That made Grandpa laugh. “So he’s a keeper,” he said.
“Definitely,” Katrina confirmed.
“If you’re happy, I’m happy,” I said. “So we’re good?”
Katrina squeezed my hand. “We’re good.”
“And Avery is back on the job. I think.”
“Oh, boy. I’m not sure if that’s good,” she said. “But we’ll figure that out tomorrow. Now that I have a tomorrow to look forward to.”
Chapter 49
Sunday, January 10: nineteen days after the murder
9 p.m.
“All in favor of allowing the feral cats to continue to live in peace in the neighborhood?” Whitney asked.
We were at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Sea Spray Neighborhood Association—my mom, Katrina, Mick Ellory, Lucas, who had insisted on coming with us, and me. Instead of a vote to poison the cats, the neighbors were voting on an official movement to “leave them the heck alone,” as Whitney put it. Additionally, Whitney and Paul had appointed themselves the cats’ official caretakers. Which would be easier now, given Whitney’s miraculous recovery—her leg was no longer an issue.
But with the Barneses out of the picture—Trey had been apprehended in New York a few days after he fled Daybreak Island and was awaiting federal drug charges, and Edie was in jail for murder—and June Proust moving to Florida to be with her son, who would need to care for her, the major resistance had waned and people were eager to turn their attention to something else. People had even gotten their stolen Christmas decorations back, thanks to an anonymous Samaritan (Craig) who had deposited them in June Proust’s yard under cover of darkness. I only owed him a million favors for that one. Although I might be able to avoid that since I’d been the reason he and Jade got back together. After our chat on New Year’s Eve, she decided to give him another chance. Anyway, I then tipped off the cops that Edie had mentioned something about taking them there before she’d nearly strangled me to death. So everyone was happy about that too.
Conspicuously absent from the meeting were the Hacketts. I’d heard a rumor—from Lilah Gilmore, of course—that the Hacketts had separated. Monica had, surprisingly, been the one to move out with the kids. Lilah told me Monica had never liked the neighborhood anyway.
The vote passed unanimously.
When we left the meeting, I hugged my mother. “Thank you for all your help with this.”
“Oh, honey. I was happy to.” She kissed my cheek. “I’m so glad it worked out. Now you can focus your attention on your place. And your cute boyfriend.”
I reddened. Lucas pretended not to hear her, but he was smiling. He had barely left my side the past week after my ordeal, and he and Ollie had basically moved into Grandpa’s house too. Ollie loved the cats. So far, they were tolerating him.
Good thing Val had only pretended to throw his stuff in the dumpster when I’d been so angry.
He slung his arm around my shoulders now. “Dinner to celebrate?”
“I would love to.” I looked at Katrina and Ellory. “Join us?”
Ellory raised his eyebrows. “Did Maddie James just invite me to dinner?”
I rolled my eyes. “If you’re going to be a wise guy, I can rescind my invite.”
“The two of you better figure out how to play nice,” Katrina warned, but she was smiling too. I hadn’t ever seen her so happy, and that made me actually like Mick Ellory. Who knew?
“I can be nice. So long as she stays out of my investigations,” Mick said.
I didn’t think he was entirely kidding, but I let it pass. I didn’t want to think about investigations of any kind for a really long time. “It’s a deal,” I said, hiding my crossed fingers behind my back, then grabbed Lucas’s hand and squeezed, admiring my new bracelet as I did so. I’d finally gotten around to opening the gift Lucas had brought me. He’d gotten a gorgeous silver custom-made charm bracelet, with three charms so far: one of JJ, one of the cat café sign, and one of a microphone, because I loved to sing. It reminded me of our first date.
He’d promised there were more on the way.
I was really looking forward to spring, and to new beginnings.
Don’t miss the next enjoyable installment in Cate Conte’s Cat Café mystery series:
CLAWS FOR ALARM
Coming soon from St. Martin’s Paperbacks!
St. Martin’s Paperbacks titles
by Cate Conte
CAT ABOUT TOWN
PURRDER SHE WROTE
THE TELL TAIL HEART
A WHISKER OF A DOUBT
About the Author
CATE CONTE is a member of Sisters in Crime National, Sisters in Crime New England, Mystery Writers of America, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She lives in Connecticut with her cats. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
St. Martin’s Paperbacks titles by Cate Conte
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Paperbacks, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
A WHISKER OF A DOUBT
Copyright © 2020 by Liz Mugavero.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
eISBN: 9781250761545
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
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