Catnapped (A Klepto Cat Mystery) (25 page)

“Auntie, I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”

Margaret continued to hold her coffee mug up to her mouth, blowing across the top of it. Finally, she set it down on the table next to her chair, looked up at Savannah and said, “I’ll sure miss you, Vannie. We’ve really shared some things, haven’t we?” She wiped a tear from her cheek. She swallowed hard and then said, “But I understand why you need to go. I’ve known you since you were born and I know how you deal with things, Savannah.” She reached both hands out toward the young woman. “You will be back. I’m sure of it.”

Savannah moved forward, took her aunt’s hands, and sat down on the ottoman. “Oh Auntie, I’m so in love with him. I just don’t want to rush into anything.”

“I know!” Margaret said, a superior tone to her voice. She let go of her niece’s hands and leaned back in her chair. “You’ve always had to step back and look before you leap. It’s your way.” She then tilted her head and, with a knowing look, she said, “I’ve seen you miss some opportunities because of it, too.”

“What opportunities?” Savannah insisted.

“Well, there was the time when you wanted that little rabbit from down the street. But you just weren’t sure your cat would get along with her. You got so wrapped up in what was the right thing to do that you allowed that little rabbit to become that family’s dinner.”

“What? They ate her? I didn’t know that. Oh, that’s awful. I guess procrastination was a definite wrong choice that time.”

“Sure was. And what about the time that sweet young man invited you to the high-school prom? You thought yourself right out of that date.”

“Oh yeah. Jason Turner. I ended up staying home—well, that was partly because I came down with the hives—probably due to the stress I felt because of my indecision. Another bad move on my part. But what about those times when I made snap decisions and they turned out bad?”

“When did you ever make a snap decision, Savannah Jordan? Tell me, I’m all ears.”

“Well, when I joined the Brownies,” Savannah said confident that this would make her point. “Remember, I got lost on our first outing and they had to bring in the search dogs?”

“Savannah, it wasn’t the fact that you joined the Brownies that created the problem, it was your stubborn procrastination or indecisiveness—whatever you want to call it. You were the problem, my dear niece, when you waited too long to decide to return to camp and it got dark.”

“Oh. Okay, well, anyway, I do want to go home, get my bearing, and think about it—and that’s what I’m going to do. Tomorrow morning.”

“Have you told Rags?”

“No, why?”

“I think he has a new friend.”

Savannah looked over in time to see Rags lying on his back under a dining room chair, batting at Layla’s long tail. She was peering over the edge of the chair seat trying to pat his long legs.

Savannah pulled out her cell phone and began taking pictures of the cats.

“Send me one of those, will you?”

“Sure.” Then she became serious, saying, “Now Auntie, you will be okay, right?”

“Yes, absolutely. I have Helena coming three times a week and her sister can help out if I need something when Helena isn’t available. Max is a dear. I’ll probably be over there more than at home, anyway. I can still work with the cats. I’m sure they’ve missed me. Antonio is here almost every day. He keeps an eye on things. He’s a good man. Also some of my friends said they’d be on call to help out. One in particular is Edie—Sally’s mom.”

“Oh cool. She seems like a nice gal.”

“Yes, and she wants to become a part of the Cat Alliance. She may be here this evening.”

“Great, it will be good to see her again.”

***

“Come on in, Max,” Savannah said after opening the door. She looked beyond him and motioned to the group of ladies from Ravenwood. “Hi Kitty, Clarice and… Anna, is it?”

“Yes, and you’re Savannah?”

“Yes, is Gina with you?”

“She’s coming with her mom.”

“I’m so sorry about her Buster,” Savannah said.

Kitty grabbed Savannah around the shoulders and began to cry as she hugged her tight. “You ladies are wonderful. Just wonderful,” she said through her tears.

Clarice chimed in, “We are so grateful. And to think what you went through…”

“Horrible, just horrible,” Anna said looking down at the floor and shaking her head slowly back and forth.

Savannah nodded sullenly and then she glanced up at someone behind the three women and smiled. “But we rescued most of the cats and it’s mostly thanks to this young lady. Charlotte is our hero,” she said as the teen and Dora walked toward her. “She was brave enough to tell about something she overheard at school. She is the reason we found your cats.”

