by Lisa Freed
“Yes, she is,” I agreed, though I certainly hadn’t seen that in my brief time with her. But once a cat has found their human it’s amazing the bond they have.
Helen placed Esmeralda into the carrier and wrote me a check for the Whisker Kisses adoption fee. I grabbed a bag of cat food from my pantry and carried it to her car while she loaded up her new cat. Despite making fun of the name, Helen insisted she planned to continue calling her Esmeralda, or just Alda.
Dashing back inside, I got my keys and moved my truck so Helen could back out. Once in the street, her horn gave a single cheery toot and off she went with her new friend. I pulled my Chevy Tahoe into the garage and then hot-footed back instead to take care of my scratches which were beginning to burn.
As I entered the house through the garage, Maverick glared at me. I shook my scratched arm at him, “Thanks a lot, buddy.”
After cleaning the scratches, one of which was much deeper than I had thought, and putting some Neosporin on them, I headed back upstairs to see how the rest of the crew had fared.
Agnes remained on my bed, not a care in the world. Daisy was in front of the guest bedroom where Jill was and was crying and clawing at the bottom of the door. Leaning down, I saw a black paw shoot out and tap Daisy’s nose. Leaving the girls to their getting-to-know-you play, I went to the second bedroom and found both Billy and Jean in the window surveying the backyard.
Standing behind them I leaned closer to peer down at what they were and saw nothing. “Well, you girls enjoy yourselves.”
Downstairs, I called in an order for Chinese and considered backing out of my dinner with John. My arm continued to throb and the beginnings of a headache pounded behind my eyes. Decorating could wait and so could John.
I have a valid reason, I kept telling myself as I hit the button for his phone and left a pretty whiny message. Tucking the phone into my back pocket, I went in search of some Aleve.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After yesterday’s misadventures, I felt more than ready to take on the day when I woke up to Daisy’s butt in my face. She normally wasn’t much of a cuddler so I was sure the presence of the other three cats in the house was affecting her. Even if she couldn’t see them, other than Jill’s lightning-fast paw, Daisy could smell and hear them.
Moving her to one side while sitting up, I stroked her black and white fur. “Just for a few weeks to keep them safe,” I informed her while giving a few scratches under her chin.
Before breakfast, I checked in on all three cats from the rescue and everyone continued to do great. A few minutes adding food to dishes, cleaning out water bowls, and doing litter scooping detail and then fifteen minutes just being in the same room with them.
I had just begun scrolling through Instagram when Jill’s light form settled into my lap. “Well, hi,” I said softly so as not to scare her, reaching out a hand to stroke her fur. Soft purrs vibrated through her thin body when I reached her ears and gave each a gentle pet along with some careful scratches.
When the time came to set her back down, I don’t know who was more reluctant, me or her. “Sorry, girl, Momma’s got to check on the other kitties too.”
Leaving the room as I shut the door behind me, her little paw shot out from under it. I leaned down and ran a finger along the shiny paw. “Jill, I’ll be back soon.”
Billy and Jean weren’t as friendly, though they appreciated the attention. Neither of them ventured into my lap, both seemed content to remain on the bed and receive some love while they rested.
My own three clamored around my bare feet in the kitchen singing the song of their people while I filled up their bowls and put down some moist cat food. After feeding them it was time for me to enjoy my breakfast. Sitting at the counter, I ate a bowl of cereal while reading a text John left for me.
It the light of day my childishness of getting out of dinner with him last night seemed just that. Why was I suddenly afraid to be with my best friend? I had known he was interested in being more than friends for years and he never pushed and I doubted he would. So what was bothering me about it now?
Ugh! I plowed my hands through my hair, my fingers tangling in a few snarls. Enough of this BS, time to shower and head into Whisker Kisses.
But right as I was heading into the garage, something that had been nagging at me for a while finally resurfaced from the vast wasteland that was my short-term memory. The creepy guy from Longwood! I had never checked out his plates. I dashed back inside and got out my laptop. While it was powering up, I pulled up the pictures of his license plate on my phone.
