by Patricia Fry
"What's going on?" Margaret asked, letting herself in through the side kitchen door. She looked from one to the other. "What's so funny this early in the morning?"
"Lizzie!" Lily said, following Adam out of the service porch.
"You didn't let her put my bra in the litter box, did you?" Savannah asked.
"She put your bra in her litter box?" Margaret asked, chuckling. "Why?"
"No," Michael said, still laughing.
"She put it in the dirty clothes pile," Adam said, rubbing his face on Lizzie's. "She thinks it needs to be washed."
"Oh my gosh," Savannah said. "It does, actually. I was going to bring it in here to add to that load and I forgot it." She tickled Lizzie's little cheek. "You silly cat."
"She should get an allowance too, Dad," Adam said, straight-faced.
"What did I miss?" Gladys asked, entering the room to find everyone laughing.
"Lizzie's trying to earn an allowance," Michael said.
"And she thinks Savannah's clothes are dirty," Adam added.
When Gladys seemed confused, Savannah approached her mother. "How are you feeling this morning?" She hugged her. "It's so good to have you home."
"Yeah, good to see you," Margaret said, hugging her sister. "Did you have a successful trip?"
Gladys poured hot water over a tea bag and sat down with the cup. "Yes and no. I guess more yes than no."
When Gladys seemed to be finished talking, Margaret asked, "So what happened last night? I saw flashing lights and I thought I heard an alarm."
"And you didn't come over to check on us?" Savannah asked.
"No, when I saw Craig drive past our house, I figured you were in good hands and I went back to bed. So did you have a break-in…again?"
"Yes, one of Mom's friends," Savannah said, smirking playfully.
"Huh?" Gladys mumbled. "Not my friend."
When the others remained quiet, Michael said, "It appears that the gal who stole your sister's things and maybe killed someone left something maybe incriminating in one of Gladys's purses. So last night she came to claim it."
"Yeah, she got away with our mother's favorite purse—you know, the tapestry one," Gladys said.
"That was her favorite?" Margaret asked.
"Sure it was. That woman stole it, then I found it where she was living in Los Angeles and I brought it home. Last night she came barging in here wanting it. And now it's evidence and the police have it," Gladys complained.
Suddenly, Savannah sat up straighter and said, "I think she's the same one who was here earlier dressed like a man. That was definitely her. I thought that man was pretty effeminate."
"Well, yes," Michael said. "Didn't you see her beanie and those big sunglasses? Rags knocked them off her."
"Really?" Savannah said. "I missed that part of the show." She jumped a little and reached for her phone. "Good morning, Craig."
"Is everyone up?" he asked.
"Yes. We're all accounted for. Why?" she asked.
"No reason. Just making small talk."
"So, Craig, what did you find out about that woman?" Savannah asked. "We're all on pins and needles to know what the status of her arrest is. Did you charge her with murder?"
"Oh, well, it doesn't appear it will be that simple," Craig said. "She says she was tricked into hiding the dagger sheath for the real killer and now he's turning on her. You know the old saying that possession is nine-tenths of the law. She's also claiming that your mother is out to get her—that she wasn't the one who moved into Gladys's storage unit and took her things—Gladys is framing her and she probably planted the sheath in the purse. It was Gladys's purse, after all. And she also planted her belongings in Ms. Kirk's room at her rental just to get her in trouble."
"She's blaming Mom?" Savannah asked.
"No worries, Savannah," Craig said. "The deeper we dig for information about that woman, the deeper her grave becomes. She's a piece of work if I've ever seen one. I'm thinking about leaving this case to someone else. I don't have the energy and sense of humor for these thorny, problematic cases anymore. Give me those where the perp shoots straight from the hip. I don't have what it takes to handle these cuckoo-bird, nut job cases."
"Wow! I guess you didn't get enough sleep last night, did you?" Savannah said.
"What gave you the first clue?" he asked.
"So the bottom line is the guy was killed, it wasn't an accident, and you think Amanda was at least an accomplice or an accessory?" Savannah asked.
