Star Bright Read Free Page B

Peter and his insane jealousy no longer ruled her life, though, and she could have a pet now if she wanted. Surely one cat wouldn’t cost that much to feed. Lifting the tom into her arms, Rainie couldn’t help but notice how gaunt he was. She pushed her nose against his soft fur. He smelled of grass, fresh air, and male-feline musk.
    “It’s apparent to me that you need a friend almost as much as I do,” she said. “And, lucky you, I’m open to having a roommate who can’t help pay the rent. I get lonely living by myself.”
    She turned the cat to study his battle-scarred visage. He blinked his green eyes.
    “What do you think about Thomas as a temporary handle? We can change it later if a better idea occurs to me, but for now, it’ll give me something to call you besides kitty.”
    The cat blinked again. Rainie decided to take that as a yes. “Thomas it is, then. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I’m Rainie, by the way, aka Anna, but I doubt my alias will matter much to you just so long as I can find something for you to eat.”
    Thomas made no comment, just looked at her with those huge emerald eyes.
    “How does a can of cheap tuna sound?” she asked. “Cats like fish, right?”
    As if he understood, Thomas purred and rasped her cheek with a rough tongue, making Rainie laugh. “One can of water-packed tuna, coming up.”
    She set the animal back on the floor, fetched some tuna from a cupboard, and went to work with a can opener that had cost her twenty-five cents at St. Vincent de Paul. The cat tucked into it as if he were starving. Rainie got him some water to accompany the meal, then stood back to watch him eat. It occurred to her that a lack of cat food was only one of her problems. She had no litter box—or any litter to go in one. Hopefully, the tom was housebroken and would exit via the cat door when he needed to go out.
    Rainie’s gaze flicked to the opening, guarded now by only the flexible flap. The hole wasn’t large enough to accommodate a man, and it was more than an arm’s reach from the doorknob. It would be safe enough for her to leave the portal open so Thomas could go in and out. Good plan. She didn’t want to be accused of cat theft if the tom belonged to a neighbor up the street.
    After eating, Thomas seemed in no rush to leave. Instead of going back outdoors, he curled up on the worn sofa in the living room, had a bath, and then drifted off to sleep. Rainie felt mildly disappointed. She’d been hoping for . . . what? An intellectual exchange? He was a cat—hello. Maybe he’d be more sociable once they got acquainted, but for now, it just felt nice not to be completely alone.
    Rainie returned to the kitchen, grabbed the advertisement section of the newspaper, and dialed the telephone number listed for the bookkeeping position. As the phone rang, she rinsed out Thomas’s empty food dish, refusing to let herself feel nervous. If the job was still open, maybe she could get an interview. If it was already filled . . . oh, well. Keeping books at a ranch wasn’t exactly her dream job.
     
    Parker Harrigan had a corn dog stuffed in his mouth when the phone rang. He plucked it back out without taking a bite and wiped his lips with the heel of his hand to remove the ketchup-and-mayonnaise concoction he used as a dip. His luck, it was his brother Quincy calling. If so, Quincy would be sure to ask what Parker was having for dinner. The conversation would go downhill from there, with Parker receiving a long and extremely boring lecture about his bad eating habits. Quincy, the health nut of the family, rarely missed an opportunity to share his dietary wisdom.
    It never ceased to amaze Parker that he and Quincy were from the same gene pool. With their pitch-black hair, brown eyes, and compact builds, they looked enough alike to be twins, but the way they thought about things was totally different. Maybe that was why they talked only about food. It was a little hard to get pissed off