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“Aargh!”
The thin walls and poor insulation of Katherine Harper’s apartment didn’t do much to muffle the frustrated outburst that could only have come from her lone third-floor neighbor, Lucy Callahan. Kat was debating over whether to see if Lucy needed help when the sound of something knocking against her door cinched her decision to investigate.
She set the book she had been reading on the empty couch cushion beside her and rested her hand on the snoozing yellow-and-brown tortoiseshell nestled in her lap. “Looks like I’m going to have to disturb you, Matty.”
Matty responded by flipping onto her back and stretching across Kat’s legs. Kat gave her downy stomach a scratch, having to give the little creature credit for knowing how to lay on the guilt.
“I’ll make this up to you later,” Kat said, lifting Matty off her lap and setting her aside.
She stood up and opened the door, spotting a bottle of wine lying on her doorstep. Her eyes moved down the corridor and landed on Lucy. The pretty, twenty-something redhead was squatting outside her own apartment, a torn plastic bag in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other.
“Want some help?” Kat asked, picking up the wine bottle.
Lucy flashed her a grim smile. “Thanks. This serves me right for forgetting to bring my canvas bags.”
Kat started gathering up items, taking inventory as she went. Chips, cookies, candy. “It looks like you bought out the Food Mart’s supply of comfort foods.”
“Yeah, well, I’m single and Sunday is Valentine’s Day. And, believe it or not, food shopping is my one exciting adventure for the week.” Lucy made a face. “How sad is that?”
“That’s not sad. I love grocery shopping, too.”
“But I bet you don’t plan your Friday nights around it.”
“Okay, you have a point there.” Kat tied one of the broken bags around the groceries she had collected. “But if you’re looking to meet men, maybe the Cherry Hills Food Mart isn’t the best place to spend your weekends.”
“You’re assuming there are any decent, single men left to meet in this dinky town. Have you seen the available guys out there? They’re single for a reason.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve looked,” Kat admitted. “I guess I got lucky with Andrew.”
She expected Lucy to agree, but instead the redhead averted her gaze and focused on gathering up her stuff without a word in response.
Kat frowned. What was that about? Did Lucy not approve of Andrew Milhone, Kat’s boyfriend since August? Kat had never sensed any friction between the two of them before, but they didn’t spend much time together either.
Before she could ask, Matty strolled into the corridor. Her pupils dilated as she took stock of the items scattered everywhere. Kat wouldn’t doubt the tortoiseshell viewed the chaos as a cat playground set up for her enjoyment.
Not one to be left out, Kat’s other cat, Tom, came barreling out of the apartment. When the black-and-brown feline spotted Lucy, his green eyes lit up and he trotted over to her, meowing the whole way.
“Hey, Tom.” Lucy scratched the big cat’s head as he rubbed against her knee. “You come to help me clean up this mess?”
Tom obliged by batting at a pint of ice cream with one paw.
Lucy grinned before scooping up the container. “At least you’re trying. Matty isn’t even making an effort.”
Kat snapped into action when she saw the gusto with which Matty was chewing on a bag of heart candies. She hurried down the corridor and swiped the package away from the inquisitive tortoiseshell.
“Sorry,” she said, handing the bag to Lucy. “It has some teeth marks around the edges, but I don’t think she broke through the plastic.”
Lucy added the package to the pile in her arms. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to share my snack stash with a cat. See these corn chips? Tabitha loves them. I only have to look at the bag before she’s begging for a nibble.”
Kat laughed. “They can be demanding little things, can’t they?”
“They sure can.”
Kat blew a piece of her brown hair out of her eyes as her light mood faded away. “Lucy, do you have a problem with Andrew?”
Lucy stilled. “Andrew?”
“It seemed like you kind of clammed up when I brought up his name earlier. Do you not like him or something?”
Lucy ducked her head down, but not before Kat spied the flush on her face. “I like Andrew just fine.”
“You’re not acting like it.”
“It’s just . . .” Lucy heaved a sigh. “Never mind. I guess I’m just jealous and feeling sorry for myself. All I seem to attract are losers.”
With Lucy’s outgoing personality and good looks, Kat found that hard to believe. But she didn’t want to get off track. “Are you sure that’s all there is?”
“Well . . .” Lucy shifted the groceries in her arms as she stood up. “I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.”
“What’s probably nothing?”
Lucy didn’t respond, and anxiety blossomed inside Kat’s chest. Whatever Lucy was thinking, Kat had a feeling she wouldn’t like it.
