Page 34 of Jasper

“Well, shit.”

Sloane rolled her eyes. He cussed more than anyone she’d ever met, including Jarrod. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go look for them!”

The man ran out of the bathroom like she’d told him the house was on fire. At least he cared enough about defenseless little animals to try to save them. Brad would have left it outside, saying it wasn’t their problem.

“You poor little thing.” Sloane snuggled the kitten closer, making sure to keep the heat passing back and forth over its little body. It still felt so cold. “Don’t you worry, we got you now. You’re going to be fine.”

The little bundle of fur meowed so pitifully, she found herself cooing to him like she would a baby. It broke her heart. Thank God Jasper found him before he froze to death.

“As soon as Jasper gets back, I’ll get him to warm you up some milk. Would you like that, little one?”

Another pitiful meow was her answer.

A few minutes went by, and she turned off the shower since the steam had stopped billowing out when the hot water ran cold.

“You feel warmer.” She gently rubbed the towel along the kitten, and it turned into her touch, seeking comfort. “It’s okay, little buddy. We’re going to take care of you.”

She heard the downstairs door open and then footsteps on the stairs. Jasper came in, two more small bundles wrapped in his coat. He pulled out a tabby kitten and a black and white one. Neither of them looked to be moving.

“Are they…”

“They’re alive,” he said gruffly and lowered his big frame onto the floor. “I found them under a bush closer to the barn. I think the mother was trying to move them to shelter and she couldn’t get them all.”

“Did you find her?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ll look again later, but I wanted to get these two into the heat. How’s Scrappy doing?”

“Scrappy?”

“He reminded me of a scrapper, a fighter who doesn’t give up.”

Sloane smiled. “I like that.”

“The tabby is Rocky, and this little monster is Patches. It’s a girl.”

“You already named them?”

“If they survived in the cold, they deserve a name.” He wrapped the two of them in another big towel. “Is he warm enough to lose the dryer?”

“I think so.” Sloane handed it over to him and he started working on warming the other two. She marveled at the gentle care he paid the two baby kittens. “As soon as the vet opens, I’ll call and see if they can do an emergency visit.”

“You want to take them to the vet?”

“Well, sure. They might need antibiotics or some shit.”

“Do you always have to cuss?”

“Yes.” His thumb ran the length of the tabby kitten, and its frozen little body moved.

“I wish you could have found the others.” They were motherless unless Jasper found their mama, and that was so sad to her, probably because she missed her own mother so much.

“We found these, so let’s focus on that, yeah?” He kept up the constant heat and used his other hand to massage the kittens. “I think they’ll more than keep us busy.”

Sloane laughed when the bitty orange furball started to climb up her shirt, meowing pitifully. “If you can hold on to him, I’m going to go heat them up some milk. This little one is starving now that he’s warm.”

He nodded, and she handed him Scrappy, who settled right down next to the other two. He hoped his body heat, what there was of it, would help to warm their cold bodies.

She carefully let herself out of the bathroom to reserve the heat, and on her way to the kitchen, she stopped and turned the furnace up. That should make up for the lost heat from the shower.

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