Cheryl Wolverton - A Mother's Love

He pulled to a stop and hopped out, then went around the hood to open her door. Once again the cat hissed at him.

He sneezed.

“Be careful,” she warned when he reached out to ease her out of the truck’s seat. “I don’t want you to scare her.”

Scare her? Jake looked at the way the cat rolled its eyes at him and didn’t think the animal was in any way scared. “Careful, now. We don’t want you falling.”

“I’m fine,” Maggie said, holding the cat close. “I still can’t believe she only had a cut on her side, was missing part of her ear and had a broken tail and broken foot”

“Well, if the doc was right and it climbed up in someone’s car, I’d say it was real lucky.”

Maggie nodded, sighing when both feet found solid ground. “The cat is a she, not an it.”

“Oh.” Jake nodded. He went ahead of her and opened the door to her house. As she approached he sneezed again. “You sure you’ll be okay with her here? Doc offered to keep her for you until the owner was found.”

Maggie shook her head. “I’ll look after her. We don’t even know if she had an owner. There were no records. That’s why the vet went ahead and gave her shots.”

Jake sighed He watched Maggie cooing to the cat the entire time the cat growled back at her. The hair on the back of his neck stood up at how mean that cat sounded, but Maggie sat there and made faces at the animal.

“If you need anything…”

Maggie looked up, opened her mouth, then shook her head.

“What?”

“Nothing. I can get it later.”

Jake studied her as she went over and sat down on the couch. His gaze drifted to the cat Suddenly it dawned on him. “Cat food.”

Maggie glanced up, surprised. “Yes. I do need cat food. But I am paying for this.”

She narrowed her eyes to let him know she was serious.

Jake shrugged. “I didn’t mind paying for the vet. You saved the cat when the shelter would have put her down. It was the least I could do.”

Maggie laid the cat carefully on her jacket, which was on the couch, and stood. She crossed the room to her purse and opened it. Jake watched her discreetly count out her money, then hand him some. “I would appreciate it. I’m just afraid to leave her right now.”

Jake smiled. “No problem. I’ll run up to the store and be right back.”

Maggie’s face softened. “Thank you.”

Her smile could easily knock a man off his feet. He couldn’t remember anyone with a smile like that. He found himself grinning like an idiot “Uh, yeah.” Jake cleared his throat “Okay. I’ll just…go.”

Maggie nodded, turning back to the cat when she growled again.

Jake shook his head and left, sneezing three times before he got out the door. He tried to remember if he’d ever been around cats and couldn’t recall a single incident except when he was a child. “No. I do not have allergies,” he reassured himself.

Jake turned and headed across the driveway to his truck. He saw Jennifer and her husband locking up the day care for the evening and paused.

Jennifer and Gage came over. Gage stuck out his hand and Jake automatically shook it. “How’s the new secretary? She getting settled in?”

Jake nodded, blinking at the itchy sensation. “She’s fine. I’m sorry, Jennifer, that I was gone so long. It took the doc longer to patch up that cat than we realized.”

“No problem.” Jennifer peered at him. “Cat allergies?” she asked sympathetically.

“No.” Jake shook his head. “I just…the truck needs to be cleaned out bad.”

Gage raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Jennifer looked confused. “If you say so. Do you need anything before I leave?”

Again Jake shook his head. “I’m on my way to the store. No one called, did they?”

“Yes. Mrs. Rawley. She wanted to make sure this was her Sunday to work in the nursery. Gloria called and rescheduled her appointment from Monday to Tuesday to talk with you. She said she just couldn’t make it.”

Jake sighed. Gloria was putting off their talk and that worried him. She had come to him about the problems going on in her marriage and their one talk was enough to make him really concerned.

“And Sister Hollings called. She wanted to talk to you about the music again. She says it’s way too loud on Sunday morning. If it wasn’t turned down, then she said she was going to turn it down herself.”

Jake smiled. “I know…that guitar…”

“Just drives me crazy,” Jennifer said with him, and they both chuckled.

“Gotta love her,” he said. “You left the messages on my desk?”

“Yeah. They’re all there except Gloria’s. I slipped that in your top desk drawer on top of the phone book.”

“Thank you, Jennifer. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You get some sleep tonight,” Gage said, slipping his arm around his wife but keeping his gaze on Jake. “Those plans for the inner-city program can wait until later.”

Jake groaned. “I completely forgot.”

Jennifer elbowed her husband. “Thanks, Gage.”

Gage shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Seriously, Jake. I’ve looked over them and talked with the committee. They’ve agreed to give you another week.”

Wearily Jake nodded. “Fine. Fine. Good night”

They waved and left.

Jake climbed in his truck and ran up to the local dollar store.

Once there, Jake went through the aisles, trying to decide what the cat would need and if he could pay for it with the money Maggie had given him.

He shook his head.

Impossible.

With God, all things are possible, he acknowledged silently. “So, how are we going to work this out so as not to embarrass her?” he muttered.

Jake thought.

They could afford cat food. That was a must. Cat litter, too. But that left only three dollars for a litter box and bowls.

Remembering being on the streets when he was a kid, he smiled. Other people had had pets, but they certainly hadn’t been able to afford all the fancy stuff advertised on these aisles as musts for cat owners. No, a simple bowl out of the kitchen and a plastic-lined box had suited them fine.

He took the two items up the cash register and paid for them, feeling guilty. Of course, what Maggie didn’t know was that he’d had the cabinets filled from their food pantry as a welcome gift from the church. So maybe this money wouldn’t be missed so much when she realized she had food.

After paying for the items, he took them out to the truck and hurried back to Maggie’s.

He knocked.

“Come in, Jake.”

He opened the door and went inside, carrying the items. “You really should have that locked.”

He stopped, unable to believe what he was seeing. Maggie had taken the extra pillow, put her raincoat over it, then a sheet and finally the cat on top of it.

The cat saw him and growled.

He sneezed.

Maggie looked up, noticed the bag and smiled. “Thank you.”

Jake handed her the food. “I’ll carry the litter. It’s too heavy.”

“Okay.” Maggie nodded and went into the kitchen. She rummaged around until she found two old bowls, then filled one with water and one with food.

“About the door…” he began.

“I would have had it locked, but I went out to get my suitcases. I had just gotten back in before you arrived.”

“I told you I’d get those for you,” Jake said, somehow feeling he’d failed to help her.

Maggie glanced over her shoulder at him. Jake noted the way her hair had come out of the ponytail and several strands fell loosely against her cheek. “That wasn’t necessary, Jake.”

Jake stared at her smile, thinking how soft it made her look. When she tipped her head quizzically he cleared his throat. “Oh, um…well, carrying those can’t be good for you as far along as you are.”