Page 14 of Twister

“What the fuck do you guys want?” The enormous giant that was Kajir glared at us as we walked into his still-open garage.

Two of his colleagues were under the cars up on the hoists, while he was at the side wall that held all the shop’s tools with a clipboard in his greasy hands.

“I don’t have the space to take on any more fucking work right now, so if you’re here for a basic oil change, you can fuck right off. ”

The garage itself was big enough to easily cater to three or four cars at a time, which would normally have been ideal for the business’s needs.

With the tornado damage from yesterday, however, there were vehicles of all shapes and sizes lining every spare inch of open land surrounding the old building.

“We’re just here for the rest of Marshall’s belongings,” I said, pointing toward the Jeep in question sitting forlornly in the far corner of the lot.

A heavy tarp had been attached to the top of it to stop any water damage from rain, but I could see enough of the bottom of it to tell that it was Marshall’s.

“We’ll be out of your hair in two minutes. If that.”

“Fine,” Kajir grunted, turning his attention back to his clipboard, but not before Bucky bounded over to him and nudged his knee for pets.

Rose had opted to stay in my truck while we sorted out Marshall’s things, but Bucky had been all too eager to get out. I was now regretting that decision.

“Bucky, come here, boy,” I called, patting my thigh. I wasn’t too worried about Bucky causing mischief, as he was a well-trained dog, but I didn’t know how Kajir would react, being the eternal grump that he was.

“Leave him,” Kajir said almost kindly, much to my surprise. He leaned down from his great height and dangled his large hand in front of Bucky’s nose so he could scent him. Once Bucky’s tongue lolled out, Kajir scratched his ears. “He’s fine.”

In a state of shock, I blinked, then turned to look at Marshall, who shrugged in response. He looked as amazed as I did at Kajir’s change in attitude. “Okay….” I trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. “We’ll… um….” I pointed over to the Jeep. “Yeah….”

Who knew that the way to Kajir’s softer side was through a pet? The world was full of surprises.

As Marshall and I walked toward his Jeep, he leaned over to nudge my shoulder with his. “That was weird, right?”

“Very weird,” I agreed as I snuck a glance over my shoulder to see Bucky now on his back with his bent legs in the air. Kajir was crouched down next to him and rubbing his belly while Bucky’s tail swung madly from side to side. “Who knew the town grump was a dog lover?”

We left them to it as we grabbed everything out of the Jeep before hauling it over to my truck and dumping it all in the rear tray.

It didn’t take long, and I was waiting for Marshall to finish his final search before we left when I saw Bucky sniffing at a wheel of something massive that had been covered by multiple tarps.

“Bucky?” He ignored me, preferring to continue pawing at the wheel. Sighing, I headed in his direction before he decided to pee on it. I didn’t want to chance Kajir yelling at me, so I called for him again. “Bucky, come on.”

I had just grabbed Bucky by the collar and was trying to tug him away from what looked like a trailer of some description when Kajir came out of the shop. “Hey, fucker! Get away from there!”

“Thanks for that, Bucky,” I muttered as I rolled my eyes. I looked down at my oblivious dog, who was now softly growling at whatever he’d been pawing at before. “Sorry, Kajir. Just trying to get Bucky back to my truck.”

By the time I’d finished speaking, Kajir was by my side and glaring down at Bucky with his arms crossed.

Except, no…. He wasn’t glaring at Bucky so much as focusing on what Bucky had been pawing at.

“What you got there, boy?” He crouched down beside the monstrosity before placing one hand on it and the other on the phone he’d dug out of a pocket so he could peer underneath with a makeshift flashlight.

He unhooked the tarp from the wheel and lifted it to the side, and that’s when we both heard it.

The faint sounds of a kitten mewling.

“Oh fuck.” Immediately, I hauled Bucky back by his collar as Kajir threw the tarps aside to reveal the well of a fifth-wheel camper and scrambled underneath. I was pretty sure Bucky wouldn’t hurt it, but I also didn’t want to traumatize a kitten that had possibly never seen a dog before.

The mewling got louder the further in Kajir went, until only his legs were visible. Bucky started barking as he strained against my hold, enough to gain Marshall’s attention.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he joined me with what looked like a college sweater in his hands that we must have missed when we were clearing his Jeep.

“Kitten.” I dragged Bucky back when I saw Kajir making his way out.

