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“I can’t believe how much you bought,” Jamie announced as he loaded yet another bag of Sarah’s groceries into the back of his truck. They’d walked around the supermarket together with Jamie pushing the cart as Sarah had selected the many products she’d declared she needed off the shelves. He’d taken great delight in teasing her as she had plopped several packets of potato chips into the cart, quickly realising her weakness for the salty snack. At one stage Jamie’d suggested to her that they were going to need a second cart as she kept adding items. She’d laughed at him but he hadn’t been far off. By the time they had reached the cashier and he would never admit it to Sarah, Jamie was struggling to push the cart properly. He had blanched when he’d seen the total of the groceries but Sarah hadn’t even batted an eyelid, happily handing over the cash.
“You’ve got to remember I have absolutely nothing in my house at the moment. I’m starting from scratch.” In more ways than one, she thought wryly as she hefted up a bag into the back of the truck.
“But how much can one person eat? There’s a lot of food here.” Jamie asked as he loaded the last bag in.
“I needed all the basics like flour, butter, eggs and what not, plus a whole bunch of spices and sauces. Besides, it’s not all for me,” Sarah protested as they climbed up into the truck.
He laughed as he started up the vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot. “Who else is it for then? Didn’t you just buy all this to put in your own house?”
“Yes, but I have a cake I want to make for your parents and some muffins for Betty.”
“My parents? What have they done to deserve a cake?” Jamie had stopped at a traffic light and was looking over at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion on his face as he waited for the light to change from red to green.
“They brought their barbecue to be used by everybody at the breakfast this morning, so I want to bake them a cake to say thank you for that. Plus your mum let me know that the whole breakfast idea was Betty’s, so I want to bake her some muffins. Besides, it’s a good way to get to know the oven at the house.” Sarah explained as they moved away from the intersection.
“Get to know the oven?” he asked her archly.
“I haven’t used this one yet. I need to get to know what it’s like,” she explained.
“What, like all ovens are different?” Jamie scoffed. “Don’t you just switch them on and let them do their thing?”
“Good grief, no! Ovens are so individual. Some overcook on the top shelf, some cook on the bottom shelf better than anywhere else. Then you’ve got to get the temperature just perfect which can be tricky if you’ve got a fan forced oven...” She looked across at Jamie not too surprised to see his shoulders shaking as he listened to her. “And you’re laughing at me cos I’m going on about ovens like some raving lunatic,” she concluded.
“I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “I’ve just never heard anyone talk about them the way you do.”
“It does seem a bit ridiculous,” she admitted shrugging her shoulders, “but I make a living out of what I bake so as dumb as it all sounds, it works for me.”
“Nah, it’s not dumb. I bet if I asked you about the engine of a Nissan GTR you wouldn’t be able to tell me anything about it either.”
“Pffft, not a chance of that happening. But then again you’re talking to a woman who can barely even change a tyre.”
“Tell me you’re joking,” Jamie’s voice was serious.
“Nope. I only learned how a couple of years ago and even then it was when I helped a friend change his. I haven’t had to actually do it on my own yet.”
“Hell Sarah, that’s basic stuff. Everyone should learn that kind of thing. Tell you what, once you get the café up and running I’ll teach you the basics. How to safely change a tyre, check your tyre pressure, oil and coolant, that sort of thing.”
“Are you expecting me to teach you to cook in return?”
“Nope, Mum made sure I could cook well and truly before I moved out of home.”
“Really?” It was Sarah’s turn to be surprised.
Jamie laughed at her reaction. “There was a rule in our house that everyone had to cook one night a week at least, Dad included.”
“That’s pretty cool. How old were you when you started doing it.”
“Ten, I think. It wasn’t anything fancy and Mum always stood with us to help us out, but we had to do it all from start to finish. My brother Andrew was pretty good about it. Me, not so much. I think I did spaghetti bolognaise every week for nearly a year when I was sixteen and a pain in the ass teenager to try and get Mum and Dad to let me stop cooking.”
“Did it work?” Sarah already suspected what his answer might be.
Jamie laughed. “With my parents, what do you think?”
“I’m guessing you had to suck it up and get on with it instead? The little I know of them I can’t image Don and Emily would let you get away with something like that.”
