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He lay down next to her, propping himself up on one arm and spoke to her gently whilst her body prepped for the next kitten.
Over the course of the evening another three appeared and Will’s heart was in his mouth for each one. When it was all over, Parfait peered up at him, four kittens sprawled on her belly, quietly mewling and she blinked up at Will. He felt his throatclose up, tears stung his eyes at getting to witness this beautiful moment and he was only sad that Rebelle hadn’t been here to witness it with him.
It truly felt like a blessing, something he never would have witnessed if he had been back in L.A. He wondered how on earth he was ever going to leave this place when the time came.
*
Rebelle’s shift dragged. Although she knew Will would look after Parfait, not knowing was driving her insane. The bar stayed busy with Christy turning up at one point and joining a lonely Dean. She watched the couple discreetly, seeing Christy perched on his lap. No one else even entered their atmosphere, they only had eyes for each other, and Rebelle felt a strange ache in her chest as she watched them.
Christy and Rebelle had been close when they were teenagers, bonding over their mothers’ deaths. When Christy left town, Rebelle had been devastated to lose the one person she was close to and wanted to stay in touch with, but Marcus already had his talons in her at that point.
When it was finally time to close the bar, she rushed through cleaning up, eager to get home to Will and check on Parfait.
Dean came up behind her. “Will said you might need a lift home?”
She knew Dean from school but she didn’t know him personally and it made her nervous to think of him driving her back.
“Oh, uh you don’t need to do that,” she replied, wiping down the bar.
“It’s no trouble, you’re on the way to our place.” Dean shot her an easy smile. Like he was trying to show just how non-threatening he was. At least if Christy would be with them, shewould feel more at ease. Christy bounced over, wrapping an arm around Dean’s waist and leaning on his shoulder.
Rebelle nodded. “Okay, if you don’t mind, that would be nice.”
They headed out to his vehicle, and she realized he had a truck like hers and asked him about it.
“She’s a beauty alright, she’s kept going for fifteen years now. Got a good engine and never let me down,” Dean said, patting the hood affectionately. “Especially when I had to follow this one across town in a race against time as she was on her way to leaving Citrus Pines for good.” Dean added, jerking his thumb at Christy as he helped her into the truck.
Rebelle didn’t know a lot about their story, she knew Christy hadn’t been his biggest fan at school, but she guessed that must have changed over time.
“He just wouldn’t let me go and I couldn’t be more grateful,” Christy sighed, shifting over to allow room for Rebelle.
Rebelle hopped into the cab and squeezed in beside Christy. “I had no idea you thought of leaving again?”
Dean started the engine and the truck roared to life, the sound reminding Rebelle of her own and comforting her. Like a security blanket.
“Yeah, it was tough after my dad died. Then I thought this guy didn’t want me so I hightailed it out of town, but he didn’t give up on me. He came after me and practically begged me to come back.” She smiled mischievously at Rebelle.
Dean snorted. “Oh, now that’s not how it happened at all! Lies, all lies. See this is what really happened…”
Justine had previously told her about how she and Blake had gotten together, and Rebelle enjoyed hearing the stories of other couples, hearing what trials and tribulations they overcame. Dean began telling her their couple story with Christy interrupting every now and then to set the record straight. Rebelle liked listening to their easy back and forth, seeing how insync they were and in no time at all, Dean was pulling up outside the shelter and she was a little bummed that the ride was over so soon.
“Thanks for the ride, I really appreciate it,” she said, hopping out.
“Any time,” Dean replied.
“We should do this again, but somewhere that’s not a truck and with drinks,” Christy said, grinning.
Rebelle hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Sure.”
They waved goodbye and then she was heading inside, eager to see Will and Parfait. She went straight into her bedroom and found Will sitting with his back propped against the bed, his eyes closed. Parfait rested on a blanket on his lap with four adorable, wiggling bundles.
Rebelle gasped and this prompted one of Will’s eyes to pop open.
“She did it!”
He wiped at his mouth and sat up. “She did. She did so good as well. When I got here she was panting and crying out. Then afterwards she wouldn’t settle, just kept trying to get in my lap so I put the blanket over me, and we all had a group nap.”
Rebelle knelt beside him, stroking Parfait who rolled onto her side in a purring frenzy, dislodging her feeding kittens. “You did so good, mama,” she cooed. She looked up to find Will watching her; she hadn’t realized how close they were. It must be because she came home to find him snuggling a cat mom and her newborns but there was a flutter in her stomach and she suddenly found him very attractive.
