Free Silver Christmas by Helen Scott Taylor Page B

office thirty minutes ago. We've found
Mama Cat's owner."
    Jennifer's heart dropped at the thought the
cat and kittens would be taken. It wasn't that she wanted to keep
Mama Cat, but she had arrived here the same time as Jennifer, and
in some strange way their destinies seemed linked. "So, what's her
story?"
    "Her name's Stripy. The woman who called says
she belongs to her elderly mother who was rushed into the hospital
about the time we found the cat. She asked me to go ahead and find
homes for the kittens, and wants us to keep Stripy for a few more
weeks until her mum comes out of the hospital."
    "So you can keep Sixpence?"
    Owen smiled in answer, that warm smile of his
that communicated so much. He was relieved, happy, and far more
relaxed than she'd seen him since the visit to the garden center to
buy the Christmas tree.
    "I haven't told Chloe yet. I thought it would
make a wonderful surprise on Christmas morning. What do you
think?"
    "It'll be a lovely surprise for Chloe." Today
was Christmas Eve, so she wouldn't have to wait long for the news.
"I'm really looking forward to my first Christmas day with
her."
    She wasn't looking forward to the days after
that, though. She couldn't stay at Rosemoor Farm indefinitely. The
kittens would go to new homes after Christmas, and so would she.
She had to accept the job at Warmshurst Zoo or find something else.
A new home, a new job, and a new life.
    To a casual observer, she, Owen, and Chloe
might look like a family, but they weren't. The only thing she and
Owen had in common was a daughter.
    Owen crouched at her side and ran a finger
along the fur sticking up on Sixpence's spine.
    "So, when do you leave us?" he asked.
    "As soon as you want me to go."
    "Don't you have a date to start at the zoo
job?" He sounded surprised.
    "I haven't accepted it yet, but I probably
will. It ticks all my career boxes."
    Owen pressed his lips together for a moment.
"That's a good thing, I guess, but don't forget people matter
too."
    "I plan to make plenty of time to see Chloe.
Maybe she can come to me every other weekend and half of her school
vacations."
    Owen scooped up a kitten that was trying to
clamber over the corral they'd put around the cat bed, and
deposited the fluff ball gently back beside its mother. She waited
for him to answer her. Instead he rose to his feet and turned
towards the door.
    "Owen. Will that be okay?"
    "Yes. Of course." He turned at the door, his
expression unreadable. "By the way, Chloe's not the only person who
cares about you."
    Jennifer parted her lips to speak, not sure
what she planned to say, but it didn't matter because Owen was
gone.

Chapter
Eleven
    Jennifer jumped up with Sixpence still cradled in her hand, the
sweet furry bundle of life a little talisman, giving her courage.
She hurried after Owen, careful in her haste to shut the door
properly to keep the other kittens safely inside.
    Stepping out onto the landing, she glanced up
and down the corridor and heard the kitchen door downstairs.
    After that provocative comment, no doubt Owen
was escaping to hide out with his goats. When things got
emotionally charged or difficult, she'd noticed he headed for the
goat shed.
    Cradling a sleepy Sixpence against her neck,
she ran downstairs, along the hallway and into the kitchen. As she
expected, Heidi and Zach weren't in their beds.
    Owen had always been like this, she realized.
He'd never been good at discussing his feelings with her. He said
his piece and then retreated and stewed, never giving them a chance
to talk things out.
    Because she'd hated the way her parents had
shouted at each other, sometimes right over her head, she'd refused
to argue with him over Chloe and just run away.
    Each of them were as bad as the other!
    She marched down the tiled corridor to the
back door and found Owen in the mudroom, wearing his old yard coat,
pushing his feet into his Wellington boots.
    He glanced up, startled, as she stopped in
the doorway, blocking his exit.
    "You can't