Still, she wanted to know. “You can tell me.”
Lucy’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “I saw Andrew outside the Food Mart today.”
Kat’s breath caught. “Did something happen to him?” Andrew worked as a detective for the Cherry Hills Police Department, and the possibility that he might one day be injured in the line of duty was never far from her mind.
“He’s fine,” Lucy said before Kat’s imagination could run wild. “But he wasn’t alone.”
“Who was he with?”
“Some woman.” Lucy shifted her weight between her feet. “And, Kat, they were both in his car—and leaning pretty close together, I might add.”
Kat’s insides tightened with an emotion she couldn’t identify. Jealousy? Except she had never considered herself to be the jealous type. Then again, she’d never had anyone tell her they’d spotted her boyfriend with another woman.
Lucy peered at Kat as though trying to gauge her reaction. Kat did her best to slap a neutral expression on her face but, judging from the concern in Lucy’s eyes, she wasn’t buying it.
“I wasn’t sure if I should say anything. I mean, this is Andrew. He wouldn’t cheat on you.” Lucy wrinkled her nose. “That would be ridiculous, right?”
“Right,” Kat said, hating how strained her voice sounded.
“She’s probably just a friend.”
“Probably.” Kat perked up as another possibility occurred to her. “Or, she could have been under arrest. He could have caught her shoplifting or something. She probably didn’t realize he was a cop since he doesn’t wear a uniform.”
Lucy pursed her lips. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t somebody under arrest be in the back instead of the passenger seat?”
Kat had to concede that point. “Did you see what she looked like?”
“Kind of, although her hair was covering part of her face.”
“What color is her hair?”
Lucy lifted one shoulder. “Kind of a blondish brown.”
Kat had been hoping she’d say gray. “How old did she look?”
“Around your age, I guess. Early thirties.”
Kat ignored the knot growing in her stomach and pushed on. “Was she attractive?”
Lucy hesitated before nodding.
Pressure against her leg distracted Kat from firing off any more questions. She glanced down to see Tom leaning against her.
Taking a deep breath, she scooped up the big cat. The softness and warmth of his body loosened some of her tension, but even Tom couldn’t completely erase how untethered she felt right now. Only a conversation with Andrew could do that.
She kissed the top of Tom’s head and gestured toward Matty, who was licking the condensation off of a can of whipped cream. “I should put these two back inside.”
Lucy bit the edge of her lip. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”
“No,” Kat assured her. “I appreciate it.”
Lucy didn’t seem certain, but she nodded. Adjusting the groceries in her arms, she took a step toward her apartment door. “Well, I’ll see you around then.”
Before Kat could reply, the elevator dinged. Matty stood at attention, and her tail started swishing back and forth. Well aware of how the mischievous feline enjoyed outdoor romps, Kat tensed for the inevitable escape attempt.
But Matty didn’t move when the elevator doors parted. Instead, both humans and felines watched in silence as a woman stepped off, a couple plastic grocery bags dangling from her hand. She looked startled to see so much activity in the corridor, but her steps didn’t falter. She offered them a slight nod as she stepped around the whipped cream.
“Hi,” Lucy said.
The woman didn’t break stride. “Hello.”
Matty tipped her nose in the air and sniffed. Kat tried to get a look at her grocery bags to see what had captured Matty’s attention, but all she saw was the outline of a box of hair coloring. Evidently, the next time anyone saw this woman, she might be a Ravishing Raven.
Tom meowed and stretched his paw toward the stranger as she breezed by. She ignored him.
Kat absently bestowed a few consolation strokes upon Tom, the bulk of her attention devoted to seeing where the woman was headed. In light of the fact that the two units across the hall from her and Lucy had been vacant for months, she expected the interloper to figure out she was in the wrong place and turn around any second now.
Yet she didn’t stop. And when she fitted a key into the unit across the hall from Kat’s, Kat realized she must actually live there.
The woman didn’t spare them a second glance before ducking inside the apartment. The sound of the deadbolt sliding into place punctuated her dismissal.
“I guess we have a new neighbor,” Kat commented.
Lucy didn’t reply. When Kat peeked over her shoulder to make sure she was still there, the sight of Lucy’s mouth hanging open caused her heart to skip a beat.
“That’s her,” Lucy hissed in a low voice, her eyes locking with Kat’s. “That’s the woman who was with Andrew.”
