Need You for Keeps (Heroes of St. Helena, #1)(34)

Something Kitty still hadn’t forgiven her for.

“I know you’re upset, but when you’re done being angry about something that can’t be fixed, you can come out and have some tuna.”

Nothing.

“You know you want it.” She held up a plate of cat food and placed it right outside the cage.

Kitty lifted his head and eyed his dinner with serious intent, then gave Shay a scathing look that said, Yeah right. The last time you did that I ended up in this cage.

“Okay, I know today totally blew.” Shay reached out to gently brush his tail, not going any higher, just allowing him to get used to the sensation of being touched. “Mine did too.”

Kitty didn’t retreat to the back of the cage as he had before, but he didn’t look like he was going to come out either, so Shay moved her hand to the top of his head to deliver a little scratch. He watched her carefully, eyes full of heartbreaking mistrust, refusing to give in to the affection.

“Yodel when to his forever home today.” Shay opened the Facebook app on her phone and showed Kitty Fantastic a picture of Yodel she had taken earlier that afternoon and swallowed hard. “Look, that’s Yodel and his new mama, Ms. Abernathy.”

Mew. Kitty Fantastic lifted his head, nudging it into Shay’s hand, and she felt a simultaneous nudge on her heart. He hadn’t come out, but he’d made the first step into forgiving her.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she whispered, then felt her eyes tear up again. “I think I needed that as much as you did.” To show Kitty that Shay was willing to give a little too, and to distract herself before the waterworks got out of hand, she placed a piece of tuna inside his cage so he could easily reach it.

Whiskers in action, he sniffed it and gave the morsel a tentative lick, then another.

“There’s more where that came from,” she said, setting the next piece a few inches closer. “No cage this time, just a warm lap and a good old-fashioned cuddle session.”

Shay could use a good cuddle today. And Kitty wasn’t the only stubborn male that came to mind.

Sitting under that tree with Jonah was one of the best nights she’d had in a long time. He’d been sweet, funny, and so attentive it made her forget why maintaining distance was important. It also made her forget that he wasn’t her type. Because the truth was, Jonah was every woman’s type. She just wasn’t sure if she was his.

And that scared her. Oh, she knew he wanted her, but for how long?

A buzzing sounded from Shay’s purse. She bent over and pulled her phone out, the whole time hoping it was Jonah so she could thank him for helping with Yodel, but praying it wasn’t because she wasn’t sure what to say.

She looked at the screen and sighed. “Hey, Clovis.”

“You gotta get down to the old barbershop,” Clovis said, sounding winded. “Mr. Russell is here and he’s ready to talk about leasing the space.”

“Tonight?” Shay looked down at the two blue slits that studied her from the carrier, then to her attire.

“Right now!”

“I can’t right now.” She was in her PAWS OFF pajamas, her face was blotchy from missing Yodel, and she had Kitty to think about. She knew he was upset, but he needed to eat so he could have his next round of antibiotics.

And she needed more time. Because talking led to decisions, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to make this kind of decision.

The idea of a St. Paws adoption shelter in town had merit, and so much potential she was afraid to even consider it. When the ladies had first brought it up she’d immediately rejected it, because she wasn’t sure if St. Helena was the kind of place she’d want to live for the long haul. But looking now around her house, at what she’d created, the friends she’d made here, Shay began to wonder if she wasn’t sure because she’d never tried it before.

When her mom passed, Shay had quickly become accustomed to switching homes, schools, friends. Every year like clockwork her life changed, leaving her nothing to hold on to, so the idea of forever with the same people was foreign to her. Terrifying, even.

But St. Helena was starting to feel different. She felt different being here. Grounded. Happy. The question then was: Was this town and were these people different enough to make it official and to lock herself into a long-term lease?

“Can we do it tomorrow?”

“It’s gotta be now,” Clovis said in a tone that told Shay not to argue. “Mr. Russell is heading out in the morning for the East Coast and we’ve got him cornered, ready to make you a deal.”

Shay sat up. “What do you mean by cornered?”

“Caught that son of a bitch daisy-chaining his electricity to mine. It seems the man’s also been siphoning water and heat from my shop since last winter.”

Oh boy. “Me and the girls have him ready to make you an offer, but you gotta get down here before he realizes Ida’s gun is nothing but a water pistol.”

Shay leaped up and grabbed her jeans off the back of her chair. “Put the gun down. I will be there right after I drop off Kitty Fantastic with a sitter. Fifteen minutes tops.” There was a long pause that told Shay Clovis was going to do nothing of the sort. “I mean it, Clovis. Put the gun down or I won’t be doing any signings at the shop.” Silence. “And I’ll call Harper and tell her what is going on.”