Free Calico Cross by DeAnna Kinney

fifteen minutes before he reappeared. He had several more books in his arms and he approached slowly, placing the books on the counter in front of me.
    “How are you, Calico?” His voice was a soft whisper.
    I looked up and our eyes locked. “I’m doing okay,” I lied. “And you?”
    “I’m doing okay,” he also lied.
    This was a sad scenario and it broke my heart. Here we were two people who had finally admitted we had feeling for each other after all this time, and the rules said we couldn’t be together. Things would be so much easier to accept if I only knew what he was. But I was not going to break into his home again.
    I managed to focus on my task in ringing up his books. I handed him his receipt and his hand swept across mine as he took it. I gasped and looked up at him. He gave me a weak and forced smile, took his books, and left the building.
    That evening, I didn’t have an appetite for supper; instead I went out onto the front porch and sat in the swing. I didn’t even have the heart to swing. I just sat there, slumped over and sulking.
         I didn’t look up as Tabby came out and took a seat beside me.
    “Want to tell me about it?” she asked. Her voice was gentle and full of love as she placed her hand on my leg.
    “Tabby, why does it have to be so hard to be like us?”
    “Oh, Cali, it’s hard to be anyone these days. We’re just blessed to be alive and to have each other. We always make the best out of what we’ve been given. You know it’s not bad to be different.”
    I looked up at her then. “Sometimes it is.”
    “Does this have anything to do with Dane Savage?”
    “Why do you say that?” I asked, pretending to be oblivious.
    “I’m not stupid you know. We all have seen the way you two interact. You have had feelings for each other since the very beginning.”
    I sighed. “I think I’m in love with him,” I confessed.
    “Yes, I think you’re right.”
    “But it’s so soon. We shouldn’t be in love this soon, right?”
    “Cali, you guys have been going back and forth for months now. Besides, were-creatures aren’t like humans. Our feelings are hard to ignore, and once we love, we love hard. But we all knew Dane was different than us. You had to know this could happen, right?”
    “The truth is I didn’t think about that. I mean I knew he was different, but I thought perhaps he was a jaguar or even a cheetah. In that case we could still be together. He must be something powerful, like a werewolf or a were-coyote, or maybe even a were-fox. In any of those cases we can never be together.”
    “Oh, Cali, don’t be so sad. This might work out yet. Let’s just take it day by day and see what happens.”
    I nodded in agreement, but I couldn’t stop the moisture growing in my eyes. She pulled me into her arms and cradled me as the tears spilled down my cheeks.
    “It’s times like these that I really miss Mom,” Tabby said. “She would be so much better at this than I am.”
    I hugged her tighter. “Oh, Tab, you’re doing just fine.” 

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
     
    Dane stayed away from the library for the next couple of weeks. I guess it was actually a good thing, but I missed seeing him.
    I was shocked when I opened my front door, heading to the car, and spotted Blake swinging on my porch swing, waiting for me.
    “Cali, can we talk?”
    “Um, well, I have to get to work.”
    “Please. It’ll just take a minute.”
    “Fine,” I said as I walked to him and took a seat on the swing.
    “I know you’ve been avoiding me. What I need to know is why? I thought we were getting along well.”
    “Okay, the truth is I have feelings for Dane Savage. I didn’t really realize it until recently. I’m sorry, Blake, but I can’t help the way I feel.”
    He sighed and lowered his head, looking down at his feet. “I was afraid of that. I thought I sensed that you two had feelings, but I hoped I was wrong. I thought if you got to know