Page 12 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice (Wayward Hollow #1)

Henry

“Listen,” I say softly, walking over to her and putting my hands on her shoulders to gently guide her to sit down.

She looks so lost all of a sudden. Not at all like the woman who had been joking about werewolves with me a few minutes ago.

“She might be little and skinny, but she’s not made of porcelain.

Anything you do can only be better than leaving her outside to freeze.

” It might only be early autumn, but the nights are damn cold already.

I’m keeping this to myself, but I’m not sure she’d have made it through the night if Nic hadn’t found her.

“Knowing my luck, something is going to happen … I don’t know, maybe a meteor crashing through my window right into this little cutie.” She shakes her head, eyes focused on the now blissfully sleeping kitten. Her eyes dart frantically around the room, wide with panic and her breath shallow.

“I’m not even going to get into how unlikely that is,” I reply with a chuckle. I crouch down in front of her and wait until her ocean-blue eyes meet mine.

Jensen Ackles, the attention-starved creature that he is, immediately trudges over to nudge his nose against my cheek, thinking I got on my knees just for him.

The force of it almost makes me lose my balance.

Then he lays his head on Nic’s thigh, and instinctively, her hands run through his fur, a faraway expression on her face.

Slowly but steadily, her heavy breaths even out, and she sinks back into the chair, all the tension unraveling.

“What’s going on?” I ask her gently, putting my hands on her knees and drawing slow circles with my thumbs.

“I’m scared,” she whispers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears through wet eyelashes as she glances at me.

“That’s okay,” I assure her, trying my best to convey reassurance. “And that’s the exact reason I’d be okay with sending that little creature home with you.”

“But—” She stops herself and keeps blinking at me, and I can almost see her thoughts racing through her mind.

I wonder why she’s suddenly insecure. There are so many pet owners who shouldn’t be. How come the person with the biggest heart I’ve met recently is too afraid?

“No more thinking. You can do it,” I encourage her as I stand up. “Come on, we’re giving her a flea bath, then I’ll show you how to feed her.”

Reluctantly, she lets me pull her up, Jensen Ackles softly protesting when his human pillow becomes unavailable.

“Come on, hold her.” I hand her the kitten before she can object. As anxious as she was, she accepts her instinctively, her tense shoulders slowly sagging in relief when she realizes nothing bad is happening.

“Wait—did you say fleas?” she asks, eyes widening with concern. Immediately, she holds the cat out at arm’s length, glancing anxiously between me and the furry culprit.

“You’ll be fine.” I chuckle and lead the two over to a sink in the corner, letting her step in front of it while I observe over her shoulder. “Now, set her down at the side and turn on the water. Check if it’s a bit warmer than lukewarm.”

She follows my suggestions diligently and then looks up at me expectantly. “Like this? ”

“I trust your judgment.” Her expression turns panicked, but I quickly continue to take her mind off the water temperature. “Here’s the shampoo you’ll want to use. Put some of it on your hand. The first thing you want to do is put a ring of it around her neck. Basically a soap necklace.”

“Why?” She reaches for the kitten. Thankfully, she’s more than happy to let Nic handle her. Not without a few weak, whiny protests when she first works the shampoo around her neck, though.

“Because the fleas will try to run to her head once you put the shampoo on her body. If you put the soap around her neck, they can’t.”

“Got it.” She nods, slowly but surely becoming more confident in handling the cat.

“Great. Now soap her up below the neckline. Make sure to work it in thoroughly.” I watch her tenderly working the product into the little kitten’s fur. “You’re doing great!”

“Am I?” she asks. Then she suddenly tenses when the cat protests.

Damn, this cat has learned she has a voice, and she sure is making use of it.

Even I have never encountered one as vocal as her.

“What’s going on?” she asks, her voice an octave higher and full of panic.

“Why is she screaming again? Oh God, am I hurting her? Are you sure she’s okay? ”

I try not to laugh, but it escapes in a snort. “Everything is okay, Nic. I’m pretty sure she’s just not a fan of water.”

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath and her shoulders start to slump as the tension leaves her body.

“I get it. Right there with you, little cat. Honestly, if I’m not in a bubble bath with at least three vanilla scented bath bombs and two rubber ducks named Perry and Daisy, I’m out.

