by A. E. Radley
“Somebody’s going to get hurt all right…” Peyton muttered, glaring at her mother.
Ashley grinned and placed a hand on Peyton’s arm. “Oh, sweetie.”
Peyton crossed her arms. “Just because it doesn’t have a collar on, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a home somewhere.”
“Oh, Peyton. We couldn’t just leave the baby out there. Besides, what’s so bad about a free kitten?”
“There’s no such thing as a free kitten,” Peyton snorted. “I think I would know.”
“Who has a free kitten?” Mike sauntered into the room, chewing open-mouthed on a piece of pie as he spoke. Even though he was a few years older than Peyton, Ashley had always thought the two could have been twins. They had similar personalities, were roughly the same height, and, although Mike’s hair was much shorter than Peyton’s, they shared the same peculiar shade of auburn.
“We do, Uncle Mike!”
“No, we don’t,” Peyton shook her head at Daisy.
There was a pounding of feet and then Mike’s children, who actually were twins, came barreling into the room. For the life of her, Ashley couldn’t tell them apart. Both boys, miniature versions of their father, were loud and boisterous. Ashley had observed over the past few months that objects had a tendency to break in their presence. She noticed that Moose, who had been standing unusually quiet by her side, moved as fast as his little dachshund legs would take him to get out of the way of the twins.
“A kitten!” one of the boys said, reaching for the kitten. “I want to play with it.”
“No,” Daisy said, drawing the gray, snub-nosed kitten close to her chest. “It’s my kitten not yours.”
“It’s nobody’s kitten,” Peyton grumbled.
This back and forth could go on all night, Ashley decided. It was time to intervene. Turning on the voice she usually reserved for rowdy freshmen in her English Lit classes, she said, “All right, that’s enough.”
The room went silent and all eyes fell on her. Ashley felt momentarily self-conscious, but continued. She brushed a lock of brown hair off her forehead and turned her attention first to the twins, who were dancing around Daisy, grabbing at the kitten.
“Billy,” she said, touching the nearest boy on the shoulder, “why don’t you and—”
“I’m Mike Junior,” he huffed back and then pointed a thumb at his brother. “That’s Billy.”
Lord. “Well, why don’t both of you give Daisy and the kitten some space and go back outside to play.”
“But I want to play with the kitten,” Billy whined and made another grab at the kitten, just barely missing its tail as Daisy whirled around with it.
“C’mon guys,” Mike said to his children, “you can play with the kitten later.” He took another bite of pie before pushing both boys away from Daisy and the kitten and out of the living room.
Ashley watched them go with a sigh of relief. She loved children, but Mike’s boys would try the soul of a saint. She noticed that as the trio left the room, Moose slinked back over to stare intently at Daisy and the kitten. The last time they’d encountered a cat, it had been at the dog park. Moose had gotten so worked up barking at it that he was hoarse for the remainder of the day. Now, though, he was acting amazingly calm in the presence of the kitten.
“Sweetie,” Ashley said, smiling down at Daisy, “why don’t you give the kitten to your mother so she can look it over. In the meantime, you can go wash your hands.”
Peyton mouthed a thank you at Ashley over her daughter’s head. A flash of protest washed over Daisy’s face, but she handed her mother the kitten and then left the room, pausing at the hallway to give a final look back over her shoulder before continuing on. Once she was out of sight, Peyton turned back on her mother.
“Seriously, Mom, a cat?” She shifted the kitten from one hand to the other as it attempted to wiggle out of her grasp. “For all you know it has rabies.”
Jolene rolled her eyes and then patted her platinum blonde hair. “Please, Peyton, you’re always so overly dramatic.”
“Overly dramatic?” Peyton sniffed. “Is that what you’re going to name the kitten once you get it home?”
“Get it h …” Jolene frowned and then barked out a laugh. “Oh no. If you think that kitten is coming home with me you’ve got another—”
“But, Mom, it’s so cute,” Peyton sing-songed as she held the kitten up to her mother’s face. The kitten mewled in a response of its own.
