Part 16 (2/2)

If he typed very slowly, he could probably enter his American Express number, which he still remembered. He'd never been much for giving to charity, except now he found himself thinking about the mother cat and her tiny, helpless babies whose eyes hadn't even opened yet.

So he'd give twenty bucks. So what? Making sure he had the right numbers and expiration date filled in took some doing. He had to provide his address, which probably would mean more junk mail, but he was into the process now, so he painstakingly did that, too.

When he had the thing all ready to go, one more screen popped up and invited him to increase his donation and receive a free newsletter and a b.u.mper sticker, neither of which he wanted. His twenty bucks looked a little puny sitting there in the donation s.p.a.ce, though. He could certainly afford more.

Very carefully he added another zero, right at the moment he heard Anica's key in the lock. She was home! He could finally get answers to the questions he'd typed. In his eagerness, he turned toward the door and his tail twitched, whacking the keyboard.

The distinctive click of a computer key made him glance back at the screen. What the h.e.l.l? Had his d.a.m.ned tail accidentally added another zero to his donation? f.u.c.kin' A! He wasn't giving away two grand to these people he'd never met!

Agitated beyond belief, he went back to the keyboard and tried to hit CANCEL, which was a small b.u.t.ton. Instead he hit COMPLETE MY ORDER, which was a humongous b.u.t.ton. He watched in horrified fascination as all that money disappeared into cybers.p.a.ce.

Then a message flashed on, complete with a picture of a soulful-looking puppy. The cheerful message thanked him for his generous donation. It reminded him to expect his newsletter and his b.u.mper sticker within the next two weeks.

Two thousand bucks. There went a flat-screen TV. Or a new sound system. Or season tickets for the Cubs. Or a trip to the Bahamas.

”Playing on the computer, I see.” Anica walked over to the desk.

Oh yeah, he'd been having big fun. He closed down the Internet connection, not wanting her to see what an idiot he'd been.

She set down a small bag before taking off her wet coat and draping it over the desk chair. Then she crouched down and stroked Orion, who had roused from his nap to come and greet her.

Jasper didn't like Orion getting attention first. From his perch on the desk chair, he reached out a paw and batted at her hair.

”Hey!” She glanced up at him and laughed. ”Jealous?” While continuing to pet Orion with her right hand, she scratched behind Jasper's ears with her left.

He was truly embarra.s.sed that he liked that so much, and even more embarra.s.sed when he responded with a loud purr. Had he no pride? Apparently not, because he arched into her caress and purred louder.

”I went to your condo today and picked up your mail,” she said. ”It's in this bag, and I'll open it for you if you want. I also took the messages off your answering machine and wrote them down.”

That was good news and bad news. He was glad she'd brought over his mail and snagged his messages, because even a guy down with the flu would do those things. But it was bad news because she must have abandoned the idea that he'd be able to do those things himself anytime soon.

She stopped petting both cats as she stood. ”I also watered your plants.” She slipped off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the carpet. ”Before I realized they were fake.”

Jasper knew he should be thinking about the mail, the messages and the questions he'd typed for her on the computer. Instead he was staring at her toes.

He hadn't noticed before that her toenails were painted red. On their dates she'd always worn boots or closed-toe shoes, so he'd had no reason to notice. And last night he'd been too busy to pay attention to her toes.

But now he realized toes were the sort of thing that he could appreciate as both a cat and a man. If he were truly a cat he'd want to jump down and possibly play with them, especially if she wiggled them again. As a man, he wanted to suck them.

Then Orion suddenly leaped on him, but it was a friendly leap, a Let's wrestle sort of leap. Jasper decided to oblige him. It was a satisfying outlet for his excess energy. As Jasper rolled around on the carpet with the orange tabby, he was vaguely aware of Anica humming in the kitchen. He could smell hamburger cooking.

This isn't so bad, living here with Anica and Orion. The second the thought floated through his head he wrenched free of Orion and leaped up to the desk, thoroughly appalled. Good G.o.d, was he starting to like this situation?

Before Anica had come home he'd had a plan, which was to get her to answer some hard questions. Those questions were sitting there on the computer, but he'd allowed himself to be distracted. He'd made no effort to get her to read them and respond.

That was going to be remedied immediately. He touched a key and brought them up on the screen. Then he began to yowl as loud as he could, which sent Orion scurrying into a far corner of the living room.

Anica came running out of the kitchen. ”Jasper! What's wrong? Did Orion do something to you? I thought you were only playing!”

Jasper stopped yowling and put a paw on the computer screen.

”Apparently it's not about Orion.” Walking over to the desk, Anica glanced at the screen. ”That's it? You wanted me to come and read what you've written?”

Jasper meowed.

”Sheesh. You didn't have to scare me half to death, cat.”

Cat. Aiming with his paw, he slapped at the keys.

NT A CAT.

”Yes, I know,” she said quietly. ”Believe me, I know. Let me turn down the heat on the stove,” she said. ”Then I'll come back and read this.”

As if he had a choice. As if he had any power in this situation whatsoever. But he wasn't going to let her forget about reading his questions. If she didn't come back in two minutes . . .

But she did. Drying her hands on a towel, she came straight over to the desk and peered at the screen. ”Uh-huh.”

His heart pounded faster as she hesitated. They weren't hard questions, but she wasn't leaping right out there with answers. He also noticed she was twisting the towel. She was nervous, which made him nervous.

She cleared her throat. ”First question, Lily and I aren't making any more of the potion we gave you before because Dorcas and Ambrose have told me it's pointless for you to drink that. It won't do anything.”

He'd been afraid of that, had antic.i.p.ated it, in fact, which was why he'd typed the second question. IF NT POSHN, WHT Anica sighed. ”I can't answer that.”

A fountain of swear words erupted in his brain, but he couldn't say them out loud, so he had to be satisfied with growling, which he did. Repeatedly.

”I know, Jasper. It sucks. As for your third question, what caused you to change back the two times you did, Ambrose and Dorcas say it wasn't the potion, but I can't say what it was.”

Now he almost wished he hadn't forced her to look at the screen. And he was really afraid of her answer to the last question.

She stared at the question for a long time, so long that he was afraid he knew the answer. Still, he had to hear it from her. Better to know the truth.

At last she met his gaze. ”I don't know, Jasper. I honestly don't know. Listen, I have to go get dinner ready.” She went back into the kitchen.

He felt sick to his stomach as he gazed at the last question he'd typed.

WLL I EVR B A MAN AGN.

Chapter 16.

Anica didn't see much of Jasper for the rest of the evening, and she wasn't surprised. In his position, she'd be off somewhere brooding, too. He was stuck in a mess with no clue how to get out. Even the people who were supposed to have a clue weren't helping him.

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