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Andy swung the door shut and strode for her kitchen. Setting the wooden box she was still holding on the island, she snatched up her phone. She needed to text Luke right now.
Which of her abandoned texts from the night before should she lead with?
“Come kiss mesounds good, doesn’t it, Petals?” The question slipped from her as her gaze lifted automatically to the nook. The answering silence — the answeringemptiness— coming from there was a cold splash of water shocking her senses.
She stared at it for a moment. That spot where Petals’s cage had been. That spot that just looked so empty now. That made herfeelso empty.
God, Andy hated that empty feeling.
And she hated when her mom was right about this stuff. Depression was no joke. One minute Andy was all excited and about to sext her boyfriend. The next she was staring at dust bunnies on the floor and feeling morose. Andy took a few deep breaths, then strode around to the cabinet under the sink to gather cleaning supplies.
Kneeling down in the nook, Andy quickly took care of the mess, and it was just as she was tucking a few errant feathers she’d found amidst the debris into her little wooden box that the doorbell rang.
Andy’s gaze flew to the door. Maybe it was her parents coming back to helicopter some more. Maybe Kory had forgotten her key again.
Or maybe it washim.
Maybe it was her Luke waiting on the porch right now.
Brushing the dust from the new pants she’d bought last week, Andy smoothed her hair, took another deep breath, then yanked open the door.
She was wrong on all accounts. It was just a package.
Her eyes falling to the box on her doorstep, Andy cocked her head. Because it wasn’t a normal package. There were quarter-sized holes spaced evenly around the top of the box and a cute pattern of paw prints decorating the sides.
“Oh,” Andy whispered as she knelt down to inspect it.
An answering cry came from within the box. High-pitched and sweet.
“Oh!”Andy said again, realization flooding through her along with a warm wave of excitement. Both were quickly followed by caution. Maybe this package wasn’t for her. Maybe someone had adopted a fur baby next door, and the fur baby stork had gotten the address wrong.
Andy bit her lip as she scanned the area in front of her apartment. Predictably for a Tuesday morning, the place was pretty quiet.
Quiet save for those sweet little cries coming from the box and the crazy-fast beat of her heart. Andy carefully picked up the box and carried it inside. Setting it down on the coffee table in her living room, she opened it, and another “Oh” slipped out. It was all she seemed capable of saying. She was in cuteness overload.
Nestled on a towel in the box was a little calico kitten. Pink nose, white muzzle, orange and black ears to match her patched coat, and — oh heavens — big golden eyes that were staring up at her.Sleepyeyes that melted Andy’s heart as the kitten mewed again.
Andy scooped her up and cuddled the little fur baby to her chest, towel and all. That’s when she noticed the towel was a familiar one.
Oh god, it was the Tweety!
Luke had done this!
The joy consuming Andy had tears rushing to her eyes as she spotted the little golden heart hanging from the kitten’s collar. Dashing at her eyes, she smiled when she made out the engraving on it.
Birdie.
What a perfectly nonsensical name for a cat!
Andy giggled.
Birdie — clearly liking the sound — licked Andy’s arm. Which only made Andy giggle even more because the kitten’s tongue felt like the scratchy side of a Velcro strip. What an oddly wonderful sensation!
Birdie yawned.
“She was just spayed, so she’s probably still groggy from the surgery.”
Andy’s gaze flew from the feline in her arms to the man in her entryway.