“All right, you two,” Ashley barked. “That doesn’t help anyone.” She reached out and took the kitten from Peyton. It made another mewing sound and then purred as Ashley began to scratch the back of its neck. She met Peyton’s warning eyes and gave a half smile. “You have to admit, it is kinda cute.”
“Et tu, Ashley?”
“Peyton Maxwell, DMV…I thought you were the animal lover?”
She smiled. “It’s D-V-M, silly. I’m a vet, not in charge of giving out driver’s licenses. And for years I’ve been discouraging Daisy from bringing home strays. I love animals, but do you know what my house would look like if I brought home every stray cat or dog that comes into the clinic?”
“Oh, Peyton, one kitten is not going to put you on the slippery slope to animal hoarding.”
“Famous last words.” Peyton looked thoughtful for a moment. “What a minute… Is this part of your campaign to make Daisy like you? I told you the other day that you were being silly about that. Daisy adores you.”
Ashley knew that Daisy liked her, but couldn’t help second-guessing that fact. It was her neurotic nature at work. She’d been overdoing ever since she and Moose had moved in, she knew, but she couldn’t help herself.
“No,” she said, telling herself that what she was saying was mostly true. She continued to run her fingers along the back of the kitten’s neck. His purring intensified. “You know, I had a kitten when I was little.” She glanced down at Moose, who although he hadn’t barked yet, looked less than thrilled. “Besides, Moose is getting older and may not have the energy to keep up with Daisy much longer.” She flashed a smile at Peyton. “What’s one little kitten in the house going to hurt?”
Peyton opened her mouth and then, as if deciding against whatever it was she was going to say, closed it. She twisted her lips and looked from Ashley to Moose to the kitten. Finally, she sighed and shook her head.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “But I’m not cleaning out any litter boxes.”
“Yea!” Daisy trilled, running over to them and begging the kitten out of Ashley’s arms. “Now we gotta come up with a name for you,” she said to the kitten as she whisked him off to her bedroom.
Peyton watched her go and then turned back to her mother and Ashley. “I hope I don’t regret this.”
“Oh Peyton,” Jolene scolded. “Don’t be so melodramatic. It’s just a kitten. How much trouble could a tiny thing like that be?”
CHAPTER 2
“…and then, after it was through throwing up a hairball in the middle of the kitchen floor, the damned thing chewed my computer cord in half.”
“Why are you looking at me like it’s my fault?”
“Hmm,” Peyton said, dropping the knotted mess of Christmas lights onto her lap before looking up at her mother. “I can’t even imagine why.”
Jolene hung a bright red ball on the Christmas tree that sat in the middle of her living room and then dusted her hands on her black slacks. “You’re beginning to sound like a broken record, Peyton.”
“Mmhm. I imagine that if I had a record player, the kitten would have chewed its way through that cord as well.”
“You can buy another cord for your computer, Peyton. How much could one possibly cost?”
“The cost is not the point, Mom.” Peyton frowned down at the jumble of Christmas lights, pulling at one of the green cords in an attempt to untangle it from the mass. “I shouldn’t have to buy one. If you hadn’t brought the little demon-spawn into my house, I wouldn’t have to.”
Jole
ne stared thoughtfully at the tree and then repositioned the red ornament. “Please, it’s a cute little kitten. I thought you loved animals.”
“Of course I love animals. I’m just not that much of a cat person,” Peyton said as she continued to tug and twist at the string of lights. “Especially when the cat is forced on me.”
“No one forced anything on any one. Good grief. You’re as bad as your father, always going on about this or that like it’s the end of the world.”
“Whatever,” Peyton mumbled. She glanced up at her mother. “Where is Dad, by the way? I’m surprised you don’t have him here helping to put the tree up.
“He went to see a man about a knife.” Jolene waved a hand over the open box of ornaments she had set out on the coffee table before picking one and turning back to the tree. “And we agreed after that little incident two years ago when he strung up the lights the wrong way and set the tree on fire that he’s not allowed within ten feet of the house when it’s time to decorate.”
