“They’re involved in this, too, now. And you know how Keane is. He’s a vengeful motherfucker. We’re better off watching what he does than finding out after the damage is done. I know this from personal experience of being Max’s sister.” She chuckled and continued creating her order.
“You sure you’ll have enough food? They are big cats. They eat a lot.”
Charlie glanced off and Tock thought she was out of the woods. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t want to see Shay at this moment. Maybe it was because she kind of did want to see Shay, which was weird, and a feeling she was not enjoying. Maybe she just needed a break from the cat. She was sure she’d be back to normal in a couple of days.
Until then, if she could just focus on anything but Shay, that would be—
“We’ll need more garlic bread if we invite the Malones.” Charlie went back to her phone. “Lots of garlic bread. Ooooh. Here we go. Garlic bread already made. Just need to bake for ten minutes in an oven. Perfect.”
Tock could just never get a break, could she?
*
They stopped at White Castle on their way home, ordering forty burgers each. Much to the annoyance of the staff. Not that anyone was about to say anything as long as they paid, but you could see the annoyance in their eyes. But was there anything about the Malones that said, “We’ll only need ten burgers each, please”？ As it was, this was just a treat to tide them over until they figured out what they’d do for a real meal. They sat at an outside table and ate in silence as the Malone brothers tended to do. They weren’t big on conversation when food was involved. They could talk before or after, but during was not okay. Past girlfriends had learned that the hard way and never appreciated it much.
Driving down their street in their rental SUV, though, Shay realized he was already hungry again. And that meant his brothers were, too. Maybe before they had to return the vehicle, they could order something—
“Is that Dani?” Finn asked from the front seat.
Shay immediately leaned forward to look through the windshield. And sure enough, his baby girl was sitting on the front stoop with her panda backpack and a tiara on her head. Like most cats, his baby liked things that sparkled.
“What the hell?” He could tell she hadn’t been inside the house. His mother was still away with her sisters, and his youngest brother was spending a few days with a few of his full-human buddies, one of whom had a pool in their backyard. So who knew how long the poor kid had been sitting outside waiting for someone to let her in?
“Why is my niece sitting outside the house?” Keane demanded, slowly turning into the driveway. “Did her mother just drop her off again? Without warning?”
“Let it go,” Shay told Keane.
“But—”
“I mean it. Shut it in front of the kid!”
“All I’m saying is—”
With the car stopped in front of the garage and the brake on, Shay felt comfortable grabbing his brother by the hair and yanking his head back. “Say one bad word about my kid’s mother and I’ll shave your balls again. Understand?”
“Fine,” Keane spat out between clenched teeth.
“Good. Now let’s go.”
Shay got out of the SUV, and before he could walk three feet, his daughter was leaping into his outstretched arms.
“Baby! What’s wrong?”
Burying her head in his neck, he heard her say, “Your neighbor said I was abandoned and he was calling Child Services!”
“Finn!” Shay barked.
“I’m on it.”
Finn headed off to deal with their next-door neighbor, who had been an ass since the day the Malones had moved into the house. He didn’t like the big dogs Shay had, he didn’t like Keane’s glares, and he especially didn’t like that their mother took no shit from the man. He was always trying to tell them how to cut their lawn or how to put out their trashcans or when they should prune their trees. He had lived in the neighborhood for decades and thought he ran it, which he sort of did . . . until the Malones moved in. Ever since, he’d been trying to bend Shay’s family to his will, but they were big cats. They didn’t bend for anyone.
“He said I was going into a home!”
Shay kissed his daughter’s forehead and told her, “Worry lines. Worry lines. Your forehead is going to look like your Uncle Keane’s if you keep it up. Is that what you want? To look like a worried kitty?”
“Yes,” she defiantly replied while trying not to laugh.
“No one is taking you away from me or your mother. Now, where is your mother—”
“Did she leave you again?”
“Keane!”
Giving a short roar, Keane stomped off. But not before briefly stopping and kissing his niece on the top of her head.
“Uncle Keane is mad,” she whispered when he had gone inside the house.
“Uncle Keane is always mad. Don’t worry about it. Where’s your mom?”
She leaned back a bit in his arms but didn’t look him in the eyes. “She had to do something with the boys. Something with football, of course. She texted you yesterday and I asked her if she heard back, but—”
“Don’t worry about it. I, uh, lost my phone last night somewhere and I just didn’t get her message. It’s okay.”
Small fingers brushed his neck. “What happened, Daddy? Were you hurt?”
“Just a little. But I’m okay now. And I see worry lines again.”
“Sorry. Sorry.”
“Keep it up, you’re going to become a growling, snarling, man-beast!”
And to show their niece what that would like, Finn walked up to them and yelled toward the house, “The neighbor is not being reasonable!”
Keane was out the front door like a shot, heading over to the next house. Snarling and growling the whole way.
“No one messes with his niece,” Finn said, taking Dani from Shay’s arms and lifting her up so she could sit on his neck.
“Is he going to hurt the man?”
“Of course not, baby. Because your uncle fears prison. The idea of being locked up behind bars terrifies him.”
“It terrifies me, too!”
Shay stared at his daughter. “Why are you worrying about going to prison?”
“Or being put in a zoo. That’s like prison, right? Our class went to the zoo last year and I was thinking, ‘What if I get put in here?’”
“You’re not going to be put in a zoo, Dani.”
“I could be put in a zoo. If full-humans find out what we are, they could put us all in zoos.”
“Do you think about that a lot, baby?”
“Don’t you?”
“No,” Shay and Finn said together.
“Must be nice. Flittin’ through life without any worries.”
Shay crossed his eyes but didn’t bother arguing with his child. She could be as stubborn as her mother on good days. And today probably hadn’t been a good day.
Once they were inside the house, Finn’s phone rang. He handed Dani off to Shay, who held her in his arms until she pointed out, “I haven’t touched the ground in about ten minutes. I can walk, Daddy.”