When he emerged, he held a tiny black kitten in one hand.

The poor thing was covered in dust and cobwebs and was small enough to sit comfortably within his palm with his fingers loosely raised to create a bit of a cage.

Given how tiny the kitten looked in his hand, it could have been anywhere from four to six weeks old, but with Kajir’s massive height and breadth, it could easily be a couple of weeks older. It was hard to judge.

Either way, it was far too young to be out and about like this on its own.

“Any sign of its mother?” I asked from a few feet away, still holding a curious Bucky back. He really wanted to investigate the small void critter that was mewling up a storm in Kajir’s gentle hold, but it was too risky.

“No.” Kajir softly ran a thick knuckle along the kitten’s head as he stared down at it in what almost looked like sadness.

“Couldn’t see any tracks except for this little guy’s.

Doesn’t look like it’s been there that long, judging by the disturbances in the dirt.

Maybe a day? If that.” He lifted the kitten to his eye level and peered at it.

“People are giant fuck-knuckles, aren’t they? ”

The kitten stared back at him and mewled loudly once in response.

“Yeah, I knew you’d agree with me.” He stroked his knuckle against the kitten’s ears again before he jolted slightly and looked up to see both me and Marshall staring at him, our mouths wide open in shock. His eyes narrowed immediately. “Fucking what?”

“Nothing,” I quickly responded, trying very hard to stifle a grin. “Nothing at all.”

“Damn fucking straight.” He turned away from the fifth wheeler and us, and strode back to his garage, the kitten still in his hand. “You can both fuck off now.”

Swallowing a laugh, I glanced at Marshall, who had a giant grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear. “Okay, then.”

Now that the kitten was out of Bucky’s immediate sphere of interest, it didn’t take long at all to get him moving back to my truck. Thankfully, we were both able to hold off on our laughter until we’d climbed into the cab and strapped in.

“What?” Rose asked curiously, leaning forward between the front seats. “What’d I miss?”

Still chuckling, I shook my head as I started the truck and made our way out of the garage’s parking lot and toward Malone’s. “We’ll tell you over dinner.”

“It was a kitten?” Rose asked excitedly as she chopped up the small unseasoned chicken breast that we’d ordered for Bucky to nibble on while we ate our dinner. We’d asked for a table outside so he could join us and not be stuck in the truck for the duration of our meal.

“Yup,” Marshall said, spearing a chunk of carrot. “A pure black one, by the looks of it. Young, too, right, Daniel?”

I nodded as I swallowed my mouthful of braised beef. “Maybe six weeks old? I couldn’t tell because of Kajir’s giant hand. Could be younger, could be a little older.”

Rose sighed longingly. “I wonder if he’ll keep it.” Her eyes lit up before she turned her full focus on me. “If he can’t, can we? I mean, Bucky was the one who found it. It’s like it’s destiny!” She fluttered her eyes at me in a desperate attempt to sway me.

With my elbows on the table, I pointed my fork at her. “No.”

“Please?” she begged as Marshall chuckled. “Come on, Daddy Danny! We have the space. Please?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You already have Bucky. Isn’t he enough?”

“Never!” Rose declared cheerfully.

“And what about your work at the vet and animal shelter?” I asked pointedly. She’d been volunteering at the local animal shelter during her summer break and wanted to continue until she started the new school year in a few weeks’ time. “And school?”

“I can handle it,” she promised. “Please?”

I chanced a look at Marshall, who simply shrugged, looking amused by our discussion, then turned back to Rose to raise an eyebrow at her and say, “You do realize this conversation could all be moot if Kajir keeps the kitten, right?”

“I know,” she conceded. “But you always say that it’s good to have a backup plan, right?”

I gave her a flat stare. Damn her for using my own arguments against me.

A cheeky grin spread over her face when she realized I knew that she had me.

“So, Marshall….” Shifting in my seat, I faced Marshall and blatantly ignored Rose’s whoop at her apparent victory. “Tell me about your dinner. Are you enjoying it?”

Kind man that he was, he simply grinned at our antics and didn’t call me out.

“Yes, thank you. It’s delicious.” His eyes twinkled playfully in the late-afternoon light as he glanced down at my mouth and bit his bottom lip.

He leaned toward me to swipe his thumb over the corner of my lips before slyly placing it onto his outstretched tongue and sucking on it. “You had a little something….”