3

 

Adam scooped up Isis, who was having trouble settling down with all the excitement of the police and other pets strolling around. I imagine the scent of shrimp was going to her head since she kept twitching her whiskers toward the buffet table. The lights and colored balls on the green and plaid cloth were most likely tempting targets to explore as well.

“Who’s leaving CAT, Ivy?” Donald asked.

Adam’s attractive lips downturned. They were still beautiful. I mentally slapped myself. “I told Mr. Benteen I may withdraw support.”

Donald and Adam exchanged a whole silent conversation in front of me.

Another cluster of friends and pets wanted to touch bases with Donald before they left. Adam checked his phone and smiled at it in a way that sent my heart to my heels. This was my final clue that the ice Stanley left around it had melted. Adam nodded to me and took the hissing Isis away. I hoped he wasn’t leaving the party—remains of the party—yet.

On the other hand, I had no business drooling over a man who just smiled like that over his phone. Probably a woman friend had called. Adam was too mature to have girlfriends.

“Lovely party,” Michelle Weber said, edging me and Memnet out of Donald’s aura so she could take my place. She was on the board, so she had the right. “Merry Christmas.”

Humbug. I caught Almanzo, one cheek parked on the empty buffet table, moodily drinking from a can of something—I couldn’t quite see from this distance—and wondered what being on a board of directors with him as president would be like.

He had asked me out, the first man to do so after Stanley.

He was an eligible bachelor.

He owned several of those chain dealership oil change stations and dressed well.

He raised the can toward Lacy Bukoski and grinned in the direction of her short elf skirt and even skimpier red satin V-neck.

Nope.

“He needs someone like you,” Pfannie said.

I jumped at the sound of her voice at my side. Scaring people must run in the family.

“Someone to help refine my nephew a little.” Pfannie nodded at me, expectantly. Like romance was up to her? “Smart, savvy. Business-minded.”

“I’m still recovering from my called-off engagement,” I told her, and hitched Memnet higher in my arms.

Pfannie’s compliments sounded semi-sincere, but I was not about to encourage her.

Despite our incoming president helping himself to personnel records from CAT with the excuse of an officer’s need to know, Almanzo Benteen probably didn’t realize how much Adam Thompson and his string of trendy Chicagoland coffee and bookstores, Mea Cuppa, supported CAT. Almanzo probably drank coffee from his oil change dealership lobby.

Business sponsors were the only way CAT could feasibly function. Dues and advertising covered prizes by constitution, but the conventions, perks like newsletters, educational seminars, and school talks, and help to adopt and vaccinate, spay, and neuter pets…things like that were costly. While I couldn’t donate cash from McTeague’s Technical Services, I donated, well…technical services.

People like Donald, Babs, Hortense, Dr. Hooper, and Adam Thompson made the world of pets work. Adam lingered, still here, talking with one of the caterers, a brunette who cooed at Isis. I wondered how long he’d been married, and what his late wife had been like.

My phone sang again.

Mom.

Memnet swished his tail against my side and back. I answered. “Darling, I just wanted to check on you. I know it was supposed to be your special day, but sweetheart, I think you’ll look back on this and be glad. Really I do. Stanley…”

Somehow, I must have hit the button that put the caller on speaker. And I called myself a techno geek. Mortified, I silenced the phone and turned away to hiss, “Mother!”

“I agree with her,” Pfannie whispered and sashayed out of hearing.

“Oh, there you are, sweetheart,” Mom’s voice said in my other ear. “As I was saying—”

“It was supposed to be last weekend. The wedding was scheduled for last week. Tonight I’m at a party.”

“See, you’re getting over it already. It’s good to get out and do something, isn’t it? Don’t mope. Your father would have hated to see his little girl all sad.”

Oh, don’t play the Dad card. Please don’t play the Dad card. My father had a heart attack and died under our Christmas tree. When I was a little girl.

“Going to a party is one thing, sweetheart, but you need to get back out there and live.”

What did she think I’d been doing all fall? “Well, I have been asked out, twice now, by the way.”

“Wonderful! Good for you.”

I would have preened and pirouetted if the askee had been anyone other than Almanzo Benteen. Memnet licked the phone and chuckled gruffly.

“You’ve got your darling Mem with you. Good kitty.”

Mom and Mem were great friends and they conversed for a full minute. Then Mom got back to me. “The reason I’m calling is that you have mail. It might have been mistakenly delivered here?”

