Page 53 of Herding Cat

Still, he persisted. “Dingleberry or not, I do have feelings for you, Cat. I think it may be love. Do you think you could ever, I dunno, have feelings like that for me? I’m willing to hang around until you decide.”

“Hang around? What do you mean by hang around?”

“Be there.”

“Where?”

“Wherever you are. But hey, if you don’t—”

“Shut up, you,” she growled, and she pulled him closer for a kiss. “I would love for you to hang around while we figure out what this is.”

She would.

With all her heart.

Epilogue

Insanity reigned, but Catherine leaned back on the sofa into Garrett’s arms and, as always, they closed around her. Despite the squeals and carnage, it was an intrinsically peaceful scene.

“They’re making a mess,” Garrett whispered into her ear.

“Let them,” she said with a grin...until Lui toddled over to the tree and reached for a glass ornament.

Thankfully, her niece Pansy was there to redirect Lui to a brightly colored torture device that made ear-splitting animal-like noises at a hundred decibels. She held the toddler on her lap and watched with delight as Lui explored the heinous toy amidst raucous giggles. Her face was mending from the first of her surgeries and, in Catherine’s eyes, she couldn’t have been a lovelier sight.

Mae had flowered too, since the sisters had arrived in the States to live with Cat and Garrett. She was excelling in school and turning out to be an excellent painter...just like Garrett.

They were still working on her fascination for fires.

Lui wriggled free and made a beeline for another present, gleefully ripping off the paper and tossing it hither and yon.

Pansy laughed as Lui yanked off the lid of the box to reveal a cable-knit Irish sweater, which she promptly tasted.

Cat glanced at Garrett. “I think that was for you,” she murmured.

He grinned. “I don’t mind sharing.”

But as it turned out, Lui was much more interested in the box, which she employed as a hat.

She turned to Pansy and exploded into a flurry of giggles that had everyone laughing.

“Oh my goodness,” Pansy said to her husband, Mason, with eyes shimmering. “I cannot wait.”

“Not too long now,” Mason said, setting his hand on her belly and bending to kiss her on the forehead. “Soon we’ll be the ones running around after The Destructor.” He snagged Lui as she made a beeline for Lola, Pansy’s Chihuahua, who was dressed in a Santa suit and barking ceaselessly at the commotion. Or causing it. It was hard to tell sometimes.

“Is that what you’ve decided to name your son?” Garrett asked. “The Destructor?”

“We figured it would be a good fit. You know. If he’s anything like his father,” Pansy quipped.

“Excuse me?” Mason said, dropping down at Pansy’s side. “I thought we were naming him after you.”

“Me? I’m not the one who decided to take a chainsaw to the patio cover.”

“I thought it would be nice to see the stars from the hot tub. And I’m not the one who set the kitchen on fire.”

Pansy frowned. “It was only the oven and that was your fault too, because you wanted me to bake.” She said it as though he’d asked her to bathe in boiling oil.

Mason chuckled. “It took a week to air out the house.”