Free Exclusive Short Story

Animal Attraction: Purr-fect Valentine by Jenna Kernan

February 11, 2023

“There’s my sweetie. Did you miss me?”
Rebecca dropped to her knee and used both hands to scratch the brown dog behind both his silky ears.
“No offense, but when I asked the universe to introduce me to the perfect guy, I was picturing one who walks upright.”
The stray licked her face and wiggled in ecstasy.
“Still, it’s so nice to come home to such an enthusiastic welcome.” Rebecca stripped out of her winter coat and hat and headed for the kitchen. There she found Snickers, her black and white cat standing on the answering machine, which flashed a message.
“Hello, Sweetheart.” Rebecca stroked the cat’s back, which rose to meet her. “Did you have a busy day?”
Snickers purred. It was hard to believe the changes in the cat since she found it in early December in a snowy alley eating French fries behind a fast-food place in the city. He had been skinny, scabby, and matted with dirt. But she scooped him into her car and took him to the vets. Now he looked ready to pose for a kitty litter commercial.
Amazing what a little love could do.
She sighed. Too bad Kevin was allergic to cats. She discovered this when he’d come over for dinner. It was obvious that he and her pets were incompatible. He said it was the cat or him. She still missed him sometimes.
Before that she’d dated Greg who liked to travel. When he sprang a surprise get-away on her, she had scrambled to find a pet sitter but came up empty and had to take the animals to the kennel. They were always so miserable there and she felt guilty the entire weekend. Greg noticed her moping on the trip and was furious that she cared more about her “stupid pets” than she did about him.
Well, he was right. But that was because her pets treated her better than he did, so she sent him packing.

She ignored the unpacked moving boxes stacked beside the kitchen table and instead refilled the dog’s water dish. She laid it down before the brown dog and he took a little drink to please her.
After three weeks, the new house was feeling like home. There was a big backyard, and the owner allowed pets. Cupid loved the yard. There was even a doghouse out there. Rebecca thought the house needed a dog, and she wished it could be Cupid.
He sat at her feet, gazing at her with those beautiful golden eyes.
“It’s been a week. The paper ran my ad today, and no one has called about you. I think you need a name.”
She stroked his velvety head. He licked her hand.
“It’s almost Valentine’s Day and you’re such a lover. How about Cupid?”
The dog’s furry tail swept back and forth across the linoleum floor.
“Okay, Cupid it is. Now let me get changed and we’ll go for a walk.”
Cupid had appeared at her door one early morning. His barking woke her up. She’d opened the door and he walked right into her new place as if he lived there. He seemed to be looking for someone, because he made straight for her bedroom before checking every other room in her house. The dog wore no collar but looked healthy. She thought he might be a neighbor’s dog. But when she asked around, she found no one who had lost one. She’d posted a photo on a neighborhood social media platform and tacked up signs on telephone poles. But she failed to find his owner. As the days past, her cat warmed up to her canine roommate and Rebecca fell in love with the dog. She hoped Cupid had a family to return to, but if he didn’t, she’d be glad to keep him.
From the living room came a pure whistling version of a My Funny Valentine. She headed in to greet her African Gray parrot, Tomas. He was a rescued bird she had agreed to foster him two years ago when his elderly owner had passed away. Tomas spoke Italian, whistled like a mockingbird, and perfectly imitated the doorbell, which always send Cupid barking at no one. She opened the cage and Tomas climbed to her shoulder.
Rebecca returned Tomas to the top of his cage before going upstairs to slip off her shoes and rub the aching ball of her feet. A few more weeks working at the bank, and she’d have saved enough money to enroll in pet grooming school. Then she could work with animals full-time.
Rebecca changed into jeans and a loose cotton shirt. She washed off her make-up and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
On her way back through the kitchen, she could no longer ignore the red flash from her answering machine and hit the button.
The male voice was deep and pleasant. “Hello, this is Jeremy Burkins. I saw your ad in the paper this morning and I hope you have my dog, Ripley. Please call me.” He left his cell phone and office phone numbers.
Rebecca squatted before Cupid, who lifted a paw to her knee. She should be happy, but there was a heaviness in her chest.
His pink tongue lolled from his mouth.
“Is your name Ripley?” she asked.
He cocked his head.
Her cellphone rang, and she jumped. A sense of foreboding preceded accepting the unknown number, certain who it would be.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Jeremy Burkins. I called earlier. I think you may have my dog.”
He sounded young and had a rich melodic voice.
Rebecca stared down at Cupid sitting at her feet and bit her lip.
“Can you describe him?”
“Yes. He’s brown with a white stripe down his chest. He’s got one white sock, right front, and his eyes are golden.”
Heart sank as she frowned at the dog’s markings.
“What kind of a collar?”
There was silence.
“Collar? He doesn’t wear one in the house. We just moved here, and he broke out of the house our first night.”
Rebecca’s stomach twisted. He’d said, we moved. He was attached to more than Ripley. She let go of the small tug of disappointment. For goodness’ sakes, she didn't even know him. But she knew his dog. And she admitted being disappointed at both losing a great dog and the chance to meet a single man who loved animals.
“Are you still there?” he asked.
“Yes, I think I have your dog.”
“Oh, great! I’m so relieved. We’ve been so worried. Can I come pick him up? What’s your address?”
His exuberance came through loud and clear. Her adopted dog had an owner who loved him. She told him her address. He made her repeat it, sounding confused. He laughed.
“I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
“Do you need directions?”
He chuckled. “No, I can find it.”
She called her brother, Doug, who lived close by, not wanting to be alone to meet this stranger, no matter how appealing he sounded on the phone. Doug showed up about five minutes later carrying a cold, half-eaten pizza.
"Thanks for coming," she said.
"No problem. Molly's got a meeting, so it's just me and my large cheese pie. Want a slice?" He set the box on her dining room table.
"Sure." She shared her slice with Cupid, or rather, Ripley. Then she waited in the living room, watching the street.
A van pulled up and a tall man emerged. He had dark hair that needed a trim and stuck out from under his ski cap. His clean-shaven square jaw showed a slight cleft and his mouth curved upwards in a winning smile as he trotted up the steps. He seemed about six feet tall with an athletic build. She clutched the curtain at the unwelcome flutter of attraction stirring in her belly at the sight of him. But could not keep herself from running a hand over her hair and taking a quick peek at her refection in the mirror over the hearth. “He’s here,” she called to her brother. He appeared in the kitchen door.

