by Mary Hiker
We both laughed, knowing the thought was actually feasible.
“We found the girl that had the dog charm necklace,” Don said. “Did yours have an inscription on the back?”
“Yes, it has ‘Just you and me’ written on the back,” I said. “My ex-boyfriend used to say that to me all the time when we went out camping. He’s the one who gave me the necklace.”
“Yep, that’s it all right,” he said. “Here it is.”
Don held out his arm and dangled the necklace from his masculine fingers. I cupped my hands and he gently dropped the gold chain and charm into my palm.
“So, did the girl break in here and steal it?” I asked, hoping he would tell me no. She seemed like a sweet person and I hated to think she might have a devious side.
“I’m not so sure. She said someone gave it to her, but was tight lipped and wouldn’t say who it was.”
I tucked the chain in my jacket pocket.
Don asked, “What was she doing over here, anyway?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. She was just walking down the road until she saw Chevy.” I raised my arm and pointed out which direction she traveled.
Don stood for a moment and looked out toward the road, then a broad smile radiated across his face. He nodded his head and adjusted his brown deputy ball cap.
“Puppy love,” he chuckled.
“What?” I asked, not following his conclusion.
“I’ll bet Chelsey’s got a secret boyfriend,” he said. “And if it’s who I think it is, her hoity toity parents would definitely not approve.”
I shook my head, remembering what it was like to be a teenager.
“A kid named Cody lives about a half mile down this road.” Don said. “He’s a good looking kid if you like the bad boy type. Funny though, I thought he was trying to clean up his act.”
“You think this kid Cody broke in my cabin and gave my necklace to his undercover girlfriend?” I asked.
The thought of an unknown young man looking through my belongings made my skin crawl.
“I’m going to look into it,” Don said as he gave the Frisbee one final toss and jumped in his cruiser. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Chapter 5
It was the morning before Christmas and I let Chevy romp around the front of the cabin and explore the old tent I set up in the yard. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get him used to camping as soon as possible, so by spring time he would be ready to go. Chevy quickly decided he loved the tent when he found the dog treats I’d hidden for him inside.
I swept the snow chunks out of the tent after Chevy bounded out, and noticed my new neighbor standing out on her porch laughing. She looked to be in her eighties and wore an old style blue jogging suit, white ear muffs and sneakers. I straightened up and gave her a wave as Chevy ran over to introduce himself. I cringed, hoping he wouldn’t knock her over.
I sighed with relief as the woman sat on her steps before Chevy reached her. She was already looking in his eyes and petting his head when I made my way over to her.
“Oh, he is just so precious!”
“Merry Christmas! His name’s Chevy and I’m Avery. We’re both glad to meet you.”
“And Happy Holidays to both of you, I’m Emma. Would you like to come in for breakfast?” she asked, her beautiful smile lighting up her entire face. “I made a big batch of food and it’s just me living here. Chevy can come in too, if you want.”
I could smell homemade biscuits and gravy as I followed her into the house. Colorful lights blinked around every window, ornaments hung from an artificial Christmas tree next to the fireplace and holiday music played softly in the background. My heart felt full with the festive atmosphere in Miss Emma’s home, especially since I hadn’t gotten a chance to do much decorating this year.
My stomach rumbled and I hoped Chevy knew some sort of table manners. I had him practice his new training lesson-sit-while I sat down to feast on Miss Emma’s southern cooking. After a couple minutes of drooling, he decided to lie down and take a nap.
“Oh, Miss Emma, you’re a great cook,” I said, wiping some gravy off the corner of my mouth before taking another big bite of my biscuit. It nearly melted in my mouth as soon as it passed my lips.
Her green eyes twinkled and she patted my hand.
“Just wait until you try my pies. I hope you’ll come back and visit with me often. It gets lonely and I love company. And I always cook too much.”
“I would love that. It’s hard to cook for one, I’ve found. And nothing I make is this delicious.” I paused and looked her in the eye. “Miss Emma, if you ever need anything you just call me, okay? I’m going to give you my phone number, just in case.”
I pulled a pen out of my pocket and wrote my number on a piece of scrap paper, then handed it across the table. My Christmas already felt complete. Chevy and I already created our new little family and I met a great new friend… and it was only December 24th.
I heard a sudden flutter and felt something brush against my leg, startling me a bit. Chevy’s head popped up and tilted to the side as a grey cat raced past him and disappeared behind a decorative cabinet in the corner of the living room.
“That’s Tabitha, a cat that adopted me about two weeks ago,” Miss Emma chuckled. “She mostly plays outside, but comes in through Barney’s old dog door. I put a little cat bed for her back there so she can have her privacy.”
Chevy jumped up and trotted over to the cabinet and peered around the back. His tail beat the floor as he wagged it excitedly, and he dropped his belly to the floor trying to inch his way closer to the cat. I was worried he would knock something off the cabinet and sprang out of my chair to pull him out of the cat’s hidden cove. Miss Emma laughed with delight.
“Don’t worry, my dear. There’s nothing here that can’t be replaced. It would be wonderful if they could be friends.”
As I tugged gently on Chevy’s collar to back him out of the tight spot, my phone rang. I excused myself to Miss Emma and answered it with one hand while sliding Chevy out of the cat’s domain with the other.
“Hey Avery, it’s Don Donaldson.”
“You’re working on Christmas Eve day?” I kind of felt bad for him. “Have you identified the thief?”
Chevy slowly backed out of the kitty’s cubby spot and gave me a ‘but… but… I want to play with the kitty’ look. I patted his head.
“Well, we interviewed Cody, the local Romeo,” Don said. “He confessed to giving Chelsey the necklace, but claims he found it on your neighbor’s driveway when he delivered some fire wood to Emma the other day.”
“Today’s the first time I’ve been to Miss Emma’s home,” I said and could feel my eyebrows draw together in confusion. “I don’t think it could have jumped in her drive all by itself.”
Miss Emma perked up at the table when she heard her name mentioned. I gave her a quick smile.
“No, I imagine it didn’t. Don’t worry, I’m still working on the investigation.”
I let out a sigh.
“Well, one thing’s for certain. Chelsey won’t be coming over that way anytime soon. Her folks have grounded her until New Year’s for being around that boy.” Don said.
“Sounds like a good decision,” I said, remembering a time when I was only attracted to the bad boys too.
“We’ve received a couple more calls this morning from residents in your area reporting thefts. Someone’s really sunk to the bottom of the barrel stealing during the holidays.” Don said. “I’ll stop by your place later this morning when I’m out that way taking reports.”
Miss Emma strained to listen in on the conversation. Chevy sat next to my legs, waiting for a chance to play with the grey cat.
I leaned into the small space behind the cabinet to make sure the cat was okay. She reclined in her bed and flickered her tail, defying my dog to enter her domain. When I reached inside to pet her, I did a double take.
“Woah!” I sputtered into the phone. “I’v
e just busted the thief and have her cornered over at Miss Emma’s house.” I said. “Her name is...”
Don didn’t even give me a chance to finish before he hung up the phone. I imagined he would make it over to the house within fifteen minutes.
Miss Emma called out, completely oblivious to the new developments, “Tell him to come over for a holiday breakfast of biscuits and gravy.”
“He’s on his way,” I promised.
I knelt on the hardwood floor, reached back behind the cat bed and began pulling out items one by one. There was a stack of treasures collected from around our neighborhood, including my bracelet and tennis shoes. There were also several stocking stuffers, ribbons and shiny trinkets of all shapes and sizes.
“I’ve got some news, Miss Emma.” I walked over and took her warm hand. “Come here my friend and take a look. I believe your new cat is a kleptomaniac.”
THE END
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