Christmas in Cherry Hills

by Paige Sleuth

  Tom leapt onto the loveseat next to Maybelle and sniffed the pashmina as though he were attempting to identify the gift giver by scent.

  “Have you broken up with anybody recently?” Andrew asked.

  Maybelle pushed Tom aside. “I never would have broken up with a man who gave me stuff as nice as this.”

  Not even if he had a cat? Kat wondered as Tom stalked off and took refuge under the tree.

  “Can you think of anybody who might be behind these gifts?” Andrew said. “Perhaps a friend has been pushing you to take things to the next level and you’ve been rejecting his advances.”

  Maybelle winked. “I’ll tell you right now, if I had a male friend with such good taste, I wouldn’t be rejecting anything from him.”

  Kat could feel her blood pressure rising. Didn’t her mother realize how serious this was? She was talking as though having a man secretly pining for her was a joke or an opportunity to receive free stuff.

  Maybelle ran her palms over the pashmina. “Feel this fabric. Have you ever laid your hands on anything so silky soft?”

  “You shouldn’t be touching that,” Kat snapped.

  “Why not?”

  Kat was on the verge of exploding. “Because it’s from a deranged stalker!”

  Matty flattened her ears back. Evidently deciding that Kat was the deranged one, the tortoiseshell stood up, crept across Andrew’s legs, and relocated to the other side of the sofa.

  Kat jumped off the couch and snatched the pashmina out of Maybelle’s hands. Then she plucked the box of Aplets and Cotlets and the two cards off of the coffee table and dumped everything into Andrew’s lap. “Andrew’s going to see if he can get any fingerprints off of this stuff.”

  Maybelle slouched in her seat. She looked like a kid whose Christmas gifts had been taken away.

  “Kat told me a silver truck was following you yesterday and again this morning,” Andrew said.

  Maybelle lifted her eyes up to meet his. “That’s right.”

  “Can you tell me anything about it? Did you see the driver, or happen to catch his license plate number?”

  Maybelle shook her head. “But I’m sure he doesn’t mean any harm. He’s probably just somebody with a little crush. Men are always buzzing around me.”

  “Who are these men exactly?” Andrew asked. “Names would be helpful.”

  “You can’t expect me to list all of them.” Maybelle looked shocked by the request.

  Kat dropped back onto the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, if you weren’t such a tease you might not be in this mess.”

  “What do you mean?” Maybelle said.

  “You’re a relentless flirt,” Kat bit out. “Is it any wonder you attracted the wrong man’s attention?”

  Andrew set his palm on Kat’s knee. “Assigning blame isn’t our goal here.”

  Kat pushed his hand away. “She even hit on you, so don’t deny she shouldn’t tone it down.”

  The buzzer sounded. Kat stiffened, her anger morphing into fear. She prayed whoever was here hadn’t come to drop off another present.

  The irony didn’t escape her. She imagined they were the only people in Cherry Hills dreading the appearance of more gifts this Christmas.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Maybelle was the first to react. “Maybe that’s Stephanie,” she said, jumping up and running toward the buzzer.

  Andrew glanced at Kat. She figured he remembered her complaints at the police station and was waiting to see if this was the reference to Maybelle’s friend that finally sent her over the edge.

  But Kat had bigger concerns now than vying with Stephanie for her mother’s attention. Even if Maybelle wasn’t bothered by an unknown man following her around Cherry Hills, Kat was.

  “Stephanie!” Maybelle screeched into the buzzer. “Come on up!”

  Although Kat was somewhat relieved their caller wasn’t the secret admirer, Maybelle’s announcement didn’t bring her much joy. Stephanie wasn’t far behind Maybelle’s stalker on the list of people she least wanted to see.

  Maybelle threw open the front door and hovered in the doorway. “I wonder if she looks the same as she did twenty years ago,” she said, fluffing her hair. “Steph was always a bombshell.”

  Kat didn’t respond. From the way Maybelle had her gaze trained in the direction of the elevator, she figured her mother was talking more to herself anyway.

  Kat caught Tom’s eye across the room. When she held out her hand and rubbed her fingertips together, the feline stood up and ambled over.

