Accidentally Catty

by Dakota Cassidy

  “See,” Shaw said. “I was just looking out for you.”

  Katie lifted a weak hand to shoo him away while afraid to believe he was still alive. “Take your bromance elsewhere—he still called me old. I don’t care if he saved me from some crazy scientist and her band of merry goons.” But she did.

  Shaw was alive!

  Shaw chuckled. Slow and low. “I was trying to stay calm so I wouldn’t shift. Darnell said he told you what my grandfather said.”

  God, he made her heart tremble. “So you had to stay calm at the expense of my big words and nagging qualities?”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Whatever gets the job done.”

  “Job well done,” she remarked on a yawn, fighting the call of more sleep that even Shaw’s miraculous recovery couldn’t thwart. But wait. Before sweet oblivion called to her again, she needed to stay focused. “You died. After all those horrible things you said, you died and didn’t give me the chance to find just the right big word for your fuckwittery.”

  “Hookay, everyone, this is where we vamoose,” she heard Wanda demand. Though it was a shaky demand.

  “Chicken,” Shaw called on another laugh.

  “I am no such thing,” Wanda retorted.

  “Oh, you are so, Wanda,” Nina chided. “You know the kind of shit we could get into for doing what we did. Jesus Christ on a cracker. And you call me a troublemaker.”

  Katie fought the close of her eyes. She wanted to cling to him, wrap her arms around his neck, but not a muscle in her body was willing to cooperate. “What did Wanda do?”

  “She saved me.”

  “Mouth-to-mouth? CPR?” Katie wondered aloud. Wait. No. He’d been dead. Nissa had euthanized him . . .

  Nina snorted. No one snorted like Nina. “Yeah. CPR via werevamp bite. And again, I say, fuck you for always calling me a troublemaker. All of you.”

  Wanda bristled. “No one has to know, okay? My goodness. You’d think I raped and plundered small villages. I saved a man for the woman he loves. Enough said. All of you get out of here right now and leave these two alone. Katie’s exhausted and Shaw . . . well, he—”

  “He’s a cougar werevamp,” Nina provided generously to the tune of feet shuffling. “Uh, we think. Look, I tried to tell Wanda this shit don’t fly where we come from, but she’s always reading those stupid romance novels, and the writer in her just couldn’t let an opportunity like true love pass. So. Much. Bullshit. And the hell I’m getting a shunning for her googly-eyed love-rules crap. Got that, people? I was never there.”

  Wanda latched onto Nina’s arm and dragged her out the door. “You just shut that mouth of yours and go back downstairs or you won’t know shunning. Teeny needs help packing for her cruise. Only you know where her denture cream is.”

  Kaih planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Boss. Rest up, okay?”

  “Yeah,” Ingrid agreed, squeezing her hand. “Rest up. We’ve got everything covered.”

  As everyone filed out, Shaw, in all his yummy smelling, hardbodied goodness sat next to her on the bed, taking her hand in his alive-and-well one. She so wanted to throw her arms around him—smile at him—kiss his lips, but sleep was a monkey on her back. “You’re a cougar werevamp?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I just know I’m still alive. That’s all that matters.”

  God. He’d risked his life for her and the baby. How could she have doubted that he was capable of that? How could she not have the strength to beat him senseless for it? “How could you do something so stupid?”

  “You mean ride in on Darnell’s white SUV and rescue the heroine?”

  “Yes,” she muttered, groggy and drifting, but still gripped by the memory of the horror of his lifeless body. “I was so—so scared you were dead. Don’t ever do that again. At least not until I have the chance to give you what for for calling me a nag—and old.”

  Shaw chuckled once more. “When tangling with death, I promise not to die before you can appropriately scold me. Noted.”

  “You risked your life for me . . . for the baby . . .”

  “And it’s over now, Katie.”

  Over. Yes. Finally. “Your grandfather?”

