Scrappily Ever After by Mollie Cox Bryan Read Free Book Online Page B

jumped into Vera’s lap and sat face-to-face with her, her amber eyes looking into Vera’s. Vera thought she detected a smugness to her— oh, that’s crazy. She’s just a cat . “I suppose you want food,” Vera said.
    Junie Bee mewed and jumped off her lap.
    Vera walked into the kitchen, switched the light on and picked the refrigerator magnets off the floor again. She held them up and said, “Stop doing this!” to the cat and stuck them back on the door. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a can of cat food. She noticed some papers under the edge of the cans. She pulled them out and set them on the corner of the counter with the other papers she’d been picking up from the cat’s kitchen escapades.
    She fed Junie Bee, noting to herself that she’d go through those papers in the morning.
    She woke up at 3 AM thinking of Eric, and one thought came clearly to her mind: I can’t marry him—I love him too much.
    But what if that meant losing him?
    Vera rolled over and pulled her quilt closer around her. The damned cat was draped like a hot water bottle over her feet. She drifted back to sleep, with thoughts of Eric, Donna, and her mother, wondering if she wanted to find the old bat after she had pulled this on her.
    The next morning, she had her breakfast and coffee and sat down to go through the papers on the counter. She was interrupted by Detective Bryant at the door.
    â€œCome in,” she said. “Thanks so much for helping me out with this.”
    As the detective readied the new phone cord, kneeling on to the floor, Vera sat back down and started to go through the stack of papers that had been knocked off the refrigerator. There were several of pieces of Elizabeth’s art, some schedules of activities, and a note from her mother. What? A note?

    Dear Vera,
    We are home and will call when we get to Rose’s house.
    Love,
    Mama

    â€œWhat? When did she leave this?” Vera squealed so loudly that it startled Bryant. He stood so fast that he conked his head on the kitchen table. She held up the note to show him.
    â€œWhat d’you think?” he said.
    â€œThe damned cat!” she hissed. “This note has been under the counter, along with a bunch of other papers the cat had pulled down from the fridge. She just won’t leave things alone.”
    As if she’d heard the word cat , Junie Bee entered the room, strutting around, trying to get the detective’s attention. She had quite a little kitty crush on Bryant.
    Vera dialed her Aunt Rose’s number on her cell phone as the detective chortled and worked on the phone.
    â€œAbout damned time,” Rose answered by way of greeting.
    â€œWhat?” Vera said.
    â€œWe must have left a dozen messages for you!”
    â€œI’m sorry, Aunt Rose. The house phone is broken—”
    â€œBroken?”
    â€œThe cat chewed through the cord or something. Is Mama okay? Is she there?”
    â€œShe’s busy getting ready.”
    â€œGetting ready for what?”
    â€œYour mama is getting married today,” Rose said.
    Vera’s heart felt like it landed in her mouth. “What did you say?” Vera barely managed to say. Where was her breath?
    â€œYep, she’s getting married at noon today, so if you want to be involved you better get your hind end in gear. She’s getting marred over at Lover’s Arch. They had to get married quickly because of Jon’s visa. We had a lot to take care of.”
    Hot tears began to run down Vera’s face, leaving a befuddled Detective Bryant wondering what to do with himself.
    â€œI almost missed my mother’s wedding,” she barely said through her tears.
    â€œWell,” he said, placing the phone back on the table with a thud. “We can’t have that.”
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    They arrived at the wedding with police escorts. Because Bryant had pulled some strings to arrange for the escorts, he