  “Maybelle Harper!”

  The shrill squeal caused Tom to flatten his ears back.

  “Oh my word!” Maybelle shrieked. “It’s really you!”

  Kat rolled her eyes at Andrew as she listened to Maybelle and Stephanie enthusing over their reunion. But as annoyed as she was, she was more hurt than anything. Her mother hadn’t acted nearly as emotional upon seeing Kat yesterday.

  The door shut, and the two women walked into the living room. Kat pulled Tom into her lap as she surreptitiously eyed her mother’s old friend. After hearing her described as a bombshell, she had expected to see someone as glamorous as Maybelle, but Stephanie looked more like a plump, matronly housewife. Her brown hair had streaks of gray running through it, and she was dressed in a simple sweatsuit and sneakers.

  “Stephanie, this is my daughter, Kat,” Maybelle said, a huge grin on her face. “Didn’t she turn into a gorgeous young woman?”

  Stephanie regarded Kat with something bordering on affection. “She did indeed.” Her gaze drifted toward Tom. “And that cat of yours is just darling. Look at his rich markings and those expressive green eyes.”

  Despite her dislike of Stephanie on principle, Kat could feel some of her animosity dissipating. “This is Tom.”

  “Tom, like Tom Cat.” Stephanie laughed, and Kat couldn’t help but notice she had a nice laugh. “Cute.”

  “Matty, Matilda, is on the other end of the couch there.” Kat pointed to the tortoiseshell, buoyed by the presence of another cat person. “She’s kind of aloof, but she’s friendly.”

  Stephanie walked over to Matty and rubbed her between the ears. “Hey there, sweetheart.”

  Matty closed her eyes and pressed her head into Stephanie’s hand. Kat could hear the tortoiseshell purring, and her opinion of Stephanie ratcheted up another notch.

  “Enough about that.” Maybelle grabbed Stephanie’s elbow and led her over to the loveseat. “We have so much to catch up on.”

  Kat felt a flash of irritation. Would it really kill Maybelle to let Stephanie pet Matty for one minute?

  Maybelle set her hand on Stephanie’s. “Remember that text I sent you about Kat’s secret admirer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it turns out he’s actually my secret admirer.”

  “You don’t say.” Stephanie hunched closer to Maybelle. “Who is he?”

  “I don’t know, but he has the best taste in gifts.”

  “He’s a psycho,” Kat interjected.

  Stephanie twisted toward Kat, a frown pulling at her lips. “He is?”

  “No,” Maybelle said, just as Kat said, “Yes.”

  Kat glared at her mother, then turned to address Stephanie. “He’s been stalking her ever since she came back to Cherry Hills, and he’s sent over two presents already.”

  Stephanie eyed Maybelle. “He sounds obsessed.”

  “Oh.” Maybelle dismissed her concern with a flick of her wrist. “He’s probably just shy.”

  Kat’s anger flared. She was about to stress the importance of taking this seriously when Andrew put his hand on her knee.

  “Let her enjoy her visit,” he whispered.

  “Why?” Kat challenged, spoiling for a fight. “I’m not enjoying mine.”

  Maybelle rotated toward Stephanie, oblivious to Kat’s increasingly foul mood. “So, tell me what the old gang is up to. Whatever happened to Jonah?”

  Stephanie grinned. “I married
him.”

  Maybelle gasped. “You did not.”

  “I did.” Stephanie paused, her smile fading. “Then we divorced five years later. He still lives in town, but we don’t speak.”

  Maybelle smirked. “Oh, it was one of those divorces.”

  “It was bound to fail. We wed for all the wrong reasons.”

  “I was hoping we could all hang out again, too.”

  “Yeah, because why waste time with me when she could be out with her friends?” Kat hissed at Andrew.

  He didn’t respond, which was probably for the best. Kat knew she was being unreasonable, but this whole situation had thrust her back to the 1990s, when she was a lonely kid longing for a piece of her mother’s attention.

  “Remember when you, me, and Jonah went up to Wenatchee that one spring?” Maybelle said.

  Stephanie cocked her head. “For the Apple Blossom Festival?”