“Oh? Where’s it from?” Mom wouldn’t call about advertising.

“The bank says you’re all approved to buy that little house.”

“Oh, good! They called me of course. It’s really the cutest house. You’ll love it.”

“Are you sure you still want to move? So suddenly? Making major decisions like that on a broken heart isn’t always a good idea.”

“It’s not a sudden decision, remember? I told you weeks ago. And yes. I think it’s the right one for me.”

“You’re not moving to be near your new young man, are you? I haven’t met—”

“Of course, I’m not moving just to be near my new boyfriend.”

“I must meet him. And I haven’t even seen this place. And Apple Grove…well, I looked it up and…”

“That’s why I want to go there. To help.” I held the phone away from my ear and moved closer to the wall when I felt someone come close. Mom’s voice kept going, so I searched for a distraction while she discussed my potential life-altering error with herself.

A cool nose poked my cheek.

Memnet reared back.

“Excuse us!” Adam whispered, a strangely hollow grin making his face look morose.

At this rate of being surprised, I was not going to need any aerobics this week. My heart was getting enough of a workout right here. I frowned, but hid it. How much had he overheard?

“I’ll call you later. Love you! Bye.” I closed the phone.

Adam’s eyes crinkled, though his mouth retained its posture of nonchalance. I rubbed my cheek against Memnet’s head.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Isis and I wanted to say Merry Christmas and good bye.”

“Oh.” Disappointment cascaded down the back of my neck. “Merry Christmas. I hope you’ll reconsider dropping your membership.”

“I only said I’d reconsider my support,” Adam said after a beat. “Isis would miss Memnet.” She obligingly flattened her ears. He reared. “Anyway, I enjoyed spending time with you and Memnet. It seems there’s so little opportunity at the conventions.” Isis reached her paw toward Mem. Adam took another step back. “Isis and I hope you and your…boyfriend…”

Almanzo took this moment to give me my fourth—or was it fifth?—heart palpitating moment of the evening when he invaded my personal space and put his skanky arm around my shoulders. “My one and only. I’ve been searching for you.” He glowered at Adam.

How could my life turn into such a train wreck in the space of a couple hours?

Adam bowed slightly in that courtly way true gentlemen have and strode out of my life.

I wiggled out from Almanzo’s arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Showing you how life could be, cutie.”

“Stop saying that!”

“I’m a whole man, not some scarred Frankenstein.”

I couldn’t bother to respond to such a crude comment given with beer fumes. He matched my movements and continued to squeeze my shoulder. I was about to make a loud protest when Pfannie glided in. She made a show of checking the big clock on the wall. I followed her.

How could it be only eight fifteen?

Memnet wiggled to get down and I let him plop to the floor. I forcibly removed Almanzo’s hand and got away, brushing my shoulders. Was this worth filing charges over? I’d already decided not to attend any conventions under his leadership.

Pfannie twisted her mouth to the side like she’d had a full blast of pet breath and dusted her hands. “Well, I guess he’s not coming back after all.” She snorted and tossed her head. “Good riddance.” She pushed away from the wall. “I’ve had enough of this. Almanzo!”

Once again I winced at her level of decibels. My cat shook himself and trotted toward Tut’s window and leapt up beside his friend. Two tails swished in tandem under the curtain.

Cute! One thing I’d learned was to grab a moment when I saw one, and this was one of those moments that might never come again. Although difficult, I shunted aside Almanzo’s crude advances, right behind congratulating myself over not getting my hopes up over a relationship with Mr. Thompson. In the process of getting out my phone again to film the cats, I realized what Pfannie was telling her nephew.

“Come on, Almanzo. Enough of this. I want to go home. Get Adelaide now. I want to try on that cute outfit at the store. It’s fifteen percent off tonight only, and they’re probably going to close soon since this party’s such a dud.”

What? I lowered the phone.

“I already tried. She’s not there.”

“What do you mean?” Pfannie didn’t bother to keep her voice down, like Almanzo.

They both looked at me. I shrugged and made like I was walking away.

“Wait! Ivy! I—it was just a joke.” She sent an evil eye toward Almanzo and took two paces toward me. “It was for Rolf. He…”

Pfannie was definitely not retaining friends here. I didn’t even want her this close. She had her hand on my arm again, red claws that might break the skin if I hadn’t been wearing my favorite pea-green Merry Kitties sweater.

