Page 55 of You've Got to be Kitten Me
Harley’s hands fell and a new gleam entered his eyes. “ Show him?”
“Oh yes, that little boy’s a champion,” she said and stepped down beside me to beam proudly at the puppy. “I’ve spent my entire life breeding dogs, and they’re beautiful, magnificent creatures, but this one came from my gentlest bitch and was just what Brad said you might be looking for in an animal companion.”
Harley dropped his head, and for a second I thought he might be upset, but when he glanced up, he was all smiles. He held out his hands, and I walked over and carefully dropped the easygoing little bundle into his waiting arms. He took his time staring at the puppy, and for his part, the little guy did his best to be pure sunshine. He blinked and snuffled and licked at Harley’s cheek.
“Can I name him?”
“Whatever you want.”
He stared at the puppy and then back at me. Matilda patted my shoulder and then disappeared into the house. I walked over to Harley and wrapped an arm around his shoulders while he stroked the puppy’s silky head.
“He’s not at all like Kwan,” he said sadly.
“No. I’m sorry your friend is moving out. But he’s not moving on. You’ll still be friends.”
Harley nodded, but I wasn’t quite sure he believed me. That was okay. We had all the time in the world to make him understand we liked him just as much as he liked us. I liked him plenty. He rested his head against my shoulder.
“Let’s name him Honey. He sort of looks like a Honey.” He stroked the dog’s fur and glanced at me like he was worried that was a bad name. “But, Brad, what happens if….” He glanced pensively at the house and then into my eyes. My stomach flipped and nerves hit me. “What will we do if we break up?”
“Harley cat, I love that you think of everything, even the bad things that can happen, but what if….” I turned toward him and took a deep breath, my heart beating seven thousand miles a minute. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but what if we don’t break up?”
He held his breath and glanced down at Honey, biting his lower lip.
“What if we just sort of… you know, stay together? What if I love you?”
Harley shivered and moved closer until the puppy was cuddled between us.
“Then I would say I am one-hundred-percent happy, because I love you too.” He blinked, and the fragile smile he gave me rocked my whole world. The puppy grumbled and bit at my chin when I leaned in to kiss Harley, and Harley stepped away, gently tapping the tip of his nose.
“No, we don’t bite our Brad, Honey. He only likes it when I do that.” He winked at me and my heart just about burst.
“Harley cat, let’s go home.”
He nodded in that quiet way of his and smiled like his mouth would never do anything different. I couldn’t wait until it was his things we were packing up to move permanently into my house, because maybe we weren’t quite there yet, but I knew someday we would be. Besides, he was a cat, so me and everything I owned already belonged to him.
