Page 26 of A Much Younger Man
“Not yet, probably.” I had a bit of difficulty putting on my gloves.
Beck snickered. “You sure you’re up to this? Maybe we should wait for April.”
“Oh, please. I got this.” I snapped the glove to prove I’d done it. “Most likely this is contagious.”
Beck’s eyes widened. “To me?”
“Nah. Wash your hands after handling them and don’t touch your face. You should be doing that anyway.”
He nodded. “Travis told me.”
“The other kittens will get it, though.”
He paled. “Oh, shoot. Is it because I did something wrong?”
“No, of course not.” I held the little girl kitten while I collected some of her eye gunk for tests. “This is common stuff. The younger they are, the more susceptible.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Okay, so how do I take care of them?”
“April will do what’s needed. We’ll monitor the others. They’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” He relaxed a bit.
We took the kitten back to the kennel where he’d been feeding them, and I settled into a chair next to his.
“So, who’s been fed and who still needs to eat? I’ll take one.”
“Rose is the only one left.”
“Cool, which is she?” He handed me a mewling, tabby spitfire. “Ah, Rose.”
“I named them in honor of the Golden Girls.” He shifted in his chair to hold his kitten out. “Like I said, this one is Blanche.”
“Ah.”
Beck cradled his kitten after she finished eating. “Before I started helping out here, I didn’t think I was a cat guy.”
“It’s hard to resist a kitten.”
“Yeah, but then they turn into cats. I never thought I could like them as much as I like dogs. I didn’t think they had much to offer.”
I studied his forearms, which were streaked with tiny claw marks. “Besides scratches, you mean?”
He wrinkled his nose. “There’s that.”
“People think cats don’t care about them or get attached to their families.” I hoped I didn’t sound like I was pontificating. “But honestly, most people don’t know how to read a cat’s little feline signals. If you expect it to act like a dog, then you’ll be disappointed, but when you get to know cats, they’re just as awesome.”
“They have signals?”
“Sure.” I finished feeding Rose and got us both warm, wet cloths to help them eliminate. “Cats blink at you, very slowly when they feel comfortable around you. They’ll groom you with their paws and their tongues. If they believe they can trust you, they might relax and let their bellies show. Rubbing, head butting. Interrupting you to get your attention. All good signs they like you.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“And if they like you but think you’re kind of hopeless or you can’t provide for yourself, they’ll kill something and leave it for you.”
“No way.” He looked like he didn’t believe me.
“Absolutely. They want you to learn to hunt.” I made a funny voice,“Poor ungainly human, can’t even catch a lizard. So sad.”
