Bella shook her head. ‘No, thank goodness. He didn’t seem bothered about going out of the garden all the time he was back here.’ She dropped her hands from his and touched his upper arm. ‘Let’s go into the kitchen, shall we? It feels a bit public out here.’
‘All right.’
Bella flipped on the kettle and while it was boiling, she filled Noah in. ‘After your brother left, Marieke came round and told me you’d rung her. She explained what you’d said, called you a few names and we split a bottle of red wine. When she left, I went to bed, and Monty curled up with me. He’s been a bit quiet for the past few days, but I’ve been putting it down to his age and the heat. It’s been sweltering here, and while he enjoys it, I think he’s been finding it quite hard going. He’s not been eating much, and he hadn’t been drinking much for the past couple of days.’
‘Is that normal?’ Noah asked.
‘It can be – cats aren’t daft. They’re pretty good at conserving their energy. I’ve been keeping an eye on him, but there was nothing to suggest he’d been ill, just a little slower than usual.’ She gave a brief, sad smile. ‘I can’t blame him for that.’
‘I must have fallen asleep eventually because the next thing I knew it was five o’clock in the morning and I had a stinking headache. I’m not really a red wine drinker, but Marieke had been on a rescue mission, and I couldn’t refuse.’
‘Fair enough.’ Noah leaned his elbows on the kitchen table and steepled his fingers. ‘So where was Monty when you woke up?’
‘I wasn’t sure. He usually pops out early in the morning for a quick prowl around, so I wasn’t too worried, but after I’d had a shower and a coffee, he still hadn’t come in for his breakfast. He’d barely touched his dinner yesterday, either, so I was starting to wonder if he was all right.’ She swallowed hard before continuing.
‘I went out into the garden, thinking he might have found a cooler spot than his basket to sleep, and that’s when I found him.’
Noah’s heart ached as Bella’s voice broke. He knew how much she’d adored Monty and how difficult this was for her. He shifted his chair closer to hers and put his arm around her shoulders in a slightly awkward hug. He could feel her shoulders trembling as she tried not to break down.
‘It’s all right,’ he said softly. He ached to take her in his arms completely but, wary of all that needed to be resolved between them, he held back. He made do with sitting there until she drew a long, deep breath again.
‘I’m sorry. He was your cat, really, I shouldn’t be getting so upset.’
‘He was as much yours as he was mine,’ Noah murmured. ‘You spent the most time with him when he needed it.’ He felt his own eyes filling up at the bare truth of that statement, but he blinked the tears back. Bella needed him; she didn’t need him dissolving into a soggy mess.
‘Where did you find him?’ he added gently.
Bella raised reddened eyes to meet his, and his heart jumped in his chest at the sadness in them. He was surprised and pleased when she managed a brief smile. ‘He was curled up under the plum tree in the back garden. It wasn’t until I got close enough to see he wasn’t breathing that I realised he’d gone.’
‘That was always his favourite spot,’ he said gruffly. ‘Grandpa and I would sit out the back sometimes, watching the sun set over the garden. It used to turn Monty’s coat all kinds of colours…’ He coughed away the temptation, again, to cry.
‘I’ve, er, wrapped him in a blanket and put him in the shed,’ Bella added. ‘I wasn’t quite sure what you’d want to do with him.’
Noah paused, trying to get a grip on his emotions before he spoke. When he did, he was pleased his voice didn’t tremble. ‘We should bury him where he died. I think he was trying to show us that’s where he wanted to be.’
Bella’s smile was soft and matched the gentle sympathy in her eyes as she nodded. ‘That’s perfect.’
‘Grandpa would’ve wanted him to stay close to the house,’ Noah added. Although it occurred to him immediately afterwards that once the house was sold, it wouldn’t matter to anyone else. That thought nearly derailed him entirely, but he pushed it down, far down, to be dealt with later.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t with him when he died,’ Bella said. She began to stand up, and Noah rose with her.
‘He must’ve known it was time to go and taken himself off to his favourite place to be alone.’ Noah’s voice trembled a little, but he bit down hard on his lip to stop that from trembling, too. ‘I think I read somewhere that animals do that.’
‘I’ll, er, let you go and say goodbye to him,’ Bella continued. ‘But I’ll give you a hand with the grave, when you’re ready.’
‘Thanks.’ Noah looked down at her and, unable to help himself, he brushed a strand of red hair away from her cheek. ‘And we’ll talk about… everything else… later?’
‘Yeah. I suppose we’ll have to.’ Bella smiled ruefully. ‘Give me a shout when you need me. I’ve got some bits and bobs to post for Mollie on the Facebook page, but nothing that can’t wait.’
It was Noah’s turn to nod. Bracing himself, he headed out to the shed.
50
Bella logged into the Purrfect Paws Facebook page and tried to concentrate on uploading the latest photos of the residents. They’d had a flurry of applications over the past week or so, but with new cats arriving regularly, she needed to keep on top of things. She was usually good at writing the tug-at-the-heartstrings copy to encourage prospective owners to contact the sanctuary, but she couldn’t get her mind off Noah and Monty. She ached to go out to the shed and check on Noah, who seemed to be holding things together rigidly all the time they’d been speaking, but she hesitated. One of the things she’d learned about Noah in the weeks they’d known one another was that he was an intensely private person when it came to his emotions. She didn’t want to intrude on whatever final moments he wanted with Monty before they buried him.
All the same, she shut the laptop with a sigh. It was a slow old thing at the best of times; Mollie had recently bought a new one for use in the office, and had lent Bella the old one so she could easily maintain Purrfect Paws’ social media pages, but Bella was well used to having to boot the thing up, go off for a cuppa and come back again before it would be ready to log in. She’d waited it out this time, but even so, she couldn’t concentrate.
After ten minutes or so, where she found she was just tinkering again and again with the copy, and not making any progress, she decided she’d look in on Noah in the shed. She didn’t want to intrude, but the weather looked as though it was turning, and they couldn’t bury Monty in the rain. Shutting the laptop down, she made her way quietly downstairs and out into the back garden.
