Cat Nap

by Claire Donally

  “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 stormed out 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.

  “I was thinking he looked familiar.” Mike took another bite and chewed in thoughtful silence.

  Sunny couldn’t stand the suspense and spoke up. “From where?”

  Mike swallowed and gave her an infuriating shrug. “Dunno. Guess I must have seen him around town—maybe Judson’s Market, someplace like that. As I recollect, he was flirting with a girl behind a counter.” He frowned, rubbing a knuckle just above his bushy eyebrows as if trying to massage his memory. “I think maybe it was from before I got sick.”

  “So almost a year ago?”

  “Can’t say for sure.” Annoyed at his forgetfulness, Mike shot her a look. “Why are you cross-examining me about this guy? You’re seeing Jane tomorrow. Ask her then.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Sunny said. What was the etiquette on situations like a wine-in-the-face farewell? “There really is such a thing as sticking your nose in where it’s not wanted—and maybe getting it bitten off.” That seemed very likely, especially considering the expression frozen on Jane’s features as she stalked away from her table.

  “Hey, you’re a reporter,” Mike said with a proud smile. “If anyone can figure out a way to worm the story out of her, it’ll be you.”

  *

  Shadow awoke from a nap when he heard the sound of Sunny’s car pulling up. He leaped to his feet, ready to welcome her, and winced at the sudden throb of pain from his right forepaw.

  Even though the paw slowed him up a little, he reached the front door while Sunny was still rattling her keys outside. Shadow’s greeting involved a bit less running around than usual. His approach was a bit more careful, especially since the scents he picked up included that sour stuff that made humans act silly. The Old One—Sunny’s father—carefully stepped around them while shedding the heavy cloth that the two-legs used instead of growing sensible fur. That was just as well. Shadow would only give him a cursory sniff at the best of times.

  Sunny, though, went down on her knees, reaching out to him. He could feel the outside cold on her coat as he moved to avoid her arms—a little more complicated now, with his sore foot.

  She finally gave up and rose, sighing. Shadow gazed up at her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be close and let her carry him around. It was just a bad idea to get that dependent on someone else. Too many times in the past, he’d been turned out of his home and found himself on the street. He didn’t think Sunny would do that to him—he really hoped not. But deep inside, Shadow knew he needed to be able to stand on his own four feet—even if one of them
hurt. It was the only way he knew to survive.

  Sunny took off her coat and joined the Old One in the room with the picture box. It showed people chasing one another and using those things that made loud bangs. Shadow had seen—and heard—those things up close. Frankly, he hadn’t liked them. What the pictures didn’t show was that, besides being hard on the ears, those bang-bang things made an awful stink.

  Normally Shadow would have gone off to find a quiet place to rest and recuperate. Instead, he lay down beside Sunny, resting his head on her thigh to make up for squirming away from her before. After a while, her hand came down to smooth his fur.

  Finally the chasing stopped, and a pair of people sitting behind a desk appeared on the box. That was quieter, but boring. Sunny and the Old One talked for a few minutes. Then they rose from their seats and headed upstairs. Shadow didn’t follow them—not right away.

  Climbing the stairs brought new protests from Shadow’s sore paw and slowed him down. By the time he got to the top of the stairway, all the lights were off up there. Maybe I should have let her carry me, he thought.

  Shadow crouched on the topmost stair, licking at the pads on the underside of his paw where the pain came from. Sometimes, that helped the hurt to go away. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much this time. Shrugging with his whole body, he set off down the hallway. Where a two-leg would have blundered around blindly, he easily navigated the route to Sunny’s room, even in darkness. She’d left the door slightly open—good.

  Slipping a paw inside, he pulled the door open enough to accommodate his shoulders and slipped inside. Shadow made his way to the foot of the bed and leaped up onto the top, ignoring the twinge of pain on landing. Moving as delicately as if he were stalking a suspicious bird, Shadow advanced along the soft comforter, skirting the hill that was Sunny’s dozing form. Finally, he reached the head of the bed and slipped under the covers, breathing deeply as he took in her scent. When he leaned against her shoulder, she gave a deep, drowsy sigh.

  Shadow snuggled closer. What had he been thinking, wandering away from Sunny like that? After so much roaming around and so many homes, he’d found a good place and a loving friend. He’d never, ever go off like that again.

  Unless, of course, he actually saw a stupid squirrel standing around outside.

  *

  Sunny awoke the next morning to find Shadow sleeping beside her. “How’re you doing, little guy?” she asked.

  Shadow stretched and rubbed against her—but then immediately began licking at his front paw.

  “We’re going to have that looked at in a little while,” she promised him.

  There was no time for the usual lazy Saturday morning rituals. Jane’s office hours ended at noon. So after a quick breakfast, Sunny got out the cat carrier and set it down on the kitchen floor, adding the furry raincoat lining that Shadow had appropriated as a security blanket. She’d heard stories from other cat owners about wild chases and terrible battles trying to get cats off to veterinary appointments. But Shadow was very cool about it. After an exploratory sniff, he strolled right in, and off they went.

  The Kittery Harbor Pet Hospital was a short drive away, on the edge of the town’s business district. Sunny entered the one-story brick building to find the waiting room empty and Jane’s receptionist, Rita Greene, standing behind her desk, pulling on a parka. Rita was in her late forties, her hair slightly tinged with gray. Like most old-line Kittery Harbor types, she didn’t fool around trying to color it.

  “Dr. Rigsdale is in the back,” Rita said, gesturing down the hall to the examining room. “She asked me to hang on until you arrived.” Rita was having a little trouble getting the zipper started on her bright green parka; Sunny suspected that was last year’s coat, and that Rita had put on a few pounds. “I want to get a start on my grocery shopping today. We’ve got a storm coming, you know. Got to stock up, just in case it really turns into something and we get snowed in.”