“See? Been here less than a day and you’ve already figured my parents out. When I got it through my thick skull I wasn’t going to get away with it I started cooking other things again. Mum let me know about a month after it was clear that I’d changed my attitude just how close she and Dad had been to giving in.”
Sarah laughed at the thought of a frustrated sixteen year old Jamie losing a battle to his parents only to realise how close he’d actually come to winning against them. “Good on them for not though.”
“No doubt they did the right thing, but it was a tough lesson to learn. Worst thing about it all was it put me off spaghetti for years,” he laughed, Sarah joining in with him.
They continued to drive along and chat amiably with one another as they moved through the streets of Penwick. As they reached the highway Jamie put his foot down and they accelerated quickly along the road towards Mount Kiernon.
“So back to this cake that you’re going to cook for my parents. What are you planning to make them and when are you planning to do it? I need to make sure that I time my visits to their place right to make sure I get a piece.” He grinned as he watched the road ahead of him.
“I was thinking a blueberry sour cream cake. It’s one of my favourite ca-“ Sarah suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
“You alright over there?” Jamie asked at her sudden silence. “Not thinking about ovens or anything weird again are you?”
“Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. I just saw a sign for an animal shelter, that’s all. I didn’t even realise there was one around here,” Sarah’s voice was wistful.
“Animal lover, huh?”
“Definitely. I’ve always wanted a cat but I’ve never been able to have one.”
“Why not?”
“Just never lived anywhere that was conducive to having them,” she shrugged. Or with anyone that would let me, she added silently.
“You going to get one now that you live in Kiernon? I mean, it’s your own home, it’s not like you’re living in a rental or anything.”
“I –“ she hesitated and looked out the passenger window.
Home.
The word resounded in her mind.
Sarah was home. She knew it. No one and nothing could tell her what she could or could not do in her own house. Jamie was right. There was absolutely no reason that she couldn’t have a pet if she wanted one.
Sarah giggled. She could feel the smile spreading across her face as the possibility of having a pet began to hit her.
“Jamie, can we –“
But she didn’t even need to ask.
Jamie had already begun to slow the truck to pull off to the side of the road. Turning a wide path across the highway he nosed the truck around and back in the direction they had just come from and towards the animal shelter.
Sarah could feel herself still grinning at him.
“I’m so glad I met you.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. But what surprised her more was the fact that she had stretched her arm out at the same time and rested her hand lightly on top of his where it sat wrapped around the steering wheel.
Sarah watched Jamie’s face carefully as it creased into a slow smile at her touch. As he turned his head to face her she could see the warmth she felt reflected in his eyes.
“Me too,” he replied huskily.
Lifting her hand from where it rested on his she withdrew her touch, apologising as she did. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Don’t,” Jamie said in a low voice as he reached out and gently grasped her forearm. Sliding his hand slowly downwards he reached Sarah’s hand. Twining his fingers through hers he looked at their linked hands before looking back up at her. “Keep it there,” he instructed throatily as he rested their hands between them.
“Okay,” Sarah whispered. She could feel a warmth blooming in her chest as her skin tingled from his touch.
See, I can do this.
In companionable silence they drove on, listening as a radio announcer informed them that the evenings in the area would continue to get colder as winter approached. Sarah found herself stealing glances across at Jamie every now and then, a feeling of contentment surrounding her. He really seems to like me. And I like him.
But I don’t date. I can’t. It doesn’t matter if he’s attracted to me or me to him, I don’t date. I can’t take that risk. The thought was like cold water being doused over the thought of happiness of Jamie being attracted to her.
Sarah’s eyes dropped down to where their hands were still knitted together and she began to pull her hand away.
“So what’s the next step in the plan with your café?” Jamie asked interrupting her thoughts and tightening his grip on her hand, effectively trapping hers where it was.
Just a few more minutes and then I’ll stop this. I’ll take my hand back then.
Sarah excitedly told Jamie about what had been completed in the building already and what was soon to happen. While he had been a great help to her with finding people to fulfil jobs in bringing the café towards completion Jamie had never yet stepped foot inside the building.
“Have you decided what you’re going to call it?” he asked.
