Cupid Cats

by Katie MacAlister

  “It’s kind of nice taking an animal for a walk,” Jon said. “I haven’t had much opportunity to do that.”

  “Not even as a kid?”

  “You remember, Mom’s allergic. Now I could get a dog, I guess. I’d have to buy a bigger place with lots of acreage to let it run around. But I’m gone so much, and taking a dog on location doesn’t always work out well.”

  “It’d be easier to take a cat.”

  He nodded. “Could be. Although when I go out of the country, there’s no pet I could take. In the end, I’m afraid my dog, or my cat, or my hamster would bond more with whomever I hired as a pet-sitter than with me. That’s not right.”

  “You’d want a hamster?”

  He flashed that famous grin. “Probably not.”

  “Because a manly Oscar nominee couldn’t have a cute little hamster as a pet?”

  His grin widened. “No, because the squeak of the exercise wheel would drive me batshit crazy.”

  “Better stop smiling like that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because a teenage girl just turned onto this street and is walking toward us. Your smile is one of a kind.”

  “You’re paranoid, you know that?”

  “Sometimes paranoia is a good thing. I’m telling you, wipe that grin off your face before she gets close enough to see it. Oh, by the way, we’re passing the shelter where I got Darwin.”

  Jon glanced at the house. “That’s a very pink paint job. I guess it goes with the Cupid Cats theme, huh?”

  “That’s my guess.”

  “Have you noticed Darwin has this spot on his right haunch that looks exactly like a heart?”

  “I have. And I’ve wondered if it’s natural or if Esmeralda gave him a dye job. She’s just strange enough that she might have. Listen, maybe we should turn around before we pass that girl.”

  Jon laughed. “Take it easy. It will attract more attention if we hang a U-turn and hotfoot it in the other direction. Just act normal.”

  Kate took a slow breath and let it out. She probably was overreacting. One skinny teenager with dark curly hair did not equate to a mob of camera-wielding fans and media types.

  The teenager—dressed in shorts, a halter top, and sandals—was only about ten yards away now. Kate noticed that she was talking on her cell phone, so maybe they could pass by her without being noticed.

  Except the girl stopped and pointed to Darwin. “That is adorable,” she said into her phone. “Megan, you should see this. A lady is walking a cat on a leash! Wait—I’ll show you.”

  Before Kate could react, the girl had pointed her camera phone at Darwin and snapped a picture. Fortunately, all her attention was focused on the cat.

  The girl smiled as she was about to pass them. “That’s so cute. I had to show my friend. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “It’s fine,” Kate said. She hoped Jon would have the good sense to keep his mouth shut. So far, so good.

  Darwin, however, wasn’t nearly so savvy. The darned cat stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, gazed up at the girl, and meowed as if making his bid to be fawned over.

  “And he has blue eyes!” The girl crouched down to pet a loudly purring and happily prancing Darwin. “Megan, his eyes are the same blue as that turquoise necklace Jared gave you for your birthday. And there’s turquoise in the harness, too.”

  Kate’s jaw clenched. “You know what? We really should be going. Come along, Darwin.”

  The girl stood. “Thanks for letting me pet him. He’s really soft.” Then she glanced at Kate and Jon. “Nice to meet you. I’m . . .” Her jaw dropped. “No way. No way.”

  Kate’s stomach pitched as she anticipated what was coming.

  “You’re Jon Ramsey!” The girl practically screamed it. “You’re freakin’ Jon Ramsey! I own all your movies! I can’t freakin’ believe this!”

  Kate glanced at Jon. He shrugged as if to say there was no help for it. Kate decided he was right. This girl was a loyal fan, and trying to lie his way out wouldn’t be right.

  Jon stepped forward. “What’s your name?”

  “Courtney.” She began jumping up and down. “Courtney Spinelli! Omigod, omigod, omigod. I need you to autograph something, but I don’t even have a pen. I didn’t bring my purse. I just decided to come up and see the cats. Omigod, omigod! Can I take your picture?”

