Page 45 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘I thought I might stay here, if that’s okay with you?’
She tensed and swallowed hard. Had his voice always been that smooth and deep?
‘Is the spare room free, or is it full of kittens?’ he asked.
Relief crashed over her like a tidal wave. ‘It’s all yours.’
He slapped her thigh, pushed himself up, then bent down and kissed her on the top of the head. ‘Thanks, Ser. I really needed this tonight. Mr Boggs was a tough one.’
Her heart melted. ‘I’m always here for you, you know that.’
Chapter Nine
Sera patted down her bed hair as she made her way towards the persistentding-dongscreaming up the hall.
‘Coming!’ she called out.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
‘Coming!’ she called again, louder. Buffy began to bark. ‘Shush, you,’ she said to the excited dog, shoving her into the office.
She pulled her dressing gown around her and poked her head into the spare room, puffing out a held breath when she saw that Toby had already left. She hated that she felt relieved to see the empty bed. She was still confused and freaked out by their moment on the couch. It’d kept her tossing and turning half the night, and not just with worry – her body had been annoyingly aware that he was only a room away.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
‘Oh my god,’ she muttered, then hollered, ‘Coming!’
When she reached the front door, she found a note taped to it.
Thanks for last night. I needed the company. Sorry if I got weird. Too many beers. Ring you later. Herriot.
Too many beers.Just as she thought. Beers and Boggs. Nothing to see here. Move along.
She frowned, rubbed at the strange sensation in her tummy, pulled the note down, shoved it in her pocket and flung open the door.
‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ a woman said quickly. She was dressed as if she was going for a jog, with bright pink bike shorts and a tight white t-shirt. ‘I’m getting on a plane in a few hours, and my cat…’ she turned around and picked up a box, ‘… had kittens last night.Kittens.’ She shoved them towards Sera. ‘I just thought she was fat.’
Sera looked inside the box, where five tiny kittens were mewling. ‘They were born last night?’
‘Mm-hm. Can I leave them with you?’
‘Uh, when will you be back?’
The woman looked confused. ‘In two weeks. Why?’
‘For… the… kittens?’ Sera already knew what the woman was going to say.
‘I’m not coming back for the kittens. I can’t have kittens.’
‘Where’s the mother cat then? If she’s just had these kittens, she’ll be distressed and they need their mother. They need her milk.’
‘I dropped her off at my ex’s place. She’s his cat too. He’s looking after her while I’m away.’
‘What?’ Sera shook her head in utter disbelief. ‘Can’t he keep the kittens with the mother?’
The woman huffed. ‘It was hard enough to get him to take the cat. Which he bought, I might add.’
Sera gently placed the box of kittens on the floor. ‘They’re newborns. They need to be with their mother or they’ll die. The cat can stay with us until you get back, so they’ll all be together. We’re also a boarding facility, and we have room.’
