The Truth About Us by Tia Souders

Author:Tia Souders [Souders, Tia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cherry Valley Press
Published: 2018-09-04T05:00:00+00:00

LEANNE MCCALLISTER had the cat lady thing down. A calico brushed past Abby’s legs before disappearing into the hallway, only to be replaced by a white and orange tabby.

Kaden turned to her as Leanne motioned them to follow, his eyes wide as he took in their surroundings. With a meaningful look, Abby tipped her head toward the living room Leanne entered with one cat on her heels and two Persians perched on the back of the couch. She mouthed, Come on.

He widened his eyes and shook his head.

Brushing past them, Cammie sauntered into the room without a care in the world. “Nice place,” she said, plopping down on an armchair in front of a large bay window.

Abby bit her knuckles, stifling a laugh. Leave it to Cammie to make herself at home.

Shrugging, she motioned for Kaden to follow and entered the room behind Leanne, praying there might be a chair devoid of cat.

Not a chance.

She took a seat on the sofa with Kaden next to her—perched so only an inch of his butt rested on the edge of the couch, peering around at the cat behind him which hissed and swiped a paw at the back of his head.

Abby chuckled while Leanne waved the cat away. “Oh, don’t worry about him. He doesn’t like visitors much,” she said, then bent down to pick up a black cat with shining green eyes. “We don’t get too many since Dad died.”

Beside her, Kaden coughed, pounding his chest with his fist.

“Oh, dear. You all right?” Leanne asked.

He nodded, wincing as he wheezed, then leaned into Abby. “Pet dander.”

Abby rolled her eyes. With a cleansing breath, she focused on the task at hand rather than the boy beside her.

“So, y’all wanna tell her why we’re here?” Cammie asked, staring at them.

Kaden nudged her in the side, prodding her to talk, but she forgot everything they had rehearsed in the car. Searching for something to say, she mumbled, “Um... So, you like cats?”

The couch shook beside her, and she could make out Kaden in her peripheral, trembling with suppressed laughter. As if to punctuate her statement, a gray cat with thick fur and copper-colored eyes stalked across the living room.

“Hey, isn’t that a British Shorthair?” Cammie piped in, pointing at the cat.

“Why, yes. It is.” Leanne beamed. “I got her a couple years ago.”

“They’re beautiful. My mom used to have one. It was always my favorite. Now we just have our orange tabby.”

Abby could practically see Leanne relax, and she said a silent prayer of thanks for Cammie’s presence.

“Is the tabby a boy or girl?”

“A girl.” Cammie smiled.

“Ah, so she’s rare. The orange ones are almost always boys.”

“How many do you have?”

“I have sixteen now.”

Kaden turned ashen as he glanced to Abby in horror, but Cammie listened with rapt interest.

“I know. They’re a lot, but after my dad died, I just...they helped me. We had already had two, and then I rescued two more from an alley in the city. Animals are very therapeutic. And once you get one, well, it’s hard to stop.

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