“Ah, that.”
“Sorry.Is it a sore spot?”
“Nah, just embarrassing.”
“There’s no need to be embarrassed.I understand how people might not be comfortable around cats.I mean, they always look like they’re hunting…when they’re not sleeping, that is.One of my friends has a cat phobia.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah!And between you and me, I can’t handle spiders, not even the tiny ones.”
Nick grinned.“Well, while I’m here, I can rehome any spiders that get in your way.”
“Sounds like a plan.So, tell me about your cat problem.”
He scratched his head.“I guess it all started at my Grandma Ingrid’s house of cats.”
Claire’s eyes bugged out.A squeak emerged from her throat, but she choked it back.“I’m sorry.Did you say, ‘house of cats’?”
“I mean, it wasn’t literally a house of cats.That sounds like a Vincent Price horror movie.”He spoke with the dramatic flair of a movie voiceover artist.“House of Cats.Beware the claw!”
Claire’s lips wobbled, another tease of mirth.She sucked them into a tight line.
“Anyway,” he continued, “Grandma Ingrid loved cats.She was never without one, and usually had two or three at any given time.First, there was Angel, a pretty tabby with little butterscotch spots on her ears.I met Angel when I was five.She stalked me around the house.A precedent was set.Every time I visited Grandma, Angel made me run for my life.”
“Didn’t your grandma do anything?”
“I loved my grandma, but she was old-school.You know, boys shouldn’t cry and a bit of fear gives you character.And when my parents would ask us how our sleepovers went, I’d swear my brothers to secrecy.What happened at the house of cats stayed at the house of cats.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Exactly.Anyway, I don’t know why Angel hated me.I never did anything to that cat, and all she did was scratch me every time I tried to pet her.She scarred me for life.”Nick huffed.“Angel.More like a fluffy demon from the pit of hell.”
Claire covered her mouth with her hand.
Is that a giggle?
Nick continued his story, laying it on thick, in the hopes of making Claire laugh.“Only it wasn’t just Angel.Dudley was next.He definitely hated me.I think he actually spat at me once.Do cats spit?I don’t know.Anyway, then came Twinkle.Oh, man, Twinkle hated the very air around me.She’d hiss if I so much as looked at her.Grandma had a long line of kitty tormentors.Mitzie, Cutie Pie, Pickle, Dumpling.On our sleepovers with Grandma, I used to think those cats were plotting to kill me.There was this one time when Dumpling stuck her little paw under the bedroom door after I’d gone to bed, and I screamed until Grandma put her in the basement.”
Something trembled in Claire’s chest.She looked away, but the trembles continued.
“But worst of all?”he said.“The time when Pickle peed in my favorite sneakers.In my heart of hearts, I still think he did it out of spite.”
A huge cackle exploded from Claire.She clapped her hands over her mouth again, but it didn’t help.Her dark eyes lit up.Her laugh became infectious, only inspiring more laughter.It wouldn’t be long before she rolled on the floor.
Nick laughed along with her.He knew his tale of woe was a silly one, and he wasn’t really scarred.In all honesty, his childhood brain had probably exaggerated his mistreatment by Grandma Ingrid’s cats.He couldn’t be offended by Claire’s laughter.The flash of glee in her eyes was way too appealing.
Her giggles subsided and she took a couple of deep breaths.“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, really.”
“It’s been a while since I had a good laugh.I didn’t mean for it to be at your expense, but the way you told the story struck my funny bone.I can totally see why you wouldn’t want to hang out with my cats, or anyone else’s.”
“No problem.”He was used to people laughing at him lately.Besides, hearing she hadn’t laughed in a while made him sad.“I meant it when I said I love animals.I do.I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong with the feline population.It’s like they have a hotline or something.‘Hey, Nick’s coming.Make him pee his pants this time.’By the way, that may or may not have happened in the Dumpling incident.”
“Oh.Maybe I can help you with that while you’re here.Would that be okay?”She smiled, her face suffused with warmth and compassion.
Hell, yeah.If it meant he got to spend extra time with her, it would be more than okay.“Sure, thanks.I’m down to make some kitty buddies, if they’ll have me.”
