Page 26 of Lee

Was she really worried about the kitten not purring for her?

Moving slowly, Lee bent and placed the kitten in her hands. He stayed close, rubbing his hands over the kitten, his fingers brushing against Rori’s.

When he removed his hands, Rori cradled the kitten closer to her chest, tipping her head down. The kitten’s purr intensified as Rori stroked her hand over it, smiling when a soft paw batted at her chin.

“Ahhh, she loves you,” Rachel said. “I think you should adopt her.”

Rori looked up at her, the smile gone from her face. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m in a good place to adopt yet.”

“Well, lucky for you,” Lee said. “When you are ready to adopt, there’ll be several cats available for you to choose from.”

Rori tipped her head to look at him again. “What do you mean?”

“There are far too many people who aren’t responsible with their pets, so there are always litters of cats being brought in.”

Rori nuzzled the kitten again. “Oh. That’s sad.”

“But in the meantime, you can come over here and cuddle with the kittens whenever you want,” Rachel said.

When a bell chimed, they all looked toward the door to the clinic.

Lee headed for the connecting door. “I’ll see who it is.”

“I thought Cheryl said she had someone replacing her,” the woman standing near the reception desk said when she spotted Lee.

“Hello, Mrs. Robinson,” Lee said, greeting one of their more high maintenance pet owners with a smile. “We do have a new receptionist. We were all just working on something on the shelter side. What can I do for you?”

“Cheryl said my order of cat food for Milly had come in.”

“Okay. Let me just get Rori. Cheryl probably told her where it is.” He stepped back into the shelter just as Rori headed in his direction with her camera bag. “Someone is here looking for cat food that Cheryl ordered.”

“Milly?” At his nod, she increased her pace, then went through the doorway when Lee pulled the door open for her.

“Mrs. Robinson, this is our new receptionist, Rori.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rori said as she held out her hand.

The woman shook it, then said, “Do you have the food for Milly?”

“Yes. I’ll just go grab it for you.”

Wanting to be on hand for Rori’s first time dealing with her, Lee stayed at the reception desk rather than returning to the shelter or going to the back of the clinic.

“Hello, Mrs. Robinson,” Alys sang out as she came into the reception area. “How’s Molly?”

There was a quick indignant inhalation from Mrs. Robinson, then she said, “Her name is Milly.”

The woman’s tone hadn’t been warm before, but now it was positively glacial.

“Oh. I’m so sorry. Of course it’s Milly.”

Lee lifted a brow at Alys. The woman was into the clinic often enough that Alys should have had no problem remembering her pet’s name.

“Here we go,” Rori said as she came back from the storage room holding a bag.

While most people bought their animals’ food at the local store, there were a few—like Mrs. Robinson—who insisted that the clinic order in the best pet food available. Lee didn’t understand it himself.

There were definitely some brands he wouldn’t buy for Elsa, but he still found food in the local store that he deemed good enough for her.

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