Craig chuckled. "You've got the lingo down pat, don't you?" More seriously he said, "We don't know where this case will take us. All I can hope is that the gal will crack under interrogations, which is doubtful. If she's as crazy as she appears to be, she'll most likely dance her way into the loony bin or charm some old bored judge into just a slap on the fanny."
"The fanny?" Savannah repeated, laughing.
"Sure," he said. "Did you get a gander at her figure? She'll even look good in prison garb." He took a deep breath. "We may not be able to make a decent case against her even if we can get any straight answers from her." He looked at Savannah. "Maybe it's time."
"Time for what?" she asked.
"To take Iris's suggestion and retire—become her full-time right hand man at the inn."
"Maybe," Savannah said, humoring him. "But how did this become your case, is what I want to know?"
"Oh," he grumbled. "I guess it belongs to my friend Klein down at the LA precinct. I may have to deal with the breaking and entering part, but I'm sure Klein will want to be the hero in the murder and burglary cases."
Savannah said, "Well, I'd better finish getting breakfast. Keep us posted, will you? I'm sure Mom would like to be kept in the loop, especially since the police still have a lot of her belongings."
****
Later that afternoon Gladys walked down the stairs and found Savannah sitting in the overstuffed chair with Lizzie. "What's wrong, Vannie?" she asked. "You look down. You aren't still having that headache, are you?"
Savannah shook her head. She took a ragged breath, wiped at one eye, then eased out from under the kitten. "Look at the time. Gabby will be here soon and she's bringing someone to meet me. I'd better get squared around. I think I'll take a shower and get cleaned up. The kids should sleep for another forty-five minutes or so."
"Sure, go ahead." Gladys smiled down at Lizzie. "I'll keep this darling cat company. Oops," she chirped, when Lizzie jumped down to the floor and trotted after Savannah.
"She's sure attached to you," Gladys observed.
Savannah picked up Lizzie and asked, "Do you want to take a shower?" She laughed. "Actually, she likes water. Like Rags, she'll get into the shower and walk around on the wet floor and even let the water drip on her." She placed the cat on the floor. "You don't need to help me today. Why don't you stay here and keep Grammy company?"
However, when Savannah walked into the hallway, Lizzie trailed along behind her.
"Yup," Gladys said, "she's attached."
****
"Hi," Savannah greeted when she opened the door to Gabby and a nice looking man of about thirty-five. "Come in." She hugged Gabby, then stepped back.
"Hi," the man said, holding out his hand. He smiled broadly. "I'm Roland, Gabby's dad.
"Savannah," she said. "So nice to meet you." She smiled at Gabby. "I've really enjoyed knowing your delightful daughter."
"She is something, isn't she?" Roland agreed.
"Come in," Savannah invited. "Would you like a glass of iced tea or lemonade?"
"Lemonade," Gabby said. "I love lemonade."
Roland nodded. "Sounds good."
"Do you have any of Grammy's ginger cookies?" Gabby asked quietly.
"She makes ginger cookies?" Roland asked.
Savannah smiled. "Two ginger cookies coming up."
Once they were seated with refreshments, Gabby asked, "Where's Adam. I thought he was here this week."
"He went to work with his dad this afternoon. H
e helps out at the clinic sometimes."
Gabby faced her father, saying, "Savannah and her husband are both veterinarians."
He nodded. "Oh yes, Gabby said she helped you with a colony of feral cats."
"She sure did," Savannah said. "We trapped the last two yesterday. Task completed and job well-done."
"Who's this?" Roland asked, looking at something behind Savannah.
She turned around. "Oh, that's Rags."
"The cat that works with the police department?" Roland asked.
"Gabby told you about him, did she?" Savannah questioned.
Roland nodded. "As did Randy and Loretta. He must be some cat. Oh, and I started reading your book, although I really didn't have to. I think Gabby told it to me practically word for word." He looked at Rags and wriggled his fingers to entice him. "He does have a stature about him—like he has it all together."
Before Savannah could respond, Rags leaped into the air and landed facing the opposite direction. He then batted at something under Savannah's chair. "What happened, Rags?" she asked.
Laughing so hard she could barely talk, Gabby said, "His tail. I think someone's under your chair and they grabbed his tail."
"Oh?" Savannah said, reaching under her chair.
