Page 43 of Hiding Forever

The cutest heart-wrenching meows meet my ears. I have to stop myself from saying I’ll take them all.

Nova lifts her gaze and smiles at me as if I’m her favorite person. I like the way that look makes me feel. It takes me a moment to realize I’m rubbing my chest, over my heart.

I drop my hand.

“Finally,” she blurts but the smile on her face makes her curt tone more cute than serious.

“Sorry. I got held up.”

“You’re forgiven.” She beams, those yellow-green eyes glistening in the sun.

That was easy. Is she always this forgiving?

“This is Linda and Asher.” Nova gestures to them, then introduces me. “This is Riley. He’s going to help me pick a few out.”

“A few? I thought you said one.”

“Look at them, Riley. How can I choose just one?”

I nod at Asher and stand protectively beside Nova, making sure to block his view down her sweater. “Which are your favorites?” I ask her.

She lets out a big sigh and then climbs over the low bright-green fence. “I thought I’d let them decide.” She sits crisscross on the grass in her jean shorts, her bronze legs looking silky smooth. “Join me.” She pats the grass beside her.

“What for?”

“Since we’re going to be co-owners, they need to choose you, too.”

“Co-owners?” I scratch my head. “I thought I was just the helper.”

She eyes me. “We’re in this together. Partners in crime. Now, get in. I want to see which ones favor you.”

Still unsure about the co-owner thing, I step over the fence and sit beside Nova. The smile she sends me makes it worth it.

A furry white kitten and a calico one with colors of cream, butterscotch, and dark brown play near her legs as she pets them.

They’re all so small and cute. Eight fill the pen. Two whites, two calicos, two orange ones, a black one, and one that looks like a leopard. That one is bigger than the others but not by much and has yellow-green eyes. He or she walks over and bites my finger.

“Hey.” I inspect my skin for blood. All good.

“That’s Itty-bitty,” Linda says. “She’s six months old but was the runt of the litter, so no one wanted her. She’s playful and lovable for the right owner.”

She paws my hand with her tiny claws and bites my finger again, sucking it into her mouth. Next, she’s licking my finger with her sandpaper tongue.

“She likes you,” Linda says.

“And now that I know her story, I have to have her,” Nova says. “Don’t you agree?” she asks me and strokes the cat from head to tail.

“Absolutely.” I hold Nova’s gaze. “No outcasts left behind.”

Her smile radiates warmth, challenging the sun. “That’s right.”

“Your turn to choose,” I tell her.

She giggles as the kittens in her lap tumble over her thighs. “I believe these two have chosen for me.”

The white one totters toward me, its blue eyes the color of the sky. “Hey little guy. Girl?” I look to Linda for the answer.

“Girl.”

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