Catalyst (A Tethered Novel) Page 3

  “Guess so,” Vera said as we started up the stairs. “So, what are you going to name him? Creeper? Freeloader?”

  I laughed as I began to fish out my keys from my purse. “I forgot you’re not an animal lover.”

  “Not in the least,” she said. Her face twisted into one of panic the closer we got to the cat. “Especially when it comes to cats—they’re so quiet and creepy.” She shuddered.

  “Aw, but he’s so cute,” I cooed as I slowly bent down to pet the cat. He brushed his head against my hand and began to purr loudly. “At least I think it’s a he.”

  “Oh, it’s a he,” Vera confirmed, ducking down and taking a glance to be sure. “I’m guessing you’re keeping him, right?”

  “I think he came with the house, really.” I chuckled as he purred even louder. The name Binks suddenly came into my mind. “I’m gonna name him…Binks.”

  “Binks? What kind of a name is that?”

  “A good one,” I cooed as I continued to scratch behind Binks’s ear.

  “Whatever, please just let me into the house so I can change into some flip-flops and we can head to the beach. I’m desperate for some fun. That’s what this trip was supposed to be about.”

  “Chill out, we just got here. We have plenty of time for fun,” I insisted, hoping I didn’t come off as sounding too bitchy.

  I stood and began fumbling with the lock. Binks wove his way between my legs, brushing up against me. I opened the door and he darted inside past me. Vera headed up the stairs, and I followed behind Binks to see where he was going in such a rush. My mom had always said that another reason why we couldn’t get a cat, especially a male one, was because they sprayed all over. I wanted to make sure this was not what Binks was doing.

  He sat in the center of the kitchen, glaring at me with those yellow-green eyes of his, as I rounded the corner. I flicked on the light and he meowed at me twice.

  “Are you hungry or something?” I asked him. I started toward the cabinets to rummage around for a bowl of some sort and possibly something for him to eat. I’d have to go to the store tomorrow and buy him some Meow Mix or something.

  Vera came bounding back down the stairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for something to feed the cat.”

  “I think there was some canned cat food in the pantry.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked.

  Maybe the cat really did come with the house. But how? The place had been sealed off for years; the dust on everything was testament to that. My biological mother hadn’t lived here, and by what I knew from the lawyer, she had inherited the house from her mother when she’d passed away years ago. No one had lived here since my grandmother’s passing.

  Vera walked over to the wooden pantry door. “Yeah.”

  Binks watched her, but didn’t follow.

  “See, here it is. Yummy canned cat food,” she said, holding up a green can with a white cat on it.

  “Awesome, but what’s the date on it?” I asked as I crossed the room to look.

  I grabbed the can from Vera and searched for the expiration date. The date said February 2007. Nope, not feeding him that.

  “It’s expired.” I frowned.

  “Ew, good call. Wouldn’t want to give him something rotten. That’ll make him crap all over for sure.”

  “Wait, didn’t you pack one of those tuna salad kit things?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the pantry. I guess the creeper can have it, but we need to go to the store tomorrow,” Vera said, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter.

  “I know. I’ll buy him some real food then.” There wasn’t much in the pantry besides some Top Ramen noodles, cereal, and Vera’s tuna salad kit. I opened the package, and Binks came over to me and brushed against my legs, weaving between them once more. “I’m hurrying. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

  Pouring the tuna into a plastic bowl I’d found in a cupboard, I set it down on the floor for Binks to eat.

  “Done. Let me change my shoes and then we can go,” I said.

  “You know, if you’re keeping this house, you really should paint the walls or something,” Vera said, glancing around the room. “It could be so cute with some color in here.”

  I looked around. The kitchen was dark. The cabinets were an old knotted wood that matched the wood on the ceiling perfectly. The floor was dark linoleum that seemed fairly new and the countertops were a yellow color that could have easily been yellowed from age, the same color splashed up the walls. The appliances were the only brand new-ish things in the entire kitchen—and that was saying a lot, considering they were an off-white color. A tiny, round, wooden table was nestled in the corner up against the wall. Two windows gave the room some natural light, along with the window in the back door that led to outside.

