Catch as Cat Can by Claire Donally Read Free Book Online

don’t know how much longer that store is going to stay open. Neil’s behind in his rent. Ollie wants me to keep reminding him it’s due.”
    â€œThat’s a shame,” Mike said. “Garret seems like a nice guy. Better than that whacko with the pillows.”
    â€œIf he starts pulling fish apart up in outlet-land and dumping the insides on passing shoppers, I’ll let you know,” Will promised. He put down his knife and fork. “So, Mrs. Martinson’s daughter is back in town. How is she?”
    â€œYou’ll have to ask Sunny,” Mike said. “She’s the only one here who’s seen Abby.”
    â€œI played chauffeur for Mrs. M., taking her over to the airport to pick up Abby,” Sunny said. “After two days of cross-country nonsense, I can’t say how she stacks up against Hollywood starlets, but she’s probably in the top one percent of paralegals.”
    â€œHuh.” Will had an odd look on his face.
    â€œDid you know her?” Sunny asked. Will had grown up in the county seat, Levett. While that wasn’t exactly the end of the earth, it wasn’t Kittery Harbor, either.
    â€œNot really.” Will returned to his normal self. “She was in a lot of plays around here.”
    â€œI was telling Sunny, a beautiful girl like that, it’s surprising she didn’t make it in Hollywood,” Mike said.
    Sunny shot him a look.
It’s one thing to say that to your daughter,
she thought,
and another to say it to your daughter’s boyfriend.
    â€œWell, I’m not a Beverly Hills cop, just a plain old Elmet County one,” Will said. “From what I hear, it’s mainly a question of getting good breaks. Right now, though, the big question for her is: Will there be cake?”
    Mike smiled in anticipation. “Helena told me she was baking.”
    Mrs. M.’s coffee cake was famed throughout the county for its deliciousness.
    Better to have the conversation swerve to bake-offs instead of beauty contests,
Sunny thought as they finished the meal.
    Mike excused himself. “I’m going to go keep an eye on those flowers in case the furball gets ideas.”
    That left Sunny and Will alone to do the dishes. He picked up the dish towel while she got the sink’s spray attachment. “So did you know Abby Martinson or not?” she asked.
    â€œNot really.” That odd expression was back on Will’s face. “But—full disclosure here—I did have a crush on her. As I said, she was in a lot of plays. I went to an all-boys high school, so if we did a show, we had to import actresses from other schools. She was Kate in
Kiss Me, Kate
, and I was a lowly lighting tech. A buddy was kind enough to warn me that I was punching way out of my weight class.”
    â€œB–but—” Sunny sputtered. “You ended up going out with the queen bee from my school. How—”
    Will held up a hand. “Yeah, I went out with Jane when
I
was in college. Abby was going out with college guys when we were in high school. It’s just the way things were—and one reason why I’d never wanted to be younger than twenty.”
    Sunny went to work on the dishes.
Yeah, “the best time of our lives”—phooey.
    They finished and headed for the living room to find Shadow in his sphinx pose, his eyes on the vase of flowers . . . and Mike’s eyes watching him like a hawk. Back in her youth, Sunny had taken some scorching looks from her father. With the one he was aiming at Shadow, she was surprised that patches of the cat’s fur hadn’t begun to smolder.
    She scooped Shadow and sat in an armchair, depositing him in her lap. Will took the other chair, leaving Mike the couch. After a few minutes of conversation, Mike looked at his watch. “They should be here soon.”
    â€œI’ll get the coffee started.” Sunny rose from the chair, letting Shadow leap to