  “He’s fine and on the mend. The animal park is his. Mr. Magoo is only the caretaker. My grandfather led everyone to believe Magoo owned it so he could do his research in peace. He’s been hiding from Nissa since my birth, hoping to find a cure to our breed’s extinction.”

  “And the other animals? Shifters, too?”

  “No. All of the animals were brought to him because they were rescues of some kind. Esmeralda and Mr. Magoo moved them when my grandfather was injured so someone qualified could take care of them while he mended.”

  “Esmeralda? She was there that night . . .”

  “The town’s accusations about her are right. She is a witch. A witch with one hell of an antidote for what ailed me and what ailed Nissa.”

  “Nissa . . .” She shivered at the thought of her.

  “How about we talk about all of this another time, after you’ve rested, honey? We need to talk, but not now.”

  “Talk about what? How old I am?”

  “Stop grudging,” he said on a laugh, massaging her arm, making her sleepier.

  “Why am I so tired?”

  “Trauma, I believe. A good dose of shock, too. Not to mention, you’re pregnant. The past couple of days’ events have taken their toll.You need to rest, and then we’ll talk about you and me and the baby, and Nissa, if we have to.”

  “You and me . . . maybe you should wait to make decisions about that. Heat-of-the-moment stuff.” She forced herself to put those words out there. Because it was only right to offer him one last out. And if he didn’t take it—he was SOL.

  Forever.

  “Let’s wait on everything, Katie.You sleep.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and he was gone.

  What did wait on everything mean? Did it mean that he wanted to wait to decide she was what he wanted? Did he want to go back to wherever he came from and do the waiting while he was deciding? But her eyes drifted closed, her mind shut down before she could make a protest or ask for his definition of wait.

  And then there was peace.

  KATIE sat alone in her kitchen a week later—miserable. A box of tissues sat on the kitchen table as the mob swarmed at her feet while Dozer and Yancey lounged in the living room. Ingrid and Kaih had left for the day, leaving her to simmer in her stupidity.

  And she was really good at it.

  She rubbed her swollen belly, wondering how long her gestation would last, and if it would indeed be half the time of a normal pregnancy like Marty had suggested.

  If her belly was any indication, she couldn’t afford another three months of this or she’d explode. With a sigh, she talked to her stomach, something she’d been doing a lot of lately since everyone had gone home. “So where do you think Daddy is, squirt?”

  Yeah. Where was Daddy? When she’d woken two days later after the nightmare showdown with Nissa, Shaw had gone missing, breaking what was left of her heart.

  Nina, Wanda, and the others claimed they’d woken up the next day to take Teeny to the airport for her cruise, and he was gone. Nina had offered to hunt his smarmy ass down, but Katie refused. She wasn’t going to force herself and the baby on him.

  She’d hoped all he needed was some time to assimilate. He was, after all, a whole new breed of paranormal. Add into the mix finding his grandfather, and the horrible showdown with Nissa, and Katie was left wondering if time to himself was what he sought.

  And still, he was gone.

  Why, her heart had screamed until she’d remembered her last words to him while she was shopping for maternity clothes from Omar the Tentmaker today.

  It had hit her with sudden clarity—much the way bits and pieces of that conversation in her bedroom had. She’d told him to wait to make any important decisions.

  Because she was just too bright for words. She’d pushed
one time too many, and clearly, Shaw had had enough.

  Her cell phone vibrated, and just like she had for the past week, she scooped it up, hoping against hope it was Shaw.

  But it wasn’t—it was OOPS, tweeting her.

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Doc? You up and bawlin’ your eyes out again abt Catdog?

  And then a surge of new hope washed over her.Yes. She was bawling her eyes out again. But did she have to? How hard could Shaw be to find and stalk? Maybe this wasn’t as hopeless as she’d once thought.

  So enough sitting around and whining. Suck it up, buttercup, as Nina would say. Katie tweeted Nina back.

  Katieloveskitties @OOPS Help! I’ve done something stupid.

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Is that you, Doc Woods?

  Katieloveskitties @OOPS Yes! Need help pronto.

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Do you want my surprised look?

