Page 42 of Seasons of Love
"Why did you leave?"
"To keep them safe."
I reached out to run my hand through his hair, feeling nothing but relief when Slade leant into my hand. "Maybe we should—"
My words were interrupted by someone walking in the shop.
"Hey, Slade, I think I'm ready," the guy said.
Slade turned to me. "We had a part delivery. It's on the workbench if you want to check it out, this shouldn't take long."
"Okay."
The big metal door to the garage was shut, so I was surprised when I got to the garage and saw a bundle of ginger fur on top of the delivery box.
"Hey, buddy, it's you again."
The kitten raised its head and stared at me with big green eyes. I couldn't tell why, but I had a feeling she was a girl.
"Do you live here?" I asked and got a little meow as an answer.
I raised my hand slowly to see what kind of reaction I got and was surprised to see her bumping her head against my hand. She wasn't as flighty or aggressive as she'd been the other day.
"What's your name, beautiful?"
She meowed again.
"I don't speak cat, so you're going to have to help me out here, okay?"
Another bump to my hand.
"I'm not going to invade your privacy, so meow if you're a boy and purr if you're a girl."
I chuckled to myself. I must be losing my mind, but I glanced behind me to the shop and Slade was deep in conversation with the guy, checking something on his computer.
The kitten stood up on the box and did a turn before sitting on its back legs, purring.
"Okay, you're a girl. Thank you for letting me know. Now your name… Ginger?"
She hissed. "Okay, okay, point taken."
"So you're not…" She hissed again. "The name I'm not going to repeat. Sorry if it's a sensitive topic. I know how you feel, I used to get called magnolia at school because I'm so pasty white." I shrugged.
"Hmm, okay, so you clearly live here, even though Slade never mentioned owning a cat. Do you want to give me a clue?"
She meowed again and then jumped from the box onto the workbench and then the floor. She walked around the frame of the Harley, getting a little too close.
"What are you trying to tell me?"
She jumped onto the bike frame. I gasped and closed my eyes, praying to the god of bikes, if there was one, for the frame of the Harley to stay upright on the stand.
"Oh my god, the Harley."
The cat meowed, so I opened my eyes again to see her perfectly balanced on the frame.
"Harley."
She meowed again.
