Like Cats and Dogs

by Kate McMurray

No, but Lauren had access to vets. She sighed, thinking of Caleb.

  Mitch let out a breath. “Sorry, I should have thought this through more. These guys will have to be separated from your other cats until they can be checked for worms and fleas and whatever else. I should have just brought these to the clinic. I just thought they might be more comfortable with you.”

  “No, it’s okay, really.”

  “All right. Are you going to be okay keeping an eye on these little guys? I should probably get back. There are a dozen new cats in the colony this week, and a couple of the volunteers are very new.”

  “Yeah, I should be all right. I think Dr. Francis works Thursdays, so I’ll bring these guys next door and make sure they get checked out.”

  “Cool. Thanks, Lauren. I appreciate it.”

  “You’re coming to the adoption event Paige is running next week, right? Well, adoption event-slash-celebration of getting our liquor license finally. So we’ll have beer and wine at the event.”

  “Absolutely. Wouldn’t miss it.” He winked and left.

  Lauren gathered her things from around the café and made sure the cats were all settled in for the night. She shut off the lights and walked over to the box on the table. The kittens were all still squirming and mewling…except for one. Lauren gasped and reached into the box. The little one didn’t seem to be breathing.

  She locked up in a rush, tucked the box under her arm, and ran to the vet clinic.

  Caleb was sitting at the reception desk, doing something on the computer when she walked in. Which was just fucking perfect, but she supposed she didn’t have a choice.

  “I thought Doug worked on Wednesdays,” she said.

  “Well, hello to you, too. Doug’s daughter had a ballet recital tonight, so we switched. Sorry to disappoint.”

  The sarcasm dripping from his voice made the hair on the back of Lauren’s neck stand up, but she sighed. “Look, a friend of mine brought a box of kittens to the café a few minutes ago, and aside from the fact that I’ve never taken care of kittens this young and could use some help, I think one of them is in trouble.”

  Caleb switched to emergency vet mode immediately. “Bring them to Exam 1.”

  “Anyone else here?”

  “No. The techs all had tonight off. Let me just lock up and put a note on the front door to ring the bell. Put the kittens on the table in the exam room and I’ll be right there.”

  ***

  It was clear Lauren was in distress. Caleb approached the box of kittens carefully. There were five. Four of them were moving and one wasn’t.

  “These are too young to be away from their mother.”

  “I know,” said Lauren. “Mitch—he runs a volunteer organization that works with feral cats—said these had been abandoned by their mother.”

  Caleb looked at them. “These are two weeks old, I’d say. Three at the most.”

  He picked up the still one and saw it was breathing but struggling. He went to work, clearing out the tiny kitten’s nasal passages, which seemed to be blocked, then rubbing its belly to remind him to breathe. Lauren watched, perfectly still.

  Nothing happened.

  A number of thoughts ran through Caleb’s head, not the least of which was that these things happened sometimes. Young kittens, especially those left on the street for a couple of weeks without a mother, often didn’t make it. He knew it was how life was, yet he really wanted this kitten to live.

  Lauren stared at him as if she expected him to be Jesus to this kitten’s Lazarus.

  “We need to get some fluids into these kittens,” Caleb said, trying to act instead of face the reality that this tiny kitten probably wouldn’t make it. “If you go down the hall, there’s a yellow door. That’s our pharmacy. There’s a fridge in there that has some kitten formula in a white bottle. Can you go grab it?”

  Lauren bit her lip and gave the kitten a long look before she nodded and left the room.

  Caleb let out a breath. He rubbed the tiny chin of the kitten with his finger, moving down her throat to try to stimulate breathing. Caleb thought he heard a sigh or a gasp, but the kitten didn’t move.

  Lauren returned a moment later.

  “There are some big sterile syringes in the cabinet behind my head,” Caleb said, reluctant to put the kitten down. “They’re in a box labeled kitten feeding. Pour some of the formula into one. We’ll see if this little guy perks up with some food.”

