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Zoe and Chris arrived at the cottage mid-morning.
“Is it safe to come in?” Zoe called out as she exaggeratedly tiptoed into the kitchen.
“Yes.” Lauren smiled as she greeted her cousin.
“Brrt!”
“Hi, Annie.” Chris bent down to the feline. “How are you?”
“Brrt.” Good.
“So, did you meet Zoe’s parents?” Lauren teased.
“Yes,” Chris replied.
“Did you?” Mitch entered the kitchen, his lips quirking.
“Mom and Dad love Chris.” Zoe beamed.
“That’s good to know,” Chris said, a smile lighting up his even, attractive features.
Zoe punched him in the arm. “Of course they do. What parent wouldn’t?”
A faint stain of crimson hit his cheeks.
“Now you have to meet mine. Fair’s fair.”
Zoe bit her lip. “Yeah, okay.”
“Good.” Chris kissed the top of her hair.
“So what did you two get up to?” Zoe waggled her eyebrows, directing her attention to Lauren and Mitch.
“Zoe!” Now it was Lauren’s turn to flush.
“Okay, okay.” Zoe’s expression grew serious. “I think it’s great.”
“Thanks. I was just saying to Mitch we should decorate the Christmas tree.”
“Definitely!”
Lauren had a small artificial tree, since she’d read that a real tree could be toxic to cats.
She dragged it out of the closet, Mitch carrying it into the living room. She felt guilty that she and Zoe hadn’t put it up earlier in the month, but they’d been busy with the café and play rehearsals.
The two guys set it up quickly, she, Zoe, and Annie sitting on the sofa and ‘supervising’.
“I could get used to this.” Zoe giggled.
“Me too,” Lauren agreed, admiring Mitch’s lean, muscular frame as he dealt with the tree.
After a second, Annie added, “Brrt!” Yes!
“Let’s get the decorations.” Zoe jumped up.
Lauren and Annie followed her to her bedroom. Lauren’s closet wasn’t big enough to house the tree and the baubles.
“So how was last night really?” Lauren asked as Zoe grabbed the cardboard box.
“I don’t think anything fazes Chris,” Zoe replied. “He was totally cool about meeting Mom and Dad. And Mom whispered to me when we left that he was a keeper.”
“Good.”
“How about you?” Zoe gave her a keen look. “Yeah, I can see that last night went well.”
“It did,” Lauren admitted. “It was amazing.”
“You deserve it to be,” Zoe told her.
“And you deserve a great guy like Chris.” Lauren smiled at her.
They returned to the living room with the box.
“Brrt?” Annie jumped on top of the box, trying to lift one of the cardboard flaps with her paw.
“You can help us,” Lauren told her.
“Yes, you can tell us where each decoration should go,” Zoe added.
“Brrt!” Good!
They placed the large fabric balls on the bottom branches of the green artificial pine, then smaller decorations on the top branches.
“It looks great.” Lauren stepped back and surveyed their work.
“It definitely does.” Mitch wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close.
Annie wriggled under the lowest branch, turned onto her back, and batted a ball with her paw. The gold and cream decoration swung back and forth, tempting Annie to bat it again.
“It looks like the tree has Annie’s seal of approval,” Zoe declared.
“Brrt!”
***
ON MONDAY, THE NEW couch arrived.
“About time,” Zoe said as the delivery truck pulled up in front of the cottage.
She and Zoe had already pushed the old sofa a little to the right, and moved the current coffee table to the left.
“I can’t wait until the guys see the new sofa.” Zoe grinned as she opened the front door. “I wonder if they’ll like sitting on pink, or will it be too girly for them?”
“They mightn’t mind as long as it’s comfy,” Lauren replied. She and Zoe hadn’t done anything about ordering slip covers for the old sofa yet, deciding to wait until their new purchase arrived.
Once the delivery men had brought the sofa and coffee table in and plonked them into place, Lauren pulled off the plastic wrapping.
“It looks amazing.” Zoe admired the pretty couch. It fit snugly next to the old blue sofa, and the pink and blue shades seemed to complement each other.
“This extra coffee table will come in handy.” Lauren pushed the small oak table in front of the new furniture.
“Brrt!” Annie jumped onto the sofa and leaped from one seat to the other.
“I think Annie approves.” Lauren laughed.
“So do I.” Zoe sank down.
Lauren joined her, Annie sitting in her lap.
“Why don’t we claim this new sofa, and the guys can sit in the old one?” Zoe’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Why not?” Lauren teased.
“Brrt!” Yes!
***
ON TUESDAY, LAUREN yawned as she unlocked the café at nine-thirty. Mitch and Chris had come over the previous night, and although Mitch hadn’t slept over, they’d all stayed up late watching a spy drama – Annie, Lauren, and Mitch on the new sofa, and Zoe and Chris on the old one. They’d flipped for it.
Next time, it would be Zoe and Chris’s turn to sit on the pink couch.
“Maybe we should have gone to bed earlier,” Zoe admitted as she sat on a stool behind the counter, rubbing her eyes. “But that show was so good! I kept thinking it must be the guy who was the double agent, but it was actually the girl who was the triple agent!”
“I know,” Lauren agreed.
“Brrt!” Annie called from her bed, before closing her eyes and nestling into the blankets.
Mrs. Wagner, wearing an emerald pantsuit, entered a few minutes later.
