Lucky Black Cat

Poppy was missing, but surely just for a short spell…

Coffee Break Tale

Poppy! Here, kitty. Breakfast,” Hannah called, shaking the bowl of kibble. But no cat came running. She opened the door to the yard, called again, shook the bowl. Still no cat.

Hannah was becoming seriously worried. She hadn’t seen Poppy at all the day before. Her food was untouched.

“Just recently,” she said a little later to her neighbour Samantha, “Poppy’s been doing her vanishing act more and more often – but never for more than twenty-four hours at a time.”

Maybe her cat was as unsettled by the divorce and the move to this small town as Hannah herself was.

It was Saturday, her day off, and she guessed most of her neighbours would be home. So she went down the street, knocking at doors bedecked with lanterns ready for Hallowe’en, asking people if they’d seen Poppy.

“Black, with amber eyes,” she said. “Quite shy.”

But no one had seen her. On the plus side, Hannah thought, it was a good way to meet neighbours. Working full-time meant she’d only got to know Samantha, and Jane and Harry on her other side.

Six houses down, she saw a man emerging with a beautiful golden retriever on a leash. Catching sight of Hannah, the dog barked furiously, wagging its tail. Idiotdog, she thought with a smile. “Beau!” The man closed the door behind him and looked a question at Hannah. The dog fell silent.

All at once Hannah felt breathless. The man was tall and very goodlooking. Like her, he had to be in his fifties, she thought.

“I’m looking for my cat, but there’s no point me asking you if you’ve seen her.” “Oh?” “Poppy hates dogs. She won’t go anywhere near them.”

“Beau here, on the other hand, loves cats. He had two for breakfast.”

For the space of a heartbeat, Hannah couldn’t speak. Then laughter bubbled up. “I do hope you don’t mean that!” There was laughter in his voice, too. “I’ve got a cat of my own. She and Beau are as good as gold together. You’re the newbie from up the road, aren’t you?” “Yes. Hannah Dayton.” “Matt Johnson. Nice meeting you.” He came towards her, Beau at his side. “Let me see. You moved up here from London a couple of months ago, you’re a supervisor at the insurance company, you’ve got two daughters, and you’re divorced. How am I doing?”

Hannah laughed. She could listen to his deep voice forever, she thought.

“The gossip mill’s been working overtime, I see. So what about you?”

His eyes were a warm brown, the kind that smiled a lot.

“Well, I’ve lived here most of my life. I run the garage down by the bridge. I’ve got three very talented children, all grown up. And like you, I’m divorced.”

“Oh.” For a reason she couldn’t explain those last words set her pulses racing. “I must be getting back,” she said, turning. “Poppy might have come home by now.”

But she hadn’t. As she caught up on chores, Hannah fretted about her cat, aware that thoughts of the man she’d met that morning kept intruding.

Late afternoon, and she sat down with a sigh – just as Poppy calmly walked in.

“Poppy!” Hannah picked the cat up, burying her face in her fur. “You’ve got a collar – where’d that come from?”

She frowned. The collar was orange – a perfect complement for Poppy’s eyes – and had a name-tag on it: Bella, plus a phone number. Poppy had clearly found herself a second owner. Well, she’d have to tell that owner the bad news. Picking up her phone, she tapped out the number. “Hi, you don’t know me, but –” “Yes, I do.” A voice she recognised. “We were talking just this morning.” “Matt!” She stopped, confused. “But –” “How’d you get my number?” “It was on the name-tag –” “You’ve found Bella.” “No. She’s Poppy. My cat.” “Uh-uh. She’s a stray. I took her in, four or five weeks ago. She’s always wandering off…” “To my house.” “…that’s why I bought the collar.” “But she’s petrified of dogs.” “Her favourite spot is curled up on Beau’s stomach.”

“Oh.” Hannah shook her head. Tears of laughter misted her eyes. The whole thing was just so absurd. “Look, how about we share Poppy?”

A pause, then, “I’d like that,” he said in that voice that sent a Hallowe’en shiver down her spine. She sensed she and Matt would be sharing more than just a cat.

“Perfect,” she said.