My new love.

 About 2 years ago I lost part of my heart when my cat Patches died. I could never bring myself to get another cat for two reasons. First I never wanted to get that close to a animal again. I still miss her so much. Second I felt it would be disloyal to her, to try to replace her.
That all changed when we walked into my favorite book store. They are also  animal lovers. So They have animals for adoption in one corner of the store. I have volunteered several times to come and play with the cats. But I never felt the need to take one home. This time we were there just to buy a book.
I made the mistake of going to look at the animals. As soon as I saw her my heart jumped out of my chest. She was wearing that same expression Patches wore all the time. She also has that little white  widow's peek that patches had.
 My second mistake was holding her. I  couldn't, nor  did I want to put her down. When others came to look at her  I wanted them to go a way and leave us a lone.( Yes I know that was awful of me.) I just wanted her all to myself. My husband went up to the counter and adopted her right then. He said my smile ran for miles. I left the store with tears in my eyes and one very BIG smile.  I named her Cleopatches in memory of my cat Patches.