“Hello,” she greeted the trio.
“Brrt?” Annie ambled toward her.
“Thank you, Annie.” Mrs. Wagner followed the feline to a small table near the counter.
Zoe nudged Lauren. “It keeps bugging me about how we saw her at the furniture store.”
“You mean how you saw her. I didn’t.”
“Because you were hiding,” Zoe reminded her.
“We both were.”
“Yeah,” Zoe admitted. “Anyway, I’ll go over there and take her order.”
Zoe zipped to the table. Annie had returned to her basket, sensing Mrs. Wagner didn’t want feline company.
Lauren followed, wondering if she would have to rein in Zoe. Her cousin could get a little carried away at times.
“I’ll have a latte and one of Ed’s Danishes,” Mrs. Wagner told Zoe. She craned her head toward the glass case holding the tempting baked goods. “You do have his pastries today, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Lauren joined them. “Honeyed walnut, and apple Danish this morning.”
“I do like his honeyed walnut. I’ll have that.”
“Coming right up,” Lauren promised. She waited for Zoe to head back to the counter with her – in vain.
“Yes, Zoe?” Mrs. Wagner asked. “Was there something you wanted?”
Zoe shifted from one sneaker-clad foot to the other.
“We saw you,” she burst out.
“Saw me? What does that mean?” Mrs. Wagner frowned.
“At the furniture store. In Sacramento.”
“Oh.” Mrs. Wagner’s expression cleared, then became truculent. “So?”
“So, we were shopping for a new sofa.”
There was a pause.
“That’s nice,” Mrs. Wagner finally said.
“Were you shopping for new furniture too?” Zoe asked after a beat.
“Zoe!” Now it was Lauren’s turn to nudge her cousin.
“Why do you ask?” Mrs. Wagner stared at Zoe, as if daring her to blink first.
“Because – because—” for once Zoe seemed lost for words.
“We’ll make your order right now.” Lauren dragged Zoe toward the counter.
“She wouldn’t answer my question.” Zoe’s face was a combination of shock and surprise.
“She didn’t have to,” Lauren told her as she poured coffee beans into the hopper.
“But ...” Zoe seemed lost for words – again.
“It’s none of our business what she was doing at the furniture store,” Lauren told her.
“It is if she’s a suspect!”
“Keep your voice down,” Lauren said in a hushed tone. She flicked a glance toward Annie’s basket but the feline seemed to be dozing.
Mrs. Wagner was checking her phone, not seeming to be aware of their conversation behind the counter.
“I know why she wouldn’t tell me.” Zoe took a deep breath. “She killed Jay, stole the money from his wallet, then went on a spending spree!”
“To buy new furniture?” Lauren whispered. She didn’t feel comfortable discussing this while Mrs. Wagner was in the café with them.
“Yes!”
“Wouldn’t she buy a new rose bush first, since Jay destroyed her rare one?”
“Maybe she already has. We’d better do some sleuthing after work today.”
“What sort of sleuthing?” Lauren asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“I’ll tell you later.” Zoe flicked a glance at Mrs. Wagner still looking at her phone.
“Okay.”
Lauren brought the order over to Mrs. Wagner. “Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like,” she said.
“Thank you.” Mrs. Wagner nodded.
Lauren headed back to the counter. Surely Zoe was mistaken about Mrs. Wagner? She couldn’t imagine the woman killing anyone. But – she had seemed upset about Jay destroying her valuable rose bush, and she’d told them she hadn’t been able to find a replacement.
A few more customers arrived, which kept the trio busy. When Mrs. Wagner paid her bill, Lauren took her cash.
“You should tell Zoe she shouldn’t be so nosy,” Mrs. Wagner told her. “Some people don’t like it.”
Was that a threat – or a warning? Lauren straightened her shoulders.
“I’ll tell her,” she replied evenly. Maybe Zoe was right – maybe Mrs. Wagner killed Jay.
She didn’t have a chance to speak to Zoe until an hour later. She gave her cousin the run down.
“I knew it!” Zoe’s brown eyes glinted with determination. “We are definitely checking out her place after work.”
“Okay,” Lauren agreed dubiously.
The rest of the day passed in a blur – apart from Mitch stopping by on his lunch break. Zoe took over, leaving her free to spend a few minutes with him at a rear table – Annie joining them as well.
They made arrangements for dinner that night – he’d come over to the cottage and cook.
“I’ll buy some steak after my shift,” he told her.
“Okay,” she replied softly. Should she tell him what Zoe had planned for after work? She’d tell him at dinner, she promised herself. She and Zoe could hurry over to Mrs. Wagner’s, see if she had a new rosebush, and then head back to the cottage. Mitch wasn’t coming over until seven, which would give them plenty of time for their snooping.
“Brrt?” Annie asked, looking at Mitch inquiringly.
“I think she’s asking if you’re going to bring her some steak as well,” she told him. “She likes it raw, cut up into little pieces.”
“Sure,” he replied, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“I can cut it up for her,” Lauren offered.
“It’s no problem, I’ll do it,” he said easily.
“Brrt.” Thank you.
Mitch got a call and had to leave, dropping a swift kiss on Lauren’s lips.
She watched him go, a smile on her face. Then noticed Zoe swamped at the counter.
“Back to work,” she said to Annie.
“Brrt!”