  Katie giggled through her tears. Nina. That had to be Nina.

  Katieloveskitties @OOPS Don’t beat me up. Help me!

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Are u gonna whine?

  Katieloveskitties @OOPS Have I yet? Even with a paw?

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Point. So shoot.

  Katieloveskitties @ OOPS. Can’t in 140 characters. Where’s Wanda?

  Wanda was definitely the better bet for sage relationship advice.

  OOPS @katieloveskitties In Boca. On romantic getaway w/man. Just me. Sucks 2 b u. ROFLMAO. #Ninasefffinfunny

  Katieloveskitties @OOPS You near a phone? #desperatetotalktoyou

  OOPS @katieloveskitties Wanda took OOPS phone away. Said I was bad 4 customer care. Nazi. Call me on my private cell.

  Katie grabbed her cell phone and pressed Nina’s name. “Nina? Thank God.”

  Nina snorted in her ear. “Can’t say I hear that often. So, s’up, Doc? How’s it goin’? Any batshit-crazy stepmothers you need taken out?”

  “I did something stupid. I told Shaw we should think about this relationship thing before we made any rash decisions,” she said with a groan. Which was practical and adultlike, if not lonely and a black void.

  “You sent all that hot back to England? We wondered where he’d gone. What the fuck is wrong with you, dipshit?”

  Katie ran a hand over her swollen belly and winced. “I just remembered today what I said to him that night before I passed out. I told him he shouldn’t make any rash decisions. I know what I meant to add to that conversation, but I couldn’t seem to spit the words out. It all happened so fast, Nina. One day I was a veterinarian with a tainted past, the next I was queen of the cougars with a paw. Then I was doing things with a man I thought was half my age—”

  “Yeah,” Nina interrupted. “But they were good things, right?”

  “Is that really the point?”

  Nina paused for a moment, and then she said, “What is the point, Katie? I know it happened fast. I know shit got hot and heavy before you had the chance to wrap all of your fucking logic around it, but sometimes, there is no logic to falling in love or how fast it happens. Do you think you’d be so miserable if you didn’t love him?”

  Katie scoffed into the phone. “I never said one word about miserable. I’m a little sad, but nothing more.” She gripped the box of tissues and hurled them into her kitchen sink, as if Nina would see them and catch her in a total lie.

  “Oh, the fuck you say. You forget, I can read minds, and the whole time we were in Backwater Creek, you were worried Three Name had a wife or kids and he’d have to leave you and go back to his life. Don’t bullshit me. As soon as the shit that went down was over, you got some hinky thoughts. Shoulda kept your mouth shut until the shock passed.”

  “I think I was just overwhelmed and afraid.”

  “That it’d all wear off once he got over the trauma of what went down. Because you were his life preserver when he had no one else. You figured once all of the unknowns about him passed, the way he felt about you would pass, too. Because we all know in dire situations, people do dire things. Like wonk until the entire town of Deliverance called to tell you to shut the fuck up because they couldn’t hear their own banjos twanging.”

  “Ye—yes.”

  “Look, Doc. I get it. Totally. This all happened fast, but who says finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with doesn’t happen fast? Who the fuck says you have to know if they like brussels sprouts or broccoli before you decide to be together? Is there some kinda law or some shit that says you have to know every deet about the Lion King? Why can’t you find out in a month just as easily as you can find out in a hundred years?You two worked. It was cool. From the sounds of the bedroom he was in, it was crazy cool.”

  “But that was sex—”

  “Yeah, yeah—like that shit isn’t important? Dude, you can go watch another TV if he likes stupid shit like the DIY channel and you wanna watch Animal Planet, but you can’t make him turn you on if he doesn’t. Sex is important. Especially if he’s the only dude you’re gonna have it with for a very long, long time.”

  Nina had a way of simplifying things with such crude honesty everything made sense. “But what if the sex is the only thing we have?”

  “Then have a lot of it.”

  Katie barked a laugh into the cell phone.