She withdrew her hand, just like the first time that evening she’d asked for my help.

“You’re not seriously telling me you…” I started breathing heavily and nodded at Almanzo who hadn’t moved. “And he set this whole thing up?”

“And now Adelaide is really gone,” Pfannie whined. She glared scathingly at Almanzo. “I can’t believe you lost my cat!”

I cocked my head. The way Tut and Memnet were guarding the window made me think of something. The reflection from the truck across the street…

“Almanzo! Is that your truck parked across the street? The gray one?”

“Yeah.” He had the grace to act sheepish.

“That’s where you stashed Adelaide?”

“I left the window open. I’m not that dumb.”

I heaved an angry breath. “That’s what people do in the summer. To keep the inside from getting too hot.”

“You left the window open, you idiot?” Pfannie screeched.

With so little entertainment left, what else could the last six people in the room do but gather around us?

“What is this?” Dr. Hooper asked.

“He lost my cat!” Pfannie pointed at Almanzo.

Animals kept overnight at the clinic began to make noises. The distinctive bay of a coon dog wailed from across the reception area.

“Here, now,” Hooper said. “Adelaide was found, after all? When did this occur? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Adam had not yet made it outside and returned, much to my exultation.

“I was just doing what you told me to do.” Almanzo folded his arms like a twelve-year-old caught doing something even he knew was too ridiculous to admit.

“I did not tell you to call the cops,” Pfannie said. “I told you to call Rolf’s buddies in the department.”

“Well, can I help it if one cop is like another?”

“Here, here,” Dr. Hopper said. He pointed at Pfannie. “You, madam. Start at the top.”

Pfannie’s pout was big enough to land a canary. “I didn’t plan for him to be such a goof-up.”

Almanzo opened his mouth. One look from Donald shut it.

“He was just supposed to hide Adelaide for an hour or so, enough time to show Rolf how important he is.”

“To pay attention to you,” Almanzo muttered.

“He’s been working so much overtime lately.” Tears decorated Pfannie’s eyelashes. “It’s Christmas. I just needed him to notice. If all he can do is respond to emergencies…”

“Then you needed to create one,” I said. Made sense in a Pfannie way. Whoa…back up! I never wanted to be so pathetic I could understand how a woman could stoop so low as to set up a fake cat-napping to entice a man. Not even Stanley could make me do something like that. But did that mean I wasn’t interesting enough, even for a man who hadn’t professed great passion in much of anything besides his sales route? What if Stanley had needed more…excitement from me? And I failed him?

Maybe Adam sensed that in me—that I wasn’t passionate enough for a man like him.

While I sent myself into internal self-deprecation mode, the conversation around me went on.

“Do you know the fine for filing false police reports?” Dr. Hopper asked.

I actually didn’t know either and hoped it was one of those things I’d never need to find out. The penalty had to be stiff, that’s why people didn’t do it very often.

Pfannie’s eyes widened. “But I never filed a report. It wasn’t my idea to call the police. And I didn’t.”

“But you reported a false claim.”

“Adelaide is gone! That’s not false.”

“What about your boyfriend? Rolf?” Adam glanced my way for a second before saying more. “Reporting an adult missing is one thing, but reporting a missing officer upgrades the situation. And a state trooper…” He shook his head. “The whole state will be tied up looking for him.”

“What about having to wait twenty-four hours?” Dr. Hooper said.

Donald grabbed my attention and beckoned for me to follow him toward our cats still perched on the window sill. “Am I to understand this whole fiasco of an evening was perpetrated by our incoming association chapter president?”

Put like that, I could only nod. This could have been a wonderful party. I looked longingly at the mistletoe. I tried to conjure a Christmas without drama or tragedy. “It appears to have been a prank that got out of control.”

“Prank?”

“I have to check something. Donald, will you keep an eye on Memnet for me? I want to step outside.”

“Ivy…wait! How far…how long?”

I waved and trotted outside in the shivering cold. The gray truck was there, across the street. I looked both ways, I’m sure I did. It was quiet, and snowflakes were kind of pretty fluttering down and glistening where the streetlights caught them. There wasn’t any traffic, at least not close. I saw the window on the truck. I squinted for a better look. It wasn’t open, it was broken. Dark smears appeared on the glass.

I tucked my hands in my armpits and started across the road to see up close.

And that’s when the real excitement started.