“It’s called Dawning.”
“Dawning,” he repeated mulling it over for a moment. He gave her a half smile, “like in a sunrise?”
“Exactly like that.” Sarah couldn’t help the flush of joy she felt at the memory of that morning’s sunrise she had watched before Jamie had surprised her.
“You have a real thing for sunrises, don’t you,” he asked teasing gently.
“I do,” she answered simply before turning from him and looking out of the side window. Softly whispering she added, “A morning’s sunrise does not define itself by last night’s sunset.”
Jamie squeezed Sarah’s hand gently before letting it go and returning his hand to the steering wheel. Indicating, he turned the truck off the highway and down a wide dirt road. “We’re almost there,” he announced.
Noticing a large sign ahead for the animal shelter Sarah sat up in her seat straining to see any sign of animals in the distance. As Jamie made one final turn down a long, narrow road Sarah was surprised to realise the road was a driveway as they approached what looked to be a farmhouse in the distance.
As they neared the house she could see several dogs in a large enclosure running around. What had once been a farmhouse had been converted to be used as a business for the animal shelter. As they passed the large enclosure, the dogs within its confines ran enthusiastically along its length towards where they would park in front of the farmhouse, barking all the while. Winding her window down Sarah smiled at the rowdy reception that she and Jamie were already receiving.
Looking around her as she and Jamie climbed out of the truck Sarah noticed two main buildings plus the farmhouse. One of the buildings was located off to her left and was painted a garish shade of yellow. Along its side were large pens with a dog housed in each, causing Sarah’s grin to widen further. Most of the dogs had become excited at their arrival and were barking their welcome. Canines of various sizes and colours were jumping up and down causing the door of their pens to rattle loudly while others stood still, barking as they wagged their tails with a fierceness that made Sarah wonder how it didn’t hurt them. A few other dogs simply sat silently and looked at the pair of new humans with open curiosity.
“We should go inside and let someone know we’re here,” Jamie suggested heading towards the farmhouse.
Sarah nodded excitedly and followed after his footsteps.
“Hi, how can I help you?” Stepping inside the farmhouse Sarah and Jamie were greeted by a middle aged, somewhat overweight woman. Sarah wasn’t surprised to find that it seemed the old farmhouse had been mostly gutted for the conversion into a reception area and what looked like some small sort of offices further behind the front counter.
“We were hoping we could see the cats, if that’s okay?” Sarah asked her. Glancing at the name tag on the woman she saw it identified her as Cecily.
“Sure. Have you ever been here before?” Cecily inquired.
“No,” Sarah shook her head. The smile on her face hadn’t lessened one iota since she had spotted the first dog in the enclosure as they came down the driveway.
“Okay, then. As you head back out the door here, there is a blue building on your right. That’s where we keep all the cats and kittens. When you get in the building you’ll find there’s another door with a glass panel in it before you actually reach the animals. Just have a look through it before you go through as sometimes some of the cats might be out running in the corridor between the pens. Obviously we’d hate for any of them to run out that door when you open it. If you decide to go into any of the pens with any animals just make sure that you secure the gate properly behind you once you’ve finished. If any of the cats do happen to slip out of their pen as you go in or out it’s not really a problem, they’ll just end up in that main corridor, but just make sure you pop them back in and secure the gate properly. Sounds pretty basic I know, but we do need to remind people of these things.”
“And if we decide that we want one of the cats, what do we need to do?” Jamie asked.
“Just come back in here and let me know and we can go from there,” Cecily told him.
“Okay, thanks,” Sarah said energetically already turning to head towards the front door of the farmhouse with eager impatience.
Walking outside Sarah found herself bouncing along with the same sort of eagerness the dogs showed as they wagged their tails. She could completely understand why dogs jumped up when they got excited if she could barely walk without jumping up and down herself with anticipation at the thought of seeing the cats and kittens.
“You ready for this?” Jamie grinned at her as they reached the building. He put a hand on the door in readiness to open it for her. “I just want to check, because I’m not sure if you’re excited enough about it all.”
“Oh hush you and let me in!” she begged.
He laughed and opened the door for her allowing her to walk in ahead of him.