  Lauren nodded, found a syringe, and poured formula into it.

  “Like you’re feeding a baby. Put the tip near the kitten’s mouth.”

  The kitten’s jaw was open slightly, and the tip of the syringe was small enough that Lauren could maneuver it into the kitten’s mouth. Nothing happened for a moment, though a little formula must have dribbled into the kitten’s mouth.

  Then, suddenly, a definite gasp, and the kitten’s mouth latched onto the tip.

  “Oh my god,” said Lauren.

  “We’re not out of the woods yet, but I think this kitten wants to fight.” Caleb let out a breath as the kitten continued to eat. “Let’s feed the rest of these guys, too.”

  Ten minutes later, all five kittens had eaten a little and the four healthy ones were letting out little squeaky mewls as Lauren pet them. But the fifth kitten had curled up in the corner of the box to sleep.

  “Do you think he’ll make it?” Lauren asked.

  “Honestly? It’s hard to say. We’ll have to keep an eye on him.”

  “Should we make him warmer? Do you have, like, an incubator or something?”

  Caleb winced.

  “Sorry, not trying to tell you how to do your job.”

  He sighed and grabbed a towel from one of the cabinets. He wrapped it around the little kitten, who sighed in his sleep and threw out his arms in a jittery stretch.

  Caleb didn’t want to say they did have some equipment in the back room—they had the cat equivalent of an ICU bed—but this kitten was too small for most of it. There wasn’t much they could do for this little guy. He glanced at Lauren, hoping she’d never read his thoughts, because she would surely call him heartless. But he’d euthanized an elderly dog earlier that day and was still reeling a little bit, which was a reminder he had to maintain a certain amount of detachment in order to do his job well.

  He glanced at Lauren, who held a hand over her mouth, looking stricken as she gazed at the kitten.

  “Four healthy kittens is still very good news,” Caleb said. “Kittens abandoned by their mother this young often don’t make it. This one kitten is struggling, but I believe the other four will be just fine. Too young to put up for adoption, but we can take care of them here until they are.”

  “But the fifth one.”

  Caleb nodded. He remembered all the times he’d saved an animal despite the odds. But he remembered every loss, too. He hated to see animals suffer, hated to see them sick or injured, and he didn’t like watching this little kitten struggle to hang on. But he’d remember this night, and not just because a beautiful woman was looking over the kitten with him.

  A beautiful woman who hated him, granted.

  There was no animosity now, though, just concern for the kitten. Lauren reached down and ran her finger along the top of the little guy’s head. He leaned into her touch, which was a good sign. The other kittens had begun to play with each other, the post-dinner burst of energy upon them, but the little one could barely lift his head to get closer to Lauren’s fingers.

  Still, they kept vigil for the next hour, taking turns checking on the little kitten to make sure he was warm or making sure he ate a little.

  Truth be told, kittens this small needed nearly around-the-clock care, something no one in the office really had time for, but he couldn’t bring himself to say no.

  He’d been more of a marshmallow once. It was what had inspired him to g
o to veterinary school to begin with. He’d loved animals as a kid. His family had lived in a big house a fair distance from Portland, Maine—the nearest city—and they’d had room for dogs, rabbits, fish, briefly a lizard, and whatever squirrels and chipmunks and deer and moose lived in the nearby woods. For part of his childhood, they’d had a husky mix who sometimes caught squirrels and birds, and Caleb had tried to nurse a few of those back from their injuries, and sometimes was successful. As a child, he’d cried over those ASPCA commercials with the sick and injured animals. It seemed like a natural thing to make taking care of animals his job. He sometimes thought he related better to animals than to humans.

  He’d felt jaded recently. He didn’t used to be this hard. Having to put an animal to sleep might have ended his whole day a few years ago. He still did care about animals, but he guarded his heart a little more fiercely now. Some of that was experience, a lot of it was his divorce. He’d learned a hard lesson about trusting people.

  Animals, at least, were not duplicitous.