Gabby moved closer to help and managed to pull Lizzie out into the open. "Hi, sweet girl," she said, cradling the kitten in her arms. She sat down. "Dad, this is the cat I told you about."
"You told me about a lot of cats in the last few days, chickadee."
"Well, this is Lizzie. She was with the feral cats, but we don't think she's feral. She's the friendliest, cutest cat ever. Don't you think so?"
"She is cute," he said. "Hi, Lizzie. Were you tormenting your big brother there?"
"Constantly," Savannah said. "Rags is pretty cool and collected, but this little thing has rattled his cage. She sneaks up on him and throws him into a tizzy. I haven't seen him so vulnerable in a long time. Sometimes he loses patience with her." She chuckled. "He's sure protective of her, though. Last night we had an intruder…"
"An intruder?" Roland repeated.
"Yes, we're fine. No harm done—well, except for Rags attacked the woman."
"What?" Gabby shrieked.
"Well, what I wanted to tell you about is that Lizzie apparently got closer to the stranger than Rags thought she should, and he actually grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her a safe distance away."
Roland raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Oh, Rags," Gabby said, "you're awesome. Just awesome." She placed Lizzie on her lap and examined the back of her neck. "He didn't hurt her, I guess."
"Didn't seem to," Savannah said.
Gabby leaned against the back of the sofa and let her father pet the cat. When Lizzie reached out toward him, he asked, "Do you want to come see me? Well, I don't mind getting to know you. You are a sweet girl." He asked Savannah, "How long have you had her?"
"Just a short week, but in some ways it seems like years. She has a way of growing on you and rather fast. I just adore her. I'm fostering her, you see."
"Do you enjoy fostering?" he asked. "We foster newborn kittens sometimes. My wife is specially trained to care for motherless kittens. It happens, thankfully not often. It takes a special kind of person to foster, especially newborns."
Savannah looked lovingly at Lizzie. "I doubt I'll ever do it again."
Gabby looked confused. "Why, Savannah? I thought you loved Lizzie."
"I do," Savannah said, "that's why I'll probably never do it again. I love her too much—so much, in fact that I have to let her go sooner rather than later."
"Oh no," Gabby said.
"It's for her," Savannah said, choking up. "I'm doing it for her."
"Who's going to adopt her?" Gabby asked, petting Lizzie's tummy as her dad held the kitten. Lizzie, meanwhile, batted at Gabby's fingers.
Savannah smiled. "I have the perfect home in mind."
When they heard the children begin to stir down the hallway, Gabby stood up. "It's Lily and Teddy. Can I get them up?"
"Sure," Savannah said. "They'll be thrilled to see you." She watched Gabby walk down the hallway, then leaned closer to Roland.
Before she could speak, he asked, "Savannah, I hope I'm not being too bold when I ask if Gabby and I could be in the running to give this beautiful cat a home. She's practically all Gabby has talked about since I got here. I know she would take excellent care of her." He frowned. "Or do you have someone else in mind for her?"
Savannah choked up again when saying, "Roland, I was just going to ask you if there was any possibility that you could take her. I'm aware of Gabby's deep connection to her. It would make me over-the-top happy to see her take Lizzie home to be with your family."
He stared at her for a moment. "Savannah, excuse me for saying so, but it doesn't look like you're happy."
She laughed through her tears. "I can't lie. I love that little cat. She has been a delight, but Gabby loves her too. The two of them have developed an incredible bond. So, while I'll be sad to see Lizzie go, I'd absolutely love for Gabby to have her—if that's what she wants."
Roland was silent for a few moments. When he glanced up at Savannah, there were tears in his eyes. She laughed. "Now you're blubbering. I'm sorry."
"No. It isn't you. It's just that she reminds me so much of a kitten we had when Gabby was a baby. That little cat loved Gabby and Gabby adored her. It's almost like we're going back to the happiest time in my life with my daughter and our favorite cat." He snuggled with Lizzie. "Thank you Savannah. We accept your most gracious gift."
"Dad," Gabby said, walking into the room with Teddy in her arms and Lily by the hand, "These are more of my best friends, Teddy and Lily." To the children she said, "Guys, this is my dad."