She reached for the latch as the bell sounded.
When she opened the door, Cupid darted out. He went wild with joy, jumping and yipping like a puppy, removing any doubt as to ownership.
Jeremy Burkins laughed and dropped to a knee to hug his wiggling, ecstatic dog. His laugh was infectious, and he lifted sparkling blue eyes to meet hers. He looked about her age. She returned his grin as the tingling wave of awareness swept over her.
“Ripley, you old devil. You came home,” said Mr. Burkin.
He stood, his rugged grin showing straight white teeth.
“Thank you for looking after him,” he said.
“He’s no trouble. Cu-Ripley is a wonderful dog.”
He cocked his head. “Easy to fall in love with?”
That’s why she had named him Cupid. She lowered her gaze. “Yes.”
“You’re new here?” he asked.
“How did you know?”
“This used to be my house.”
She laughed. “What? You’re kidding!”
It all now made perfect sense—the confident way the dog had entered her new home and how disappointed he’d been after searching for and not finding this man.
“Ripley lived here since he was a puppy. I thought he might come back here, so I canvassed the neighborhood searching him, but no luck.”
"I put up posters," she said.
"Did you? I didn't see them, but I only swung by after dark. I don’t have an assistant yet, so I’ve had to put in extra hours after closing. Paperwork.” He cast her that winning grin again.
Her smile wavered. "Yes, I see."
Her insides gave a twist. Here was a man who loved animals and made her heart dance the cha-cha, but there was a We in his life.
"We moved across town to be closer to my business," said Jeremy.
“We?”
“Yeah, my two other dogs and Whamo, my ferret. He’s blind, but it hasn’t stopped him getting into mischief.”
She smiled at the realization that his companions all had four legs.
Ripley left his master to sit beside Rebecca and pressed his head against her leg. He stared in astonishment.
“Seems you have a boyfriend.”
She chuckled. “Just my luck. I finally had a date for Valentine’s day and he’s dumping me for you.”
He held his smile but his expression turned speculative. “No date?”
“Just Tomas?”
Now he looked disappointed. Her breathing caught as possibilities danced in her mind.
“Tomas?”
“My African Grey.”
His brow wrinkled. “A parrot?”
“Yes!” Her voice held surprise that he knew that an African Gray was a parrot.
“I’d love to meet him.”
“I can arrange that.”
She invited Jeremy inside and introduced him to her brother, who stepped forward to shake the man’s hand and then hung back as she lead Mr. Burkin into the living room.
Tomas turned his gray eyes on the newcomer, his pupils expanding.
“He’s shy,” she said.
He approached the cage upon which Tomas sat and spoke in a soft whisper that made Rebecca’s neck tingle. Tomas walked to the edge of his cage and leaned. Jeremy offered his shoulder, and Tomas stepped up.
“Mio bambino,” said Tomas.
They both laughed.
“He speaks Italian,” she said.
“Do you?” asked Jeremy.
“No. He moved in after his owner passed.”
Snickers sauntered in, winding around Rebecca’s legs. She scooped up the feline.
“Are you allergic to cats?” she asked.
“I hope not.” He laid a hand on Snickers, who purred. "I’m a veterinarian.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “You’re not!"
He nodded. "I am. Just opening my practice. Looking for someone who is good with animals.”
"For your assistant?" she asked, remembering what he'd said.
"That's right."
She stared at this grinning handsome man and his dog and his question. Rebecca set great stores in the opinions of animals. And Jeremy Burkin had already won over her parrot and her cat.
Jeremy considered her for a moment. “This may be too forward of me. But I’d really like to take you out to dinner sometime.” He glanced at her brother. “With Doug's permission and as a way of saying thank you.”
She flicked her attention to Doug who nodded his approval, then stepped out of the room.
“I’d like that,” said Rebecca.
“Great.”