Page 54 of Wrapped with a Beau

“Yeah, yeah,” he says with a melting smile. “It’s all for you.”

Thor’s distinctive purr rumbles out of the basket. Elisha darts guilty eyes to Ves.

“What have you got there?” he asks. He puts cold cuts, cheese, and greens in the fridge, boxed soups and croissants in the cabinet, and leaves everything else bagged on the counter.

“Thor and Thorin.” With a sheepish smile, she tips the basket a little sideways. Ves blanches as Thor, a ginger shorthair tabby, stretches out his paws and yawns. Thorin, a Ragdoll mix with thick black fur, is even less inquisitive about his new surroundings and doesn’t bother to open his eyes. “They were Maeve’s, but, um, I know you’re not a cat person. And I didn’t want to assume you’d want them. They’re neutered and house-trained, but pets are a lot of responsibility, especially if—no offense—you’re not used to it.”

“None taken. Where have they been this whole time?”

“My house. I didn’t want them to be taken to a shelter and none of Maeve’s friends could take both, and the boys shouldn’t be separated. Plus, with all the reorganizing, they would have just added to the chaos. But now that the downstairs is almost done, I figured they wouldn’t be underfoot. If you wouldn’t be comfortable, though, that’s absolutely not a problem.”

She lightly laughs, reaching in to scratch behind Thor’s ear. He purrs and arches into her touch. “I’ll admit, at first my parents weren’t too keen when I took charge of them, but Dad was the first one to cave, and it didn’t take much longer to win Mom over.”

“I’m in your debt.” Ves comes closer to peer at the basket. His face is totally impassive, which makes Elisha worry a little, since the adolescent cats, barely a year old, are especially cute.

“Not at all,” she says. “Maeve loved the little guys, so I was happy to take care of them.”

To her surprise, Ves reaches for Thorin without hesitation, pulling him against his chest. Always happy to be held, Thorin settles into the crook of his arm, baby style. Elisha stifles an Awwwww, schooling her expression when he looks at her. “Are you sure no one else wanted them?” he asks.

“Afraid not. But that’s not a guilt trip! Like I said, we’re happy to hold on to them. It’s your choice.”

Watching him with them makes her insides all gooey, the way Solana gets when she sees Adam with his baby nieces and nephews. It isn’t like Elisha doesn’t know that Ves can be tender, but as he rubs his hand comfortingly up and down the Ragdoll mix’s thick black fur, her heart grows at least ten sizes. She takes a mental snapshot to relive later, maybe when he’s being extra grumpy and she needs to recall that he was once this goddamn soft. It makes her want to smoosh kisses all over his face.

Ves bites his lip and the gesture is so uncertain that she practically hears the hiss of her super-inflated heart puncturing. “I don’t...” he starts to say, then stops.

She fills in the blanks, imagining what’s running through his mind. I don’t want them. I don’t know if I’m allowed to give cats milk and I actually think a black cat is unlucky and obviously all this makes me completely unsuited to the responsibility. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a cat dad. I don’t think pets suit my lifestyle. I don’t think this is a good idea.

Idly, he scratches Thorin’s neck, brow so furrowed in concentration that she doesn’t think he realizes the cat’s happy squirming is getting hairs all over his expensive-looking cardigan. She waits it out.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Ves says finally. “I’ve never had a pet.” She tries not to be disappointed, about to tell him it’s okay, she’s happy to take them back, will convince her parents somehow, when he adds, “But I can learn. Will you help me?”

It’s the exact opposite of everything she expected him to say. But then she remembers boarding school and horse camp and spending summers with neither parent. And she sees him tickle under Thorin’s chin with such a gentle look on his face, and she thinks she gets it.

“Of course I will,” she says. If her voice is a little tight, a little too close to tears, he either doesn’t notice or doesn’t press her on it.

“Elisha?”

“Yes?”

With a hint of amusement, he asks, “Thor and Thorin?”

“What can I say, Maeve was a huge Marvel and Hobbit fan. Her favorite party trick was coming up with six degrees of separation between me and all the Hemsworth brothers.”

He stops cuddling Thorin. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, she didn’t kid around when hot guys were concerned.” She gives him a wry smile. “What surprises you the most?”

“All of it. She visited me in New York a few times since I graduated college, but to me she will always be the kind, little old graying lady who smelled like cookies and played explorers all over the house with me. Not this... horny grandma who named her cats after hot fictional men.”

“Well, you were her great-nephew. She probably loved you like a grandmother. She doted on me, too, but, well, even with the huge age difference, I think at the heart of it, we were friends.”

Ves chuckles, dodging Thorin’s swishing tail as the greedy boy begs for more affection. “God, there’s so much about her that I don’t know. The weird shit is kind of the best part, too.”

“She was making up for a lot of lost time,” says Elisha. “I never thought of her as old, you know? I don’t think anyone else did, either. That’s why it came as such a surprise when she died.” Quietly, she adds, “And it sucked even more that she was so far from home when it happened.”

A pensive look falls over his face. “Was she happy?” he asks quietly, like he’s afraid of the answer.

Elisha rolls the question around in her mind before answering. “You know, I think she learned to be. I don’t think it was easy and she had guilt sometimes. She originally stayed behind in Piney Peaks to care for her father, so there was probably some resentment. But she really believed in remembering roots, where she came from. And balanced that with the dream of spreading her wings and taking flight. That one just came to her a lot later in life than most people. She never said so, but I think that’s why the Sleighbells sequel mattered so much to her. It was a reminder of the best time of her life, her lost love, her... well, her regrets, too. I think she wanted a chance to re-create the magic.”

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