Her scent fills the room, a calming, rich chamomile, and Piper excuses herself to the back.
Poor Piper must be sick of seeing the both of us together, just smiling at each other all the time, but I can’t find it in myself to care.
Maeve makes me happy. She’s one of my closest friends, and every time I’m around her, the day is better.
“We can set one up in front and one in the playroom,” Maeve says. “And we can place the third near Bean.”
“Sure. I’ve got another ten minutes on my lunch. How has Bean been?”
At the mention of the kitten, her shoulders hunch. “Still sneezing. I’m trying not to freak out too much about it,” she mumbles.
“These will help. I promise.”
I wish there was another way for me to soothe her and calm her fears.
I would love to purr for her, to hold her against my chest until I rumble her worries away.
But this friendship is so precious to me, so important to me, that I’m not ready to risk it just yet.
So, a humidifier will have to do for now.
Eventually, though?
I’m going to purr for this girl until the cows come home.
Well, cats, in this case.
“You want to help me set these up?” she asks. “Do you have any time left?” Her hopeful face and blooming scent have me nodding instantly.
“Of course,” I say. “I’ll make time.”
Her answering grin makes my heart constrict.
“Great!” she chirps as she grabs a box, and I follow her into the cat playroom.
“I will never get over what you, Piper, and Blair have done,” I murmur. “There’s no other rescue around like this.”
She shrugs as she places the humidifier on top of a cat tree and begins unboxing it. A fluffy grey tabby cat with white paws tries to jump up and see what she’s doing, but she gently bats them away. “It was already like this when I started,” she says. “Blair and Piper were here, and then Poe, Piper’s packmate, bought the building. I’m just happy that I get paid to love on cats.” Once the box is open, the tabby stands on its hind legs and swats at the lid. “Creed. Stop it.”
“Here.” I stand next to her, breathing in her scent, and take my time shimmying the humidifier out of the package. “I have a feeling Creed is after the box.”
She grins at me. “I think so, too.” She places the box on the ground next to the cat tree, and Creed, despite his thick size, attempts to nosedive into it.
He’s not successful. His body skids along the floor, halfway stuck in the box, and bumps into the wall.
She laughs delightedly.
“Cats and boxes,” I murmur. “A deadly pair.”
“I swear, half these cats would rather play in the box the cat tree came in than the actual tower itself!” she chuckles. “You would think being plucked off the street would make you want to enjoy the finer things in life, but nope.”
“Typical cat behavior,” I agree. I set up the humidifier in the corner of the room, away from the kennels.
“They should be fine with it here,” I say. “Bean should be breathing better in no time. I’ll set up his, too.”
Speaking of the kitten, Maeve grows very still. “Yeah,” she chokes out.
“Hey,” I tell her gently. “He’s safely away from the other cats right now, and the humidifiers will help. Have any of the cats here been sick before?”