  “Sure.” Jon sounded cool as a blended margarita. “Listen, Courtney, could I ask you a big favor?”

  “Anything! I’d do anything for you!”

  “I’m here on vacation for a few days just to get away from everything, so if you could keep it to yourself about seeing me, I’d appreciate it.”

  Courtney winced. “I won’t tell anyone, except . . .” She held up the cell phone. Wild screeching noises could be heard coming from it. “Except for Megan.”

  “You could tell Megan to keep it to herself, too,” Jon said.

  “I will. Right now.” She held the phone to her ear. “Megan, you can’t tell anybody about this. You . . . Oh no . . . you didn’t . . . Oh, Megan, that’s bad. That’s very bad.” Courtney glanced at Jon. “She just sent an e-mail blast to everyone in her address book. And she—she knows a lot of people.”

  “Then we need to leave now.” Kate scooped Darwin into her arms and started back toward the B and B. Jon followed.

  “I’m sorry!” Courtney called after them. “I got so excited! I love you, Jon!”

  “That shout-out didn’t help.” Kate walked faster as she heard a front door opening. Then the motor of a car sounded behind them.

  “She’s probably fifteen, if that. It’s not her fault. It’s mine, for thinking I could walk around unrecognized.”

  “Oh my goodness! Megan was right!” Ahead of them, a woman hurried down her porch steps with her camera in her hand. She was breathing fast. “This is probably an imposition, but can I take your picture? Better yet, could she take a picture of me with you?”

  “I’d love to,” Jon said, “but I’m a little concerned that we’ll have a mob scene in a minute if I stop.”

  Behind them, the car engine cut off and doors slammed. “Jon! Jon Ramsey!”

  Jon turned. “Listen, I—”

  Cameras clicked as at least five people emerged from the car.

  “This is so cool,” said a guy who looked to be a little older than Courtney. “Can we take a picture with you, man?”

  “Not right this minute,” Jon said. “But contact my Facebook page, okay? And I’m on Twitter. We can hook up that way.” He grabbed Kate’s elbow and propelled her down the street.

  Panic wrapped icy fingers around her throat, cutting off her breath. She had flashbacks of being at the senior prom with Jon and the resulting media feeding frenzy.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know how you hate this.”

  “No, you don’t! You have no idea how much I hate this. Oh, Jon, they’re coming from the other direction, too. We’re trapped.”

  “Maybe not, dearies.” Esmeralda appeared on the sidewalk in front of her pink house. “When the dust devil comes into my yard, duck into my place.”

  “Esmeralda?” Kate was surprised to see the woman appear so suddenly, and even more surprised by what she’d said. She scanned the area. I don’t see a dust devil.”

  “It’s right there.” Esmeralda pointed to her neighbor’s yard where a mini-tornado filled with dust and debris rose up as if by magic and headed toward them.

  Jon grabbed Kate’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  As the dust devil obscured their retreat, Kate held tight to Darwin and ran up Esmeralda’s walk. Jon wrenched open the front door and Kate dashed inside. Quickly following after her, Jon closed the door.

  Darwin clung to Kate, his whole body rigid. She forced herself to relax. Leaning down, she rubbed the top of his head with her chin. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “Everything’s okay.”

  Jon moved to a front window and peered out. “That’s the most peculiar dust devil I’ve ever seen. It’s ju
st hovering around the front yard, except sometimes it moves toward the crowd. Usually dust devils sweep through and are gone.”

  Kate joined him at the window. “That is strange. Maybe it’s a Bisbee dust devil, so therefore it’s different.”

  “Maybe. But look at Esmeralda. She’s standing there as if she’s . . . No, that’s stupid.”

  “What?”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s spinning her finger the same way the dust devil is turning, as if . . .”

  “But that’s impossible.”

  “Yeah, I know. My mind’s playing tricks on me.” He turned from the window and looked at Kate. “I’m so sorry. Going on the walk with you was dumb on my part.”

  “Or maybe it was for the best.”