Twisting her lips as she yanked another line of lights free, Peyton couldn’t help but wonder if her father hadn’t set the fire accidentally on purpose just to get out of decoration duty. “I’m still not sure how that happened, but—” She arched an eyebrow and looked up questioningly. “Seeing a man about a knife? What does that mean?”
“It means your father is crazy.” Jolene picked up a silver ball out of the ornament box and rose on her tip toes to hang it near the top of the tree. She glanced back at Peyton. “He decided that he didn’t like the way his carving knife cut at dinner yesterday, so he’s off in search of a new one. One of his friends from the college told him about an after-Thanksgiving sale on knives over at one of the stores in the outlet mall, so he’s gone shopping.”
The picture of her father battling the throngs of shoppers that were likely to be swarming over the mall brought a grin to Peyton’s face. “I never took Dad for a Black Friday guy. He probably could have gotten just as good a deal online instead of fighting the crowds. I could have looked it up for him, but—oh wait—I don’t have a working computer right now, do I?”
“Are we back to that again?”
“I don’t know that we ever left,” Peyton grumbled, wrenching free the last tangled line of Christmas lights. Finally! “Here.” She stood and offered the string of lights to her mother. “I think I finally got all the knots out. Promise me this year you won’t just take them down after Christmas and toss them in a box. That’s how they get so snarled up.”
“Yes, dear,” Jolene answered in a voice that told Peyton she intended to do just that. “Now, get on the other side of the tree and help me put these up.”
“Aren’t you supposed to put the lights on first?”
“I think I know how to decorate a Christmas tree, Peyton, I’ve been doing it since before you were born,” Jolene snipped, weaving the lights behind the ornaments she had hung earlier. She continued to trail long cords of lights around the tree with Peyton in silence. After a moment she said, “So when are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Peyton cocked her head around the tree to stare at her mother. “What? Nothing’s bothering me.”
“Please, you’ve been bitchy ever since you got here. And I know it has to be more than the kitten. Did you not get enough sleep?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me, and I got plenty of sleep. Slept in, as a matter of fact.” Peyton handed off the string of lights to Jolene. “Ashley’s friend Cassie is coming over to the house—in fact, she should be there now. They’re going to hang out and maybe go down to the dog park since Ashley said she’s doing all her shopping online this year. Daisy can’t leave that kitten alone for more than a second, so she stayed home with them.”
Jolene took the lights from Peyton and pursed her lips. “Mmhmm.”
Peyton stared back. “I said nothing’s wrong.”
“We can play this game all day, Peyton.” Working the last of the lights in around the top of the Christmas tree, Jolene continued, “So if you got enough sleep, what is it then? Is it Ashley? Is there something going on between you two?”
“What? No, we’re fine. Everything is going great. I’ve never been happier.”
Jolene raised an eye brow.
“Don’t give me that look, Mom,” Peyton scowled. “There’s nothing—you know what? Fine. I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” She stepped back from the tree and crossed her arms. “You.”
Jolene looked stricken. “Me?”
Self-assured now that she’d gotten it out, Peyton nodded. “Yes, you. You messed things up for me yesterday.”
“And what, pray tell, did I mess up?”
“You brought that kitten in after dinner yesterday and got everyone riled up, and…”
“And what?” Jolene narrowed her eyes.
Peyton’s feeling of self-confidence was suddenly fleeting. She looked down at her feet and then back up to her mother. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I had planned to ask Ashley to marry me yesterday.”
“Marry you? Are you serious?” Peyton nodded. “Oh, that’s so wonderful!” Jolene squeaked and then wrapped Peyton in a huge hug. “You know how much I love Ashley. I’ve always thought you two were just made for each other.”
“Mom, I can’t breathe.”
Smiling broadly, Jolene took a step back. “And I am doubly glad that I brought that kitten home so you couldn’t ask her.”