  “Yeah, some color would be good. There’s just no place to paint really; almost everything is wood.”

  Vera looked at me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Who says you can’t paint wood?”

  “Ugh, that would just look tacky and horrible.” I grimaced, picturing chalky paint covering the cabinets and extending all the way up to the ceiling.

  “You could at least paint the walls. You’re the owner now, who says they have to stay this farm-girl, buttercup yellow?”

  I smiled. “Another day. Right now, let’s head to the beach and see if we can find you a guy so you don’t make me redo my entire house over the next two weeks because you’re bored.”

  The beach was only a few yards away from the back door of my inherited house. Slipping my flip-flops off, I carried them between my fingers as I squished my toes into the cool sand while walking to the water’s edge alongside Vera. I inhaled the salty breeze and enjoyed the dampness of the warm air against my skin as it seeped through my pores and rejuvenated me from the inside out. Stepping farther out, I let the surprisingly warm water slip against my ankles.

  I’d always loved the water. Well, at least looking at it. I wasn’t much of a swimmer. In fact, I didn’t know how. Sure, I could doggy paddle like nobody’s business, but that didn’t really count as swimming in a time of crisis. Nope, swimming wasn’t my thing. I didn’t understand the hype of tiring yourself out to the point of exhaustion like that and calling it fun. I preferred to sit quietly near the water’s edge and read.

  “This is gorgeous,” Vera said. “You are so not selling this house. I know I’ve already said that a few times, but it’s because I mean it! I want to come back here every summer.”

  I laughed. “That could be arranged.”

  I didn’t say what I was thinking, how I was seriously considering moving here for good, even though the people of Fisherman’s Brew didn’t seem to want me here.

  Vera and I continued down the strip of sandy shoreline a little farther. The warm wind blew through my hair, its saltiness clearing my sinuses with every breath I took. Claritin be damned, all anyone needed to set their allergies right was a little ocean air.

  “Well hello,” Vera said, glancing somewhere down the beach. “This town is just hopping with scorching hot fisherman fling material.”

  I glanced to see who she’d spotted this time and couldn’t agree more. The never-ending supply of hot guys here did seem to play in the town’s favor. I watched as the Ken doll look-alike continued jogging down the beach and closer to where we stood, towing his large golden retriever alongside him. He wore baby blue athletic shorts and a crisp white T-shirt.

  “Good God, what is in the water here? These guys are all picture perfect little morsels,” Vera breathed, her eyes still glued to Mr. Hottie as we paused where we stood.

  “Please don’t talk about him like he’s food.” I grinned. Once she got on that kick, I’d hear it about every guy that was decent looking within a five-mile radius for the next two weeks.

  “Oh, he stopped to talk to a couple. Quick, look at him.” She turned her head sharply in his direction to stare openly at him. “Could he be any more
perfect?”

  I rolled my eyes, but turned my head to glance at him anyway. He was more than easy on the eyes—lean, but thickly muscled, with dirty blond hair and sun-kissed skin. He stood talking with a dark-haired guy and a brunette girl who were holding hands and clearly a couple. Suddenly, I felt like a creeper standing there staring at them, ogling the guy’s good looks.

  “Let’s head back to the house. I’m exhausted,” I said, turning around.

  “Yeah, all right. He’s probably got a girlfriend anyway.”

  I’d only taken four steps back toward my house when Ken doll’s dog was at my feet, blocking me from going any farther. He stood in front of me, wagging his tail and panting loudly like he’d raced over to greet me as fast as he could.

  “Dibs! Dibs, get over here!” Ken doll shouted as he jogged in our direction.

  “Thank you, Fate,” Vera whispered under her breath as she tossed her eyes up to the sky.

  Dibs nudged at my hand. I laughed and bent down to pet him like he wanted. “Hey, there.”

