When we sat them by the window, they were riveted, immediately making those little chittering noises at the birds outside wheeling in the sky.
“I got bird feeders and put them up just so I’d have more birds in my yard for the cats to watch. I’ve become one of those kinds of cat moms.”
Lea smiled and stroked Tana’s head. “If your worst sin is spoiling kittens, then I think you’re doing pretty well.”
“I don’t consider spoiling kittens a sin.” She looked up into my eyes.
“Then what is a sin in your book?”
Yeah, there was no way in hell that I was answering that question. It would lead to sinful places that we should do our best to avoid.
I got up. “Do you mind if I grab some water?”
“Oh, sure, take whatever. There’s a pitcher in the fridge and then I have soda and juice.” I needed both water and ice to cool myself down. Lea talking about sin had me all hot and bothered.
I poured a glass and added some crushed ice from her very fancy state-of-the-art fridge. Mine was nice, but it wasn’t this nice.
Draining it, I turned around and saw Lea playing with Tana in her lap, the sunlight making her glow like an angel. Was there any angle where she didn’t look absolutely beautiful?
No. There wasn’t. She turned her head and met my eyes from across the apartment.
“Everything okay?”
I pasted a smile on my face and nodded. “I was just wondering what your snack situation was. I’m thinking charcuterie.”
* * *
While the kittensnapped in puddles of sun, we made a quick and dirty charcuterie board.
“This is more of a cheese board, don’t you think? Since there’s…so much cheese.” In fact, the board was mostly cheese.
Lea frowned down at it, arranging a few crackers in a fan shape.
“You do have a lot of cheese, Lea.” More than I had in my fridge, and I enjoyed cheese very much.
“I need them for different things! It’s not that much. Oh, here’s some hummus I forgot I had. There. That’s something else.” We ended up having to use a second board for everything we wanted and carried them both over to the coffee table.
“Eating this is going to be a challenge.” I pointed toward the kittens, who were now awake and sniffing the air.
“Will they like it?” she asked. “I don’t know anything about cats.”
I hadn’t either, before Brit and Tana. I’d read a bunch of books and searched so many things online when I’d gotten them. I’d assumed all cats were awful and mean and hated people. My mother had poisoned me about the idea of pets so I’d never beg for one. I realized dogs were actually great when I encountered hunting dogs at a friend’s summer home. Cats took longer for me to warm up to.
“I’m not sure. They might like the salt on the crackers.” She took one of them and held it out to Brit, who sniffed it a few times and then gave it a tentative lick. Tana joined her and then they both started licking and then trying to gnaw on the cracker.
“Silly little beasts,” I said, putting the cracker on the floor so they could fight over it.
“I thought they might pee all over the rug or something,” Lea said, using her cheese knife to spread some Brie on a cracker and then adding a drizzle of local honey.
“It’s amazing how they know exactly what to do with a litter box. I’d assumed I’d have to train them, but they just did it. Sometimes they get dingleberries, but then I just give them a bath.”
Lea giggled and the sound made me wish I could record it so I could have it with me always.
“They’re good babies,” I said, picking up the now soggy cracker with a paper towel.
We were both sitting on the floor again, with the boards on the coffee table.
The sunlight had faded, but the sky glowed with oranges and pinks and deep purples. I’d always loved this time of day.
