Free The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts Page B

scratching the furniture. It looked as though Zach was going to have to make another trip to Pet Palace. He smiled and picked up his pace.
    Later that morning he drove through downtown Angel Falls to the strip mall at the edge of town that housed Pet Palace. Downtown was already buzzing with residents ducking into the Bon Croissant for their morning latte and a slice of eggnog cake or stopping by the bank to make a deposit. Lampposts were adorned with fat red ribbons and cedar swags, proof that Christmas was right around the corner. A Mini Cooper buried under a giant fir tree drove past him. Funny. No matter how dysfunctional their families, people always marched into this time of year determined to enjoy the holidays.
    Compared to the downtown area the strip mall looked like a dinner guest who never got the message that everyone was dressing up. The warehouse stores sat side by side, big plain boxes, adorned only by their big name signs. No need for fancy dress out here. People came for the low prices.
    Zach parked in the gigantic parking lot and wandered into the store. He was greeted by Christmas music: dogs barking to “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” He looked over toward the checkout stands. No sign of Merilee there. Maybe she wasn’t at work today.
    Not that he’d come to see Merilee, he told himself. He’d come looking for a scratching post. But she’d be able to help him. Where was she? He wandered around the store, all the while convincing himself he couldn’t possibly get a scratching post without her expert advice.
    He finally found her in the pet food aisle, setting out cans of cat food. He offered a friendly hello and startled her, making her drop a can. It rolled his direction and he snagged it and handed it back.
    “How’s your cat doing?” she asked as she put the can on the shelf.
    She was concentrating on that can like it would jump off the minute she turned her back and Zach suddenly realized he was standing smack-dab in the middle of an awkward situation. Last time he’d seen Merilee he’d been with Blair.
    How to proceed? He cleared his throat. “Well, I think he’s upset.”
    That got her attention. “Oh, no. Why?”
    He shrugged. “We’ve had a lot of changes lately. My girlfriend and I broke up.”
    Merilee became suddenly busy pulling cans out of the cardboard carton at her feet. “Oh?”
    “I think Tom’s acting out.” Did cats act out? Who knew? It sounded good, anyway.
    She set a couple more cans carefully on the shelf and then turned to look at Zach. “What’s he doing?”
    “Scratching the furniture.”
    “Hmmm. Does he have a scratching post?”
    “No. I thought maybe you could help me pick one out.”
    “I know the perfect one,” she said with a decisive nod, and started down the aisle, leaving Zach to fall in step beside her. “I’m sorry about your girlfriend.”
    “Well, I don’t think we were much of a match. She didn’t like my cat.”
    “A person’s attitude toward animals says a lot about them,” Merilee commented and left it at that.
    “I guess you’ve got a ton of pets,” said Zach. She seemed like someone who would be good with animals. And kids. Not that Zach needed to know.
    Her mouth turned down at the corners and she shook her head. “No pets allowed where I live.”
    She had a great mouth. Never mind her mouth! “Where do you live?” he asked. It would have been rude not to.
    “The Angel Arms Apartments. I’m afraid I’m breaking the rules, though.”
    Funny. Merilee didn’t look like a rule breaker. But then Blair hadn’t looked like a cat hater. Sometimes people weren’t what they seemed.
    “I rescued a kitty and I haven’t been able to find a home for her. I just couldn’t take her to the shelter,” Merliee added with a little shrug.
    “I know the feeling,” said Zach. Speaking of feelings, one was stealing over him that wasn’t safe, so he shoved it away. They were in front of a vast array of scratching posts now.