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“Hey.” Dev stood and nodded at the box. “People leaving trash by the quarry again?”
Ty grunted. “Give me your T-shirt.”
“What?”
Ty thrust out his hand. “Just give me your damn T-shirt, Dev.”
Clearly, Ty was in one of his moods. “Fine.” He skinned off his T-shirt—he was overheated anyway—and handed it over. “Although if you’re chilly, you should bring your own shirt next time. Or, you know, a towel.”
Ty snatched the shirt with another grunt—he never wasted his bedside manner on actual humans—and hunkered down, setting the box on a patch of coltsfoot. Instead of donning the shirt himself, however, he laid it inside the box and lifted out—
“Holy shit. Is that a kitten?” The little scrap of sodden fur was smaller than Ty’s palm and seemed composed entirely of a wide, pink mouth and tiny white teeth.
“Yes. I scared the asshole away before he could toss the rest of them in.”
“The rest?” Dev knelt next to Ty. Two other kittens—a brown tabby and a black and white tuxedo—peered up at him with round blue eyes. Their ears hadn’t migrated to the tops of their heads yet, so they had to be young. “Christ. Are they even weaned?”
Ty cradled the wet kitten against his chest as he blotted its fur. “Not a chance.”
Dev swallowed against a surge of anger. “The mother?”
“Don’t know. I didn’t see a body in the water, but that doesn’t mean much. He could have weighted her down. It’s happened before. People from as far away as Rutland use this as a dumping ground.” Ty glared down the road toward Home. “The shelter is literally half a mile away. There’s no reason for this kind of cruelty unless you’re a fucking serial killer in the making.”
“Did you get a good look at the guy?” Dev’s own scowl deepened. “It wasn’t someone from Home, was it?”
Ty fried him with his death glare. “Of course not.” He placed the mostly dry kitten—another brown tabby—in the box with its siblings and tucked Dev’s T-shirt around all three of them. “I didn’t recognize him. I don’t suppose you saw an unfamiliar car on the highway?”
“I stayed off the highway until just now, so no.” He waited until Ty hefted the box again. “Have you got enough volunteers to bottle-feed three more kittens?”
“I’ll manage.” Ty didn’t look at him, which probably meant no. Most of his volunteers were high school kids, so round-the-clock care would fall on him again.
“If you need help…”
Ty shot him a wry smile. “You know I can hear the terror in your voice, right?” He gave the box a gentle pat. “You don’t need to sacrifice yourself. Between Val and me, we can wrangle the livestock. You’ve got enough to do handling the human contingent.”
“I wouldn’t mind, you know. I don’t have your deep and abiding love for all things furred and feathered—”
“Don’t forget scaled. I don’t discriminate against fish and reptiles.”
“—but I’m not down with animal cruelty either.”
Ty’s smile turned fond. “I know. And if I really needed help, I’d ask. Which favor, by the way”—his eyes narrowed—“I’d expect you to return. We’re family, Dev. You need me? I’m there.”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
“Appreciate it all you want as long as you actually take advantage of it.”
As they rounded the corner onto East Road and Ty’s clinic came into view, a familiar furry orange form stood up on the porch and trotted down the steps. Randolph Scott stopped right in front of them, blocking the sidewalk, and looked up, his gaze riveted on the box, ears twitching at the frantic cheeping coming from inside.
Dev bent down to give the cat’s ears a skritch. “I thought you said he was avoiding you because of the S-H-O-T?”
Ty lifted a brow. “I’m not sure whether to be worried that you think it’s necessary to spell out shot in front of him or that you don’t realize he understands it when you spell it out anyway. Besides, that’s taken care of.” Now his smile was definitely evil. “Kenny and your new boarder stepped in. Mission accomplished.”
Dev’s skin heated more than he could blame on the early sunlight. “He’s not my boarder. He’s Sylvia’s student.” Whom I’m avoiding like a lovesick junior high kid.
“But he’s living in Harrison House, and you own the place, so he’s your boarder.” Ty’s grin grew. “And may I say that the scenery around Harrison House is definitely looking up?”
“Why? You looking for a date?” Dev growled, and then he grimaced. Make that a jealous lovesick junior high kid.
