Cat's Cradle

“I’m going.” Adora’s chin was set in that way it used to get when she was little and their mother told her she couldn’t do something she wanted to do.

Cat reminded herself that Adora was a grown woman. If she wanted to go and pay a visit to an old boyfriend, that was Adora’s business and nobody else’s.

Cat forced a smile. “Suit yourself.”

“I will. I most definitely will.” Adora scooped up her coat from the back of the chair and shoved her arms into it. Cheeks flushed and eyes aglow, she headed for the door.

* * *

The next day was Saturday. Cat’s phone rang at nine. Positive it would be Adora with all the details of her re- union with Dillon, Cat let it ring three times before giving in and picking it up.

“Hello, Cat.” The deep, warm voice didn’t belong to her sister.

An exasperating shiver traveled up the backs of Cat’s legs, and then spread out to take over her whole body. She waited for it to fade a little before she spoke.

“Hello, Dillon.”

“Listen.” He sounded very offhand. “Since yesterday, I’ve had a little time to go over my situation here.”

His situation? What did that mean?

“And it looks as if I’m going to need someone to take care of a few things for me.”

“What things?” The two words were suspicion personified.

Cat thought she heard a chuckle, but perhaps it was only static on the line. “I need more firewood split, for starters. And I’ve bought a decent sound system, VCR and big-screen television. I understand you’re good with electronic equipment, so I was hoping you would set them up for me. I also ordered a satellite dish that will need to be hooked up. And there’s the exercise equipment for the gym downstairs. I was told the delivery crew would assemble it, but you never know. And I have a lot of books—I’d like some bookcases made. I’ve heard you do carpentry work.”

Cat didn’t answer. She was thinking that he’d certainly learned a lot about her abilities in the past twenty-four hours.

She was also thinking that he was offering her paying work. And Cat always needed paying work, especially in the winter months, when all the construction jobs were shut down. She was buying her small house and the five acres it sat on. It was a big investment for someone of her limited means.

But Dillon McKenna represented danger—to her peace of mind, if nothing else. Yesterday, he’d grabbed her arm for no reason and not let go until she’d ordered him to. She wanted to believe that was all that had happened.

But somehow, she didn’t believe it.

And then there was Adora, floating out the door yesterday with stars in her eyes....

“Cat?” Dillon prompted, cutting through her thoughts.

“Yes, yes, I’m thinking.” Cat cast about for some way to put him off. “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid you’ll have to speak with the real estate agency. I can’t just—”

“I’ve already taken care of that.”

“Excuse me?”

“I called the agency. They said it was fine with them if you and I wanted to work out our own personal relationship, now that I’ll be living here full-time.”

Our own personal relationship. Cat didn’t think she liked the sound of that at all.

“I’ll pay well.” He named an hourly figure. It was twice what she would have asked for most of the work he’d described.

Cat thought of her mortgage. She thought of the improvements she wanted to make to her house next summer: new insulation and double-paned windows that would significantly reduce her firewood consumption. Cat’s house wasn’t like Dillon’s. For her, there was no central propane heat to keep the place toasty. She counted on firewood to provide basic heating.

“Do you want to think about it for a day or two, and give me a call back?” He sounded completely relaxed about the whole thing.

And Cat decided she was being ridiculous. Nothing had happened between herself and Dillon McKenna. And nothing would happen. He was still recovering from major injuries and needed someone to help him get settled in. And she needed the money.

“No, there’s no need for me to think about it,” she said. “It sounds fine to me. When do I start?”

There was a millisecond of a pause. She was absolutely positive he was going to say, Right now.

But he didn’t. “A lot of the equipment is coming in Monday morning. Could you be here by ten or so?”

She agreed that she could.

An hour later Adora called. Her soft voice vibrated with excitement. “I saw him. He seemed really glad I dropped in. And guess what else?”

“What?”

“He needs help with some projects around the house. And I know how much you need any work you can get. So I told him about all the things you can do. He said he was going to call you this morning. Has he?”

“Yes.”

“I knew it. Aren’t you going to thank me?”

“Thanks,” Cat muttered with heavy irony.

As usual, the irony was wasted on Adora. “Anything for my big sis.”

Cat hung up the phone knowing exactly what Adora was up to: creating connections. If Cat worked for Dillon, then Adora had another reason to drop in at his house now and then.

It would never have occurred to Adora that throwing Dillon and Cat together could create any problems at all. Adora was ten times prettier than Cat. And besides, Adora knew very well that her big sister simply wasn’t interested in men.

* * *

The delivery van with the television, VCR and stereo arrived at Dillon’s at nine-fifteen Monday morning. Dillon had them bring it all into the house. He showed them where he wanted the huge TV, and then had them leave the rest of the equipment in the middle of the room. When they were gone, he set about ripping into the boxes, strewing packing material all over the place. He wanted it to look as if he’d really tried to make some progress at getting it all set up on his own, but he just didn’t know what he was doing.

He hoped Cat wouldn’t think too deeply about this. Because if she did, she just might begin to wonder why a man who could redesign a motorcycle couldn’t figure out how to hook up his VCR to his big-screen TV.

* * *

When Cat arrived, she found Dillon sitting on the floor in the huge main room. He was surrounded by torn-open boxes and slabs of polystyrene and packing plastic and he was reading what looked like some sort of instruction booklet. Behind him loomed a brand-new television with a gigantic screen.

Dillon looked up. “Thank God you’re here.”

Cat’s stomach felt agitated. Fluttery and strange. She silently ordered the bizarre sensation to go away as she slipped out of her jacket and hung it by the front door.

“What’s up?” She schooled her voice to be calm and professional.