Page 18 of Heart Strain

“You alright?” Jameson asks.

Swallowing around my dry mouth, I nod. “Yeah, yep, yes. Fine. I’m fine.” Real convincing.

He squints his eyes at me, so I look away from him and step inside.

Walking into House of Paws and Claws feels like a blast from the past. It looks exactly the same in here with the exception of the little girl at the receptionist’s desk. I don’t recognize her, so I walk over and say, “Hello, I’m Holden. I think Laura is expecting me.”

“Oh! She told me someone might be coming in for her. Give me one minute to grab her from the back. You can have a seat.” She points to the chairs against the wall.

“Thank you.” I lead Jameson over to the chairs, and when I see the look on his face, I ask, “What’s wrong with you? If you changed your mind, it’s really okay.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just nervous.”

I can’t help the smile that perks up on my lips. “Why are you so nervous?”

“What if I pick wrong? Or what if I end up wanting five of them? I can’t adopt five cats, can I?”

Chuckling, I reach over and squeeze his hand, ignoring how natural his hand feels in mine. “It’ll be okay, Foxy. I promise.”

He looks into my eyes, and I get a little caught in his green gaze. There are so many flecks of color in his eyes that I could get lost in them forever. After a few seconds, he whispers, “Thanks.”

Before I can respond, Laura walks out, saying, “It’s so good to see you, Holden!” When I stand up and hug her, she exclaims, “Oh my gosh, look at you! So grown up.” She squeezes me tight for a few seconds.

“Can’t breathe, Laura.”

She laughs and releases me. “I can’t believe you’re here. How’s Ithaca treating you?”

“It’s great.”

“I heard about your brother; I’m so sorry, Holden. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he pulls through.”

I don’t really want to talk about it because it’ll only make both me and Jameson upset, so I only say, “Thanks,” then change the subject. “This is my friend, Jameson. He’s looking to adopt a cat.”

Laura looks at him with a bright smile. “A cat, huh? I’m surprised Holden’s still friends with you.”

Jameson chuckles. “Me too.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have any kittens in?”

“We do, in fact. Come on back.” She leads us to a door that opens up to a large room full of pens and play areas. The great thing about House of Paws and Claws is that they let most of the animals out to play together all day, as long as they’re friendly, and only put them in their crates at night. The animals are much happier that way. She takes us back to the cat room—my least favorite place ever—and I watch Jameson’s eyes light up when we step inside. So okay, maybe the cat room isn’t that bad, at least not when it makes him so happy.

“There’s so many of them,” Jameson whispers.

Laura nods. “We had two pregnant females come in the past month, so we have more cats in here than we typically do. You’re welcome to walk around and pet anyone that’ll let you, or you can have a seat back in the kitten corner.” There’s a large playpen filled with little kittens.

“Okay, I’ll admit they’re cute, so that’s where I’m going,” I say, already letting myself into the playpen area.

Jameson follows me in there, and we both sit down. In less than a minute, we’re covered in kittens. Laura smiles and leans over the edge of the little fence to watch us as she asks, “How’s veterinarian life treating you, Holden?”

“I love it. I work at an animal hospital five days a week, but my favorite thing is when the local animal shelter calls me in. I volunteer my time to do surgeries there whenever I can.”

Jameson asks, “You do?”

“Yep. That’s how I got Peanut, actually.”

“Really?”

I tell Laura, “Peanut is my pit bull.”

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