  Sunny had heard the news radio storm watch hoopla during breakfast. They’d hit all the main bases—the readiness of the county’s plow fleet, the sudden rush for snow shovels at the home improvement places, and of course, the emergency food purchases. The more she heard, the surer Sunny became that this prediction would be a big bust. Still, she thanked Rita and wished her good look on the shopping front. Then, making sure not to bang the cat carrier against the walls, she walked down the corridor to Jane’s domain.

  Jane looked professional in her white coat, but she aimed a very personal smile at the cat carrier. “Good to see you again, Shadow.”

  Sunny placed the carrier on the exam table and opened the door. Shadow stepped out onto the metal surface, heading straight for Jane. He sat back on his haunches and extended his injured paw to the vet.

  “Pretty smart,” Sunny said. “And he certainly trusts you.”

  Yeah, everybody loves beautiful Jane, that snarky voice from the back of her head piped up. Sunny fought to repress it. She had other things to worry about than old high school jealousies. Had Shadow really hurt himself this time?

  “Conditioned reflex,” Jane joked. “Lord knows, Shadow’s come in here with enough battle wounds and injuries. That’s a very adventuresome cat you’ve got there.” She leaned forward and examined the paw, paying special attention to the pads, looking at them through a magnifier.

  “Was he outside recently?” she asked, glancing over at Sunny. “Since the snowfall?”

  “He snuck out yesterday morning,” Sunny replied. “My dad says he came home limping.”

  “I think someone in your neighborhood had a heavy hand with the ice melt.” Jane let go of Shadow’s paw. He immediately extended it again. That got a laugh out of Jane, who gently stroked his leg.

  “There wasn’t all that much snow on the ground when I got up in the morning,” Sunny said. “But we have a couple of neighbors who really don’t want to find themselves stuck in their driveways.”

  “It looks as if Shadow might have walked across one of those drives and picked up a few grains of ice melt between his pads. Hey, didn’t your dad deliver rock salt back in the day?”

  “Oh yeah, he drove truckloads of salt all over New England before his heart attack. In the old days, they shipped the stuff here from India. Now I hear it comes from Chile,” Sunny replied.

  Jane nodded, her expression grave, but her smile returned as she took Shadow’s paw again. “Well, the stuff you get in most stores now is more chemically active than plain old salt. Sometimes it can even crack the pads on a cat or dog’s paw. We usually close those up with a bit of superglue, believe it or not.”

  She looked up at Sunny. “No sign of that here. On the other hand, while the pads on a cat’s paw are pretty tough, the flesh between them is more sensitive. Getting this stuff caught in there is like having a pebble in your shoe, except it’s not only getting stuck between your toes but burning them, too.”

  “Is there a way to fix it?” Sunny couldn’t keep the anxious tone out of her voice.

  “There’s a nice, simple home remedy you can try,” Jane said. “Just warm up a little mineral oil and work it in around the pads. I’ll show you.” She stepped over to a counter, picked up a bottle of mineral oil, and went to the built-in sink, running the hot water.

  After holding the bottle under the stream of water for a couple of minutes, Jane opened the bottle, let a drop of oil fall on her wrist, and nodded. “Just right.”

  She poured a little oil into her hand and returned to the exam table. “Could I see that paw again, Shadow?”

  Shadow immediately obliged, and Jane rested his paw in the pool of warm oil she’d collected in her palm.

  The cat gave a little mew of surprise and then settled into purring.

  “So, that feels better?” Jane said, gently massaging the oil into and between the pads on his paw. She looked over at Sunny. “See what I’m going?”

  Sunny nodded. “Looks as if he’s really enjoying it.”

  “Yeah, do this every day for a week
, and he should be as good as new.” Jane ran her free hand down Shadow’s back as he sat quietly, still trustingly giving her his paw. She smiled gently down at the cat. “It’s nice that something so simple can help a patient get better. This time on Saturday—well, after office hours—is when folks would bring in their pets to be put to sleep.”

  Her smiled faded as she looked into Shadow’s upturned face. “Sometimes it’s necessary, or even merciful. But it’s a part of the job I’ve never enjoyed. There hasn’t been one in this office since I went off on my own. When I worked with my ex-husband, Martin, I always let him take care of that side of the business. He didn’t mind. Maybe that should have given me a hint of things to come.” Jane raised her eyes to look at Sunny. “I saw you over at the bar in the Redbrick last night. You probably saw how things have worked out with Martin these days.”

  “That was Martin?” Sunny said in surprise. “He’s very good-looking.” The words came out before Sunny really thought about them. Her teeth clicked together as she shut her mouth a little too late.

  Jane’s lips quirked as she ran a finger from between Shadow’s ears all the way down his back. “Yeah, Martin’s a handsome guy, and an excellent vet—but a piss-poor excuse for a human being.”

  She gave Sunny an embarrassed smile when she looked at her again. “He could charm the pants off anyone, and he certainly did it with me. We were married less than a year after I apprenticed with him. Problem was, Martin also used the same magic on a lot of the women who brought their pets in for treatment.”

  Jane took her hands off Shadow and leaned against the table, her fingers clenched into fists. Shadow, sensing her distress, rubbed his head against her arm.

  “Martin was clever, too,” Jane went on. “He always figured he was the smartest person in the room and had all sorts of schemes to rake in piles of money. Problem is, they never worked. He ran the finances on our practice, and we were up to our eyeballs in debt when I finally discovered he was fooling around on me. Worse, he was actually milking some of his better-off lady friends for money.”