Trouble Comes in Threes Read Online Free PDF Page A

house, box clutched in my frozen hands. I paused on the landing to stomp the snow off my shoes and yanked open the door. The sooner I got my ass back where the heat was, the better. I was in such a rush, I nearly tripped over the white streak that flew pass me.
    “What the…?”
    There, next to the black cat, sat a completely white one. The color was probably why I didn’t see it in the first place.
    “Mrrrw!”
    I threw the box on the table. “Oh no. No, no, no.” What was this? A cat invasion? “No way! I’m not putting up two of you. No, dammit! One was bad enough, but two?” I crossed my arms over my chest, determined to stand my ground. “No.”
    Snow drifted in from the open door as the stare-off continued.
    The newcomer was slightly smaller than the black cat. They sat there, side by side. The black one stared at me as if I were nuts for standing there with the door wide open. Then the white cat turned sad, weird blue eyes looking up at me, and made the most pitiful, heartbreaking meow I’ve ever heard from any creature.
    “Shit.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Scrubbed my hands over my face. Huffed out a breath. Leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. Counted to twenty, then counted to twenty again…. None of it helped. That piteous sound had ripped me in two.
    I looked back at the two cats sitting there. It was awfully cold outside. “I’m the biggest wuss walking. Fine! You can stay too. God.” I stopped beating around the bush and shut the door.
    It appeared that that old saying about “trouble came in threes” had just come true. First my partner dumped me, next everything in the house broke, and now…. Number three had showed up in the form of not one, but two cats—a double whammy.
    Shit.
    Talk about a cat-tastrophe. Oh, I was cracking myself up. Not.
    The black cat strolled over to my pantry and jumped up to the middle shelf. After he investigated the lean contents, a can of tuna fell on the floor. The black cat jumped down, looked at the white cat, then nosed the food toward me.
    “Seriously?” I shook my head. Well hell, it appeared the white cat was hungry… and I had two cats now.

Chapter 4

    Kirk
     
    G IVING UP , I fixed the new—newer—cat tuna. I received a quick ankle rub, and then it deserted me, tail held high. Well, look at that. White kitty was another male. He pounced on the food, licking up every morsel. The black sat back and let the white one have the entire dish. Huh. Maybe they were littermates. They seemed to know each other. Maybe they’d escaped from the same home. It was strange that one was completely black and one was completely white. I guess that was odd, though, honestly, I didn’t know. I watched the plate scooting across the kitchen floor. The cat had practically spit cleaned the thing.
    “When was that last time you ate? Look, you get sick, I’m not going to be happy. Cleaning up cat puke isn’t my idea of a good time, Snowball.”
    Tiger sat on the floor, staring at the white one. “Mmmmrrrh.”
    The white cat looked up, whiskers twitching. “Meerow.” It stared at the black one, then returned to eating, but a bit more slowly.
    I, on the other hand, stood frozen. “Fuck a duck, I just named you too.”
    I seriously considered slamming my head on my not-so-lovely linoleum countertops. Wasn’t there some old saying about if you named something, it belonged to you? I hoped not, because now I’d gone and named both of them. Tiger and Snowball. It wasn’t the most creative use of names.
    “Well, this is just fucking unbelievable. Like I don’t have enough problems, I just took on two more. I didn’t think I was a masochist, but I’m beginning to wonder.”
    Both cats abruptly looked at me.
    Well, that certainly got their attention. Must’ve been my tone or something. They continued to stare at me, and that funny, neck-prickling sensation raced across my body. I wished they’d stop eyeing me like that. I shifted from foot to foot,