Клэр Донелли - Catch As Cat Can

I suppose the squirrels might steal it. Or the birds, he thought. When he was hungry, he sometimes tried the door of the cold box to find something to eat, but he couldn’t get inside. He had to go and herd a human over to the place where food was kept.

Sunny came in and did things on top of the hot box. Then she came over and gave Shadow a gentle scratch between the ears, talking to him. He closed his eyes in pleasure, then opened them wide to stare at her, thinking, I’m hungry, too.

It must have worked, because Sunny went over to the place where his food was kept. She got some of the crunchy stuff and put it in one bowl and refilled the other with fresh water. Then she went to wash her hands and went back and forth in the room, setting things on the table and getting more things to eat.

She went down the hall and called the others, who came in and sat down.

Now might be a good time to go and see about those flowers, he thought as he watched them pass food around. It would be fun to bat at those drooping heads, maybe even give a shove to that glass thing they were in . . .

He pushed up onto his feet, and his stomach rumbled.

Maybe I’ll stop off at the food first.

*

They had apleasant meal, Mike happily tucking into what he called “good old-fashioned meat and potatoes.”

Thinking of all the diner food her dad must have consumed during his years on the road, Sunny thought, At least here the meat isn’t covered in grease, and the potatoes aren’t fries.

She’d gotten skinless chicken, preparing it with lemon slices and herbs. It went down pretty easily, with no complaints from anyone.

Shadow decided to be sociable and eat, too. He came over when Will held down a morsel of chicken in his hand, but after sniffing it he went back to his own bowl. “Most times, he’s not interested in people food,” Sunny said.

“Maybe if I were Neil Garret with some fish . . .” Will gave her a grin.

“The tidbits Neil serves up are uncooked.” Sunny returned the grin. “That’s why he wears gloves.” She got a bit more serious. “I don’t know how much longer that store is going to stay open. Neil’s behind in his rent. Ollie wants me to keep reminding him it’s due.”

“That’s a shame,” Mike said. “Garret seems like a nice guy. Better than that whacko with the pillows.”

“If he starts pulling fish apart up in outlet-land and dumping the insides on passing shoppers, I’ll let you know,” Will promised. He put down his knife and fork. “So, Mrs. Martinson’s daughter is back in town. How is she?”

“You’ll have to ask Sunny,” Mike said. “She’s the only one here who’s seen Abby.”

“I played chauffeur for Mrs. M., taking her over to the airport to pick up Abby,” Sunny said. “After two days of cross-country nonsense, I can’t say how she stacks up against Hollywood starlets, but she’s probably in the top one percent of paralegals.”

“Huh.” Will had an odd look on his face.

“Did you know her?” Sunny asked. Will had grown up in the county seat, Levett. While that wasn’t exactly the end of the earth, it wasn’t Kittery Harbor, either.

“Not really.” Will returned to his normal self. “She was in a lot of plays around here.”

“I was telling Sunny, a beautiful girl like that, it’s surprising she didn’t make it in Hollywood,” Mike said.

Sunny shot him a look. It’s one thing to say that to your daughter, she thought, and another to say it to your daughter’s boyfriend.

“Well, I’m not a Beverly Hills cop, just a plain old Elmet County one,” Will said. “From what I hear, it’s mainly a question of getting good breaks. Right now, though, the big question for her is: Will there be cake?”

Mike smiled in anticipation. “Helena told me she was baking.”

Mrs. M.’s coffee cake was famed throughout the county for its deliciousness.

Better to have the conversation swerve to bake-offs instead of beauty contests, Sunny thought as they finished the meal.

Mike excused himself. “I’m going to go keep an eye on those flowers in case the furball gets ideas.”

That left Sunny and Will alone to do the dishes. He picked up the dish towel while she got the sink’s spray attachment. “So did you know Abby Martinson or not?” she asked.

“Not really.” That odd expression was back on Will’s face. “But—full disclosure here—I did have a crush on her. As I said, she was in a lot of plays. I went to an all-boys high school, so if we did a show, we had to import actresses from other schools. She was Kate in Kiss Me, Kate , and I was a lowly lighting tech. A buddy was kind enough to warn me that I was punching way out of my weight class.”

“B–but—” Sunny sputtered. “You ended up going out with the queen bee from my school. How—”

Will held up a hand. “Yeah, I went out with Jane when I was in college. Abby was going out with college guys when we were in high school. It’s just the way things were—and one reason why I’d never wanted to be younger than twenty.”

Sunny went to work on the dishes. Yeah, “the best time of our lives”—phooey.

They finished and headed for the living room to find Shadow in his sphinx pose, his eyes on the vase of flowers . . . and Mike’s eyes watching him like a hawk. Back in her youth, Sunny had taken some scorching looks from her father. With the one he was aiming at Shadow, she was surprised that patches of the cat’s fur hadn’t begun to smolder.

She scooped Shadow and sat in an armchair, depositing him in her lap. Will took the other chair, leaving Mike the couch. After a few minutes of conversation, Mike looked at his watch. “They should be here soon.”

“I’ll get the coffee started.” Sunny rose from the chair, letting Shadow leap to the floor. In typically nosy fashion, he trailed after her to the kitchen.

“Nothing to eat,” she told him as she set up the coffeemaker. “And you’re probably the only person in the house who’s not wild about Mrs. M.’s coffee cake.”

The doorbell rang, and Shadow stared up at Sunny. “There’s the company,” she said, walking down the hall to the door. He trailed along, curious but not necessarily eager to get chummy with the outsiders. Mike was already opening the door, greeting Helena, getting introduced to Abby, and then introducing Will.

“And, of course, you know Sunny,” he said as she joined them.

“Nice to meet you now that I’m awake.” Abby handed her parka to Mike, revealing a sweater that hugged her curves up top and some mutant offspring of jeans and leggings that were so tight Sunny could see the play of muscles in Abby’s thighs as she walked to the living room. Worse, Sunny noticed that Will had noticed. Since Sunny was wearing a turtleneck, a sweater, and jeans cut to accommodate long underwear, she was not pleased.

“What say we get comfortable?” Mike said as they arrived in the living room.

“I’ll bring this back in with Sunny.” Helena Martinson held up a covered cake plate. They left Abby sitting on the couch with Mike. Will had resumed his seat in the armchair.

In the kitchen, Sunny began filling cups and arranging them on a platter while Mrs. M. cut pieces of cake. “So how was your day with Abby?”

“To tell the truth I’m not quite sure,” Helena replied. “We took it easy today, just chatting. But I got the feeling there was something Abby wasn’t saying. She still hasn’t.” She looked up from her work, concern in her eyes. “You don’t think she might have lost her job? Could that be why she was interviewing in Boston? Maybe this visit is a way to look into the idea of moving back with me.”