  Lauren kept shooting him skeptical looks, like she couldn’t believe they were getting along. Maybe her opinion of him would have been different if they’d met a year or two ago, before everything went to hell. Maybe in another life they could be friends, at least. Or more, maybe. It was probably better for her to think him heartless. He couldn’t get his heart invested—and subsequently stomped on—that way.

  His stomach grumbled. He looked at his watch and realized two hours had passed since Lauren brought the kittens in. “Do you need to be somewhere else tonight? I can take care of these guys if you do.”

  “No. I can stay.”

  “Because if you need to get home, or to sleep, or whatever… I mean, I’m basically here until Olivia comes in to replace me in the morning, so it’s really not a problem to watch over the kittens.”

  Lauren shook her head. “I won’t be able to sleep without knowing if they’ll be okay.”

  In other words, they’d both be here for the long haul. “All right. We should be prepared for the worst.”

  “I know. But… I just need to know how this ends. As long as he still has a shot, I’m going to worry if he’s okay, and it’s going to keep me awake.”

  Caleb looked across the table at Lauren, and their gazes met. She looked tired and worried, and yet still gorgeous. Her hair and clothes were a little mussed, wrinkles pressed deeply into the shirt she was wearing, probably because she’d had it on all day. He liked the way she dressed and styled herself, clearly putting some effort in to dress nicely and put on a little makeup, but she also had a soft beauty he appreciated.

  She really was quite gorgeous, and she drew him in even when he was disagreeing with her. She made him wonder if he was capable of being with someone even after everything had happened with Kara. He wasn’t ready, he knew that about himself. But Lauren made him want to try.

  Still, the truth was they didn’t get along outside of this current context, and as lovely and soft and sexy as she seemed now, as sweet and kind as she seemed as she pet the kittens and fretted over them, he didn’t think he should give in to his attraction. Better to keep his distance. Right?

  She reached across the table and patted his hand, and it was like being fourteen again, that little bit of electricity zipping through him, making him want things.

  Caleb cleared his throat. “All right. Might as well eat if we’re going to be here all night. Does the diner on Henry Street deliver?”

  Chapter 7

  “Hey. Hey, Lauren. Look.”

  Lauren sat up with a start. She looked around and noticed she was in the exam room of the vet clinic. She must have fallen asleep.

  They’d watched those kittens for what felt like hours, and she’d split an order of fries with Caleb after he ordered delivery from the diner. The little sick kitten had hardly moved at all, but Caleb had kept checking his breathing to make sure he was still alive. But as the night had drawn on, Lauren had become increasingly convinced the little guy wouldn’t make it. The very idea devastated her, and she kept wondering if she’d done enough, if she should have insisted on more aggressive care, or if the kitten had been doomed from the outset.

  Lord, she was tired. Her back hurt from the weird angle she must have twisted herself into to put her head down on the table.

  She looked up and met Caleb’s gaze. He had a small smile on his face. “Look.” He pointed at the box.

  The little sick kitten was up on his feet and cautiously checking out the other kittens in the box. They all sniffed each other.

  “He’s okay!” she said, jumping up. She hopped around the table. “He’s okay!” Then she threw her arms around Caleb.

  She hadn’t meant to. The joy of watching that little kitten standing and beginning to engage with his brothers and sisters had overwhelmed her, and she’d just reacted. But now that she had her arms around Caleb and she could feel just how strong and solid he was, well… It was hard to let go.

  Was she really so hard up that rubbing the surprisingly well-muscled arms of a man who clearly disliked her seemed like a good idea?

  She kept a hand on Caleb’s bicep but glanced back down at the kittens. The little one waved his little tail as he investigated the other kittens. Caleb’s arm came around her.

  “I can’t believe I fell asleep.”

  “It is three in the morning.”

  Caleb was warm and he smelled good. Slightly medicinal, like the medical-grade antibacterial soap near the sink, but he must have used some kind of piney cologne or aftershave, too. Caleb was handsome in an effortless way, like he rolled out of bed like this every day. Pretty with smooth skin, albeit prickly. But now he wasn’t being condescending or mean; he was staring at her like he might like to eat her for breakfast.

