Falling for the Good Guy (Can't Resist #2)(14)

Dangnabbit.

She couldn’t tell if it was Scruffles or Sammy at first but the closer she got, the more sure she was that it was Sammy, the more rascally of the two old, sweet Persian cats that belonged to her landlords. Like his brother Scruffles, Sammy was under the distinct impression that he was still a kitten, and was usually getting into trouble somewhere around her house whenever he came over to visit.

Hearing Sammy’s cries of distress reach a panicked peak, Abby knew she had to do something. Sprinting around to the back of the house, she went straight to the tall Palo Verde tree whose branches arched over the new extension her landlords had built last fall. While Palo Verde trees were definitely not the type of tree known for climbing, the branches reached far enough over that even if they couldn’t hold her weight, they’d at least get her on top of the roof before bowing out.

Shuffling hand over foot, with the butt-to-heel scooting method of climbing she’d perfected as a kid, Abby scaled up the tree quickly and clung tight to the wobbly, dipping branches as she carefully made her way over to the roof. So far so good. She hopped onto the shingles, choosing for the time being not to think about how the heck she was going to get back onto the tree later.

She stayed low and spidey-walked over to Sammy, whose paw was somehow stuck in the drain pipe along the front rim of the house. He mewled pitifully when he saw her.

“It’s okay, Sammy, I’ll get you loose. Just hang tight.” She jiggled his paw a bit and nearly lost an eye when he screeched and took a swipe at her with his good paw. It was his nail, and it was wedged into the corner seam of the piping. Plastering herself flat on the roof as the dust storm started to pass over her driveway, she used her keys to try and open the seam wider.

Success!

Sammy’s paw came loose and he scrambled onto her shoulder, then her head.

By now, the wind was hurling dirt and debris all around so Abby zipped up her hoodie and tucked Sammy inside of it before flipping the hood over her head. It wasn’t much; the cotton shield offered her little protection from the elements, but the refuge helped calm Sammy down considerably. With the dust storm now passing over them directly, she had to grip her fingers into the shingles to keep from slipping and sliding as she slowly crawled back over to the back end of the house. About a third of the way there, however, her foot slipped on the silt that was now coating the entire roof. Not wanting to squash Sammy, she quickly turned as she stumbled and landed hard on her side, twisting her ankle and skinning her knee something fierce. While Sammy proceeded to dig every single one of his nails into her midsection, she grabbed hold of the ridge cap of the roof to prevent herself from sliding down the shingles.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing up here?!”

Abby tried to open her eyes but there was way too much sand and debris in the air flying into her eyes, even with her reading glasses on. “Brian?” she called out. And paid for it with a mouthful of dirt. She dragged herself up so she could cross both arms over her face and peek out from a tiny sniper slit at the crook of her elbow. The dust was so thick now she could barely make out Brian shuffling his way over to her on his forearms and shins. “Be careful!” she cried out from under her sleeves.

Suddenly, a giant blanket of fabric cloaked her from the storm and Brian’s huge, warm body settled next to her. Encased in utter darkness with the wind howling all around, her ankle throbbing, and her knee stinging, she’d never felt more safe as she snuggled up against Brian’s side.

Brian threw back the hood of his jacket, removed his sunglasses, and pulled down the old shirt he’d tied over his face like a robber’s mask. Smart thinking. She should’ve thought of that. “Woman, are you out of your mind?”

Abby unzipped her hoodie a bit so the now perfectly comfy cat burrowed inside could pop his head out. “Sammy was stuck up here. I had to save him.”

Brian sighed. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, we have to get off this roof before the rain really starts coming down.” He peeled off his shirt and tied it around her face, tucking the loose fabric into the edges of her glasses as best he could. “Just stay low and follow me. Keep your head down,” he warned as he yanked the large picnic blanket off of them.

Instantly, Abby got pelted with little gravel bits and what felt like splats of flying mud and twigs.

Getting up on all fours, she did a hybrid military-crawl over the roof, staying close to Brian and doing her best not to drag Sammy.

It felt like a millennia later, but they were finally back at the tree branch she’d used to get onto the roof.

Great. Now what?

Brian cupped his mouth to her ear and shouted over the wind, “I’ll hold one side of the branch to keep it taut like a tight rope. Turn around and crawl backward over the branch back to the trunk.”

“What about Sammy?” she shouted, muffled behind the shirt. “I’m not leaving him up here in this storm.”

She couldn’t tell for sure, but she was pretty sure he just rolled his eyes at her from behind his sunglasses.

“Fine. Then you’re going to have to do a hanging crawl across the branch like a rope traverse. When you get to the ledge of the roof, carefully dangle yourself upside down and crawl back that way. Go slow and keep your eyes closed tight. You don’t want all this crap flying around to get in them.”

Abby nodded and followed his instructions exactly. When she got to the tree trunk, she quickly got out of the way as Brian half leapt, half branch-swung himself over.