  He looked into her eyes. “Kate, I—”

  “Dust devils can come in very handy!” A slightly windblown Esmeralda came through the door. “Can I make you two a cup of tea?”

  “Not for me, thanks.” Jon glanced at her. “It’s uncanny how that thing came out of nowhere and then hung around your yard.”

  “Nature is amazing.” Esmeralda smiled. “Rash all cleared up?”

  Kate felt the need to explain. “I was trying to protect Jon’s identity,” she said. “I hated making up stories, but he—”

  “Is a famous movie star.” Esmeralda looked him up and down. “I saw Synchronicity three times. You should have won the Oscar.”

  “Thank you. Maybe next time.”

  “I predict you will win one for your next film.” Esmeralda walked toward her tiger-striped sofa. “Did Kate point out my camouflaged kitties?” She plucked a nearly invisible cat from the sofa and cuddled it against her ample breasts.

  Jon surveyed the room. “Good God, they match the upholstery. Lucky I didn’t try to sit down.”

  “Oh, they would have moved,” Esmeralda said. “They’re smart cats. And now I suppose you two would like to sneak out the back way and go home.”

  “Yes,” Kate said. “Yes, please. But I’ve never walked along the back side of the properties. Is there an obvious path?”

  “Of course there is.” Esmeralda chuckled. “Wherever you have kids there’s a path behind the houses. Some of them like to come up the back way to see the crazy lady with all the cats. I do magic tricks for them, you see. Well, come along. I’ll take you to the back door and point you in the right direction.”

  Esmeralda led them through her house, which was filled with the scent of incense and New Age music. Then she ushered them through the back door and into the yard, which contained a fire pit with a circle of stones around it.

  “Nice fire pit,” Jon said. “Do you cook over it?”

  “Sometimes.” At the back gate, Esmeralda scratched under Darwin’s chin. “He’s working out for you?”

  “He’s terrific,” Kate said. “I wish he hadn’t stopped to be petted by that young girl, because that’s what started the ruckus, but I can’t blame him for loving the attention.”

  Esmeralda gave Darwin a last scratch behind his ears. “Just remember that everything happens as it should.”

  “Thanks for everything, Esmeralda. And I will remember that.” As Kate walked with Jon along a dirt path to the back of the B and B, she thought about what Esmeralda had said in parting—everything happens as it should.

  Kate had been living in a dream world, thinking that she could have a temporary relationship with Jon and emerge in one piece. Darwin had helped wake her up.

  Once they were back in the kitchen and she’d removed Darwin’s harness, she turned to Jon. “We need to talk.”

  “I’ll make coffee.”

  “That would be nice.” She didn’t want coffee, but she supposed it would give them something to focus on while they had what she perceived as a difficult discussion.

  She could feel a storm coming outside, too, as if to mirror the tension inside. But the air was still and hot. She left the back door open so they could catch any breeze coming through the screen.

  As Jon set the coffee mugs on the walnut kitchen table, Darwin claimed his perch on top of the refrigerator.

  Kate sat across from Jon at the round table and cradled her coffee mug in both hands. “You probably think I overreacted out there.”

  “No. Well, maybe a little.” Jon wrapped his hands around his warm mug. “It’s never nice to be taken by surprise. But Kate, it doesn’t have to be like that. I usually manage my public appearances so they don’t get out of hand. I had the bad judgment to be spontaneous. That was a mistake, and I apologize.”

  Kate left her coffee untouched as she gazed at him across the small table. “Now that you’ve been spotted here, you’ll have to leave, won’t you?”

  “I’m afraid so. The word will make its way to the media pretty quick.” He hesitated. “Come with me.”

  “Jon, I can’t.”

  “Sure, you can. Close up the B and B for the rest of the week. It’s not as if you’d be losing business for Maggie. And you can bring Darwin. We’ll buy him a soft-sided carrier and take him on the plane. I can call now and my jet will be waiting for us at Tucson International.”

  Dear God, he was serious. “It’s not the B and B or Darwin I’m worried about. It’s me. I can’t go with you. Or maybe I should say I won’t.”

