Near my bedroom door?
Well, that was a little disturbing.My face warmed with new embarrassment as I asked, "And you didn't try to stop them?"
"Hell no," he said. "I wouldn’t like someone stoppingme. And besides, by the time I get close, it's all over but the cuddling."
My gaze shifted to Drake. He was looking down and rubbing his forehead as if he had one heck of a headache. When he looked up and caught my eye, he gave me a sheepish grin. "Well, there you have it."
I didn't haveallof it. I looked back to Clint. "So when Aunt Celia returned home, did you tell her what happened?"
"Oh, yeah." Clint grimaced. "I'm surprised she didn't go for the nine-ironthen."
"So, whatdidshe do?" I asked.
"Shesays…" Clint's voice rose an octave as if imitating my aunt. "'Why didn't you tell me you were gonna bring your cat?' AndIsay, 'Why didn't you tellmethat your cat was in heat?' Andshesays, 'Because shewasn'tin heat when I left.' AndIsay, 'Well, maybe you should've mentioned that she wasn't fixed.' Andshesays, 'Maybeyou'rethe one who should be fixed,' which is pretty damn insulting no matter how you slice it, soItell her to pound sand. She demands the key, and tells me I'm fired, which is pretty funny considering that I was watching the cat for free." He gave a loose shrug. "And that was that."
I considered the age of the kittens. Adding everything up, this would've occurred sometime in July. But I still felt like I was missing something. "But later on, the two of you talked again, right? I mean, the thing with the golf club – that happened just a few weeks ago."
Cliff nodded. "Yeah, I ran into her at the pro shop."
"Thegolfpro shop?"
"Well, it wasn't hockey," he said. "The way it looked, she'd been having her clubs cleaned for the winter."
"Oh. So that's when she…" I wasn't quite sure how to put it.
"Tried to clobber me?" Clint looked ready to smile. "Oh, yeah. She caused quite a ruckus."
Aunt Celia?This beggared belief. "Because she was still angry about the cats?"
Clint gave it some thought. "Eh, hard to say. She and I don't always get along, you know? She might've been mad about other stuff."
When I looked to Drake, he shrugged as if to say,"Well, there ya go."
I was obscenely curious about that "other stuff," but given the fact that I barely knew these guys, it seemed incredibly nosy to ask.Maybe I could ask Aunt Celia?
But then again, if she'd truly wanted me to know, she would've told me herself.Had I just violated her privacy?I hadn'tmeantto.
I was still processing everything I'd just heard when Clint said with a wolfish grin. "So, you're bringing Drake flowers, huh?"
Damn it. I should've brought something else instead. But of course, my choices at the grocery store hadn't been terrific – unless I'd wanted to show up with a gallon of milk or loaf of bread. "No, it's just a plant," I insisted. "You know. For Christmas."
Clint chortled. "Didn't look like 'just a plant' tome."
"Well it was," I said for the umpteenth time. "And besides, it's all they had at the grocery store."
"If you say so."
By now, I didn't know whether to laugh or scream. "Hey, it was either that or milk."
Clint wasstillchortling. "What, no bread?"
I stared at the guy. It was strange to consider that we'd been thinking along the same lines.Huh.Maybe he wasn'tallbad.
Next to me, Drake said, "Gramps, be nice, will ya?"
"Iamnice," Clint said. "I started the fire, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Drake scoffed. "With the remote."