And this”—she eyes the flea shampoo—“is definitely not that. Now here we go. You’re all soaped up.

I think. What now?” She glances at me. “Does it have to soak in? ”

“Now you put her under the faucet and wash it off. Try not to get her head.”

“Got it.”

She flinches when the cat wriggles in her hold, trying to escape. To Nic’s credit, though, she’s holding the creature perfectly. Her fingers are wrapped around it in such a way that it has no way to escape.

“Now you take this sponge,” I say and hand it to her, breath catching in my throat when the scent of her shampoo hits my nose.

She’s all vanilla and cinnamon, a cozy evening at home, and it might have become my favorite scent.

Quickly, I clear my throat. “Soap it up and wash her head with it. Don’t get her eyes. ”

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath, her fingers gingerly moving around the little creature’s face, quickly pulling away when she yawns.

“See, that isn’t so bad now, is it?”

She shoots me a glare over her shoulder, and I grin, taking a step back. “There’s a towel to your left. Dry her once you’re finished, and I’ll get a heating pad going.”

“A heating pad?”

“Yes. Kittens that age need warmth,” I mutter and turn to leave. I need a minute in another room to take a fucking breath that’s not tinted with her scent.

Because it’s driving me crazy.

My inability to think when she’s close, the way her presence does its damnedest to override every sliver of logic in my brain—how can she hold me this captivated? I’ve known her for less than a week.

I mean, she could be a serial killer for all I know. A black widow who poisons her ex and tangles a web of stories about how he cheated on her with her sister.

I’m inclined to believe her, though. That level of desperation can’t be faked .

Finding the heating pad on autopilot, I can’t help but wonder. She appeared out of thin air, bringing a whirlwind with her … and apparently a ghost cat. Oh God.

I pinch the bridge of my nose right between my eyes and grin with a sigh.

Fuck, what the hell is she doing to me?

When I return to the exam room, I find her cradling the kitten in her hand. Nic's eyebrows are knitted together in awe, and she is softly cooing at the kitten, one of her fingers gently petting its head.

I stop and reach for my phone. Something compels me to snap a quick picture of this serene scene. Hopefully one day, when she’s less panicked, she will remember today fondly and be happy about me snapping it.

Then I immediately walk backward until I disappear into the hallway again, leaning my head back against the cool wall and taking a deep breath.

I’ve never claimed to know what it’s like to have baby fever, but I might have gotten kitten fever from watching those two. Nic-fever. Whatever it is, I could stare at the two of them for hours.

“Henry?”

I shake my head and take a deep breath when I hear her call for me in a whisper-shout.

Get it together, Henry. I haven’t crushed this hard on a girl since Cindy Lawson in high school.

Rolling my shoulders, I round the corner once more to her worried gaze.

“Is everything okay?” she asks in a whisper, but hurriedly lifts her finger to her lips as I open my mouth to answer. “Wait. She’s asleep. Let’s enjoy this blissful silence and talk later.”

“Hold her for another second,” I answer, voice just as soft, as I plug in the pad and grab a box from under my table and a blanket. A second later, I’ve created a nest for the cat and motion for Nic to put her into it.

“Oh no,” she curses, voice back to normal, when the kitten starts meowing again. “I woke her up.”

“And I’m sure she’ll return the favor plenty of times,” I say with a chuckle. As I walk over to what I call my “food cupboard,” my dog follows right along in hopes of treats.

“A baby bottle?”

“Yup.” I grin, sitting down next to her. “Told you I’d show you how to feed her. And like a baby bottle, you’ll want to warm up the milk to 37 to 38 degrees. Just put it in a warm water bath and test it before feeding her,” I explain as I do exactly that, sensing her eyes on my every move.

“What if I mess it up?” Her wide eyes jump between the bottle and the kitten rapidly, her breaths picking up again, and I quickly reach out to give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“You won’t,” I assure her. “I’m sure Chaos led you to the cat for a reason. She wouldn’t have done that if she thought you’d kill her.”

“Unless she’s lonely and wants company in the ghost-realm. We don’t know her! She could be a vengeful ghost, trying to build a paranormal army of killer cats. This could be the start of a horror movie, Henry! Just cast me as the nervous blonde girl with bad instincts and bam, new franchise.”

