Page 49 of Mountain Rescue
“That is funny. I can see her now, showing that picture to her friends and telling them that’s her new boyfriend.”
“I think I would like your grandmother.” He watched Bella for a moment, pulling at the end of her leash as if she needed to be back in the cabin like right now. “You never talk about your parents. Are they in the picture?” She talked about her grandmother a lot, and the love between them was obvious. Not once had she mentioned her mother or father.
“Nope. My mother died giving birth to me, and the sperm donor skipped town as soon as he found out she was pregnant.”
Dallas wished he could take back the question when her face blanked. He heard the sadness in her voice and couldn’t imagine not having a large family, or to think of the man who sired him as only a sperm donor.
“You’re welcome to some of mine,” he said, wanting to see her smile again. “They’re nosy and get all up in your business, but they mean well.” She smiled, and it felt like the sun had come out on a rainy day.
“I’ll take two of your cowboy brothers.”
“The hell you will.” He clamped his mouth shut. His outburst surprised him, but his brothers couldn’t have her. She shot him an amused grin, and he wondered how much trouble he was in with this girl.
They reached the cabin, and as soon as he unlocked and opened the door, Bella pushed past them. He stood aside to let Rachel enter. They both followed Bella into the kitchen, and he guessed Rachel was as curious as he to see what the dog was going to do with the kitten.
Bella stopped at her food dish and gently set the kitten on the floor, then sat and waited for her adopted baby to eat. When the kitten didn’t chow down, Bella looked up at him with worried eyes.
“Don’t think he cares for dog food, Bella.” Dallas dropped to the floor. “He’s probably dehydrated.” He stuck his hand in the dog’s water bowl, then put a finger to the kitten’s mouth. The little thing started sucking on his finger, so he repeated the process a few times.
Rachel dropped down beside him. “How do we feed him? We have some milk.”
“That might upset his stomach. We need to take him to the vet tomorrow, get him checked out. I’m guessing he’s between five to eight weeks. Hard to tell since he’s likely malnourished. He probably hasn’t been weaned from his mother, so we’ll need to teach him how to eat.” He pushed up, went to the pantry, and searched the shelves for something that might work. “Let’s try this for tonight.” He held up a can of tuna.
“Can he eat that?”
“I’m going to mash it up until it’s like paste, then we’ll try finger feeding him.”
“Blue.”
“As in the color, or you’re sad?” He mashed up the tuna and some of the juice.
“As in that’s his name. Blue for the Blue Ridge Mountains where we found him.”
He eyed the kitten, now trying to find a nipple in Bella’s stomach while the dog was diligently giving the little guy a bath. “It’s a good name for him.” He sat on the floor again with the bowl of tuna and picked up the kitten. “Sorry, buddy, no milk for you there.”
“I hope he’ll eat the tuna.”
“Let’s find out. Dip your pinky in the tuna, then put it to his mouth.” The kitten turned its face away. “Smear a little over his lips.”
“Oh,” she said, excitement in her voice when the kitten licked his lips, then got an expression on his face as if realizing that was some good stuff.
“Give him some more.” He watched her feed the scrawny thing, his eyes on her, not the kitten. In spite of fearing for her life and grieving the loss of her friend, she managed to still laugh and smile. He had no doubt she was at heart a happy person. Maybe her joy of life was bleeding over to him.
The only reason he’d accepted Jack’s invitation was to get away from his smothering family. He’d expected to come here, spend as little time with Jack and Noah as he could get away with, and the rest of his stay holed up with his misery.
Then a wildcat tried to bash him in the head, and he forgot to be miserable. His gaze locked on her mouth when she grinned at the kitten. He wanted to kiss her until she couldn’t remember her name...until he couldn’t remember his.
“Ouch, Blue.” She laughed. “His teeth are like little needles.”
“He was definitely hungry. We should probably let what he’s eaten settle in his stomach. We’ll give him more later.” He inhaled the aroma of pot roast, and his stomach growled in anticipation. He grinned back at her when she laughed. “Speaking of hungry...”
“Well, then we better feed you.” She set Blue on the floor. “Here’s your baby back, Bella Boo.”
Bella picked Blue up by his neck, then took him to her bed in the corner of the kitchen. Within minutes, the kitten was asleep, nestled in the dog’s fur.
“That’s just so sweet,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “What’s going to happen to them when we leave?”
“Pretty sure Jack intends Bella to be a service dog. As for Blue, he’ll help us find him a good home.”
