Free Flower Girl Bride by Dana Corbit

kit.”
    â€œDo you have a death wish or what?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
    Luke heard me that time, but he only lifted an eyebrow when he turned my way. If he thought Princess, reigning monarch of Bluffton Point Lighthouse and beyond, could be so easily tamed, then he had another thing coming.
    â€œDaddy, I can help find the kitty,” Sam announced in a youthful shriek that generally wouldn’t attract small animals.
    â€œThat’s okay, buddy.” The volume of Luke’s voice was only about a third of his son’s. “Why don’t you go out on the deck and scout the shoreline with the binoculars, so you can pick the best spot for us to put the beach umbrella?”
    Sam shot through the door, barely taking enough time to open the screen.
    â€œNo going near the water without grown-ups, okay?” I called after him.
    â€œOkay.”
    Luke nodded his agreement with my comment before returning to his study of places a cat might hide.He found nothing under the end table, behind the curtains, even underneath the footrest of Uncle Jack’s recliner. He had to open the chair to check that one.
    Again, he started the clucking noise, following it with another round of kit-kit-kit.
    To my utter shock, Princess reappeared in the kitchen doorway, looking at least a little intrigued. You mean clucking and kit-kit-kit-ing had worked better than my little beasts and fur balls?
    â€œWhat do you need her to do?” he whispered to me though he was looking at the cat instead of me.
    â€œRemember the drinks?”
    His gaze drifted to the kitchen sink, and he nodded. With quiet steps in his sporty beach sandals, he moved in front of the sink and turned on the faucet. Backing up a little, he waited by the opposite counter.
    Instead of staring at him the way she had me, the cat took a few tentative steps forward, and, seeming to sense there was no danger, padded into the kitchen and hopped on the counter. She batted the water a few times with her paw and then stuck her face under the stream for a long drink. When she was done, she hopped down from the counter, sauntered into the great room and plopped down next to the recliner to begin bathing herself.
    I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Had that just happened? And more importantly how had Luke made it happen? Not only was he an admirable, organized parent, Luke was also a regular Dr. Doolittle. I couldn’t help being a tiny bit jealous of all that.
    But I also was curious how Luke had accomplishedhis trick with Princess. I was going to need this tidbit of information if the cat and I were going to survive the next twenty-one days together.
    Twenty-one days and counting.
    I turned my wide-eyed amazement on Luke, who had just shut off the faucet.
    He smiled sheepishly. “I’m a cat person.” He said it simply, as if that explained his sleight-of-hand performance to those of us who hadn’t learned the art of feline love.
    â€œWhat else do you need?” he asked.
    I pointed to the bowl near his feet, the one still filled with food.
    â€œI wouldn’t worry about that. She’ll eat when she’s hungry. Cats won’t starve themselves.”
    He walked back into the room where the cat lay, licking her paw and using it to clean her ear. She paused in her toilette to watch his careful approach, but she didn’t bolt.
    Soon, he’d crouched down beside her and was petting her head—all without the need for stitches. “Yeah, you’ll be just fine, won’t you girl? Just fine.”
    He paused in his crooning to look back at me. “I would be prepared for her not to eat much these first few days. Cats sometimes lose their appetites at first when their owners go away.”
    â€œI guess as long as she doesn’t stop drinking, too.”
    Luke turned so he could pet his new friend and talk to me at the same time. “She won’t. I would keep her water bowl full, though.