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just for an hour or so."
She tore out of the house and headed for the vacant lot. Nick frowned, not thrilled with the prospect of
spending an hour picking burrs out of her fur.
Well, he'd deal with that when she came back. In the meantime, he'd get some coffee, get dressed, and
then go comb the streets, looking for Maggie.
The coffee had just begun to brew when Deena burst in. "Where's Maggie?" she demanded, her face
flushed as if she'd run all the way from Hoop's.
"Out there," he said, nodding vaguely toward the street as he poured a cup of elixir.
"You told her, right? You told her that you loved her, didn't you?"
He chuckled. "You win, Deena. I love her. I absolutely, positively, love Maggie."
"But did you tell her?"
"Not yet."
"Oh, God." She sank into one of the kitchen chairs and buried her head in her hands.
Alarmed, Nick kneeled next to her. "What? Deena, what is it?"
"And animal control just swept the neighborhood."
Nick blanched, trying to switch gears from Maggie the woman to Maggie the cat. "It's after Halloween.
What are they doing sweeps for?"
"I tried to catch the truck," Hoop said, gasping as he stumbled into the kitchen. "But it was too far up
the street. They did a sweep. I think they got about six cats from the lot."
"Hell. Then they got Maggie."
Deena took his hand. "That's it exactly, Nick. They got Maggie."
The tingle was back along his spine. "What are you saying, Deenie?"
"Maggie's a cat, Nick," Hoop answered. "You wanna get with the program?"
* * *
"That's the nuttiest thing I've every heard," Nick said. And it was. But nutty or not, he still believed it.
All the little pieces her naivete, her quirks, her funny habits came together in one complete picture.
And that picture was of a midnight black cat with emerald green eyes.
"But it's true, Nick."
"I know." He smiled. Bad enough that it had taken a petite little brunette to bring him to his senses and
let him get out there and enjoy life, now it turned out she was a hell of a lot more petite than he thought. "I
don't know why I know, but I do." He smiled at his sister. "You were right." About everything.
Deena's eyes brimmed with tears, and Hoop laid a hand on her shoulder. "What are we going to do?"
His brow furrowed, the feeling that he was missing something important nagging at him. "We're going
to go down to the shelter and get her. It'll cost twenty bucks. No big deal."
Hoop and Deena exchanged glances.
"Okay. Out with it. What don't I know?"
Deena nodded at Hoop, who sucked in a breath of air and looked really unhappy.
"She's not changing back, sport. You missed the witching hour."
The ground shifted under him, and he grabbed the countertop for support. "What?" he said, his voice
barely a whisper.
"All I know is that was part of the rules. The old tomcat said you had to say it out loud or else she'd be
a cat forever."
"No. No way." That was unacceptable. And unfathomable. After finally finding a woman like Maggie,
he wouldn't couldn't let her be ripped from him at the whim of some tomcat. "That's absurd. I told
you, I told myself, I showed Maggie. There wasn't any question that I loved her. This is completely
unfair."
"So what are you going to do about it?" Hoop asked.
"I'm going to the shelter and I'm going to give that tomcat a piece of my mind. And I'm getting Maggie."
"How do you know the tomcat's at the shelter?"
"He has to be," Nick said, steeling himself. He looked Deena in the eye. "If I'm going to get my Maggie
back, he just plain has to be."
He grabbed his keys off the kitchen table and hurried into the living room, Deena and Hoop on his
heels.
"Did I hear what I think I just heard?"
Angela. What had she overheard?
He closed his eyes and took a breath. He didn't need this. Right now, he really didn't need this.
She stopped in the doorway, the Bullfrog waddling up the sidewalk behind her.
"Can the great Nicholas Goodman really be losing his tiny little mind? A cat, Nickie? I always assumed
your delusions would be a little more creative."
He started to respond, hoping that by the time he opened his mouth, he'd have thought of something a
bit more sane-sounding than "Yes, Angela, I'm off to the animal shelter to look for the woman I love."
"Such a pity," she continued, before he could get a word in. "Well, if dropping the Vision ball wasn't
enough to kill your career, this little tidbit of information will surely be the last nail in your coffin."
A week ago the threat would have terrified him. Now, all Nick wanted to do was get into his car and
get to the shelter. The thought that he actually had to deal with this woman that she'd entered his house
and interrupted his life angered him more than her cruel words.
"Angela. Move. I need to go. Now."
"We just wanted to stop by and let you know that Vision will be Palmer's within the week," the
Bullfrog croaked. "Tell Larry thanks for the tip. And thanks to you, too, Mr. Hooper."
"Any time," Hoop said, but his voice dripped icicles.
"Angela.. /' he said, a warning note in his voice. But still she loomed in the doorway. He sighed. "Fine.
Stay here. Gather your stuff, ransack my house, I don't care. Just get out of my way."
When she didn't, he stepped forward, gripped her arm, and pushed her out of the way, ignoring her
gasp of surprise. Then he raced down the sidewalk toward his car, Hoop and Deena right behind him.
"You bastard," Angela screeched. "At least now I know that either you're insane, and that's why you
left me, or your Maggie really is a magic cat, and she's hexed you into a raving idiot."
For the briefest of moments, the possibility that he'd been enchanted swirled through his head that it
wasn't love, but magic. How much crazier was that than a shapeshifting catwoman? But his heart knew
better and he banished the thought. Besides, in a way what they had was magic. The best kind of magic.
"You're almost right, Angela," he said, turning to face her one last time. "Not a hex, an enchantment.
It's called love. You might want to try it sometime."
"There are only ten cats in the whole place," Nick said, trying to stay calm. In his arms, Maggie
snuggled close, her purr almost deafening. "Can't I just pay the fee and take them home with me?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]