And not growling.
Wow.That was the prettiest evil cat he’d ever seen. He’d have to ask Sky to be sure, but Walter looked like an ocicat. A real one.
Oh, he wanted to reach out and scritch so bad, but he knew better. He waited for Walter to come to him.
Walter looked him over, then rowled, the sound so sad, so lost.Oh. Oh, poor guy.
Walter still didn’t seem ready to come his way, so he hopped up. “I know. Hang on, buddy.” He dug through the duffel bag Parker had given him full of Sky’s things and pulled out a jacket.
God, it smelled like a barn and fresh air and…Sky. Perfect. He looked at it, lost in a flood of memories and completely forgetting what he was doing for a minute.
Walter trilled at him and he turned around. “Oh. Right. Sorry, bud.” He laid the jacket down on the floor next to the carrier. “There. That’s the best I can do right now. It worked for me, I’ll tell you.”
Walter pounced the jacket, rubbing his face on the fabric and purring like a Latvian chainsaw drill team. Goddamn, that was cute as fuck.
“You’re supposed to be satanic, Walter. You’re freaking me out a little. I was ready for the Tasmanian Devil to come flying out of that carrier.” He dared to reach for the kitty, nice and slow so Walter saw him coming.
The cat was chatty—such a strange, raspy sound—but didn’t hiss, didn’t growl. There were no fangs showing or claws in evidence. Walter sniffed at his fingers for a second and then pushed under his hand for some love.
“Oh, my God. Hey. Hi, buddy.” He plopped right down again and scritched and rubbed until Walter was done with the whole being loved on situation.
He hadn’t smiled this hard in a week. Probably more.
Walter nibbled on his fingers, careful not to bite, and he got it—why Sky had fallen in love with this animal, and why Walter had been so scared.
“Wait until I tell Parker you’re not an asshole.” He laughed and picked up a couple of the treats. Walter ate them right off his fingers.
Oh.He needed to check in with Adam before lunch. He tugged his phone out of his pocket, dialed, and put it on speaker so he could keep loving on Walter.
“Beck. How are you? How’s Sky? Are you ever coming home?” The questions made him smile, shot out fast as bullets.
“Hey, Adam. It’s good to hear your voice. I’m sitting in my hotel room with Skyler’s ocicat in my lap. It’s the best I’ve felt all week.” All the purring was like a massage for his soul.
“What the hell’s an ocicat?”
Just like Walter had heard Adam, he gave a long, low yowl.
He laughed. “That is an ocicat. It sounds like little fluffy ate a bobcat and looks like a wee leopard. He’s beautiful. Glad the hotel takes pets. We’re going to be here a while.”
Walter seemed to hear that too, and settled, resting his chin on Beckett’s knee.
“Your cowboy has a cat? Is that a thing?”
He ran one hand down Walter’s side, pushing firmly, and Walter stretched under his touch, claws pushing out as he rolled dough.
“I guess? He was living in Skyler’s trailer but Sky’s buddy, Parker, took the trailer on the road, so I got him. It works. I can do with some company. Everything okay there? I should be able to work more reliably next week. I have to be here, but I can try to work part-time in the mornings.”
“Everything’s stable. I’ll be glad to have you back, even part-time, but we’re on it.”
He needed the distraction. Sky was only awake a few hours a day anyway. It would be good to get his brain busy doing something.
“Sky had surgery a couple of days ago. The first of what they think will be three total. After those, I can bring him up to a local rehab facility. I don’t guess you have any connections?” UVM was a likely bet, but he’d see what the docs recommended.
“I’ll start making inquiries for that and home health. Peter Givens’s partner went in after his stroke.” For the first time, Adam didn’t ask if he was sure.
“I appreciate that. Thank you.” He meant it. Adam would do the research, and he knew he could trust his partner to help.
He was going to need help. His house had stairs inside and out. He wasn’t going to be able to get Sky up into his Jeep. He was a shitty cook. He didn’t even know where to begin with everything. But he’d promised Sky he’d figure it out and he would.