He’s very capable of caring for animals and at quoting favorite books, apparently.” He stopped at the doorand gave me an amused look. “It was very nice to meet you, Win.”
Then he was gone, and it was just me and Deacon. Who was still staring at me, but notatme, and still had pink cheeks.
“You know Haruki Murakami?” he said.
“Yes. I love books. All books.”
“Same,” he said quietly. “I... I don’t know why I quoted that. I almost quoted a jisei...”
Oh my god.
“Jisei? Japanese death poems? You know what those are?”
His eyes met mine, ever so briefly. “Of course.”
Of course?
Becauseof course,everyone can quote Japanese death poems by rote.
“I have three books of them,” I volunteered. “Quite remarkable, actually. Admittedly, I have a lot of books and a lot of favorites, butNorwegian Woodin particular would be in the top twenty at least. I knew what you said was familiar, so when I got home, I pulled out the book and found it. I was surprised, to be honest. I wasn’t expecting... that.”
“Hmm.” He winced as if my rambling caused him physical pain. “Winter is an uncommon name.”
Ah, the curse of my name.
“Yes. It is.”
His blue eyes were piercing, and for a brief moment, he met my gaze, then looked at the kitten I was holding. He then seemed to remember he was holding the other one. “I’m glad you found the litter,” he said. “I was worried last night. I wanted to go looking for them but didn’t know... I didn’t ask your name, and I should have. It was an error on my behalf.”
“No,” I said. “I was a blubbering mess and had justdelivered that poor cat to you, right at closing time. My offer to pay for any charges still stands. And these little ones. I’ll do my best to look after them, but I don’t know the first thing about kittens this young.”
“Hmm,” he said, holding up his kitten, looking it over. “I’d say four weeks old. They appear healthy, if not a little underfed and dirty. It is young to be without their mother, so they will need proper care. Feeding every five or so hours, and adequate heating. A water bottle perhaps, though body heat would be best.”
“Body heat?”
“Yes, they rely on their mother’s body heat for temperature regulation.”
“Sure, but how would I do that?” I had visions of me with two kittens stuffed down my shirt. “Because that’s... I don’t know... I mean, I guess I can... likedownmy shirt? I’m not sure that’s entirely good for them...”