Typing his plate in, I waited while it searched. Frowning, I leaned closer when the report came up, unable to believe it. No traffic violations, nothing. Or nothing that Mr. Duncan Sanders had been caught on. Despite my feelings, there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t call the police and say, “Hey, check out ole Duncan he’s giving me a bad vibe.” But it was a shame I couldn’t.
Glancing at the time, I knew I had to let it go and get on with my day. I closed up the laptop, stuck my phone back in my purse which I had slung on the counter on my way through the kitchen a few minutes ago. I whizzed through the mudroom out to the garage and got in the Tahoe to head to Whisker Kisses.
Sandy greeted me with an ear to ear smile when I walked in. “Hey, T!” she chirped. “I know I never got back to you but Mrs. Appleton is coming over this evening to see Manny.”
“That’s awesome! And I’ve got a free schedule today so whatever time is fine with me. Who all is going to be there?” I asked, just being nosy.
“Everyone,” she giggled, tossing her head. Her mouth pulled down. “I did it again, didn’t I?”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Yup, still not used to short hair huh?”
“No!” she wailed. “And it’s been a week!”
Shaking my own head full of hair and feeling it swish around my shoulders and back I said a silent thank you to Lotte for talking me out of cutting mine.
Sandy’s bright blue eyes shot past me to the door and all but popped out.
Turning I saw Mateo entering and felt my own eyes widening.
“What a hunk!” Sandy hissed my way.
“Mateo,” I said, hearing a suddenly breathless quality to my voice and cringing.
“Lance who?” Sandy whispered giving my arm a friendly poke.
“Teresa, surprise!” Mateo said a warm smile spreading across his handsome face.
Today he was dressed in jeans, a dark blue sweater, and his hair was brushed to the side, no obnoxious pompadour or towering spikes. His beard was filling in very nicely giving him quite an air of maturity and just yumminess. If Sandy weren’t standing right there to witness the whole thing, I might have launched myself at him.
But I behaved, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I can’t believe you’re here. I never told you the name of the rescue.”
A deep chuckle rumbled out of his chest and his teeth flashed white against his dark beard. “There’s not many cat rescues in Delaware, let alone Rehoboth Beach.”
He had a point.
“Hi, there,” Sandy said in an overloud voice as if to remind us she was there. Trust me, I hadn’t forgotten.
“Mateo, this is one of the volunteers, Sandy. Sandy, this is Mateo, we met while I was in Greece.” I knew there was no way to send a telepathic message to him since he had an impenetrable wall around his mind but I hoped my panicked eye movements and finger to lips motions were easy enough for him to understand. Nobody outside of my sister, John, and now Mateo knew about my psychic abilities and no way did I need any of the Whisker Kisses people knowing I also had a psychic friend from overseas.
Sandy practically raced around the desk offering her outstretched hand to Mateo so I had zero worries about her seeing my frantic facial expressions but Mateo did raise an inky eyebrow at my antics.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sandy.”
“Likewise, Mateo. Are you Greek?” Sandy asked wasting no time battin
g her eyelash extensions at him.
“Yes, I am. I’m here on business and thought why not surprise Teresa by seeing where she volunteers at.”
“Volunteers?” Sandy said her head tipping to the right as she looked at him.
“Hey, how about a tour? Since you came all this way,” I said, grabbing ahold of his arm and steering him away from Sandy since I now had to worry about her blurting out information, I wasn’t ready for Mateo to know.
Mateo went willingly, giving the other girl a wave over his shoulder. “It’s so good to see you,” he said to me, his voice lowered and husky sounding.
My fingers clutched at his arm just a tad harder. “It’s wonderful to see you too. What a nice surprise!”
“I take it Sandy doesn’t know about you being a medium? That’s what those facial contortions were about?” he asked, his eyebrows raised and a slight smile tugging at his lips.