Spying the door with the glass panel that Cecily had warned them about Sarah peeked through. She couldn’t see any cats on the floor, and she was even more thrilled when she realised she couldn’t see any other people in the area either, meaning that she would be able to visit the cats without anyone else watching her. Anyone else but Jamie, and the thought of him she could manage.
Walking through the glass panelled door Sarah felt like a kid in a candy store. With so many pens filled with cats she wasn’t sure which to choose to visit first. As the inhabitants began to realise they had a visitor they stood and stretched before walking towards the door of their individual pen or sitting up from where they had been sleeping. Looking into the first pen she was greeted by an adult cat rubbing against the gate and purring up at her.
“His name’s Bernie, a male, aged seven,” Jamie informed her, reading from the sheet where the cats details were kept pegged on the outside of the pen. “According to this he was surrendered to the shelter when his owner had to move into aged care.”
“Oh,” Sarah was saddened to hear about Bernie’s fate, and even sadder for the owner who would have given up what was probably a much loved pet when they were no longer able to care for themselves.
“Hey Bernie, aren’t you beautiful,” Sarah cooed at him. She was rewarded by a small meow back from the ginger cat and an increased volume in his purr.
Moving along to the next pen two cats greeted her, bodily pushing each other out of the way in order to gain her attention first. “Jack and Jill,” Jamie read from their sheet. “Aged twelve months, male and female – who woulda guessed with names like that? Um, says here they were seized when their owners moved away and left them behind.”
“Someone left you two behind? How can people do something like that?” Sarah asked looking down at the mottled black and white pair as she unlocked the door of the pen and slipped inside. Crouching down on the floor they rushed over and began to rub up against her. “That’s so cruel.” Patting each cat in turn she laughed gently as they bumped up against her legs making her nearly topple over. “Hey, gentle you two. I’m sorry I can’t take you home, but I don’t think you should be split up, and I only have room for one, sorry.”
Retreating out of the small space Sarah fastened the door to the pen securely, double checking just in case she hadn’t done it right the first time. A tug at the wire from the pen behind her caused her to turn and be greeted by a kitten climbing up the side of the pen in a desperate bid to get her attention.
“Oh,” she gasped as her hands flew up to her mouth. “Aren’t you just precious? And who are you?” Letting herself inside the pen she carefully lifted the kitten from the wiring and held it closely to her.
“Francis, another boy, this one is only twelve weeks old. He was surrendered at six weeks old with Freddy and Franklin and their mother. According to this Freddy and Franklin have been adopted out already,” Jamie informed her.
“What about the mother cat? Is she here or has she been adopted out too?” Sarah asked as a satisfying rumble came from the small furry body she held in her hands.
“Doesn’t say on here,” Jamie informed her.
“Well Francis, I think you will find a home pretty quickly,” Sarah told the little kitten as it nuzzled against the side of her neck. She giggled as the fur tickled her, sighing happily before placing him carefully on a cat tower. “Just gorgeous,” she announced as she let herself out of the pen.
Sarah and Jamie made their way slowly along the corridor as they peered into the pens, Sarah cooing over the kittens and cats, while Jamie called out their age and backgrounds. Sarah found herself getting angry with the few cases they came across where people had moved away and left their pets behind to fend for themselves.
“That’s just awful,” she stated crossly from inside a pen as she stroked an eight year old cat as Jamie had told her that it too had ended up in the shelter due to being left behind. “If they didn’t want their cat, that’s one thing. They could’ve brought her here. But to just leave them behind, that’s horrible. Some people just suck.” She wiped away the few tears that had formed.
Finally they reached the last two pens. Looking into the second to last one Sarah peered inside to find the cat. For a moment she struggled to see it, as the feline had chosen not to come to the door to greet her as all the others had. Sitting hunkered down in a cat bed at the opposite end of the pen was a grey and white short haired cat who glared at her. “And who are you, Mr Attitude?” Sarah asked as she unlocked the pen. Stepping inside Jamie started reading the information from the sheet on the cage to her.
“This one is Leeton. He’s a male, aged two years. Doesn’t actually state why he was brought in, just to ask the staff here about his history.”
“That’s a bit odd,” Sarah remarked.
