Free The Whole Cat and Caboodle: Second Chance Cat Mystery by Sofie Ryan

pissed-off seagull.”
    I laughed. “I’m sure Sam had nothing to do with that.”
    Michelle rolled her eyes. “I’m sure.” She smiled down at Elvis, who was nudging her hand because she’d stopped scratching behind his ear. “Well, I’m glad he ended up with you.”
    I didn’t know what else to say to her. Silence settled between us like a large rock. Then I remembered the silver service. That was probably why Michelle was here. “You came for the tea set that Arthur Fenety wanted to sell,” I said.
    “I did,” she said
    “It’s in my office,” I said, gesturing at the back door. “Come in and I’ll get it for you.”
    Elvis jumped down and followed us. To be more exact, he followed Michelle. When we stepped inside the store she stopped in the middle of the room and looked around.
    “This is really nice,” she said. “I should have come in before now.” She looked at me and it was hard to read her expression. Was that guilt I could see in her eyes? I felt as if that rock had just landed in the middle of the room between us.
    I cleared my throat. “You’re welcome anytime,” I said. “If I’m not here, Elvis usually is.”
    The cat gave an enthusiastic meow at the sound of his own name. We both laughed and it seemed to chase away some of the awkwardness.
    I took Michelle upstairs to my office and gave her the box with the silver tea set. She looked quickly at each piece and then wrote me a receipt.
    “You know this place was briefly a private smokers’ club,” she said as we headed back downstairs.
    “That would explain the smell and the window boxes full of cigarette butts,” I said.
    “I’m glad you’re giving the place a new life.” She gestured at the sign by the door. “A second chance.” Her expression grew serious. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable before, when I brought up your show.”
    “It’s okay,” I said. “It was just a job.” I held out a hand. “And now I have this.”
    “Not everyone bounces back as well as you did, Sarah,” Michelle said. “Believe me. I’ve seen people at their worst.”
    I brushed my hair back from my face. “I’m lucky. I had a lot of people helping me. “
    She nodded. “You are.”
    I walked her out to the small parking lot. She shifted the box with the silver from one arm to the other and bent down to stroke Elvis’s fur. “Bye, puss,” she said. She straightened up. “I’m glad you’re back, Sarah.” She turned then and headed toward the street.
    I watched her go, and then I walked back over to the table. Elvis jumped up again, made a wide berth around the bucket of potting soil and ended up sitting down in the middle of the collection of little plants—the second-most inconvenient place for him to be. Even with him pretty much in the way the entire time I still managed to get all the plants transferred into the cups.
    I was just coming back from putting the last teacup in the front window when Nick Elliot walked up the driveway. “Hi,” he said. “I was hoping I’d find you here.”
    “Well, you did.” I realized how lame the words sounded as soon as I’d said them.
    Elvis was eyeing Nick the same way he’d checked out Michelle.
    “Elvis, right?” Nick said. “Mom told me you’d taken the cat that had been hanging around downtown.”
    “More like Sam and Elvis”—I gestured to the cat with the tray of plastic pots I was holding—“conspired to trick me into taking him.”
    Nick reached for the bucket of soil. “Sam tricked you?” he said, eyebrows raised.
    “Yes,” I said.
    He smiled. “Yeah, I can see him doing that.”
    Nick followed me in the storage room, and I took the bucket from him and set it up on the shelf next to my pile of pots. He looked around. “You’ve done a lot of work here. How about a tour?”
    “All right,” I said. I held up both hands. “This is part storage room, part workroom. Anything that’s really messy we do out in the old garage. It still needs some