Nickel-Bred by Patricia Gilkerson Read Free Book Online Page A

door with a tiny, fluffy
grey kitten and a little smile on his face.
    “Aww!” I took the kitten from him and cuddled
it. “What happened?”
    “She came in claiming she found a lost kitten
and wanted me to examine it and see if it was healthy. Then she
wanted me to keep it here and give it away. When she realized no
one else was in the building, she also...um, wanted something
else.”
    “What did she want?”
    Dad hesitated. “It’s embarrassing to tell
this to my daughter.” His hand rubbed his face and he rolled his
eyes.
    “Dad! Just tell me! I’m fifteen, I’m not a
child!”
    “Oh, okay, she, ah, wanted her own exam.”
    “You’re kidding, right?” The kitten purred in
my arms.
    “Well, that’s not exactly what she said, but
she made it clear she wanted some...ah, attention from the
doctor.”
    “Jeez, Dad. What did you say?”
    He got the little smile back on his face
then. “I told her I was very flattered, but I was too old for her.
She argued with that, so I told her I wasn’t looking for a
relationship right now. She argued with that, so I said it wouldn’t
be professional to mess around in the clinic. She said I could come
out to the farm tonight because Chickie and his brother would be
gone.”
    “Gone doing what?” I asked.
    “That’s what I said. She got kinda huffy and
said that wasn’t my business and she would see me tonight ...or
else. Then we heard you come in.”
    “Then she left.”
    “Yeah,” said Dad. “I asked ‘Or else what?’
She said ‘You don’t want to know’ and then blew out the door.”
    “Wow! Wow, Dad.”
    “I know. Piper, this has never happened
before. I don’t quite know how to handle it. But I know I do not
want any more dealings with that crazy woman.”
    “So what about the kitten?” I held it in
front of my face and stared into its big green eyes. It was my
favorite- a grey tabby with lots of fluffy fur. And it was making
the best sound in the world, a contented purr. “It needs a home.
Maybe I could take it out to Miss Julie and see if she wants a farm
cat.”
    “Why don’t you do that, Piper? I can drop you
off. As soon as Sue gets back from lunch, I have to go past there
on a call. Be sure and tell Miss Julie that the kitten is a
boy.”
    So that’s what we did. He took me to the farm
and I took the kitty in to Miss Julie. She fell in love right away
and said she missed having a cat. She named it Willie Nelson on the
spot because it had long, grey hair and when I left, Miss Julie and
Willie Nelson were rocking and napping on her front porch.
    I don’t know how I got through dinner that
night with Mom and Sam. They kept telling each other funny little
things and giggling. It was disgusting. As much as I loved my mom,
and as much as I like Sam Applegate, I couldn’t stand to be around
them. I tried to get Sam to talk about Nickel, but he was so
distracted, he couldn’t think about horses. As soon as Mom would
let me, I left the table and hid in my room.
    I called Addie to tell her about my horrible
experience, but she wasn’t sympathetic.
    “Yeah, well at least you can walk,” she said.
“I can hardly hobble. I’m gimping between the TV, the kitchen, and
the bathroom.”
    “At least your mom isn’t making goo-goo eyes
at some man.”
    “At least your mom is at home to make dinner.
What did you have?”
    “We had lasagna. It’s Mom’s best thing she
cooks. She also made a pecan pie, but I couldn’t stay in there long
enough to have any.”
    “Sneak down and get some. And bring me a
piece tomorrow. I love your mom’s pecan pie.”
    “I know, it’s good. Maybe I’ll go down and
get some. Mom doesn’t like me to eat in my room, but she probably
won’t notice. I’ll save you a piece. See you tomorrow.”
    So that’s the reason I happened to be going
tiptoeing past our family room when I heard Sam say in a low voice,
“So when are you going to tell her?”
     

Chapter
Thirteen
    ~ Complications ~
     
    As I stood
there in