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KIM BALDWIN. minutes till you see her
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minutes till you see her! I can’t wait to see her face.”
She carried him out to the Jeep and set him on her lap as she always did. But the cat sensed that this excursion was different than the rest, and he remained alert and awake, as restless with anticipation as she was.
“Why didn’t you tell me your mama was such a looker, Earl?”
Gable asked as she pulled out onto the two-lane and headed south. “All those trips out to her place, and it turns out she ends up F nding me. ”
Earl meowed loudly as if in answer, and got up and began to pace about on the passenger seat.
“Was she looking for me, do you think? Or did she just get the volunteering bug, like she said?”
Gable wanted to believe that Erin had been every bit as intent on F nding her as she’d been in her efforts to track down Erin. She felt a f ush of happiness when she recalled how Erin had virtually f own into her arms and held her tight. That sure was awful nice.
She glanced at Earl Grey. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Your mama and I don’t apparently have that in common.” She sighed and scratched his head. “But you gotta give me a break. It’s been a while, okay? I kinda forgot what it felt like to get all stirred up.”
Her own dating relationships had been mostly brief and largely forgettable. The women had all been nice enough, but she hadn’t fallen head over heels like she’d always dreamed she would. She hadn’t met the one— the one person who could make her heart stop—the one person who would complete her. And she pretty much gave up hope she would when she hit forty-F ve and moved to the boonies. She suspected that her dating days were probably behind her.
And she hadn’t been at all unhappy with the way things had turned out. She loved her job and her home, and she had some good buddies among the guys on the squad.
But Erin had made her suddenly aware that something was missing in her life here. Being close to someone—having someone to share things with—she needed that. It enriched every life experience. Maybe she couldn’t have the kind of relationship with Erin that she might have liked—her hormones apparently hadn’t gotten the news yet that Erin was straight. But I can have something very special with her, I think,even without that part. I sure hope she wants that too.
• 52 •
FORCE OF NATURE
Gable braked to a stop at the intersection where she’d encountered the tornado. She remembered thinking that day that she should have seized more opportunities in her life. And she vowed that things would be different from now on.
v
Erin’s new cabin was ablaze with light, a welcoming beacon in the darkness. But Gable walked slowly up to the front door, savoring her last bit of time with Earl Grey. She hid him under her jacket, a maneuver only partially successful. It concealed his identity, but she could not disguise the fact that something very alive was protesting its conF nement against her chest.
Erin’s smile when she opened the door and spotted Gable turned to a look of bewilderment when her eyes focused in on the squirming bundle of energy beneath her coat.
“Your housewarming present,” Gable explained. “Anxious to be opened, as you can see.” She smiled mischievously.
Erin stepped aside. “Well, do come in.”
The cat let out a loud rowl as Gable stepped over the threshold.
She hadn’t heard this particular cry before, but she thought it sounded clearly like get me the hell out of here right now!
“A cat?” Erin guessed. She had a big grin on her face. “You brought me a cat?”
“Not just any ol’ cat,” Gable said as she unzipped her jacket.
“Earl! Oh my God! Earl Grey!” Erin scooped him up from Gable’s outstretched hands and held him close against her. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
Earl was momentarily startled by the abrupt change but when he recognized Erin’s familiar scent he mewed a soft, sweet sigh and rubbed his chin and whiskers against her cheek.
Gable thought it was one of the nicest reunions she’d ever witnessed, and said a prayer of thanks for the family that had found Earl and taken him in. Sad as she was to lose him, she was nonetheless gratiF ed by Erin’s joy at getting her cat back.
“Where…how?” Tears of happiness streamed down Erin’s face as she reached over to embrace Gable with one arm, the other cradling
• 53 •
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