AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Samantha raised her eyebrows at my explanation and looked me up and down. I had my car door open with my hand gripped on the handle. I felt that if I let it go, I’d be automatically assigned eleven cats, knitting supplies, a mysterious bodily ailment and a diet requiring prunes.
From then on, Katie was known as the old spinster who smelled like your grandmother’s perfume and cat food. She always had yarn in her pocket and couldpredict bad weather with her left knee. Legend had it she could communicate with felines in their native tongue, and at her call, every cat within earshot would come running. But there weren't enough witnesses to confirm that this phenomenon was real. The neighbor lady said it was real, but without video, no one believed her, and she became the woman who cried cat.
Katie’s Words of Law
Appeal
?-pel′
Formerly known as “no takebacks” on the playground.
Samantha felt my anxiety and put her hand on my arm. “Katie, I know just what you need.” She turned, waving for me to follow, which I did, curious as to what that was, considering I didn't quite know myself.
The shelter was immaculate inside and smelled like calming lavender. I pictured a distressing kennel, but there were only a few gentle barks in the background. There were two small wings, each with a long corridor clearly marked: Dogs and Cats. I expected to be led into the latter and for her to hand me some fatso tabby that just wanted to eat and sunbathe, forever sealing my fate of becoming acat lady,which didn’t sound so bad since they seemed independent, but she led me to the dog wing.
Standing in the hallway was a man with an obvious athletic build. His back was to us as he wiped down the windows looking out to the back lawn.
“Tommy? This is Katie,” she gestured to me as he turned around.
He might have been the most attractive man I’d ever seen.
Samantha was right. Shedidknow just what I needed…
“Nice to meet you, Katie.” Tommy smiled a white-toothed grin. He had wide eyes and that permanent stubble look.
“I was thinking of kennel 11.” Samantha’s words were drowned out by my curiosity of this man. Tommy nodded in agreement with her when the front door chimed, and Samantha excused herself to see who was there.
“Follow me,Katie.”
My feet floated down the hall after him. I’d go anywhere with this handsome guy.
“Here we are. Katie, this is Dolly.”
Before I could blink, he handed me a milk chocolate browncurlycreature that weighed about five pounds. I looked down at Dolly hesitantly, and by her eager gaze, I guessed she was happy to see me. I felt my head shaking back and forth, trying to quickly get out of this situation before I hurt anyone's feelings.
“Oh, I just don’t think I can. I mean—”
This didn’t deter the athletic man in the slightest.
“Katie, would you just look at her for a minute?”
I got a better grip on her and held her out before me. Our eyes met, and I couldn’t ignore the facts: she was tiny, and I couldn’t imagine her needing much more room to roam than my apartment; she seemed very calm, considering I was a stranger and all. But the biggest fact of all: next to this man who handed her to me, she was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
From the pages of Katie’s Dictionary:
dog
dôg, dog
noun
A domesticated creature that you provide all the finer things in life yet can’t claim as a dependent on your tax return.
CHAPTER 3
GONE TO THE DOGS
“Let’s go into the playroom and let you two get to know each other better, shall we?”
