Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat Takes The Cake

Good luck, she thought, changing your nickname to Rich.

Monique had seen her draw back to read the large print. “Isn’t it lovely?” she said, showing all of her huge, white teeth. With those and her perfectly coifed helmet, her stylish belted suit and high-heeled mid-length boots, she was ready to step into the role of mayor’s wife and pose for photographs. Maybe even for a portrait above the mantel.

“Did you do it?” She remembered that Monique ran Dickie’s campaign for class president, which had been much more successful than his first run for mayor. Chase thought he was still on the young side to be a mayor—most of the members of their class were about thirty-two years old—but some towns had young mayors.

“I did.” Monique beamed even brighter. “Here, it’s yours.”

Chase tried to hand it to her. “That’s okay. I don’t need one.” Monique stepped back and kept her hands at her side.

“Charity,” Dickie said, moving in close. “We’d love your support. If you could just put this in the corner of your window, we’d appreciate it so much.”

Chase thought as quickly as she could. She couldn’t endorse this guy. “I’ll have to ask my business partner.”

“We’ll wait. We can shop for some desserts, can’t we, Mona?”

No way was she going to put up his poster. “She isn’t here right now.” She threw a stern frown at Mallory, who was nearby, eavesdropping, so she wouldn’t give Chase away. “I’ll consult her later.”

Chase took the poster and retreated to the kitchen.

THREE

At the end of the day, Chase flipped the sign and everyone trooped into the kitchen to help clean up.

Chase loved this time of day. Everyone could relax and she could revel in the fact that this cute, sweet-smelling place was part hers. She never got tired of doing that. She opened the office door and let Quincy out to prowl.

Anna answered a knock on the back door and let in Dr. Michael Ramos. He was Quincy’s veterinarian and Chase had begun dating him a short time ago. At least she thought they were dating. The actual dates were few and far between since they were both so busy. They talked on the phone a lot more often than they saw each other.

Quincy ran over to rub some orange hair onto Dr. Ramos’s slacks.

“You quit that,” Chase mock scolded. “Look what you’ve done.”

Mike chuckled, a deep, rumbly sound that thrilled Chase’s insides. He picked Quincy up and rubbed the stripes between his ears. After he set Quincy down, Mike settled on a stool.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Anna asked.

“No, you’re all busy. I only wanted to touch base.” He looked directly at Chase with those liquid brown eyes. “I haven’t seen you for over a week.”

It had been longer than that, she thought. “How would you like to go with me to my high school reunion?” she asked.

“What year is it?”

“Fourteen.”

He shook his head, puzzled.

“It’s not a reunion year. Our class president is running for mayor and I think it’s more of a campaign rally. But he’s calling it a reunion and using the high school gym for it.” She sat down next to him to convince him to accompany her.

Mike didn’t reply.

“You’d get to meet all my classmates.”

“Like who?”

“Julie graduated with me.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“I don’t keep in touch with many of them, but it’ll be fun to catch up with them again.” Except for Eddie Heath. But if Mike were there, Eddie’s presence wouldn’t bother her so much.

“Here you go, little fella,” Mallory said, sprinkling the remains of a Peanut Butter Fudge bar she had been nibbling in front of Quincy.

Chase jumped off her stool. “No!” she shouted, ran to the counter, and swept up the dessert bar bits.

Mallory took a step back, amazement and a bit of fear on her face.

“Sorry to startle you,” Chase said. “But cats can’t have chocolate. It’s very bad for them.”

“Really? My dad used to give our cat, Mittens, the last bite of his chocolate bar all the time.”

“A little won’t hurt them,” Mike said. “But it’s a good policy not to give it to cats. Besides, Quincy doesn’t need anything extra.”

Chase finally managed to extract a promise from Mike that he would accompany her to the reunion on Saturday. It might be a fun night, she thought.

After Mike kissed her good-bye and Inger left, Anna said, “It’s time. I have to turn in my recipe Saturday for the Batter Battle.”

Mallory had stayed to finish putting away the baking utensils. “Already?” she said.

“What do you have?” Chase asked.

“The basic muffin dough part is good, I think. But it feels like I need something else. I’ve tried putting a cinnamon-sugar crumb topping on them, but didn’t like the way that turned out. It’s so messy.”

“What else have you tried?” Mallory asked, closing the drawer on the last of the whisks.

“I tried to do a thick vanilla frosting. That made them too sticky-sweet.”

“What about adding blueberries? That’s my favorite muffin.”

“Blueberries. Yes, that’s what’s missing. And what goes on top?”

“How about a vanilla drizzle?”

Anna considered for a moment. “We don’t have any with drizzled icing. Mostly powdered-sugar toppings. That might work. It would be different.”

“And you could put some sherry flavoring in them,” Mallory said with excitement. “I saw a bottle of that in the grocery store last week and I’ve been trying to think where a person would use it. I think it would be pretty good.”

“Sherry flavoring? Excellent,” Anna said. “Let’s do it.”

The three of them stayed late working on the recipe. Near midnight, they all left the kitchen, happy with the results. Anna’s Blueberry Muffin Bar recipe might be a winner at the Minny Batter Battle.

• • •

Chase felt likethree was a crowd as she walked into the Hammond High School gymnasium with Julie and Jay Wright, the tall, dimpled criminal defense attorney Julie was dating. Chase gritted her teeth at the thought that Mike Ramos had stood her up at the last minute. She’d told him about the reunion Thursday night. Then, the very next day, he remembered an out-of-town conference for the AVMA in Albuquerque. Some old veterinarians’ group. He flew out Friday and was getting home late Saturday. She hoped he had to buy a last-minute plane ticket that cost a fortune. That would serve him right for preferring a bunch of stupid animal doctors to her company.

She and Julie had ridden over together through the cold rain in Chase’s Ford Fusion. The reunion was slated to start at eight o’clock and end at midnight. They’d timed their arrival to be fashionably late, at eight thirty. On the way, Julie said she had a problem and she needed Chase’s input.

“Sure. Shoot.”

“You remember Professor Fear? The guy who lives next door to Hilda Bjorn?”

Chase nodded, concentrating on the dark, slick streets.

Hilda Bjorn had nearly been killed because she knew too much when Gabe Naughtly, who lived across the street from the elderly woman, was murdered. In the course of things, she became a fan of the Bar None. Her neighbor, a university professor, looked after the old woman. Ms. Bjorn also seemed to look after him, since he was quite absentminded.

“Andy Fear called our office and asked for some advice. Since I’m the new gal, they gave him to me. Translation: This is a low-paying job.”

“I wouldn’t think he would have a lot of extra money for lawyers.”

“He doesn’t. I got permission to make this a pro bono case, especially after I delved into it.”

“Now you have me curious.” She braked for a red light. Red-and-green blinking lights from a nearby shop window blended in the wet reflection of the stoplight and taillights ahead of her. The wipers were only on medium speed, but she was considering turning them to high. The pattering raindrops were becoming more insistent.