What? “What are talking about? You just said—”
Jolene moved back to the coffee table and began rustling through the boxes she had lain out. “I know what I said.” She pulled an obnoxiously glittered gold star from one of the boxes and turned back to Peyton, a frown on her face. “That’s no way to ask someone to marry you, in front of the whole family at Thanksgiving dinner. What if she’d said no?”
Peyton felt the blood leave her face. “What? Why would she say no? What has she told you?”
“Calm down,” Jolene fussed. “She hasn’t told me anything, but no woman wants to be proposed to in between candied yams and pecan pie.”
“Give me some credit, Mom,” Peyton grumbled. “I wasn’t going to do it over dinner.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“I was going to wait until after the A&M game was over.”
Jolene blew out a long breath. “I know I raised you better than that. You need to make it romantic. You’re talking about a moment she’s going to remember for the rest of her life. Make it special…take her out to a nice restaurant or on a romantic weekend.” She waved a hand in the air. “Something,” she said, emphasizing the word. “Do you even have a ring?”
Do I even have a ring, Peyton repeated in her mind, wondering when her mother had become a wedding guru. “Of course, I have a ring.”
“Wonderful,” Jolene smiled and handed the gold star to Peyton. She motioned to the top of the Christmas tree. “Now, let’s get finished with the tree and you can help me hang the lights out in front of the house.”
I know now why Dad set the house on the fire. “Mom, don’t you think you’re overdoing it with the Christmas lights?”
“Nonsense,” Jolene tutted. “Everyone loves a little Christmas cheer.”
CHAPTER 3
I’ve long thought the worst part about the Christmas holidays was the decorations. The lights I don’t mind so much, although the ones that blink on and off hurt my eyes sometimes. Christmas trees are okay, too. Especially the ones that have gifts under them for me. It’s always cute how Ashley will wrap up my gifts in paper…like I can’t smell what’s waiting for me inside. No, it wasn’t any of those that bothered me.
It was Santa Claus.
It started back when I was a puppy and lived with the Shaw family. It was my first Christmas with them and I was so excited. Tanner and Laura had gone on and on about how great Christmastime was and about all the presents we were going to get to open. That’s also when I first discovered the joy of ham bones.
But then came Christmas Eve night.
Everyone had gone to bed and I’d just settled down to eat the snack that the kids had left for me by the tree. I’d drunk most of the milk and was just about to start in on my cookies when, out of nowhere, a man in a big white beard and a smelly red coat appeared. He started yelling at me to stop and then yanked the plate of cookies away. He even tried to kick me, but I was too fast for him. I was pretty quick on my feet back when I was a puppy. The fact that Santa smelled like the egg nog Tanner’s dad had been drinking earlier may have helped, too. I’d heard Mrs. Shaw say that it had a lot of alcohol in it.
Anyway, I was never the same after my encounter with Santa. For a long time, I had nightmares about that Santa coming to get me. Just seeing him on TV made me shudder. I finally got over it, but even today the sight of him makes me a little queasy.
So, you can imagine my disgust at the inflatable Santa Claus—complete with reindeer—that was currently going up in Peyton’s front yard. The fact that Ashley was the one overseeing its assembly just made it all the worse.
“This is so great, Moose. I wonder if they need any help?”
I cast half a glance at my best friend Elvis—careful to keep one eye on the Santa at all times—and shook my head. Whatever sort of help a hundred pounds of basset hound may be able to supply, I was sure that neither Ashley nor Elvis’s person, Cassie, needed it right now.
“I’m sure they’re ju—”
Before I could get the words out of my mouth, Elvis had taken off in the direction of the people. Hell-bent on assisting Ashley and Cassie with the inflatable monstrosity, Elvis didn’t see the line of cord that was strung out around them until it was too late. Miraculously, he was able to clear it with his front paw, but his double chin hit the cord on the downswing. There was a yelp, and then Elvis was flipping end over end into the air before coming crashing down onto the grass. And then he began to roll. It had never occurred to me that Peyton’s yard was on an incline, but it must have been as Elvis seemed to pick up speed the farther he went.