“Almost nobody does and I want to keep it that way.” I kept walking but he had stopped. Looking at him I saw his dark eyes were fixed on the stairs. Following his gaze, I saw Old Zeke sitting there, his teeth bared in a hiss.
“Your friend?” Mateo asked.
“He was. Old Zeke passed away while I was in Greece.” I couldn’t keep the sadness out of my voice.
Mateo’s warm fingers caressed my cheek, “I’m sorry for your loss. Losing someone you love is the most painful thing in this life,” his voice caught slightly and his fingers fell away from my face.
“Thank you, he had a long life but just not being there for the end,” I rolled my shoulders, my eyes going back to the spot where Zeke had been but he had vanished while I was looking at Mateo. “I just feel like I should have been there.”
I found myself pulled closer for a side hug, his crisp cologne filling my nose as his body heat warmed me. My heart should be going crazy at the contact but oddly this closeness to him didn’t affect me. Where was the giddiness at the mere thought of him? Or even the excitement that had filled me the moment I saw him come in?
Moving away my mind struggled to make sense of the sudden coolness I felt for him. We walked up the stairs so I could show him the different rooms and all the cats and I was distracted by his sharp intake of breath upon seeing the rows of black cats in cages in room one.
“Do you always have so many black cats?” he asked, and I could hear the awe in his voice.
That brought the smile back to my face. “No, not normally. Right now, they are here so we can protect them.”
He walked closer to the cages, his fingers rubbing against the outstretched paw from the small furry polydactyl we had named Pete. “Protect them? From what?” he asked, his attention firmly fixed on the large paw.
“People being jerks.” I pulled my hair away from my face and wished I had a hair tie with me. “Halloween is coming up and some people think black cats are bad luck or have a connection to the underworld and want to sacrifice them.”
Mateo’s dark head whipped around at that, his face a mask of disgust. “That must be an American thing. We do not have many black cats in Greece and the ones we do have roam freely.”
“I did notice all the strays there.” I tried to keep my voice light but he must have heard the tremor of disapproval.
Withdrawing his hand from Pete, Mateo stood back up and cast an amused look my way. “They are not all strays. Many of them have families or at the very least people that take care of them. It’s not uncommon for several cats to live near a restaurant or tavern and be mascots of a sort with the regular clientele loving on and feeding them. They are just more independent than your American lazy housecat.” His lips tilted upward in a smile that brought that zing of awareness back in full force and left my mouth dry.
“I guess that’s one way of looking at things,” I said just to make conversation. Then giggled a little. “You’re just lucky you’re only visiting or I would send a cat or two along with you.”
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Oh no, I’m far too busy for pets currently.” His eyes moved over me lighting a fire as they went. “While I love seeing where you work, I’m much more interested in seeing you.”
If I could purr, I would have. My smile felt flimsy as my fingers grasped each other to keep from fiddling in nervousness.
As I remained mute, Mateo’s eyes lowered and fixed themselves on my mouth. A roaring filled my ears making it hard to understand what he was saying.
“I’m sorry what?” my voice squeaked out.
“I asked if I can take you to lunch?”
“That would be….” I moistened my lips and started over, “that would be very nice.”
In a daze, I floated downstairs and gave Sandy a wobbly grin, “Mateo and I are going out for lunch. I’ll be back later for Manny’s appointment.”
“Sure, you will,” Sandy said with a wink.
Mateo guided me out and insisted on driving. Once into his rental BWM, some of my befuddlement evaporated and my senses became clearer. In the warm leather interior, I wondered more about his job that he couldn’t elaborate on. He never struck me as particularly well off in Greece, yet here he was renting a vehicle that was seen as a luxury car.
“Where would you like to go?” he asked, merging smoothly into traffic, his hands relaxed on the wheel.
“Outback, I love their bread,” popped out of my mouth. “Head toward the beach and it will be on your left.”