  “Here’s the short of it, Doc, and it’s gonna be short because you’re getting on my nerves with the whine. Shaw loves you. You definitely love him. You’re having a baby. Watch Oprah if you trip up on some relationship troubles you can’t solve. She’s got all the answers, right? It isn’t like you have to mate for life with him like I did with Greg. Not that I regret that decision. Best damn thing I ever did. But just because you say you’re willing to give it a shot, doesn’t mean you have to wear white. Not that you’re supposed to. Not if you listen to Marty. Because, you know, you’re a tarnished woman. Whatever. Point is you can whine about it, or you can give this thing a shot. Either you’re in or you’re out. Love is love—even if it’s only for a little while, that beats never. And here’s something else to think about. We helped take care of him, too, you know. We were life preservers, too. But he didn’t fall in love with me or Wanda or even Ingrid, did he? End lecture. Hurry with a response. I’m getting bored.”

  Katie grinned into the phone. “So I guess that means I’m going to England. Somewhere in England . . . I know he told me the name of the town, I just can’t remember it right now.”

  “Tallyho and all that bullshit. I’ll find him. Don’t you worry. You want me to hook you up with reservations? I tweet with this guy who works for Expedia. Oh, and I don’t like you goin’ alone with the baby bump. I’ll go with. Just so I know you’re okay and the trio from hell doesn’t give me agita with how insensitive I am, letting you go off to England alone and preggers.”

  Katie’s heart clenched. All of her friends back in the city had abandoned her when those charges had been brought against her. Yet these women, women who knew nothing about her a month ago, had become the ones she sought for advice. They were the women who’d set their lives aside to help her enter the paranormal world with greater ease. They were the women who had saved her from Nissa Lithgow without ever thinking about their own safety. They were her friends now. Whether Nina liked it or not.

  “Nina?”

  “What?”

  “You’re an awesome person. I’d hug you until you turn blue in the face if I could right now.”

  “Fuck you.”

  But Katie heard the grin in her tone. “I’ll do that. In the meantime, while you make reservations, I’ll pack. Call me when we’re good to go.”

  “You got it. Oh, and pack cards or something. I need to keep busy. I fucking hate to fly.”

  “But you can fly, Nina.”

  “Oh, yeah. I say we can the reservations and fly Nina Express.”

  “Not for as long as I have breath left in me.”

  “Whiner.”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine. I’ll see you in an hour or so, and don’t pack a lot of bullshit girly
crap. We go get him, drag his ass back here, and we’re out.”

  WITH frozen fingers, Katie rapped on the door to her future while Nina gave the taxi driver hell. When the weathered door opened, Shaw let it flap in the cold breeze, crossing his arms over his chest. Gruffly sexy, rakishly hot. Her stomach clenched.

  She took a deep gulp of freezing English air and rambled. “So I was wondering if you’re in the relationship market.”

  “Really? Word travels fast. When Shaw Eaton speaks, the relationship market listens, eh?”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe the buzz you’ve created. Everyone’s talking about you.”

  “So the pickings are good? Am I in for a bevy of beauties knocking down my cottage door? I should probably shower.”

  Not unless she was doing the knocking to the bevy . . . “Any second now, there’ll be a line as long as the one I just left at customs. I thought I’d beat the rush.”

  “Very bold. I like bold. And what do you have to offer in the relationship market that makes you stand out from the pack?”

  “Well, there’s this.” Katie pointed to her belly, rounding by the day. “And let’s not forget, I’m an incredibly gifted crossword puzzle solver.”

  “Because every man needs a woman to find the five-letter word for insensitive. It’s a staple in the relationship market.”

  “Crass.”

  “What?”

  “A five-letter word for insensitive is crass. Which I’ve been.”

  “What’s a six-letter word for meanie butt?”

  Katie winced, not just at the harsh wind from the lake, but her most recent behavior. “Shitty?”

  “That works.”

  “I’ve been that, too.”

  “You were, which certainly takes from your appeal on the relationship market.”