“Or”—I can already see her wanting to protest, but I continue without letting her butt in—“hear me out. Maybe she picked you because she knew you wouldn’t give up.

The same way you didn’t give up on her.” Our eyes meet, and for a moment, it’s as if the world stands still, a silent conversation happening with our eyes.

Her, doubting herself as memories of her finding Chaos replay in her head, and me, trying to reassure her.

When she’s still unsure, I set down the bottle and put the cat into her palm, bending her fingers into the best position to hold her .

“What—”

“You need her head slightly elevated for feeding,” I explain, and put the bottle in her other hand. The longer I let her wrestle with her doubts, the more insecure she’ll get; now it’s time to show her she can do this. “Go on. See if she’ll take it.”

And as predicted, there was no need to worry, because the kitten immediately latches onto it and gulps down the liquid. “There you go.”

“Oh my God, she’s eating.” She looks at the tiny creature with awe. Worry is still evident in her knitted eyebrows, but her expression softens with each gulp of milk the kitten takes. I just know she’s going to keep her.

Jensen Ackles whines at my feet, wanting attention and I scratch his head absentmindedly as I watch her. “You’re doing great.”

“Am I? What if—”

“You won’t.” I can’t help but chuckle. “Check it out—she’s done. You did it. Now put her down and gently rub her belly.”

I bite my lip when she puts her into the little nest, and suddenly she’s so. Fucking. Close.

It takes everything in me to focus on showing her what to do, pinching my thigh to force myself to keep it together. She smells so damn good. Like a cozy afternoon buried in a book, the scents of cinnamon and vanilla radiate from her.

What the hell is going on? It’s not as if we’re actually in a goddamn Twilight movie here.

“Okay, I think I got it,” she says, still sounding unsure.

“You do,” I tell her confidently and take a step back. “Now do this every three to four hours until next week, and then we’ll check in again.”

“Every three to four …” she trails off, then groans.

“Cool. Who needs sleep when you can hallucinate from exhaustion? Tell Caleb he’s about to get a new favorite customer-slash-zombie.

And for the love of all things caffeinated, he needs to add pumpkin spice to his menu.

It’s a hug in a mug, and his roast might kick my body into ‘awake mode’ but it’s more bitter than my ex.

” Her eyes widen slightly, like she can’t believe she joked about the very reason for the breakdown she had in here the last time.

“Careful.” I chuckle, trying to lift her mood again. “Say that to his face, and he’ll cut you off quicker than Netflix cancels your new favorite series.” Her eyes refocus on me, and a mischievous grin tugs at her lips.

“Then I guess I’ll need you to sneak me some under-the-counter cappuccino. Think of it as our first coffee-related crime together.”

“First?” I lift my eyebrow at her amusedly. “You seem to have big plans for me. Do tell me more.”

“It’s a need-to-know basis,” she whispers, shooting me a wink that makes me blush.

“Anyway—” I clear my throat nervously. “It’s only until next week. If she’s on track, you can adjust the interval to three times a day.”

“Okay,” she says with a nod and squares her shoulders. “Next week. That sounds manageable.” Her eyes dart to me, and her smile finally looks relaxed instead of nervous or panicked. “Thank you, Henry.”

“You’re welcome,” I assure her, noting an adorable blush across her cheeks.

“And if you need anything, you know where to find me. You have my number now, don’t hesitate to use it if you’re unsure about anything.

Or, you know, send me kitten pictures of this little screaming lady because she’s adorable. ”

“I will.” She smiles at me gratefully, hugging the box with the little, now dead asleep kitten to her chest.

“Thank you. Really.”

There’s a weight in her words I cannot place, but they wash over me like a warm shower.

“Always. ”

I wait at the door with Jensen Ackles until she’s all situated in her car, and she waves at me when she drives off, right as my phone starts buzzing. My eyebrows wander up my forehead in confusion. How the hell did Kieran get my number?

Kieran : Hi, it’s Kieran.

Kieran : This is super random, but I don’t know who else to tell.

Kieran : I know where I recognize them from!!

Kieran : Are you there?

Kieran : They’re actresses!

Kieran : ?? Bestie Goals: Actresses Nic Duncan And Lauren Kaufman Stun On The Red Carpet.

Kieran : Helloooo?