Миранда Джеймс - Six Cats A Slayin'

“ The Ghost Breakers ,” I said. “That’s a fun movie, but we’re getting off the track.”

“It’s no use right now getting back on track,” Melba replied. “The harder I try to figure out who that woman reminds me of, the more confused I feel.”

“Tell me this, do you think she’s really an Albritton?” I asked.

Melba shrugged. “No. I think she just picked a name out of the Athena phone book, and that one must have sounded good to her. She sure didn’t act like she knows anything about the family.” She rose from the chair. “I’d better get back downstairs before Andrea starts looking for me. If I get busy with work, maybe it’ll come to me about who she reminds me of.”

“See you later,” I called after her as she headed out the door.

I busied myself with my own work. I needed to focus on the tasks at hand, not spend time thinking about two mysteries, the origin of the five kittens and the truth about Gerry Albritton.

For about half an hour I managed to stick to my resolve while I cataloged more of the collection I’d been working on before lunch, but after that my mind began to wander. Then one question came to the forefront of my consciousness.

Should I make a concerted effort to find out who left the kittens on my doorstep?

If I did manage to track down the child who had done it, would I cause trouble for her or him? Perhaps I was being oversensitive, but the wording of the note left with the kittens—especially the emphasis on the word he— made me hesitate. I had thought about going door-to-door in the neighborhood to inquire whether anyone’s cat had recently given birth to a litter. I knew most of the families within a couple of blocks on my street and part of the street behind my house, but not so many in the surrounding streets, other than to say hello when I encountered them somewhere in town.

One idea struck me. Gerry Albritton’s holiday party was coming up next week. If most people in the neighborhood turned out for it, I could work my way through the crowd asking innocuous questions. Everyone always wanted to talk to me about Diesel anyway, and discussing my cat would serve as a natural opening to a more general chat on the subject of house pets.

That provided me with one excellent reason to attend a function that otherwise I wanted to avoid. I could enlist Helen Louise in the campaign to dig for information as well. Between us, we ought to be able to find out something, or at least eliminate families from the inquiry.

With that decided, I could get back to work and actually do the job I was supposed to be doing. Though I missed having Diesel in the office with me, I worked happily until three thirty. Then I gathered my things, turned out the lights, and locked the door behind me.

There was no sign of Melba downstairs. I would catch up with her later. I knew that when she figured out why Gerry Albritton seemed familiar, I would be the first to hear about it. I headed out to my car to drive home.

When I neared my driveway, I spotted my daughter-in-law’s car parked on the street in front of the house. My granddaughter was barely two months old, and Alex hadn’t been venturing out of the house much since Charlotte Rose had made her appearance. Sean hadn’t said much, but I figured that Alex was struggling a bit with motherhood. I knew that Rosie, as we called her, was not the happy baby that her little cousin Charlie was. Rosie was more fretful and demanding, and I thought caring for the baby was wearing Alex down.

Sean was helping with Rosie as much as he could, but he had a law office to run—a job he usually shared with Alex. They couldn’t afford to shut down the office while Alex was on maternity leave so Sean could be at home, too. Alex’s father, Q. C. Pendergrast, had un-retired , as he called it, in order to help, but he had suffered a stroke a few months ago and was still recovering from its effects. He could only do so much.

I thought Sean and Alex needed to bring another lawyer into the firm, but they had been reluctant to do that. Now, however, it seemed more imperative to me than ever. I had expressed my opinion when it was solicited, so both my son and daughter-in-law knew how I felt. Now it was up to them to act on my suggestion.

As I was getting out of the car, I realized I had completely forgotten about the pet store. I hesitated a moment. I really ought to get this taken care of today. But I wavered. My granddaughter was here. I decided the pet store could wait.

When I walked through the door into the kitchen, I immediately spotted Alex at the table feeding Rosie. I stopped and watched for a moment. I didn’t think Alex had heard me enter the room, her attention appeared so fixed upon her child. I glanced to my right and saw Azalea standing near the stove. She was also watching Alex and the baby, and her expression was unreadable.

“Hello, Alex,” I said, my voice low. I greeted Azalea, and she nodded in response.

Alex offered me a wan smile as I bent to kiss her cheek. “Hi, Dad, how are you?” Rosie continued her noisy suckling at her mother’s breast.

“I’m fine,” I said. “How are you? Did you get all your errands done?” She nodded. “That’s good. Nice to have a break.” Alex nodded again. She seemed as dispirited as I had ever seen her.

I tried again. “Rosie seems to be doing fine, too. You’re taking such good care of her.”

Alex sighed. “Seems to me that she’s almost always hungry. The rate she’s going, she’ll be an Amazon by the time she’s sixteen.”

I squeezed her shoulder. I could see that she was tired, and I figured she wasn’t sleeping well. Laura had been a fussy baby, too, and I remembered the many nights of fractured sleep that her mother and I endured before she finally grew out of that stage.

“She’s like her aunt, Laura, that’s for sure,” I said as I took a chair opposite Alex and Rosie.

“How on earth did you manage with Laura?” Alex said, interest sparking briefly in her eyes.

“Jackie and I both went around dazed for months,” I said. “Eventually Laura started sleeping through the night, and we were able to get back to sleeping ourselves.”

“I hope Rosie starts sleeping more soon. All the trouble she has with colic, I guess.” Alex sighed. “I am so exhausted now, I don’t know what I’m doing half the time.”

I hesitated before I responded because I knew Alex was sensitive on the issue I was about to broach. Looking at her drawn face, though, I felt I had to speak up.

“I think you and Sean really need to rethink your decision about a nanny,” I said.

Azalea spoke before Alex could respond. “Now Miss Alex, you listen to Mr. Charlie. You’re wearing yourself out, and my cousin Lurene’s daughter Cherelle loves babies and would love to help you out. Don’t mean you’re not a good mama because you need help.” She smiled. “I had to have help with Kanesha, because the good Lord knows that child was a handful from the moment she came into this world and hasn’t stopped being one since. If I hadn’t had my own mama to help, I swear I would have left Kanesha on somebody’s doorstep just so I could sleep.”

Alex had started shaking her head the moment I began to speak, but she stilled the movement as Azalea talked. I hoped Azalea’s words would get through to my daughter-in-law. She obviously needed help with the baby, but she was a proud young woman who always wanted to show that she could do anything and do it well. But in this small bundle of fussiness I thought she finally had to realize that there were some challenges she might not be able to handle alone.

“You’re right.” Alex sighed. “Sean has been begging me to let him find help, but I wouldn’t let him.” Tears began to roll down her face. “I feel like such a failure.”