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“Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here to help me.”
“I’m sure you would have figured something out. Looks like he fell asleep.”
Sara glanced down at the kitten in the fluffy peach-colored towel. Its eyes were closed and with each deep breath, his sides expanded. He looked so adorable. But it wasn’t staying—at least not for long. She’d deal with getting it home in the morning.
Kent moved toward the door. “Do you need anything else before I go?”
She shook her head. “I’ve got it from here.”
Kent’s gaze lowered to the kitten again. “He certainly looks content. What are you going to call him? You can’t keep calling him kitten.”
She shook her head. “I’m not naming him.”
“Why not?”
“Because a name denotes an attachment. And I’m not going to get attached to this kitten, because soon he’ll be going home.”
Kent arched a brow. “You sound so certain.”
“I am. He must have gotten lost is all.”
Kent didn’t look so certain. “He was awfully dirty and hungry for just being lost.”
He had a point, but she wasn’t willing to admit it to herself or him. “I’ll deal with it all in the morning.”
“Okay. If you need anything just call me.”
That was sweet of him. “Thanks. But I don’t have your number.”
His gaze moved to the kitchen counter. “Do you mind if I put it in your phone?”
“Not at all.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized he was once again breaching the wall that she had up between them. It was her tiredness. She just needed some sleep, and then everything would go back to normal.
Once Kent input his number in her phone, he told her goodnight and then paused to pet the kitten before he walked out the door.
She stood there for a moment at the top of the steps, watching him walk away. She’d seen a totally different side of Kent that evening. After seeing this friendly, caring side of him, it was so hard to envision him as the jerk who’d hurt her sister. In fact, it was easy to envision them becoming friends.
She inwardly groaned. She really wished her sister would call her back so she would have some answers. When she went back inside the apartment, she checked her phone. There was no message from Cari. With a groan, Sara put the phone back on the counter. What was this secret that Kent said wasn’t his to share?
Chapter Nine
Shewaslateforwork.
Sara was never late for work—not until now. Her tardiness was due to the kitten. It kept crying off and on during the night. She kept doing everything she could think of to comfort it. The only time it was quiet was when she held it, but she couldn’t do that all day. She had to go to work.
And of course, when she checked her phone that morning, she’d found her sister had called her back. But with the kitten to deal with, she’d left her phone on the kitchen counter during the night, and she hadn’t heard it from her bedroom. It appeared they were once again going to play a game of phone tag.
When she’d called on her way to work, she’d gotten her sister’s voicemail once again. This time she didn’t leave a message. There was no point. One of these times, they’d connect.
She’d worried about leaving the kitten home alone, so she’d asked her next-door neighbor Birdie if she could keep an eye on it. And that had taken more time because she couldn’t have Birdie climbing the steps to her second-floor apartment. So she’d had to carry all of the kitten supplies over to Birdie’s place, but she felt so much better knowing someone was keeping an eye on the kitten while it was still figuring things out.
The morning was crazy busy with guests checking out and other guests checking in. And housekeeping was short-staffed so that meant calling in a couple of people on their day off. Plus, the laundry they outsourced was delivered, but they weren’t the inn’s linens. If that wasn’t enough, the internet went down. She made a call to the island’s provider only to find out there wasn’t a problem on their end, so they’d send someone over to scout the problem.
By lunchtime, she was exhausted. But she didn’t have time to rest because she had to find the kitten’s home. She had taken a bunch of photos of the furbaby that morning. Now she just had to pick the best one.
“Looks like you’re busy today.” Kent’s voice startled her.
She spun around to find him leaning against the counter in the temporary lobby. “Sorry. I didn’t hear you approach.”
