Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“We have cats,” I confirm. “Six of them.”
“Six?” That comes out sounding a lot like, holy pies, you have eighty?
He stares down at the huge black and white tuxedo cat, who happens to be perched right in the middle of the round table in the kitchen.
“That’s Jack. He won’t move from there until you pay the tuna treat tax, but there’s no point in doing it until you’re ready to eat there. He’ll just get right back up and demand the tax all over again.”
Luca quirks a brow. “The tuna treat tax?”
“He doesn’t like any other flavors. He’s got a very refined palette.”
I scratch Jack behind the ears. He has a big purr motor, and it kicks into high gear, rattling the whole table. Not really, but kind of. He’s the size of a small dog. Maybe a medium-sized dog.
“Where and when did you get six cats?” Luca searches the kitchen with his eyes, surveilling it for other treat tax tyrants.
“When I was a kid.”
“Your dad doesn’t even like cats,” Luca points out.
“He loves me, though, and I love them, so he caved. The universe sent Patches, our tortie cat, to us when I was four. I found her in the backyard, runty and sick. Mom took her to the vet and meant to try and find her a home, but two seconds in, I was in love.” My face does the wobbly thing that happens when I’m about to bawl, but I keep it under control. Barely. “She crossed the rainbow bridge last year. I was back from college. Barely. She was always happiest when I came home for the summers.” I have to stop, or the waterworks are going to come on full force. “But she started a movement. All the cats are rescues. I wanted to help at shelters and work with rescues. My mom found time to do that with me, since I was just a kid. And over the years, we ended up falling in love. A few times. Dad just… I think he gave up trying to tell us to stop bringing cats home. We always used the always room for one more argument very convincingly.”
“That’s incredible. Have you always known what you wanted?”
What a question. “Not at all. I just knew I wanted them.” I scratch Jack’s chin just the way he likes. He’s quite particular. If you hit the wrong spots, he’ll try to bite or take a swipe, but I’ve had years of practice catering to his whims. “And you.”
It’s so adorable to see Luca blush. He slays me when a shy smile turns into a grin so wide that a single dimple appears on the left side of his face.
He follows me over to the kitchen. My parents bought this house before they were married, and they moved into it right after their wedding. It’s had a few renovations over the years. When I got home last night, I walked from room to room, wondering how Luca would see it when he arrived in the morning.
“The kitchen’s been renovated. When I was fourteen, my mom convinced my dad to let her hire a contractor to come in with a crew and do it in a few days. He would have loved to do it himself, but he was so busy with the bakery all the time. Mom wanted him to have a space where he could cook at home here too.” I motion to the white cupboards with the square handles, the copper range hood and matching sink, and the industrial stove. “It’s very country-inspired, and they splurged on everything. They’d been saving for a long time, and this was their way of treating themselves.”
“It’s lovely,” Luca breathes. He’s the kind of person who can mean it, even when he’s used to living with a state-of-the-art industrial kitchen that probably costs a quarter of a million dollars or more.
No matter how rich Luca is, he has that innate humility built into him. People call it charisma, but they don’t understand where that magnetism comes from. It stems from kindness. From a love of being around people. All sorts of people. From being able to see the small things, sense the big ones, and go for it. He pretty much had the world at his feet at the time of his accident.
He didn’t have to leave it all behind. I truly think people wouldn’t have given a shit. Those who loved and admired him would still have gravitated to him, no matter his changed appearance.
I just hope he’ll learn that. He doesn’t have to go back to the world in that same capacity. I just want him to see it and believe it.
“Pie or eggs?” I ask.
“You know, I’ve never really liked eggs. Just a bite of pie would be fine. I’m not a breakfast person.”