always says look at the good side. He could come back with a whole new appetite.”
I smiled. David
David’s face lit up. “They are? Can I visit with them when yer done shopping?”
“Um, sure.” I was a little surprised at how excited he seemed.
But as we walked out to my van ten minutes later, with David carrying my dinner, he explained how his mother thought cats were bad luck. “When I get a place of my own, I’m getting me a cat. I love my mama, but she’s gotta let me grow up and move out sometime. And when I do, I’m having a cat—maybe a dog, too.”
I opened the back of the van. When David set down the grocery bag, Merlot turned his head away. Not happy. Chablis started up with her dismal mewing again.
I pulled her carrier closer and unzipped the top just enough so David could fit his hand in to pet her.
“She don’t bite, does she? Grandpa Nagel had a cat that was so mean he could run a dog off a meat wagon.”
“She doesn’t bite. And she’d love a scratch on the head.”
David stuck his hand in and did just that. Chablis closed her eyes and starting purring. “Wow. She likes me, huh?”
“If she could talk, she’d say ‘yes.’ Look how she’s closing her eyes.” If only more people knew what a cat can accomplish with a purr. David was beaming.
A few minutes later I was on my way home when my cell rang. The caller ID read MERCY POLICE.
“Did you find him?” I said when I connected. “Where was he?”
“Sorry, Ms. Hart,” Candace said. “I’m at your place and I haven’t seen your cat anywhere. Think you’ll be home anytime soon?”
“I’m five minutes away.” I wanted to add, “This is Mercy. Everything is five minutes away,” but I was too disappointed even to offer a smile as I made that all too true observation.
“Good. I took the liberty of calling up Billy and he says—”
“Billy?”“Hardware store guy,” she said.
“That’s right.”
“Anyway, he’s meeting me here to get your window fixed. Can’t be sleeping in your house with a broken window, can you?”
“Thank you, Candace. See you in five.” That was a kindness and now I managed a smile as I drove on home. Small towns have their advantages—like genuine concern from a relative stranger.
Turned out, Billy looked familiar. Where had I seen him before?
Candace hovered near him as he fixed the window. If I read her smiles and body language right, she was flirting with the guy. He had dark brown hair, muscles that told me he could pry the lid off a nuclear reactor and just enough scruffy facial hair to remind me of that nameless actor on some crime show I watch. But where had I seen him before? I mean, I hardly knew anyone in Mercy.
While Billy measured my window, Candace went to work with her fingerprint kit. As I watched them, I decided she’d planned this all out. What better way to be that close to a hunk like Billy than to be dusting while he was measuring? And it worked. They were ear to ear.
She kept glancing his way and he kept ignoring her. Guess putting in new windows is a fascinating occupation. When he left for his truck to get the new pane, her gaze never left his butt with its weighted-down tool belt.
Candace said, “What is it about a tool belt that just fills my mouth with spit?”
“That’s not exactly an attractive thought, Candace.” I smiled. “Besides, it’s more what holds up the tool belt that has your mouth watering.”
“You got that right. Now, back to business. I got nothing off that window. Perp musta worn gloves. I’ll dust the TV, but I’m thinking I won’t find anything.”
And she didn’t. By the time she was finished, Billy had cut the glass to size under Candace’s adoring eyes, and I soon had a brand-new window.
“How much do I owe you?” I asked when he was done.
“Five bucks oughta cover it,” he said. “The pane itself only cost a buck fifty.”
“Is that all?” My purse was sitting on top of Merlot’s carrier. He was sound asleep and Chablis had worn herself out, too. I took out my wallet.
“There might be one thing you could help me with,” he said. “I’m a volunteer fireman and we put together this calendar. I know it’s late in the year, but if you’d be so kind as to buy one, that would sure help our charity. We donate the money to kids all over South Carolina who’ve been burned in house fires or accidents.”
His cheeks colored to almost strawberry. “Ma’am, it’s for the kids.”
“I want two more calendars, then,” I said. “And by the way, I make quilts for charities. Children’s quilts, so I could—”
“I need another calendar, too,” Candace said quickly.
Billy’s eyes met hers for the first time. “Now that’s real nice of you two ladies.”
I caught a lingering gaze between them. Candace was catching on about how to make Billy pay attention.
“What I started to say was that I have some quilts in the other room looking for small bodies to keep warm,” I said.
“You’d give us those?” he said.
“That’s why I make them. Let me get you a few.”
As I left the room, I heard Billy say to Candace, “She’s one sweet lady, isn’t she? Young to lose a husband, though. Dan Meade caught that 911 call last January. Couldn’t do a thing for the man.”
I swallowed hard and picked up my pace. John’s death would always leave a wound, but the constant grieving had to end—and I’d been making progress. He would have wanted me to move on with my life. And I was trying my best.
When I returned, quilts in hand, Candace was busy dusting the rest of the entertainment center for prints.
“I thought you said the intruder wore gloves?” I said.
“I know.” She faced me. “I guess I’m as stubborn as my daddy always says. Bad guys leave things behind, even the smart ones, and I want to find something this one left.”
Just then Billy came back into the house with three calendars. We paid up and he left, again with Candace admiring him every step of the way.
As soon as he was gone, she flipped the calendar open to July and said, “Now here’s what I’m talking about. Can’t have enough of this.”
Billy was shirtless and wearing his volunteer fireman pants, suspenders loose over broad shoulders. The man was oiled, bronzed and had muscles Superman could only wish for.
After we stared for a few seconds, Candace wiped a damp strand of hair off her forehead—she was a bit sweaty even though the evening was beginning to cool the house down considerably. She said, “Let’s get back to work.”
“Obviously you think there might be a clue here, so tell me how that will help find my cat. If I don’t get Syrah home by dark . . .” I’d been distracted for a time, but now my eyes burned. I willed back the tears. Tears wouldn’t help anything.
“You really love these cats, huh?” Candace said.
“They’re all I’ve got.”
She nodded, as if to tell me she understood. “I collected a clump of what looks like cat hair out near the end of your driveway—can’t say that’s what it is ’cause I got no hard evidence, but you want to take a look? If it belongs to your missing cat I can surely find a match here in the house. Plus there were tire tracks. I took a picture, but matching the tire to make and model probably won’t happen. No way the town’s gonna pay a nickel to search for a match since they’d be with Morris—decide nothing was taken. But that missing cat is as good as gold to you.”
“Syrah might have simply run off. That’s what most people would conclude. But he wouldn’t go with a