  Or she was reading too much into it. But what else could that look mean?

  She shifted her weight and turned to face him. He gazed down at her, a smile playing on his lips. He was tall and… Well, he had nice shoulders and a trim figure, and he was pretty foxy. Her first impression of him had been that he was the kind of guy she might like to get to know in a naked way, after all.

  “I’m glad he made it,” Caleb said.

  “Yeah.” Lauren met his gaze and stared at his eyes, which were grayish-blue and intense. His light brown hair was tousled in a very 3:00 a.m. kind of way, like he’d been up for many hours consecutively and was too tired to care what he looked like. Lauren put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, because just looking at him made her feel warm and tingly. And being this close, touching him, smelling him, well, the tingles were in very specific places. “I’m so happy.”

  “Me, too. I honestly didn’t think he’d make it through the night.”

  She leaned a little closer feeling his breath on her face. “I’m just…ah… I’m so relieved,” she said softly.

  “Mmm. Me, too.”

  “We’re, ah, not fighting with each other.”

  “Nope.”

  Then Caleb swooped down and kissed her.

  Warmth spread through Lauren’s chest. She put her hands around Caleb’s neck, trying to hold on because she knew this was fleeting, some bit of temporary insanity, but she was enjoying it a great deal.

  He pulled back slightly. “We’re kissing.”

  “I’m fine with it. Good, even.”

  He smiled. “Well, all right then.”

  He kissed her again, but this time, he hoisted her up on the counter, right next to the box of kittens. The stainless steel was cold on the back of her legs, but it didn’t bother her much. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he pressed forward. She could feel him hard against her; it thrilled her that he was just as turned on as she was.

  He brought his hands to her face, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She tangled her tongue with his in return. She put her arms around his strong shoulders and held
him there.

  The kittens were fine and Caleb was kissing her like the world was ending. What a crazy night!

  But…

  She pulled away. “I don’t think I can do this in front of the kittens.”

  He chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. “Fair.”

  “Not that I don’t want to do this, because I definitely do. Just, you know, this table is kind of cold, and the kittens are watching, and… Gosh, you’re sexy.”

  He laughed. “So are you. But I take your point.” He stepped back.

  She slid off the table with some reluctance. “But we could, like, take this to my place after your shift is over. I live right upstairs.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Convenient.”

  “Yeah. Uh, when does Olivia come in again?”

  “Not for another four hours.”

  “Is there a sofa we can make out on or something?”

  He laughed and looked in on the kittens. “Maybe. This seems very out of character for you.”

  “Hey, I can be sexy and spontaneous. And these are unusual circumstances. It’s like, thank-god-we’re-alive sex. Except in this case, thank god the kittens are alive.”

  “So, just to be clear on your intentions, if I come with you back to your apartment, you intend to jump me.”

  She grinned. “Yes, that’s accurate.”

  His grin mirrored hers. “I will take your offer under advisement. In the meantime, it’s probably about time for these little fur balls to eat again. Want to help me?”

  “Absolutely. I’m on it.”

  ***

  Rather than making out on the sofa in Olivia’s office, Lauren fell asleep there. Caleb bustled around the office, trying to keep himself busy, periodically looking in on the kittens. The longer Lauren slept, the less hope Caleb had that they’d end up in her bed. Probably she’d remember that they didn’t much like each other. That he thought she was flighty and she thought he was cold.

  Although there’d been nothing cold about the kisses they’d exchanged at three in the morning. Caleb had been about to rip their clothes off to show how hot they could be when she’d put the brakes on. Which was probably for the best. What had he even been thinking? Lauren was hot, yes, but she was bossy and ridiculous. Still, she’d been so worried about those kittens, and then relieved when the little one was okay, and then she’d had her hands on him, and, well, there was only so much resistance he could put up.