Page 34 of Karma Kitty Christmas
“No, it didn’t.” Luca sighed. “He’s got to get all those ‘My late husband used to do this…’ moments out of his bloodstream before he can look at me and think ‘Luca,’ not just ‘Not Todd.’”
“Todd? As in ‘Why is the floor wet, Todd?’”
Luca snorted at the line fromNational Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. That movie was forever old, and still any poor schmuck named Todd had to deal with that line.
“This guy wouldnothave appreciated that, believe you me,” Luca said.
“How bad was he?” Jimmy Bob, for all the roughness around the edges, hadn’t been born in a barn. He took over where Luca left off, making sure they left the kitchen cleaner than they’d found it and that his tumbler wasn’t going into the dishwasher with big greasy fingerprints on it.
Luca suddenly needed someone to talk to whowouldn’ttalk to Isaac. He’d lost Allegra, he knew—she was now firmly TeamIsaac, no matter what, because the guy had pretty much offered her free rent in a nice place.
“Here,” he said. “Follow me.”
He took Jimmy Bob past Allegra’s room and opened the door to the yarn room. His friend glanced around and whistled lowly. “Pretty,” he said, taking in the colors, the art, the stained glass, and the rug.
Luca nodded. “You saw the living room, right?”
“Yeah. It’s nice. A little bland, but your guy did some stuff to spice it up.”
“Yeah—see, all that oatmeal, cream, and tan?”
“Yeah?”
“That was Todd. Isaac—and I mean, in the last five weeks—he actuallyrememberedthat Todd doesn’t live here anymore. And wait….”
He went to the downstairs bathroom, knowing what he’d find when he opened the door.
Euclid burst out like the Kool-Aid Man, crashing against the door as Luca opened it, giving an imperious “Meow!” and hauling ass down the hallway, probably in search of the bed in the living room and all his toys.
“Oh wow!” Jimmy Bob loved creatures—dogs, cats—he had five of each, and they all had an uneasy truce under Jimmy Bob’s roof. Luca surmised they were the reason Jimmy Bob was still picking up women in bars, because very few sane women would jump into his furry mess like that, but itdidmake him a sucker for a friend with a cat. “Kitty!”
Like a five-year-old, Luca’s forty-year-old drywall specialist trotted through the house, looking for a new friend.
By the time Luca got to the living room, Jimmy Bob was on his knees, playing zoomies with Euclid, and Euclid had absolutely bought in.
“And a right!” Jimmy Bob said, going right, “And a left! And a right! And a left! And a mouse! And a ball! And ago!”
With that he threw the little ball with the bell inside across the floor and Euclid went running right past it, up the stairs, and they could hear his claws ripping a new path in the upstairs hallway as Jimmy Bob laughed himself silly.
“Wow!” he hooted. “What an awesome cat!” He paused. “Also new?” It wasn’t a hard guess. The cat was young, and the house was—relatively—unscathed.
“Yes,” Luca said, listening to make sure he didn’t hear dressers toppling or mirrors breaking or anything untoward happening. Isaac had asked him to let the cat out after they were done moving stuff in, but Luca hadn’t anticipated Jimmy Bob’s absolute weakness for all things furry.
Jimmy Bob rocked back on his heels, like Luca being careful to keep his work boots on the hardwood and not mark up the nice new area rug.
“So your guy is… sort of trying new things,” he said carefully.
“Yes,” Luca agreed.
“And you think he’s the one.”
Luca sighed. He’d always known Jimmy Bob wasn’t stupid. He knew with every animal rescue—or loyalty to gay bosses—that he made himself potentially less attractive to available mates, but he made that choice anyway. “Yes.”
“So you gotta wait,” Jimmy Bob said in understanding.
“Yes,” Luca sighed, his lunch sitting heavily in his stomach.
“But still….” Jimmy Bob grinned as the cat raced down the stairs again, heading directly for the ball, which had stilled in the corner on the hardwood. With a happy “Meep!” Euclid leapt on the ball and started batting it around the floor, obviously intent on being his own best friend.
