Free Built to Last (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Janice Kay Johnson Page A

eye looks to be in good shape and the socket isn’t damaged badly. However,” she warned, “you’d be looking at a pretty big bill.”
    In the end, Jo decided to let her buckle an Elizabethan collar around the kitten’s neck so he wouldn’t scratch the eye, put ointment on it and gently cover it with a bandaged cup. With antibiotics and instructions in hand as well as the address for the eye specialist, they left with Pirate.
    Dr. Sullivan had agreed to look at him right away. They stopped at home first, where Helen decided to come as well.
    “I’ll leave a note for Kathleen,” she said,hurrying back into the house and reappearing in remarkably short order.
    Dr. Sullivan looked with some amusement at the crowd, but let them all in while he examined Pirate.
    “I think we can save his eye,” he concluded, “although it’s difficult to tell how much of his vision will be intact.”
    “We’ll never know, will we?” Jo laughed shakily. “He can’t read an eye chart for you, can he?”
    He laughed, too. “We do have ways to check. His eyes will follow movement, for example, just like ours. But no, I won’t be able to tell if his vision is twenty-twenty.”
    The cost, as he outlined it, made Jo’s heart sink. They shouldn’t have come at all. She couldn’t afford a bill like that. And she didn’t even want a cat!
    But Emma and Ginny both looked at her with anxious eyes. “Is that too much?” Emma whispered.
    “Can we have a minute to talk about it?” Jo asked the veterinarian.
    “You bet. There’s no one else in the waiting room. You have it to yourselves.”
    They huddled, conscious of the receptionistwithin hearing distance. Jo cradled Pirate in one arm.
    “I can’t afford anywhere near that much,” she said bluntly, feeling horribly guilty with the tiny bundle looking up at her with his one good eye. He looked so pathetic in the wide plastic collar that was almost bigger than he was.
    Ginny shrank at Jo’s words.
    Helen wrapped her arms around her daughter. Biting her lip, she said quietly, “I can’t, either, but maybe we could pool our money. I could come up with…oh, two hundred dollars. I know that’s not much, but…”
    “I’ll bet Mom would, too!” Emma declared, eyes filled with hope. “I’ll call her!”
    Hating to think what Kathleen would say about today’s adventure and seriously doubting that she would pony up money for a cat she wouldn’t want, Jo nonetheless offered her cell phone.
    While she dialed, Ryan said gruffly, “I’ll contribute.”
    “But…you don’t even live with us,” Jo said, then realized how it sounded.
    His gaze rested on Ginny, and his voice was brusque. “I care.”
    Emma handed the phone to Jo. “Mom wants to talk to you.”
    Jo explained the situation. Kathleen was silent for a long moment. “Just what we need,” she muttered.
    “No kidding,” Jo admitted. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
    “What else could you do?” She sighed. “It really seems to matter to Emma. Lately, not much does.”
    Jo was silent.
    Another sigh. “I can afford, say, three hundred dollars. Is that enough to help? We can put off doing the downstairs bathroom. Maybe I’ll get a different job soon. One that pays better.”
    “Okay. Thanks. I’ll let you know,” Jo said, breaking the connection.
    They added up their contributions and realized they needed a few hundred more. Jo, wishing she’d lined up a part-time job, mentally tallied her bank account and her bills, trying to decide if she’d have enough for tuition if she made up the difference.
    “I’ll pay the rest, too,” Ryan said. “Despite what Kathleen seems to believe, I have more money than I have any use for. She justdoesn’t like to take it from me. But this isn’t for her.”
    Emma started to cry. Jo was shocked to feel a sting in her eyes as well. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    Ginny asked, “Can I hold him until they take him?”
    Jo nodded and knelt to gently transfer the bundle