  Maybelle nodded. “We were so bummed Quinn couldn’t make it, but we still had the best time.”

  Stephanie chuckled. “We were terrible back then, weren’t we? I remember swiping food from a few of the vendors when they weren’t looking.”

  Maybelle’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “And that old crone selling corn on the cob bopped Jonah over the head with one of the ears. Remember that? Butter was dripping from his hair the rest of the day.”

  Maybe having Stephanie here wasn’t so bad after all, Kat considered. Her mother seemed more willing to share stories of her past with her friend around.

  “What about Quinn?” Maybelle asked. “You still keep in touch with him?”

  Stephanie shook her head. “He moved to Seattle. His family’s still here, so I see them around town, but other than the occasional hello we don’t speak.”

  Maybelle’s face fell. “That’s too bad. The four of us used to be so close.”

  Stephanie shrugged. “Things change.”

  Maybelle squeezed Stephanie’s leg. “At least you’re still the same.”

  “Oh, come on now. I’m a dowdy middle-aged frump.” Stephanie scrutinized Maybelle. “But you look fab. What have you been using on your skin?”

  “I have a whole ritual. First thing in the morning, I . . .”

  Kat tuned out as Maybelle launched into a description of her beauty routine. If talking about it took as long as doing it, she didn’t think they would be changing topics anytime soon.

  Matty apparently had no interest in Maybelle’s skin-care regimen either. She hopped onto the floor and padded over to the tree. After examining a nearby bauble, she swatted at it until it tumbled to the carpet.

  Tom’s head shot up. He looked astonished to learn that the ornaments weren’t actually anchored to the tree. Unable to resist seeing for himself, he scrambled off of Kat’s lap, and pretty soon both cats were well on their way to stripping the tree of all its decorations.

  Maybelle stopped talking when one of the baubles rolled in her direction. “They’re making a mess.”

  “They’re having fun,” Kat said, jumping to Matty and Tom’s defense.

  “It’s not every day they have a tree inside the house,” Stephanie said. “Who can blame them for being excited? And, Katherine, I think your cats are darling.”

  “Thank you.” The words came out flat. As nice a person as Stephanie seemed to be, Kat still wished she would head on home and give Kat her mother back.

  Maybelle pulled her feet onto the loveseat and tucked them underneath her. “Now, where was I?”

  “You were telling me about that moisturizer that takes ten years off,” Stephanie replied.

  “Oh, right. So, every night . . .”

  Kat studied Maybelle. As annoying as her bathroom takeover had been this morning, she had to admit she did have nice skin. It was no wonder men flocked to her.

  Kat recalled the way Larry’s face had brightened when Maybelle had answered the door. She couldn’t remember Larry ever mentioning a wife or girlfriend. He didn’t wear a wedding ring that she could recall, although that might merely be because he worked with his hands all day.

  Kat’s heart started beating faster as something else occurred to her. Larry had shown up at Kat’s apartment soon after Maybelle had arrived. In fact, he had been the one to find that box of Aplets and Cotlets outside the building. At least, he’d claimed he’d found it. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  “Andrew,” Kat said, tugging on his sleeve, “do you think Larry might be Maybelle’s secret admirer?”

  “Larry your landlord?” Andrew asked.

  She nodded. “They have a history together, and you saw how he responded when she answered the door yesterday. Plus, he has free access to the building. He could have left that pashmina downstairs, realizing it would look fishy if he ‘found’ both of her secret admirer’s gifts.”

  Andrew rubbed his chin, seeming to ponder that.

  “And Larry’s always lugging tools and materials around to fix one thing or another,” Kat went on, warming to her theory. “I’ve never paid attention to what he drives, but don’t a lot of handymen prefer pickups?”

  “I’ll look up what vehicles are registered in his name when I’m back at the station,” Andrew said.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” Kat stood up and shooed him toward the door.

  Andrew grinned. “Eager to get rid of me now that I have a purpose, huh?”

  “More like, I’d sleep a lot better tonight if I knew Maybelle’s secret admirer was somebody like Larry.” Kat liked Larry, and he had always treated her with respect. If he was the person behind the gifts, she was pretty sure he hadn’t sent them over with any nefarious intent.

