Free Bad Girls Don't by Cathie Linz Page B

side while the other guys were still trying to recover from their power workout. “Lulu has a shirt like that.” He pointed to the “Got Brains?” T-shirt Skye wore with her cotton yoga pants.
    “Yeah, she does.”
    “I hear she’s got a job at Cosmic Comics.” His voice was kind of quiet and muffled with embarrassment.
    “That’s right.”
    He shuffled off without saying anything further.
    Skye wanted to wrap things up, so she faced the team, getting their attention with a wave of her arms. “Remember, you cannot fail. There is no failure in yoga.”
    “Yeah, well, there is failure in football,” Coach Spears growled as he rejoined them. “And we’ve had enough of it. Right, Trojans?”
    “Right.”
    “I didn’t hear you,” the coach barked. “Right, Trojans?”
    “Right, Coach!”
    “Escaped from any handcuffs lately?” Sister Mary greeted Skye as she entered the Sisters of the Poor Charity Thrift Shop later that day.
    “Not lately, no. How about you?”
    The nun laughed. “My handcuff-escaping days are behind me now.”
    “Oh, come on. You never know. I mean, you were part of a sit-in just the other day.”
    “True. I haven’t spoken to you since then. How are you doing?”
    “Fine. Why?” Skye eyed her suspiciously. “What have you heard?”
    “Nothing.” Sister Mary countered with a suspicious look of her own. “Why? What should I have heard?”
    The nun’s words made Skye realize that since she’d spilled the beans about the winning lottery ticket to Nathan last night, he could have blabbed it all over town. But he hadn’t. At least not to Sister Mary. Or to anyone else Skye had run into so far today.
    Before Skye could reveal her good news, Sister Mary was called away. Her place was taken by Wally Purdy, the assistant manager of the thrift store.
    Wally was something of an eccentric, one of the special souls that the nun had taken under her wing over the years. He’d once confessed to Skye that he’d been an alcoholic most of his life, until Sister Mary had convinced him to get help. Skye didn’t know how long ago that was, or how old he was. Maybe in his forties? Age didn’t really matter to her. Nor did mistakes in a person’s past.
    Wally had nondescript looks, dull brown hair and eyes, but he made up for that with his outfits. He took pleasure in wearing the most outlandish golf pants paired with an equally jarring shirt. Today, he’d teamed a Hawaiian shirt in shades of green and yellow with pink-and-white pants.
    Skye admired Wally’s sense of individualism. Plus, she just plain liked the guy. He had a good heart and he colored outside the lines. Definitely her kind of person.
    “Have you come about gravity?” Wally asked.
    “Gravity?”
    Wally nodded. “The kitten. She fell through a hole in the roof in the back and landed on a chair that had just been donated. That’s why I named her Gravity. I know that little girl of yours has been wanting a kitten for some time now. Want to see her?” Without waiting for an answer, Wally reached beneath the counter and pulled out a basket lined with a thick towel.
    Curled up inside was the ugliest kitten Skye had ever seen. She was mostly black, with orange splotches all over her face and body. She looked as if she’d fallen into a jar of peanut butter.
    Wally beamed. “Isn’t she adorable?”
    Skye was instantly a goner.
    “You’re not allowed to have pets in your apartment,” Sister Mary reminded her as she rejoined them.
    Skye waved her words away. “That policy may be changing soon. Wally, can you take care of Gravity for me awhile?”
    “Sure. She can stay with me here at the store and keep me company.”
    “Just make sure she doesn’t get outside. It’s a dangerous world for a little thing like her.” Skye rubbed the scrawny kitten’s ears. The result was a mighty purr that would do a lion proud.
    Wally grinned. “Dr. Flannigan the vet has already looked at her and given her some kitten shots. He says