  He reached for her hand and sandwiched it between both of his. “Kate, please don’t freak out on me because of this incident today. I think we have something special between us. I’d like to explore that and see where it leads.”

  His hands felt so warm and reassuring. She wanted to weep. “Being here together was great, but it’s not the way you live. What just happened is more normal for you, and it’s—it’s not the way I want to live. I had enough of it as a child, and you know that.”

  “Hey, I’m hardly ever forced to duck into a cat shelter under cover of a dust devil.” He smiled as he caressed her warm palm with his thumb.

  She braced herself, unwilling to be charmed into a decision that would be so wrong for her. “Maybe not, but you’ll have to admit that crowd control is a constant problem.”

  “It’s an issue, but don’t judge my situation based on what happened this morning. My team is amazing. With the right precautions, you’d hardly ever have that kind of situation. I was stupid, and I take all the blame for that mismanaged fustercluck.”

  “You don’t get it. I don’t want my life to be managed by a team of experts.” Kate swallowed a lump of sorrow and soldiered on. “Esmeralda told me to remember that everything happens as it should. She’s right. I needed something like this to happen before”—she looked into his eyes—“before it’s too late.”

  His grip tightened. “I think it’s already too late. It was probably too late the minute I walked into this B and B and realized . . .” His green eyes glowed with purpose. “Please come to LA with me. Let me show you that fame doesn’t have to be the monster you imagine. Look at stars such as Paul Newman and Joanne Wood-ward. For that matter, look at my grandfather.”

  “Those are the exceptions. You were lucky to have a grandfather like Trevor Ramsey. My sisters and I weren’t so lucky.” She shivered. “You can’t imagine the hell of walking past a magazine rack and seeing a picture of your haggard-looking father staring back at you with the headline ‘Ben Back in Rehab.’ ”

  Jon’s voice was soothing. “You’re right. I don’t know how that feels. I’m the living proof that it doesn’t have to be that way. And you’re not eighteen anymore. You can deal with a little public attention, especially if it’s not negative. I know you can.”

  She pulled her hand away. “But I don’t want to, Jon! I escaped from that life, and I never want to go back. Never.”

  He gazed at her for several long seconds. “Not even to be with me?”

  She couldn’t make herself say the word, but her silence was answer enough.

  “Okay, then. I guess that’s it.” He shoved back his chair and stood. “I might as well pack up and get out of here if you won�
��t even . . . Damn it, Kate! Couldn’t you just try? Couldn’t you at least give us a chance?”

  “And have my picture show up in the tabloids every other week? It’ll probably be there after what happened this morning, won’t it?”

  He opened his mouth as if to deny it, then closed it again. “Maybe,” he said at last. “Yeah, maybe. But so what? Who cares about the tabloids? Are you going to let that keep us from being together, when what we have is so amazing?”

  Her throat was tight with unshed tears. She hated hearing the agony in his voice, hated seeing the pain in his eyes. But she had no words of comfort for him. “I’m sorry, Jon. I shudder every time I think of being in a fishbowl again. It won’t work between us.”

  “Because you won’t let it.” Blowing out a breath, he turned and left the kitchen.

  Numb with sorrow, Kate sat at the table listening to him slam and bang around upstairs. This moment would have come eventually, she realized—if not now, then at the end of the week. Yes, they were falling back into love with each other. They both knew that, but nothing had changed since high school. They still wanted completely different lives.

  When she heard him coming down the stairs, she walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. She’d dig deep and find the courage to say good-bye with grace and dignity.

  Jon stared at her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts.

  “I’m sorry your vacation didn’t work out the way you’d hoped,” she said.

  “It had its good points.”

  “Take care of yourself, Jon.”

  “I will. Say good-bye to Darwin.”

  “Do you want me to go get him?”

  Jon shook his head. “Don’t disturb him.” He picked up his suitcase. “Good-bye, Kate.” As he opened the front door, the wind caught it, slamming it against the stopper with a loud thump.

  “I guess the storm’s finally coming,” she said.