Knowing I needed to avoid any more “accidental” finger brushes, oranykind of touch from him, I relaxed back a bit more into my seat and gave him a soft smile. “Here is fine. I’ll just watch some TV.”
“Okay,” he replied before standing. “If you need anything, just call for me.”
I thanked him again and took the time to stare at him as he walked toward the stairs. When his head turned back to look at me, I quickly averted my eyes to appear like I just found something fascinating about my nails.
It wasn’t until his footsteps had retreated upstairs that I blew out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.
I needed to get healed fast and get the hell out of here before I did something stupid like calling Darren back to take me with him to nap.
He looked like he’d be a great cuddler. Andotherthings.
Omigod. Stop it, Sophia!
Fuck, this was going to be hard.
Porter
Icouldn’t believe the amazing news I received when I answered my phone. It wasn’t normal for me to be in such a big rush, but the best thing possible happened that I couldn’t waste any time putting it off.
Sophia’s cat had been found. The guys and I had put flyers up all over her neighborhood and at the local shelters in hopes that at some point someone would find the fur ball. Luckily, someone had.
A neighbor two streets behind Sophia’s house had found him the day after the fire wandering around her yard. She kept him and fed him, not knowing he was missing. She’d been driving home from a friend’s house when she spotted the flyer and called me immediately.
Wanting to surprise Sophia, I hadn’t said why I had to leave so suddenly. I practically vibrated in my seat with excitement the whole drive there, anxious to see if this was her cat.
Since gray cats were pretty common, we had one identifier to go off of in making sure this was Smoky. One of his back paws had a single pink toe while the others were all black. It was a detail that had been put in the flier, but sometimes people skipped that part. The picture we used was one from the internet that was as close to his description as possible, so I was trying not to get my hopes up.
When I arrived at the house, I jumped from my truck and was at the door knocking in a blink. My nerves were completely on edge when the woman answered the door.
She was an older lady, maybe in her late sixties, and she smiled wide when she saw me.
“Hello. Can I help you?” the woman greeted.
“Hi, I’m Porter. I believe you have my friend’s cat?” I asked hopefully.
“Oh! Yes! One moment.” She walked away from the door, coming back a moment later with this cute, gray fluff ball with orange eyes and folded ears in her arms.
“I’m so happy this little guy has a home,” she explained kindly. “He smelled terribly like smoke so I gave him a bath. He didn’t like that too much.”
Excitement filled me. Thishadto be him. “May I check one of his paws to make sure?”
“Certainly.” She inched forward and held him out to me.
Checking the first one, there was no pink toe. So I checked the other, my heart racing. This would be a major blow if he wasn’t the one. But there was no way he couldn’t be. Sophia needed him.
Lifting his last tiny paw, I sighed in relief. “It’s him.”
She immediately handed him off to me. I couldn’t help holding the little guy a bit tightly in my big arms. If anything could make Sophia’s day better after a visit from the fire marshal and that detective, it would be having her best friend back.
“I can’t thank you enough. He’s all my friend has left after her house burned down, and we’ve been looking for him.”
The old woman placed her hand over her heart. “Oh, the poor thing. That explains the smell. I heard about that fire. Such a terrible thing. I hope your friend is alright.”
I scratched Smoky between his ears and offered the woman a big grin. “She’s healing. He’s going to make all the difference. Thank you for finding him.”
“Not a problem. He kept me company so well I think I might just go get my own cat now.” She gave Smoky one last little pat on his head. “You go make your mom feel better. And you,” she looked at me, “if you or his mom need anything you come right on by. My name is Diana, and I’d be happy to help any way I can.”
“Absolutely. You have a great day.” After thanking her again profusely, I loaded myself and Smoky back into my truck and started the drive back.
