Page 23 of Every Inch of You
I recited the contents of the letter, word-for-word. It wasn’t hard to memorize it because it was sobrief.
“I bet you anything there was a much longer version that he threwout.”
“Really?”
“It’s a lot harder to write a short letter to someone you haven’t talked to in a long time, than a longone.”
I felt him giving me a meaningful look, but when I turned my head towards him he looked away. Had he tried to write to me over the years? He was such an enigma now. I knew better than to ask him. Kitten had fallen asleep. I carefully pulled the bottle from her without wakingher.
“Why would he send me a letter and not an email ortext?”
“Because he’s afraid his fiancée will read it. She probably checks his emails and texts. She’s probablynuts.”
“She’s definitelynuts.”
“Maybe it was a cry forhelp.”
“No. I doubtit.”
“Can I ask why you were with him? You don’t have to tell me. It’s just that he sounds like kind of anasshole.”
“He is. I mean, now he is. He wasn’t at first. He’s really smart. He’s pretty funny. Good-humored. Bit of a control freak. But he could be very passionate. He was. About me. The first few months we were together. Which is why I decided to move here with him. But things changed after we started livingtogether.”
Brad nodded. He seemed uncomfortable, looked away. I could tell he didn’t want me to goon.
“Here,” I whispered. I moved the sleeping kitten into his arms before he could protest. “Just hold her like this, it’s okay. I’ll go set things up in thebathroom.”
“Okay. Thanks. If you hear me scream it’s because she’s wokenup.”
Ilaughed.
“Also, if you ever tell anyone that I was afraid of a kitten, it will be the last thing you ever do.” He gave me a threateninglook.
“Well, I definitely wouldn’t wantthatto be the last thing I ever do.”Dying of a heart attack after seeing you naked would be okay,though.
He had a good-sized guest bathroom, which would be the kitten’s room for the first few days at least. It’s best to give a cat a small space to live in at first, until it’s used to being inside. I set up the small litter box, spread newspapers on the floor, and set up the cat bed and a bowl of water. I made Brad give me a pair of his socks to put in her bed so she could get used to his smell, and I considered slipping my own socks into his bed so he could get used to my smell—just in case that was why he was so edgy. If I didn’t have to go home to feed Justin Timberlake and clean his litter box, I would have insisted on staying the night to help with the feline caretakingduties.
But I had every intention of returning verysoon.