  “I’m so sorry. He just got away from me,” Mr. Hottie said as he rushed over to retrieve his dog.

  “No, it’s okay,” Vera said with a wide smile. “My friend here has been like the animal whisperer lately or something.”

  I eyed Vera. The animal whisperer, really?

  “The animal whisperer, huh? Well, he does seem to like you,” Mr. Hottie said, flashing a knee-weakening smile my way.

  “Aw, he’s a cutie. Love his name too,” I said as I stood.

  “Thanks. I called dibs on him first out of my grandfather’s dog’s litter…so, Dibs it was.” He grinned and his eyes locked with mine intently. They were a light, icy blue. It was a color that I was sure could appear cold on some, but on him, with that smile, they didn’t seem cold at all. In fact, they made my knees go weak. “I’m Kace by the way, Kace Sullivan.”

  “Hey, I’m Vera Collins and this is my friend, Addison Harmon,” Vera chimed in before I could introduce myself. Locking eyes with Kace, I’d honestly forgotten she’d been standing there for a moment.

  “Nice to meet you two. Are you guys vacationing here or something?” Kace asked, his blue eyes shifting back to me.

  “Sort of,” I said, tucking a strand of hair that kept blowing across my face from the wind behind my ear.

  “Addison here inherited a house just over there. I’m only here for two weeks, but she’s here for the summer,” Vera informed him. I was learning she’d never fully outgrown the bad habit of giving away too much information to strangers from when we were kids.

  “Awesome. Which place?” Kace asked with interest.

  Dibs nudged my hand again, and I reached down to pet him for a second time. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Umm, it’s that white one over there.”

  Kace glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, that’s old lady Avery’s house.”

  My stomach flipped and I stood up once again, abandoning petting Dibs. “Old lady Avery’s house?” Why was my grandmother’s name my middle name?

  Dibs jumped up on me to gain my attention back and nearly knocked me over. Kace tugged on his leash. “Leave her alone, buddy. She doesn’t want to pet you anymore,” he said, pulling Dibs away. “Yeah, old lady Avery lived there for like forever. She was real sweet. Made the best peanut butter cookies ever. I don’t remember much about her, because I was so little when she passed away, but I do remember those cookies.” A severe gleam entered his eyes, making them appear a bit brighter. “Were you related to her or something?”

  “Yeah, she was my grandmother,” I said, the words feeling odd to my lips, as questions I’d rather not think about entered my mind.

  If she was so nice, then why didn’t she take me when my biological mom didn’t want me?

  “Enough with the depressing talk,” Vera interrupted my thoughts, and honestly I was grateful. “Are there any clubs or cool places to party around here that I missed seeing on the drive in?”

  Kace laughed and it was beautiful sounding. “Clubs? No. Not in this little town.”

  Vera frowned. “So what do you guys do for fun, then?”

  “You’re looking at it, really. We all hang out on the beach, go to the movies, typical small town stuff,” he said.

  “Oh,” Vera muttered, and I knew exactly what she was thinking, how Soul Harbor was just like Linfrank, but with a beach. To me, that was fine, but to her it was disappointing.

  “There is a little get-together going on tomorrow night. A bonfire down there.” Kace pointed to the way he’d come. I shifted to gaze where he was looking, but couldn’t see anything in particular besides a big burn barrel. “You guys should come. We could have a few drinks, and I could introduce you to some people. It’ll be fun.”

  “All right, we’ll be there.” Vera beamed. “What time?”

  “Say…nine-ish?” Kace smiled.

  “Sounds great!” Vera shouted.

  “How about you? You in?” Kace asked me as his warm hand clasped my elbow gently.

  I raised my eyes to meet his, planning on answering with a smile and confirmation that I would come…but something happened upon our skin-to-skin contact.

  From the look in Kace’s eyes, he’d felt it too. Something stirred inside of me…inside of him. A reaction to our touch. Something I couldn’t name, nor could I describe, but it was there. A sigh of something unfurling within us both. My eyes locked on his face, taking in his reaction, because I had no clue what was going on.

