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The six-pack were her barn cats, all named after sodas. A couple of them monitored us from the top of the stack of hay bales.
“Where’s Uncle Ansen?” Ivy asked, rubbing her chin on the kitten’s head.
Ansen entered the barn, giving me a nod as he passed. “Right here, princess.” He walked to Ivy and ruffled her hair. Grayson cradled his kitten with both hands, but Ansen managed to give him a fist bump around the fur. “Sutton’s waitin’ for you and the new arrivals. Y’all seen her new clinic yet?”
The kids shook their heads, but they gave Aggie and Ansen a thorough rundown of how they planned to play with the kittens every day to get them used to kids.
The cats didn’t appear concerned about being manhandled by children. Was sweet-looking Aggie being devious? She had to know the kids wouldn’t let the cats go easily. Perhaps she and Cody had already discussed the effect on the kids.
A few minutes later, we were loaded up again with two squirming, meowing kittens and were on the way to a small steel building on the outskirts of town. No sign was up yet, and only one blue pickup was parked by the back, but Cody pulled into the square lot that didn’t yet have parking stripes.
All in all, our stops weren’t far from each other. Nothing in town was more than a few miles apart at the most, but Crocus Valley didn’t have a bus system. The only sidewalks were within city limits, and bike paths bordered two sides of town along the highways.
Crocus Valley would be easier to make a life in. If I stayed, I’d need a car and a place to live— No. There was no point in thinking about where I’d land after my nanny position was over. My mom and my money were in California. But so was Frederick, and he controlled my money.
The door to the clinic swung open. A woman popped her head out. This must be Sutton. She looked a little taller than me and had dirty-blonde hair tossed up in a looped ponytail.
She grinned wide when the kids rushed her, each clutching a kitten to their chests. She gave each kid a hug and nodded as they told her about how well the animals tolerated the trip.
“Go on in,” she said to the kids. “The first exam room on the right.” She straightened and waved at Cody as he got out. “Did you gamble they’d travel well, or you didn’t think the kids would let them stay in a carrier?”
“Yes to both.” Cody chuckled. “If we manage not to lose control of the cats and they don’t run off before this appointment is done, I’ll be surprised.”
I exited the pickup and rounded the front.
“You must be Tova. Nice to meet you.” Sutton didn’t act surprised I had come along, but she was likely friends with Aggie and had heard about me. I’d love to know what was said. Or maybe not.
“Hi.” A sudden onset of shyness struck me.
Sutton’s worn jeans and plain gray sweater didn’t scream money and sophistication, but she was well-educated and owned her own business. One she seemed to have started in the middle of a divorce. I hadn’t even been engaged, and I’d lost everything to a man.
“Come on in when you’re ready.” Sutton disappeared into the clinic.
I was in public with Cody, but we were alone outside. Like in the barn, I didn’t hate the situation. “You’re not upset about the possibility of kittens on the run?” He hadn’t gotten that upset after the kitten escaped Grayson yesterday either. I had thought he’d explode, then...Mellow Daddy.
“I’d be highly annoyed to have to chase kittens, but they’re small yet and can’t go too far too fast.” He studied me. Did I seem stunned? I was looking harder for warnings than I ever had with Frederick, and I was coming up empty. Cody was uptight. Stern Daddy. But he was also relaxed at the most unexpected times. “Is something wrong?”
“One of my mom’s boyfriends tried to take his belt to me for feeding his dog an hour late.” An event I had never mentioned to anyone. I hardly thought of it, and when I did, it was with the air of a detached observer. All Mom knew was that he had tried to hit me, and that had been enough. We were gone by sundown.
“Shit, Tova. That’s awful. And so goddamn wrong.”
I shrugged. Why’d I say anything? But I liked his adamant reaction. “We left right after.”
His attention was still on me. “Was that a common occurrence?”
“Yes.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. The wariness from back then intruded on my present. “Why don’t you care I was a burlesque dancer?”
“Was? You’re not going back?”
“I don’t know. I did it to earn as much money as possible. The gigs didn’t always pay the best, but I wasn’t restricted by hours, only by how much I could hustle.”
He nodded, thoughtful. “My wife... Let me start with my mother. Mama touted being a feminist. And she was, but she also confused the term with selfish. Meg was a feminist for others more than herself, and I think that’s what attracted me to her. She was passionate and generous.”
I snorted. “I’m sure she wasn’t hideous.” Horrified, I pressed my fingers to my mouth, my gasp dissolving into a squeak.Tova, shut your damn mouth!I couldn’t believe I hadn’t filtered myself.
But he only grinned. “She was beautiful, yes. Her looks got me to notice her and to hit on her. But she championed women. She used to take pro bono cases for strippers. Draw up and negotiate contracts for them.”
“In Montana?”