Charlotte blushed and smiled, looking down at her feet. The three women rushed her and began thanking her profusely and telling her what a courageous girl she is.

Dora, sensing that the child was feeling a bit overwhelmed, thanked the women and steered Charlotte over to the refreshment table. She then found seats for the two of them set slightly apart from the others. Savannah watched this. She was pretty sure that Dora was protecting Charlotte from overstimulation.
Like Buffy,
she thought.

“Hello beautiful.” Savannah felt her entire body tingle as she turned to face Michael.

“Hi, yourself,” she said, standing on her tippy toes to give him a peck on the cheek.

***

The meeting started promptly. Max had brought five sheets of paper in different colors and taped them to a large board in the dining room. “I want everyone who is interested in cat rescue to sign their name, phone number and email address under the job task or skill set that most describes you or that you would most prefer doing. Where are your strengths? If you have multiple skills and aptitudes, put your name on more than one page. The committee will go over the names and come up with a model to present to the group for further discussion. If your expertise is cat socializing and behavior, for example, sign your name on the pink sheet. If you love being around cats, but your skills lie in the physical labor needed to sustain them—building cat trees, repairing pens, and so forth—sign up on the physical-labor sheet; I think it’s blue. There’s also medical and veterinary care, fundraising and so forth. Oh yes, and an important one, working with the public. This might be managing adoptions and volunteers, for example. If you’re good at PR and marketing, sign up on the yellow sheet.”

Numerous questions and some lively discussions followed.

Before the meeting started, Savannah had returned Meowster to Ida. But by the time the meeting was over, it was missing again.
Yes,
Savannah thought to herself
, I will have to replace that chenille cat.

Charlotte fell in love with Rags and spent most of the evening on the floor playing with him.

Before adjourning the meeting, Ida called on Max and he gave a report about the raid at the Bray place. Gina and Edie had arrived by then. Edie broke into tears more than once as she continued to thank everyone for bringing her Sally back to her. Margaret expressed regret to Gina who lost her cat, Buster. Gina said, “We miss Buster, but, I’m just glad that Mom got Sally back. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that gift.”

Max announced: “The next item of business is to recognize some of the heroes. Betty and Gil, you went beyond the call of duty. We so appreciate your courage and caring.”

The room echoed with applause.

He then said, “I have a very special award to give tonight.” He looked over at the child who was sitting on the floor at Dora’s feet with Rags. The room grew silent as he continued, “This is Charlotte. She is the very brave girl who listened carefully and shared what she heard so that we knew where to find the cats. Without Charlotte, many of those cats might have died,” he said choking up a little. “Charlotte, can you come up here for a minute?”

The girl looked up at Dora, who gave her a nod. She stood and walked toward Max hesitantly, smiling shyly the entire way. Max stood, took a shiny medal on a cord out of a box and held it up toward Charlotte, saying, “From the bottom of our hearts, Charlotte, we thank you for being the wonderful and special cat person that you are.” He put the medal over Charlotte’s head so it hung around her neck. Everyone in the room stood and applauded for a very long time. Some of the women teared up through their grateful smiles. Edie dabbed at her eyes while clapping one hand against her other forearm. Even Margaret stood with her crutches. Since her hands were occupied, she let out a shrill whistle.

Charlotte stood, looking down at the medal, smiling—glancing over at Dora from time to time. When the room quieted down, she held the medal out for others to see and said, “Thereth a cat on it. I like cath.” She glanced over at Dora and then said, before walking back to her seat, “Thank you.” Applause roared through the room again.

***

“I think that’s it. I’m ready to go,” Savannah said to Margaret, who was sitting on the porch clutching her robe around her. Helena was inside cleaning and preparing a few meals for Margaret. Rags was in the back window of Savannah’s red Honda lying on a blanket, seemingly ready for the long drive home. “I’ll see you in six weeks for your big day.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Vannie. I’ve been married before, you know.”

“Of course it’s a big deal, Auntie.” Savannah squatted down in front of her aunt and patted her hand. “Auntie are you crying?”

She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. “I’ll miss you, kiddo, that’s all.”

Savannah reached up and hugged her aunt around the neck. “I’ll be back.”

“To stay, I hope.”

