Page 42 of Three Meows

I watched as they settled in for long hours of fishing. Dad made a remark or shared his knowledge from time to time, but, otherwise, the two men were fine with silence between them, only the calming sounds of nature around them.

When dad broke the silence the next time and it looked like it was going to be a longer conversation I scooted closer, close enough to hear what they were saying, banking on the fact my father was going to keep his eyes forward and wouldn’t look behind.

“Do you make good money from your writing?” I heard father ask.

“Good enough.” Elijah shrugged awkwardly. “What I care about is that there’s a rising trend. The more books I push out into the world, the easier it is to make a living of them. But it takes quite a while to do anything by myself.”

“By yourself?” father repeated, his gaze darting from the fishing line to Elijah. “Doesn’t your publisher do everything for you?”

Elijah laughed.

“Oh no, sir. I publish my books myself. I pay the editors, formatters, and cover artists, but the writing, marketing, admin, and everything else is on my head.”

Dad looked at Elijah for a long moment.

“…do you want a publisher? I could get you one.”

“Thank you, sir, but no. Self-publishing gives me more control over my own business.”

“Ha! That’s right!” Father slapped Elijah’s back. “A good decision. Having your future in your own hands is important.”

I smiled into my scarf seeing the interaction. They were going to be alright. As quietly as I came, I disappeared into the forest, ready to sit by the fireplace with a grumpy orange cat who didn’t get his way.

Chapter Twenty-One

In the middle of the night, I stumbled down to the kitchen for a snack, only for movement outside the window to catch my attention. Was that…?

Of course it was! That night owl.

I opened the window and called out.

“Rowan! Fancy some hot chocolate?”

The black cat jumped on the windowsill and rubbed himself all over me, marking his territory with his scent before I suddenly found myself crowded against the wall by a tall man.

“It’s freaky how you can shapeshift with your clothes,” I noted. “How does it even work?”

Rowan wriggled his fingers.

“Magic.”

“Right. That’s the answer to everything. Did you have fun stalking the perimeter around the house?”

He gave me a sheepish smile. Ah, so I guessed correctly. This sweet paranoid bastard.

“Have you been to the roof already?” He shook his head and I gasped. “That’s the best part! How about I make that promised hot chocolate, we grab a blanket or two, and I can show you how to get up there even as a human?”

Armed with the mugs full of delicious choco, a bag of marshmallows, and two fluffy blankets stolen from the couch we made our way around the house to where you could get up onto the shed and find a set of metal bars set into the side of the building. Climbing up with all of our stuff would prove troublesome if Rowan didn’t have amazing agility. I didn’t know if it was him being a cat or thanks to whatever assassin school had trained him, and, at this point, I was too afraid to ask.

I put one of the blankets on the slanted roof and wrapped the other one around the both of us until we were snuggled together in our little cocoon. The first sip of the hot choc spread through my body in a pleasurable wave of heat.

“Sometimes I don’t want to just be warm, you know?” I said. “I want to be cold and thenmadewarm. With fluffy socks, warm blankets, fragrant hot tea…”

Rowan nodded but, due to how close we were sitting, it turned into him nuzzling against my cheek.

We sat, entwined in each other, and observed the stars in the clear night sky.

“When I traveled… the stars weren’t the same everywhere,” Rowan said quietly into the darkness of the night and I knew it was my time to keep silent and just listen. The words came a bit haltingly, but I could wait for them to come. There was no rush in our small corner of the world. “Sometimes I could barely believe it was the same sky I knew when each country had different names for the stars, different constellations, different gods trapped in the firmament. I don’t put much faith in astrology, but I believe growing up under a completely different view of stars has an impact on you.” Rowan reached a hand outas if he wanted to trap one of the stars between his fingers. “And now when I see the familiar sky I think: this is home.”

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