Donally, Claire - Cat Nap (A SUNNY & SHADOW MYSTERY)

Mike climbed the steps to the entrance and opened the door. Once inside, they faced a blast of heat and loud, cheerful chatter bouncing off the big room’s tin ceiling and brick walls. The hostess warned them that they’d face a wait of nearly half an hour. What else could they expect from a Friday night? The place was jammed with diners.

Mike gave their names, and then he and Sunny found seats at the bar, where he surprised Sunny by ordering a seltzer with lime.

“At least the fruit makes it look like I’m having a real drink,” he said with a grin.

Maybe he’s finally taking the idea of healthy eating to heart, Sunny thought.

She asked the bartender for a diet cola; it didn’t seem fair for her to flaunt a beer under her dad’s nose while he sipped a seltzer. She had an instant to enjoy the warm glow of satisfaction at having finally gotten through to him . . . until her dad added, “I’m hoping that being good here might earn me some slack from the food police when I order a hamburger for supper.”

“A hamburger—not a bacon cheeseburger.” Sunny was willing to bend a little, especially since the Redbrick was famous for its burgers. “And no fries—how about a salad?”

Mike rolled his eyes but agreed.

*

“I guess thatblasted foot is really giving Shadow some trouble,” Sunny said, trying to change the subject. “He didn’t come charging up as usual when I came home. And I didn’t like the way he kept licking at his paw. And then, every time I tried to get a look at it, he shied away.” The worry in her voice shaded into a hurt tone as she spoke.

Mike patted her arm. “I know, I know, he’s usually all over you. Look at it this way—he wouldn’t even come near me after he came limping in today.” He scowled, looking a little defensive. “I don’t even know how he got out.”

“My own stupid fault.” Sunny took her glass from the bartender and had a sip. “I opened the kitchen door this morning to wake myself up with a blast of fresh air. Shadow must have sneaked out while I was busy shivering.” Her tone went from self-accusation back to worry. “I hope Jane won’t find something really wrong when I bring Shadow over to see her tomorrow.”

“I think that damned cat’s indestructible,” Mike said, waving away any thoughts of veterinary problems. “I bet Jane thinks so, too. If you want, you can ask her now.” He had shifted on his bar stool and nodded at the other side of the room. “She’s eating over there.”

Sunny turned to look in the direction her father indicated. Even in a crowded room, it was hard to miss someone with Jane Rigsdale’s blond good looks. Jane sat facing the bar—and Sunny—but the vet’s intense blue eyes seemed focused on the man sitting opposite her.

For a second Sunny’s heart sank. Things would be a lot simpler between her and Will Price if it wasn’t for Jane. Jane and Will had been a couple years ago, back when Jane was the teen queen of Kittery Harbor and Will was a college student. They had broken up and gone off to lead separate lives, but like Sunny, both of them had since returned to the old hometown. Given the shortage of decent, unattached male material in the area, Sunny couldn’t blame Jane for trying to become Will’s once and future girlfriend.

She didn’t have to like it, though.

Just as Sunny was lamenting her bad luck in getting invited out by her dad of all people on a night when Jane and Will were on a date, she stopped. Wait a minute! I don’t think that’s Will after all. Sunny looked more carefully at the man seated with Jane. She could only see the back of his head, but that brown hair looked darker than Will’s, and it touched the guy’s collar. As a cop, Will would never let his hair grow that long, especially since the last time she’d seen him, earlier this week, he’d been waving at her through the window of Harbor Barbers.

Yeah, that can’t be Will. The usually hard-edged reporter’s voice in the back of Sunny’s head suddenly sounded downright cheerful. Maybe Jane has found herself a new guy. Now, if only they hit it off . . .

Sunny felt even cheerier when the man reached across the table to take Jane’s hand, his thumb gently stroking her soft skin in an obvious caress.

Even better, Sunny thought.

Until Jane snatched her hand back, jumped to her feet, grabbed her wineglass, and flung the contents right in the guy’s face.

2

Jane Rigsdale stormedout of the Redbrick, her full lips compressed in a thin line, the skin tight over her strong cheekbones, her pale eyebrows pulled together, and her blue eyes looking straight ahead as she sailed right past the bar. When Sunny’s dad got angry, his blue eyes blazed. Sunny used to call it the laser-glare of death. Jane’s eyes got very faraway and cold. Her blond bombshell beauty transformed into the mask of a frozen ice goddess—perfectly matching the chilly air she stepped into outside.

Brrrr, Sunny thought. Got to remember never to get Jane really ticked off at me.

Mike sat quietly, his gaze following Jane out the door. Then he grinned, taking a more optimistic view of the goings-on. “What do you think?” he asked. “One of those speed dates?”

“I think those end with a bell ringing, not with a wine spritzer to the face.” Sunny smiled at her dad.

“You mean, like between the rounds at a prizefight? Well, that guy could sure have used a cornerman and a good towel. I hope he gets a move on. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get the table.”

Sunny didn’t answer as she watched the guy Mike was joking about, Jane’s victim, who now stood up from his seat, mopping his face with a napkin. The man was shorter and somewhat older than Will. But as he wryly glanced at the suddenly silent tables around him, Sunny could see that he was startlingly handsome.

If Jane’s throwing away guys like that, what the heck does she want? Sunny wondered. Even covered in wine, this guy could play Prince Charming—or at least Prince Charming’s cool uncle. She sighed, and not romantically. Sunny knew what Jane wanted. She wants Will.

A mischievous thought pushed that gloomy realization aside. Maybe I should make a play for this guy. It would only be fair. Share and share alike.

Whatever he’d said to Jane that had gotten him that wine bath, the man certainly had self-confidence; he didn’t display a shred of embarrassment even though every eye in the place was on him. He just reached into his wallet, left some money, finished drying off, pulled on a coat, and strolled out the door. Once he was gone, the murmur of whispers quickly ratcheted back up to the usual dull roar that filled the Redbrick.

As it turned out, Sunny and her dad did get the vacated table. Mike ordered his hamburger with gusto. Sunny had a salad with grilled chicken on top, drizzled with the homemade raspberry vinaigrette. As instructed, her dad also eschewed French fries for a side salad, and although his eyebrows rose longingly when the waitress mentioned blue cheese dressing, he went with the vinaigrette, too, avoiding the need for any intervention from the food police.

When their food arrived, Mike smiled broadly. He sprinkled some steak sauce on his burger, piled on the tomato and onion slices, and then replaced the top of the roll. Carefully holding his creation in both hands, he took a bite. “Perfect. Medium-rare.” He turned the conversation back to the scene they’d witnessed earlier. “A good meal and a floor show, too. What do you think that was all about between those two?”

“I have no idea,” Sunny replied. While she had a half-friendly relationship with Jane, that didn’t mean a lot of confidences got shared. “In fact, I don’t even know who that was with her. Did you recognize the man?” Besides being tapped into the local gossip network, her dad seemed to know about eighty percent of Kittery Harbor’s population by sight.