Chick Magnet by Emma Barry

Author:Emma Barry [Barry, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2023-01-23T18:30:00+00:00

As soon as he’d gotten the kitten home, it had promptly attacked and destroyed a roll of toilet paper and had a fight with Sunday’s newspaper, which had been folded on the floor by the coffee table, before disappearing. It had taken him an hour to find it under the guest bed, with only its skinny, slightly crooked, tail visible when he’d stuck his head and a flashlight under there.

“Nic said if I adopted you, I’d always have companionship.” But the kitten hadn’t responded to his guilt trip.

Will had finally given up waiting for it to come out and so he had gone to his own bed, and now it was exploring the upstairs. He’d closed as many doors as he could, but he could hear it throw its weight against the bathroom one, its soft paws slipping over the wood it desperately wanted out of the way. It was determined but powerless—which felt like one of those metaphors Ella’s husband would point out to his students.

Then . . . silence. Who knew where she was going now. Will wouldn’t be surprised if she found a way to get into the attic crawl space.

A soft weight landed on his comforter.

“Now you want to talk.”

The kitten stalked up to him. She placed one front paw, then the other, on his chest before lowering more of her weight onto him. Her whiskers brushed over his face, so lightly he almost thought he was mistaken.

“Hey.” His voice sounded rough, and he felt foolish.

But then the damn cat began to purr, and some bolt or screw that he’d tightened to the point of pain loosened in his chest. What was it that Nic had said, that having your own animal was nice? He could see that.

He rubbed a finger over the kitten’s shoulder, which felt as fragile as a sparrow’s. “How does the house seem? You going to be okay here?”

The purring continued. She bumped her head against his chest, and he rubbed that spot between her ears where you could feel the jut of her sagittal crest. She liked that, and she rotated her head back and forth, getting him to put pressure where she wanted it.

“You think you’re in charge now.”

She purred in affirmation.

“I guess you’re going to need a name.” He ought to ask Nic how she’d named all those chickens of hers. “Nic seems to like mythology and old movie-showgirl names. Maybe . . . Gilda? But you seem kinda like a badass in the making. So Amelia?” He couldn’t think of any other daredevils other than Evel Knievel, and he knew Nic would have a fit if he named the cat after a motorcycle-riding stuntman.

The kitten settled next to him, propped up against his side, and began vigorously cleaning her belly, purring loudly the entire time. Grooming behavior: that was a sign of real trust.

“You’re going to have to leave the toilet paper alone.”

Her entire body shook as she cleaned herself. She was too small to do anything with only part of herself.

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