“The jury’s out on that question. We’ll see what happens.”

“How’s Michael with all of this?” Margaret asked when Savannah stood up to leave.

“We’re both sad. But we’ll be in touch a lot. He’s giving me my space to figure things out.”

“Just don’t take too long,” Margaret scolded. “Men like Michael don’t stay single long.”

Savannah stared at her aunt for a moment.
Hmmm,
she thought,
I wonder if Michael has been dating much. It hasn’t occurred to me that he might find someone while I’m away. I guess it could happen. In fact, it could very likely happen. Am I making the right decision to leave? Thinking back, I did see a couple of women keeping their eyes on Michael at the dance. I didn’t pay much attention, other than to feel special because he was with me. I guess I am taking a chance of losing him by pulling away from him like this. But I can’t do it any other way. I must go. I have to think. When I get married, it has to be the right thing at the right time.

“I’ll just have to take my chances,” Savannah said in a weak voice. “See you soon, Auntie. Thank you for everything.”

“Thank
you
, Savannah. Be safe.”

When she glanced up from inside her car to give one last wave, Savannah saw that Helena and Antonio had joined Margaret on the porch. Everyone waved enthusiastically and kept waving until they could no longer see Rags’s face through the back window of the car.

“Oh Savannah, I can’t tell you how good it is to have you home. I’ve missed you stopping by,” Gladys said with tears in her eyes. After hugging her daughter tightly, she said, “Now, sit down and tell me how your job at the clinic is going. Have you been getting together with your biker girlfriends since you got back?”

“Mom, that’s ‘cycling,’ not ‘biking,’” Savannah corrected. “Yeah, I went out riding with Gwen a few days ago. Had dinner with Shelli and Stu. They’re expecting a baby. The job is okay. Where’s Brianna?” she asked looking around—hoping to get the focus off of herself.

“She’ll be home late. She’s working and then she has a class tonight. You haven’t seen much of your sister since you’ve been back, have you? You both keep so busy.”

“She spent the night at my place a couple of times this week, you know. So what’s for dinner?”

“Your favorite, of course,” Gladys said with a smile as she motioned for her daughter to follow her into the kitchen. “Texas hash. Do you want a green salad?”

“Yes, that would be great. Here, let me help,” Savannah said as she opened the refrigerator in search of some greens. “Mom,” she said as she cut up a few green onions to sprinkle on top of the lettuce and tomatoes, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure, honey,” Gladys responded while checking the French bread she had browning under the broiler.

“How did you know that Dad was the one?”

Gladys turned to face her daughter. “What?”

“When you met Dad, how did you know he was the one?”

“Gosh, that’s something I haven’t thought about for a long time.” She looked over at the salad as Savannah tossed it and said, “How about some artichoke hearts? The salad looks a little flat.” She reached up and grabbed a small jar from a cupboard and handed it to her daughter.

Savannah opened the jar, drained the liquid and then cut pieces of the artichoke heart into the salad. She carried the bowl of salad over and set it on the table, where her mom was freshening a small bouquet of flowers from her garden. She stopped and sniffed the air. “Mom, is something burning?”

“The bread,” Gladys said, rushing toward the stove. “Will I ever learn to make garlic bread?”

“It wouldn’t be like home if the garlic bread wasn’t burned, Mom. It’s your trademark, isn’t it?”

Both women laughed. Gladys scraped burned bits off the French bread and put it on a plate, saying, “I think it’ll be okay.”

“Looks fine to me.”

Gladys set the casserole on the table, poured two glasses of water, turned on the coffee pot and sat down to eat. “There’s berry cobbler for dessert,” she announced.

“Oh yum. I’ll save room,” Savannah said. And then she looked over at her mother. “It’s so nice to be here, Mom.” She laughed. “… burnt toast and all.”

“Okay now,” Gladys said after eating a good portion of her salad and half piece of bread, “how did I know your dad was the one, you ask?”

Savannah set her fork down and listened intently.

“I didn’t know. If you want the truth, I simply didn’t know. I don’t think we ever know what our future will be, Savannah. Do you? Really? We just make the best choices we can and try to make our lives work within the choices we make. You’re thirty-two years old. Isn’t that what you’ve learned?”