At the restaurant, Mateo gazed around and simply said, “Quirky.”
When our food came, I dug right in while he picked and moved his around more than actually eating. The conversation felt stilted and when I tried to tell him about my visit to Longwood with my niece, it seemed like Mateo was worlds away. He perked up some when I mentioned our encounter with Lance and his new wife. I was proud of myself for keeping the bitterness out of my voice.
“He moves quickly,” Mateo replied, drinking down the last of his iced tea.
I stabbed at my shrimp on the barbie, “You can say that again. And this is marriage number three!”
“I wonder if Victor had anything to do with this,” Mateo put in.
As I chewed, I considered that. Victor had mentioned knowing about Pam because Lance told him but what if Victor had hooked up with Pam while he was possessing Lance?! My hand trembled as I snatched my glass of Coke and slurped it noisily through the straw.
“The jerk would never tell me,” I muttered plopping my drink back down. “He had the nerve to ask for more money the other day.”
Mateo smiled at our waiter as she placed the check face down on the table. He waited for her to leave before speaking. “Did you give him some?” he asked gently. He glanced briefly at the check before taking a credit card out of his wallet and placing it down on the table.
I squirmed slightly in the booth, I hadn’t meant to mention Victor’s visit or me bankrolling his new lifestyle. “Yes, I did.” My eyes jumped around the restaurant refusing to meet his.
“If you need anything, let me know. I won’t have that jerk bleeding you dry.” His hand stretched across the table to cover mine.
Guilt stabbed at me and I opened my mouth to assure him that I could easily afford what I had given Victor but something stopped me. Mateo’s hand was cool and while it should have comforted me, I had to resist the urge to snatch it out from under his.
“No worries about that, I won’t allow it to happen,” I said, removing my hand as delicately as I could without alerting Mateo to the fact that his touch wasn’t as welcomed as it should have been. What in the world was wrong with me? A week ago, the idea of being touched by him would have sent shivers down my entire body and now here he was being sweet and trying to be supportive and I wanted to distance myself.
Perhaps it was merely his abilities that closed him off to me. I was used to feeling something from the touch of others and I found his emptiness to be off-putting. Surely that would change the closer we got. Yes, certainly. My mind eased.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
; Leaving the restaurant, Mateo turned the collar of his wool mackinaw up and gave a grimace as he scanned the gray sky.
“Is Greece very warm in the fall and winter?” I ask, enjoying the mild day myself.
“The nights can be cool but the days are in the teens,” he said, giving me a tight smile.
“The teens?!” I gulped.
His mouth went up in a lopsided grin that reminded me how close in age we really were. “Celsius. In Fahrenheit, I believe that would be in the fifties.”
I smiled back, “That sounds great for winter.”
“We occasionally get snow, though nothing like what I imagine you get.”
He opened the car door and waited while I slid inside then closed the door gently. When he got in, we sat for a moment in the quiet vehicle.
“It’s a shame you don’t like the weather, we’re very close to the boardwalk,” I said breaking the silence.
“I don’t mind the weather, it’s just an adjustment. I would very much like to see your ocean.” He turned on the car and easily found his way to the boardwalk without any help from me. I marveled at his sense of direction. I always joked I could get lost in a paper bag with the end popped out.
The wind blew across the water carrying the tangy sweet smell of the sea to me and tossing my hair in my eyes and face. I bit my lip when I saw Mateo’s hair didn’t move, not a single strand was out of place.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked, taking my hand in his as we walked along the boardwalk our footsteps thumping on the wooden boards. A few other people were milling around but the shops were closed so the crowds wouldn’t return until May when the weather turned warmer.
I gave his arm a bump with my shoulder. “What do you put in your hair?” I asked innocently.
“Why?” He laughed, his right hand going to his unmoving hair.
“Is it glue?” I busted out laughing. I wasn’t so far gone that I didn’t feel the zing sizzling up my arm from our joined hands. He was annoyed. And I could feel it.
