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He climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. When he squirted wiper fluid on the windshield, the wipers didn’t do much more than smear the mud around, which, yeah, Dev could admit his resulting smile was a little malicious. When Pillsbury gunned his motor and kicked up divots in the lawn as he launched the car forward, though, Dev winced. I’m gonna owe Pete big time. Or maybe Casey would owe him, since it was his fiancé who was being a dickhead.
Randolph Scott sauntered over and sat at Dev’s feet, the tip of his tail twitching and tickling Dev’s ankles as Pillsbury’s Lexus disappeared beyond the hedge. Dev bent over and scratched behind the cat’s ears.
“Tell you what, Randolph Scott. You claw your way up that idiot’s trousers next time you see him, I just might plant that catnip for you after all.”
“You call them what?” Val, Ty’s assistant, leaned their arms on the ledge of the cat meet-and-greet room’s half-door, grinning down at Casey where he sat on the floor being swarmed by all three kittens. “And why?”
“I named them in honor of Randolph Scott. They’re named after characters in Roberta, a movie the human Randolph Scott starred in with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.” Casey detached the brown tabby female from the front of his shirt. “This is Lizzie, named after Ginger’s character.” He sat her down next to the black-and-white male. “And that’s Huck.”
“Since he’s in a tuxedo, I’m assuming he was named for Fred’s character?”
“Yup.” Their brown tabby brother hopped over sideways, stiff-legged and arched-backed, ears flattened. “And that’s Alexander Petrovich Moskovitch Voyda.”
Val chuckled. “Quite a mouthful, considering he’s no bigger than a minute.”
“He’ll grow. But in the meantime, we can call him Xander for short.”
Xander wiggled his little butt and pounced on Lizzie. The two of them rolled over, collided with Huck, and all three kittens devolved into a ball of fur, rolling across the blue and gray tiles.
As soon as the wrestling match started, it ended, the three of them sitting with backs toward each other, washing random paws, obviously pretending they were all far too superior to participate in anything as undignified as a kitten pile-up. Casey sighed and ran a finger down Huck’s spine, igniting his little baby purr.
Ty appeared beyond Val’s shoulder. “Kenny brought in Fro and Travisher for their vaccines. They’re in Exam One.”
“On it, boss.” Val saluted and trotted off down the hallway.
Ty smiled down at Casey. “Thanks for hanging out with them.”
Casey returned the smile. “Don’t pretend I’m not the one getting the benefit here. Kitten therapy is remarkably soothing.”
“Very true. But you really are doing me a service. Doing them a service, too, since socialization is very important when it comes to adoptability.”
Casey stood up and brushed off the seat of his jeans, although he doubted he made a dent in the kitten fur. He’d need to change before class so he wouldn’t contaminate the summer kitchen.
“Do you have homes for them yet?”
“They won’t be ready for another couple of weeks. I’ll put the word around then. We usually don’t have trouble placing kittens.” Ty’s expression darkened. “Which is another reason I’m still royally ticked that some asshole would try to drown them.”
Casey winced as he unhooked Lizzie’s claws from his inseam before she could reach his balls. “Ugh. Despicable. I can’t even.” He dropped a kiss on the kitten’s fuzzy forehead. “Need help returning these monsters to their enclosure?”
“Appreciate it.”
Casey passed Lizzie to Ty, then scooped up the other two. Ty opened the gate for him and led him down the hall and into the cat room, which was divided into three main sections. Two of them amounted to floor-to-ceiling feline parkour courses: carpeted ramps, shelves, columns, and cubbies, with cushy beds tucked in corners and shielded by overhangs.
An enormous black cat, his fur sleek and shiny, drowsed on the highest shelf, his chin on a rainbow-hued toy with a feathered tail, but he was the only current resident other than the kittens.
Because they required a different level of care, they had their own enclosure on the opposite side of the room. As Casey deposited Huck and Xander in their bed—which they immediately hopped out of and started chasing each other—Casey glanced at the gorgeous black cat.
“Do you have a home for him yet?”
“Who?” Ty followed Casey’s gaze. “Oh, Explorer’s not a rescue. He’s just visiting. His family’s off on vacation, so he’s hanging with us while they’re gone.”
“So you board animals as well as rescuing them and providing medical care?”
Ty shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a living.”
Not a living. A calling.
As Ty set Lizzie in with her brothers, Randolph Scott trotted in. He glanced dismissively at Explorer, flicked his tail once, and then leaped over the gate into the kittens’ habitat and stretched out like a ginger sphinx.