  Kace released my elbow. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with the force of it. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand without meeting my stare again. “Yeah, I have to go, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow night, right?”

  I grimaced as the sensation of whatever was unfurling inside of us—inside of me—receded back into nothing.

  “Definitely!” Vera answered with more enthusiasm than necessary, her loudness startling me.

  “Uh, sure,” I said just as Kace started to walk away, leading Dibs alongside of him.

  My throat suddenly became dry, and I rubbed the area where his hand had been. I blinked away the shock from what I’d just felt. The area was warm, incredibly warm.

  “Woohoo, now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. I see you all googly-eyed, staring at that piece of ass. There you go…a hot fisherman fling!” Vera said, pulling my attention back from the strange sensation that had begun to course through me moments before and to the here and now. “Told you I’d find you a rebound guy before I left…and it just looks like I did. He was into you, totally into you. Now I just need to find someone at this party tomorrow night for myself,” she said, pressing a manicured nail to her lips in thought as she started back toward the house.

  I shook my head. This girl was hell-bent on both of us getting some action.

  The next morning was spent making a list of all the cleaning supplies we’d need to seriously clean the house from top to bottom. All I’d found beneath the kitchen sink yesterday had been a couple of trash bags and a nearly empty can of Pledge, which was not even close to being all we would need to get a house that had been sealed off for so long up to par.

  “Well, at least they have an Ingles,” Vera said as we pulled into the grocery store’s parking lot.

  I laughed. “God, you make it sound like we’re in the middle of freaking nowhere or something.”

  “You have to admit…we pretty much are.”

  I pursed my lips together and cocked my head to the side. “This is true.”

  The Ingles was the same as any other grocery store—and by that I meant it held the power to get me lost within it even with the help of clearly labeled aisles. Even so, we still managed to load our cart down with stuff.

  “Oh, here we go…cat food,” I said, finally finding the stuff. “Should I get him the canned kind or some regular dry food?”

  “Which one’s cheaper?” Vera asked. “And which one will last longer?”

  “Good point.” I scrunched up
my nose in concentration. “I guess I’ll just go with the dry stuff.”

  After grabbing a big bag of Meow Mix—like I’d promised Binks I’d get him—we headed to check out. One hundred and sixty dollars later we were loading the groceries into the back of my Jeep, and I realized the savings I’d come with was dwindling fast.

  “I really need to get a summer job if I’m planning on staying here,” I confessed as I backed out of the parking space.

  “Pull up front. There’s a newspaper machine. Grab one,” Vera suggested as she untied her ponytail and began pulling her hair up higher on top of her head. “God, I swear this heat is like inescapable. How are you not roasting? Oh wait, I forgot how you weirdly enjoy the heat and like freaking never sweat.”

  “Newspaper, good idea,” I said, ignoring her last statement and pulling up in front of the store where there was a Soul Harbor Times stand. Seventy-five cents later, I held my hope for a prolonged stay in my hand. There had to be at least someplace hiring.

  I stood in the kitchen, unloading a plastic bag filled with the cleaning supplies we’d just bought and neatly lining them up along the counter. Opening the cabinet, I bent down and grabbed the old can of Pledge and crumpled trash bags. As I cleared everything out, I noticed the bags had been covering a blue ceramic bowl. I reached in and pulled it out, realizing quickly that it was a cat dish. Flipping it on its side in my hands, I examined it—the name Binks was painted on it in large white letters.

  “Binks,” I whispered as my heart began pounding hard in my chest.

  This was too crazy of a coincidence. The tiny hairs at the back of my neck stood on end as I had the eerie sensation of someone watching me crawl across my skin. I glanced over my shoulder, and there sat Binks near the threshold, staring at me fixedly. What the hell? Maybe Vera was right, cats were sort of creepy.

  “Your name was Binks after all, huh?” I asked him. My response was a soft meow just before he lost interest in me and began licking his front paw.