“No, you don’t.”
My voice came out sharper than I meant it to.
Marcus nodded once.
“You’re right. I probably don’t.”
I looked down at the picture again.
Nacho’s left ear was clearly visible.
So was the tiny crescent-shaped scar.
My scar.
My proof.
Except now it was their proof too.
Lily stepped forward.
“Can I just touch him?” she asked.
I almost said no.
The word rose into my throat before I could stop it.
Then Nacho pushed his head against my leg and stared at the girl.
His tail moved once.
Lily sat down on the porch.
She did not reach for him.
She only held out two fingers and rubbed them together.
Nacho pulled away from me so quickly that I nearly dropped him.
He slipped through the opening.
“Nacho!”
He crossed the porch.
Lily began to sob.
Nacho pressed his forehead into her hand.
Then he stood on his back legs and placed both front paws against her chest.
She wrapped her arms around him.
The sound that came out of her was not just crying.
It was relief.
It was the same sound I had made in the parking lot.
I stood in my doorway and watched my lost cat come home to someone else.
Marcus knelt beside his daughter.
He did not touch Nacho at first.
He looked at me.
“I swear we didn’t steal him,” he said.
I believed him.
That was the worst part.
If he had looked dishonest, I could have slammed the door.
If Lily had seemed careless, I could have told myself Nacho was safer with me.
If they had been cruel, angry or demanding, I could have hated them.
But there was nothing easy to hate.
There was only a child holding a cat she loved.
And a man who looked as frightened of losing him as I was.
I stepped onto the porch.
“How long?” I asked.
Marcus looked down at Nacho.
“Three years and seven months.”
I felt the number like a physical blow.
“That’s impossible.”
“He showed up behind the building where I used to work,” Marcus said. “It was about twenty-five miles east of here. He was dirty and hungry, but he wasn’t wild. He walked right up to Lily.”
Lily wiped her face with one sleeve.
“He slept in my coat in the car,” she said.
Marcus continued carefully.
“We took him to a small animal clinic. They scanned him, but they didn’t find a chip. We posted pictures. We called shelters. Nobody answered.”
“I posted everywhere.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“I drove through towns for months.”
“I believe you.”
“Then how did nobody call me?”
