Page 5 of Dad Next Door

“Jinxy, come here,” Leo cooed. “Come here. It’s okay.”

“Maybe we can bribe him out?”

I wasn’t a cat expert, but from what I knew of them, food was probably a better motivator than trying to coax him out by calling to him.

“Yes!” Lydia took off toward the stairs. “I’ll get some squishies.”

“Squishies?” I asked Leo.

“His favorite treat.” Leo started to crawl forward.

“Whoa, there.” I put my hand in front of him to stop him. “It’s too dangerous for you to go under there.”

“We can’t just leave him.” Leo’s lip trembled again.

“We won’t.” I handed him my phone. “Can you shine that on him for me? I’ll see if I can get to him. Do you think he’ll run if I get too close?”

“No. He’s super friendly. Just don’t move too fast when you first get to him. He needs a second to sniff you before he’ll let you touch him.”

“Can you tell your mom to watch for him when she gets back, just in case he runs away from me?”

“Aunt Lydia is my aunt, not my mom.” Leo turned his attention back to Jinx, who was still huddled under the vent, his ears hidden again.

“My mistake. Can you ask your aunt to keep an eye out when she gets back out?”

“Yeah. Be careful. Don’t get stuck.”

“I’ll try not to.” I army-crawled to the gap and ducked my head.

The gap to get under the deck was just big enough for me to shimmy under. Thankfully there was enough clearance under the deck I could get up on my knees once my feet cleared the gap.

“Hey, Jinx,” I said softly, my eyes on the cat.

The light Leo was holding shook and danced over the foundation of the house, but I was able to keep Jinx in my sights.

“Hey, sweetheart.” I crawled over to him. “Did you get scared?”

Two ears popped up again.

“My name is Quinn,” I said, just to keep talking. “I live next door.”

A wrinkly pink and gray head lifted enough I could see a pair of big blue eyes.

“Aren’t you a good boy?” Slowly, I extended my hand.

Jinx’s head lifted, and I was able to see the rest of his face.

He was the most unusual thing I’d ever seen, with wrinkly skin and patches of dark gray under his big eyes. His entire nose was black, and his giant ears seemed out of proportion with his head.

He was so weird he was cute, like a goblin.

“What do you think? Do you want to be friends?”

Jinx leaned forward and sniffed my hand, his soft nose brushing my skin.

After a few sniffs, Jinx peered at me like he wasn’t sure what to think.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a bit weird to be meeting under here. What do you say we go back to Leo?”