  If Larry wasn’t the guilty party, well, then someone a lot more dangerous could still be lurking out there.

  Andrew gathered up Maybelle’s gifts, and Kat walked him to the door. After a quick peek to make sure Maybelle and Stephanie were still engrossed in conversation, she set her hands on Andrew’s shoulders and tipped her face up to give him a peck on the lips.

  “Call me when you know what Larry drives,” she said.

  “Will do.” He adjusted the items in his arms. “I’ll let you know if I get anything off of this stuff, too.”

  “Thanks,” she said, feeling a little less anxious than she had been a minute ago.

  But her comfort didn’t last long. As soon as she shut the door, both Maybelle and Stephanie dissolved into peals of laughter.

  Steeling herself, she went to rejoin the reunion.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “That was nice, don’t you think?” Maybelle said after seeing Stephanie to the door.

  Kat looked over at her from her spot on the couch. “What was?”

  Maybelle resettled on the loveseat. “Our visit with Stephanie.”

  “Our visit? She barely said two words to me.”

  “Oh, now, that’s not true. She told you what nice cats you have. And weren’t you happy to see her again?”

  Kat rubbed her temple. Stephanie’s visit had left her with a tiny headache in addition to a boatload of resentment. “This is the first time we’ve met,” she said.

  Matty and Tom had grown tired of knocking baubles around a half hour ago. Tom was now roosting on the crushed pashmina box, and Matty was watching Maybelle through drooping eyelids as she rested underneath the tree. So far, the animals seemed to be enjoying this Christmas a lot more than Kat.

  Maybelle sat up. “You don’t remember?”

  “Remember what?”

  “Stephanie used to watch you when you were a baby.”

  Kat folded her arms across her chest. “I hate to break this to you, but I don’t remember being a baby.”

  “Well, she used to care for you when I was working, up until you were two and they—” Maybelle choked on the last word. She took a moment to compose herself, then said, “Up until Social Services took you away from me.”

  “And you expect me to remember that? I was two.”

  “But you both always had so much fun together. I thoug
ht you’d remember.” Maybelle worked a wrinkle in her pants. “I used to get so jealous watching the way you clung to her.”

  Kat snorted. “Yeah, it must have been tough when Stephanie couldn’t hang out because I was being such a selfish, needy baby.”

  Maybelle’s head jerked up. “I was jealous because you liked her so much more than you liked me.”

  “What did you expect when you dumped me with her to . . . work did you say? Or were you really off doing drugs?”

  Maybelle’s shoulders slumped. “I wasn’t a very good mother to you, was I?”

  “No, you weren’t,” Kat agreed.

  “I didn’t have my head on straight back then.” Maybelle stared down at her lap as if she were afraid to look Kat in the eye. “But Stephanie, she was always so sure of herself. I knew she was good with you—she was good to you—so I often dropped you off with her when I didn’t think I could take care of you myself.”

  Kat clamped her mouth shut. If her mother expected a thank-you for leaving her with someone else, she would have a long wait ahead of her.

  Maybelle gave Kat a sad smile. “You never wanted to leave Steph. Whenever I’d come to pick you up, you’d cry and hold your arms out for her. She used to do this thing with you, where she’d sing you this song when it was time for you to go back home with me. The bye-bye song, was what she called it.”

  “I don’t remember any songs.”

  “It went like this.” Maybelle hummed a few notes that sounded eerily familiar. “It would get you to calm down—at least until we were alone again. Then you’d be inconsolable for hours.”

  Matty joined Kat on the couch. She settled in Kat’s lap and began bathing herself.

  “You called her mama first.” Maybelle’s eyes shone, as if she were holding back tears. “My heart cracked when she told me, but she thought it was funny. I think she was secretly pleased you preferred her to me.”

  Kat frowned. “I don’t remember any of this.”

  “Like you said, you were probably too young.” Maybelle lifted one shoulder. “But I thought some part of you would recognize Stephanie, even if you didn’t have any solid memories of her. I thought you’d want to see her again.”