Nancy Warren - Final Score

He shimmied down the tree, talking softly to the cat the whole way. He swung down from the lowest branch. “Hang on tight, now,” he said to his companion, and dropped down to the grass, one hand hanging onto his burden.

As he turned, he discovered he was no longer alone.

Cassie was standing in the backyard, staring at him. Obviously home early from work. And she’d brought her friend, Adam’s fiancée, Serena, with her.

“What on earth?” Cassie blinked at him.

He felt suddenly like a kid caught playing hooky. Instead of working on her house, she’d caught him climbing trees. He could feel bits of leaves in his hair, his clothes were even more filthy than they’d been earlier and he had a kitten hanging over his shoulder, claws so far into him he didn’t think she was ever letting go.

He decided to work on the most important thing first—getting the kitten disengaged from his flesh. With as much dignity as he could muster, he said to Cassie, “Could you pass me that tuna?”

The two women exchanged a glance that had a lot of suppressed humor in it, and he strongly suspected there was a certain gender mocking going on. Not that he could prove it, since neither of them said anything. Cassie picked up the saucer with the chunk of tuna on it and passed it over.

“Thank you.” He turned his back so the kitten’s head would face her. “Maybe you could try feeding the cat so she gets her claws out of my skin.”

“Ouch,” she said.

Then he heard her speak softly to the kitten. “It’s okay. I’ve got some yummy tuna for you, but you have to let go of Dylan first.” It was the sort of voice a mom would use with a toddler, but it worked fine. Or the smell of tuna did. He felt the claws release and then the small, warm body was lifted from his shoulder. When he turned around, the cat was already on the ground, happily chowing down.

He rubbed his chest with his knuckles and frowned at his new boss, who was looking distractingly hot in a skirt and heels that showed off shapely legs. “Don’t you know cats need time to get used to a new home? You can’t just let them out and leave them.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and he figured she’d made the dumb mistake of thinking that because she’d moved the cat she would settle right in. Big mistake. She was lucky the feline hadn’t hiked back to wherever she’d lived before.

“Your cat doesn’t even have a collar. What if she had wandered? Could have got lost.” The cat looked up from its empty plate then and meowed, as though in full agreement.

Cassie knelt down and patted the kitten’s head. She was obviously fond of her housemate.

Which made him continue, “I’m surprised you wouldn’t be a better pet owner, seeing as you work at the aquarium.”

She looked up at him, which made her eyes seem big. “I would if I owned a pet. But I don’t.”

He began to feel incredibly foolish. “You mean—”

“This isn’t my cat.”

He found two pairs of large eyes regarding him. “I, ah, I’m going to rip that tub out of the bathroom now,” he said, backing away.

* * *

AFTER DYLAN DISAPPEARED into the house, Cassie rose with the kitten in her arms. She looked at Serena and they both stifled giggles. Serena said, “Did we just witness a fireman rescuing a kitten from a tree?”

“Yep. And he looked awfully good doing it.”

“He looks good doing just about anything,” Serena agreed. “Too bad he can’t grow up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did I tell you about Last Bachelor Standing?”

“I don’t think so. I’d have remembered.”

Serena shook her head. “Well, when the three boys—and I do mean boys—Adam, Dylan and Max, were all celebrating Adam’s thirty-fifth birthday back in February, every one of them was still single. They challenged each other to one of their stupid contests. They’ve known each other forever and have this strange compulsion to set up bets. This one was who would be the last bachelor standing.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

Serena shook her head once more.

“Obviously, Adam didn’t win,” Cassie said, pointing to Serena’s engagement ring.

A purely feminine smile was her response. “No. He did not. Then Max went to Alaska and fell for that bush pilot who, let’s just say, took him down in flames.”

“Which leaves Dylan.”

“Yep. Undisputed winner of the contest, which I like to call Last Guy to Grow Up.”

Cassie could hear banging and sawing coming from the bathroom so she knew they couldn’t be overheard. “Is he proud of this so-called accomplishment?”

“He brags about it every time the guys get together.”

She glanced up at the bathroom window. “Sometimes I think it’s a wonder our species survives.”

“Speaking of survival,” Serena said, regarding the rescue cat, “what are you going to do about this little stray?”

The kitten was purring loudly in her arms, but she could feel that the animal was skin and bone. “I guess I’ll meet my new neighbors, see if anyone claims it.”

“It might belong to the last people who lived here. Sometimes cats find their way home.”

Cassie dumped the rest of the can of tuna into the saucer. Then she said to Serena, “Come on in. I’ll show you the progress so far, as promised. And you can help me choose paint colors.”

“As promised. Where do you want to start?”

“My bedroom. I cannot stand waking up every morning surrounded by walls the color of already chewed bubblegum.”

“Let’s go.”

But first she had to stop and admire the hardwood floors. “These are going to be so beautiful when they’re refinished.”

“I know. I can’t believe the difference already.”

As they walked upstairs she described the bedroom of her imagination. “I want something very feminine. I work with fish and marine mammals and scientists all day. I want my bedroom to be a woman’s retreat.”

They entered the room and she immediately saw what she wanted. “I’ve seen a yellow-and-blue duvet cover that I love, and I’ll have chintz cushions in the window seat in a coordinating fabric.”

Serena nodded. “The window seat really is pretty, with that view out into the garden. I love those multipaned windows. So country cottage.”

“I think that window seat might have sold me this house,” she admitted.

“What about a chandelier for a light fixture?” The one crouching over a single lightbulb in the ceiling was a square of etched glass that must have been ugly even in the ’60s.

“Ooh, I like it. And I’m looking for an antique headboard. I haven’t found one yet, but I’ll know it when I see it.”

“Nice. And you’ve got an en-suite bathroom, which is such a great feature.”

“But what color for the walls?”

Serena took a few moments to walk right into the bedroom. She sat on the window seat. Looked into the room. “I am seeing a French blue. Something soft, but the color of lavender.”

“Oh, that’s perfect.” Cassie picked up the fan of paint colors she’d bought to help her choose and began to flip. There were so many shades they made her eyes hurt, but Serena helped her and they finally decided on a color that both agreed would be wonderful. For the bathroom they decided on a darker shade of the same lavender color. The color would go well with the dark wood cabinet she’d scored for half price in a high-end decorating store that was changing its stock.

Cassie added two different colors of paint to her growing list of supplies to purchase, then added a chandelier because the idea pleased her so much. She knew that if she could get even this one room finished, she’d feel more settled.

When she turned to leave she found that the cat had followed them and had settled herself on the window seat, nestled among the cushions she’d put there temporarily.