“There must be something about him though, it’s got on here he wouldn’t be suited to a home with small children. That’s the first time we’ve come across something like that on these sheets. I wonder if that means somebody did something to him maybe?”
Walking across to Leeton Sarah was careful not to approach him too quickly. He was clearly very wary of her, his eyes never once leaving her as she approached. Walking forwards she extended her hand to him, allowing him to sniff it first before attempting to touch him. When he didn’t back away from her or hiss she slowly and gently began to stroke his fur. Leeton turned his head to watch what she was doing, but allowed her to continue.
“How are we going in here?” Cecily asked brightly as she walked in through the glass panelled door.
“I think if she could take them all, she would,” Jamie informed her.
“You bet I would,” Sarah called from inside the pen. Through the wiring of all the pens Sarah could see Cecily as she walked down the corridor towards her. As she did Sarah noticed the cats in their pens react to Cecily the same way they had to her. The kitten climbed up the wiring, and others walked towards their gates rubbing against them and purring in a bid to get her attention. As she watched Cecily move towards her Sarah felt a soft bump against her hand.
Looking down she realised that Leeton had pushed against it and was encouraging her to keep patting him. “You like that, do you buddy?” she murmured at him commencing the stroking again.
“Ah, you’re with Leeton I see,” Cecily observed as she arrived at his pen. “Bit of a shy fella, this one and doesn’t like to be patted at all. Been one of our harder residents to home because he’s so independent and doesn’t like to be touched. Certainly seems to have taken a shine to you, though.”
“He’s lovely,” Sarah asked as she looked down at the cat. He’d started purring and turned his head to look up at Sarah with open affection in his face.
“Will you look at that?” Cecily said softly in wonder. “Six months and I’ve never seen him react to anyone the way he has to you. Not even to any of us that work here and we see him all the time.”
“That’s because he knows he’s about to go home,” Sarah announced. Lifting him out of the cat bed she held him against her chest. Wriggling a little Leeton adjusted his body until he was seemingly comfortable and could rub his face against Sarah’s.
“I don’t mean to put you off of him at all, but there is quite a history with this fella. He has been known to scratch people and hiss a bit when he gets defensive. He doesn’t do it anywhere near as much as he used to compared to when he first came in or else we wouldn’t have him up for adoption now. But it does mean we don’t recommend that he goes to a couple with young children, so if you two have kids you might want to rethink,” Cecily pointed out.
“Ah, um, we aren’t –“
“We’re friends,” Jamie supplied for her.
“Sorry, I thought you two were, you know,” Cecily laughed at herself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“It’s fine,” Sarah assured her. Looking down at Leeton she frowned slightly. “So what is his history then? Jamie said there wasn’t any information about it on the sheet.”
“Leeton was part of an abuse case. He was seized from his previous owner along with a number of other cats as a result of their actions,” Cecily informed her.
“Are any of the others still here?” Sarah asked anxiously looking about her at the pens.
Cecily smiled widely. “No, we already managed to adopt the ones that could be rehomed other than this fella here. Unfortunately there were a few in the group that we did need to euthanize as a result of the injuries that they’d sustained.”
“Were the owners charged?” Sarah buried her head in Leeton’s fur as she waited for the answer.
“Yep. They were charged a five hundred dollar fine as well as being banned from keeping any animal for three years.” There was no hiding the anger that Cecily had in her voice as she spoke.
“It’s not nearly enough,” Sarah stated vehemently looking up at Cecily.
“I couldn’t agree with you more. But it’s the judge who makes the decision about what happens to scum like that, not me. I guess the judge does what they can.”
“Sometimes what a judge does sometimes doesn’t seem like enough.”
Leeton realising that Sarah’s attention had moved away from him he reached a paw out to touch her face. Gently he extended his claws just enough to apply pressure to make Sarah uncomfortable and force her head towards him. Smiling at the feline bundle in her arms she began to pat him again, eliciting further purring.
“Well then you great big fuzzball, it’s gonna be you and me. What do you think about that?”
“Lucky cat,” Jamie muttered quietly under his breath.
Leeton gave a small chirp and closed his eyes as if knowing that he too had finally found his home.