"Gabby!" Teddy said, poking her with his finger.
Lily stood against Gabby staring shyly at Roland. She broke away and ran to where her doll stroller sat. She lifted Sally out of it and showed it to Gabby. "This is my Sally doll," she said. "It was Mommy's Sally doll. She has pajamas, dresses, shoes…"
"That's an old doll," Gabby said.
Savannah and Roland chuckled.
When Teddy struggled to get down, Gabby released him and he ran to his riding fire truck. Gabby sat down next to her dad and petted Lizzie.
"Well," Roland said, "We'd better go. Savannah, it was wonderful meeting you."
"Thank you," she said.
Gabby hugged Savannah, then walked toward the door where her father stood with Lizzie in his arms. He opened the door.
"Dad, what are you doing? You have Lizzie."
"I know," he said, smiling at her. "We're going to take her home." He handed her to Gabby. "Here, why don't you carry her?"
"What?" she shrieked. Gabby looked at Savannah, then at her dad. "She's mine?"
"Happy birthday," he said, smiling. "Happy birthday twelve times."
Gabby burst into tears while hugging the cat.
"Hey, chickadee," Roland said, "you're getting her fur all wet."
Gabby looked at Savannah. "For real? I thought you had the perfect home for her."
"I do," Savannah said. "With you. You want her, don't you?"
"I sure do. Oh, Savannah, thank you," she said hugging her.
"You are so welcome," Savannah said, embracing the girl and the kitten. After a few moments, she pulled back. "Let me get her carrier and bed and everything for you. Meanwhile," she said, "Gabby the kids would probably like to hug her and tell you goodbye. Lily, honey, come here, I want to tell you something. Remember we were fostering Lizzie—taking care of her until we found just the right home for her?"
"Her forever home?" Lily asked.
"Right," Savannah said. "Well, we found that home. Gabby is going to take Lizzie home and love her and care for her like we did."
Lily looked at Gabby, then at the cat. She hugged Lizzie and kissed her, murmuring, "Bye, Lizzie. Teddy," she called, "kiss Lizzie, she's going home with Gabby."
"Can I have a hug?" Gabby asked, kneeling at the children's level.
Both children grabbed her around the neck and hugged tightly.
"Don't squash Lizzie," Gabby said, laughing.
"You know, what," Savannah said, "Lizzie doesn't even seem to mind. She'll take all of the loving she can get."
"Well, she sure will get it at our house, right Dad?" Gabby said.
Roland winked at her. "Right. Thank you again, Savannah. Bye, kids."
****
That evening after dinner, Michael picked up one of the cat toys Lizzie liked to play with. "It sure is quiet around here without the Lizard."
Teddy ran to him and leaned against his legs. "Lizard, Daddy? Where's lizard?"
"I was talking about Lizzie," he said.
"Lizzie go bye-bye with Gabby," Teddy said. He giggled. "I kiss Lizzie. She tickle me."
When Michael heard Savannah quietly weeping, he pulled her to him and held her.
She blubbered, "I'm okay. There's just so much I'll miss about her. It'll take a while, but I'm beyond happy that she'll be with Gabby." When her phone chimed, she took a deep breath, wiped at her tears and said, "It's Rochelle." Into the phone she said, "Hi."
"Hi," Rochelle said. "Are you okay? You sound…um not okay."
"I thought you said I would experience great joy or something like that."
"Yes, I did," Rochelle said. "I saw you oozing with joy and delight. What happened? Was I wrong? Did I read my vision wrong?"
"No," Savannah said, chuckling. "You were so right on you won't even believe it. It's just that it's over. The reason for the joy is over."
"Tell me what happened." Rochelle urged compassionately.
"Well, I met this wonderful little girl named Gabby…" Savannah started.
"Yes," Rochelle said. "I think she had already entered your life when we last talked."
"I think so. Well, then enter the most wonderful cat. She jumped into my car with me and I decided to foster her. We had her for not even two weeks and it feels like we've experienced a lifetime of memories with her. I fell so deeply in love with that little thing, but I committed to fostering her. I agreed to let her go when the perfect forever home came along. Well, guess what, it came and I had to let both her and Gabby go. It was painful."
