Софи Келли - Hooked On A Feline

“I’m impressed by your secret-keeping skills,” I said.

Mike put one hand on his chest and gave a slight bow. “Thank you,” he said.

“Yeah, you did good,” Johnny said. He looked at me. There was a gleam in his blue eyes. I had the feeling Johnny just might have used Mike’s desire to prove everyone wrong to make sure their secret stayed secret.

Nic came from the kitchen then with a giant circular tray. I could smell Eric’s signature breakfast sandwich and I almost wished I had ordered one instead of the cobbler.

I sat down again and picked up my coffee. Eddie had shifted in his seat and was deep in conversation with Paul Whitewater, who had turned his own chair sideways, and Brady, who was standing by the end of our table, hands jammed in his pockets. They had to be talking about hockey, I realized, based on the way Eddie was moving his hands almost as though he were holding a stick.

After more than one setback, the Sweeney Center was finally finished. The former warehouse space had an ice surface and a conditioning room. Eddie would start working with his first class of summer hockey students on Monday. Roma had told me that he was also donating coaching time and space to both the boys’ and girls’ high school hockey teams. That didn’t surprise me. That was the type of person Eddie was.

Sonja Whitewater was sitting beside her husband. She leaned sideways into my line of vision and waved. I waved back; then I stood up again and made my way over to her, carrying my coffee.

“So did you enjoy the concert?” Sonja asked. She had ice-blue eyes and blond hair cut to her collarbone.

“I don’t know when I last had so much fun,” I said.

She grinned. “I’m glad. I’ve always been more nervous than Paul is when he performs.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean. My mom and dad are actors and Mom is always more anxious when Dad’s performing than she is when she’s the one onstage. And heaven help any critic who doesn’t like his work.”

Sonja laughed. “I think I’d like your mother. I’m exactly the same way. I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been wanting to thank you for the book recommendations last time I was in. They were all a big hit, especially the series about the talking hamster named Einstein.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” I said. “I’m glad you like it. And in case you’re interested, we have multiple copies of all the books in the series so far.”

“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that,” she said. “I would never complain about my kids reading but we go through books the way other families go through boxes of Cheerios.”

“Kids who like to read,” I said with a smile. “Music to my ears.”

Sonja’s phone buzzed then and she reached for it. “I’ll see you Monday,” she said.

Harry was seated on the other side of the two pushed-together tables from Sonja and Paul. Ritchie Gonzalez and his wife were on his left and there was an empty seat to his right. I made my way over to Harry. There was something I wanted to do.

“Harry, I owe you an apology,” I said when I reached him.

He frowned. “Why? What did you do?” He indicated the chair beside him and I sat down.

“I kept you at the library, going on about my ideas for the cold frames this afternoon, and you had the concert to get to.”

Harry was shaking his head before I finished speaking. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. As I remember it, it was me who asked you to come out and show me where you want to put those boxes.”

Harry had built several raised beds so the kids in our summer program at the library could grow their own vegetables. The project had turned out to be more successful than I’d hoped. We’d made salads with the first harvest of lettuce and radishes and not one child had complained about eating vegetables. A couple of days ago, we’d sent each child home with a small bag of tomatoes and yellow beans. I wanted to extend the growing season with cold frames so the Reading Buddies kids could have the same experience.

“Kathleen, you don’t know Ritchie and Elena, do you?” Harry asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t.”

He gestured at his friend. “Kathleen Paulson. Ritchie and Elena Gonzalez.”

I smiled. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

Elena had a mass of dark curls brushing her shoulders. She was wearing a black T-shirt with the words I’m with the band across the chest.

She looked familiar. I thought back to where I could possibly have met her before and then it hit me. “Are you a nurse?”

She smiled. “A nurse practitioner.”

“You helped treat my broken wrist at the clinic about four years ago. I knew you looked familiar,” I said.

“That’s right.” She tipped her head toward my arm. “May I?” she asked.

I nodded.

She reached over and gently fingered my left wrist. “It looks like you healed well,” she said.

“I did, although I now have a better accuracy rate predicting rain than the meteorologist on Channel 4.”

Ritchie smiled. “She never forgets a patient.”

Elena shrugged. “I just have that kind of memory. I’m really good at trivia games, too.”

“So am I,” I said. “You know, we’ve been talking about doing a trivia tournament this winter at the library.”

Ritchie looked at Harry. “You may have started something here.”

Elena’s dark eyes lit up. “We’ll talk later,” she said.

Ritchie leaned forward. “I think I saw you once in the library when I was meeting Mike. It’s a gorgeous old building by the way.”

“Thank you,” I said. “It took a lot of work from a lot of people, including Harry.”

Harry didn’t say anything. He just gave his head a little shake. He was the most self-effacing person I had ever met.

“Kathleen, someone mentioned that Ethan Paulson is your brother,” Ritchie said. Up close I could see some gray in his thick dark hair. “Is that right?”

“He is,” I said. “How do you know Ethan?”

Ritchie smiled. Without a smile he looked more than a little imposing. With one he looked like a big teddy bear. “I don’t really know him. I saw The Flaming Gerbils last winter in Red Wing and I got to talk to your brother between sets. Man, what a voice!”

I felt a rush of big-sister pride. I knew Ethan was enormously talented but it was always great to hear other people felt the same way.

“He would have loved tonight,” I said. “You were all incredible.”

“Thank you,” Ritchie said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, getting out there again, all five of us together.”

“Or maybe not.”

I turned. Mike was standing behind me.

“Give it a rest,” Ritchie said. He didn’t seem annoyed by Mike’s comment. I got the feeling he was mostly ignoring it.

Beside me Harry let out a breath. “Mike thinks we should all go out and do a few dates with Johnny,” he said to me by way of explanation.

“You can’t tell me you really don’t want to do this again!” Mike exclaimed. “They loved us. You were there, Kathleen. Tell him!”

“Harry doesn’t need me to tell him anything,” I said, getting to my feet. “But I do need to tell you about a couple of resources I thought of that might be useful to help you finish your family tree.” I tipped my head in the direction of the long counter at the other end of the diner and reached for my coffee. “I need a refill. Walk me over.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “I know what you’re doing,” he said.

“I thought you would,” I said. I smiled at Ritchie and Elena. “It was good to meet you.”

“You too, Kathleen,” Ritchie said. Elena nodded and smiled.

“So did you really come up with more ideas for me?” Mike asked as we made our way around the tables.