Nan still feels a little jealous, but she’s working on it. I could meet a hundred long-lost relatives and would still never turn my back on the woman who raised me and in the process became my very best friend.
As much as I’m looking forward to tying the knot with Charles, a small part of me is dreading it too. I’ve lived with Nan almost my entire life—the whole thing excluding a brief period when I tried to establish independence in a crummy rental. Marrying Charles means I’ll be moving in with him, and Nan has made it clear that we newlyweds should be granted our space when the time comes.
I guess for now I’ll soak up every second with my funny, sunny grandmother. It’s not like we’ll be moving far away. In fact, I won’t be moving at all. Nan has decided to buy her old house back from Charles—what a lucky turn of events that he bought her old place when she moved in with me at Octo-Cat’s manor house—and Charles will move in here with me. It’s a short drive and one we’re all already used to making on the regular.
Things won’t be so bad. Just different. I’ve already told Nan to expect me over for dinner at least five times per week, and I also plan to keep her room exactly as it is in case she ever decides to move back. She’s not getting any younger, though I swear she’s in better shape than me and will likelyoutlive us all… even Octo-Cat, who has nine lives to lose before he’s through.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
Normally I wake up to the smell of Nan’s fresh baked goods wafting from the kitchen. Today, however, a sharp pain on my chest lurched me from sleep.
“Confess or die!” Pringle shouted and sent Paisley scampering over my chest once more.
“Stop! You’re scaring me!” the little Chihuahua yipped, tucking her tail tight beneath her as she ran.
“You’re scaring us all, kiddo. That’s what happens when you keep secrets from the fuzz.” Now the raccoon was sitting firmly on my chest as if I were some kind of soapbox for his ridiculous speech. His claws were sharp, and it hurt.
“Pringle,” I growled and shoved him off me. “You’re not supposed to be in the house, and you’re especially not supposed to be in my room.”
“Sorry, toots. Didn’t mean to wake ya, but you’re harboring my main suspect, and that won’t do.” He shook a little black finger in the air. “There’s no hiding from the long arm of the law!”
“But I don’t even have arms!” Paisley cried. “I’m a dog. I only have legs!”
Pringle slapped his hand into his forehead and sighed heavily.“Dick Tracy never had to deal with this, I can assure you.”
I wasn’t sure whether he was talking to me, himself, or an imaginary audience. Whatever the case, I was done with this whole thing. Ever since our resident raccoon developed a taste for old back-and-white gumshoe films, we’d all been short on rest. Lately, he turned everything into a case to be solved. Yesterday we were all treated to the case of “Why is the water bowl empty?” Admittedly, that one was pretty open and shut; Pringle spent more time recounting the glory of his victory than he did investigating.
“Go play somewhere else.” I pulled the blanket over my head, praying that this time they might actually listen.
Paisley slipped under the comforter and licked the inside of my ear.“Mommy!” she squeaked so loud it sent me bolt upright. “Pringle says it’s my fault there’s a big truck outside. He said I’ve been feeding secrets to the Russians. But I don’t even know who that is or why they’re in such a hurry.”
It was way, way too early for this. Unfortunately, past experience dictated there was no way I’d be getting back to sleep. Besides, poor Paisley had always been too easy of a target for Pringle. He would stay on her until I forcibly split the two of them up.
I groaned and swung my feet to the floor.“Pringle, you are not allowed in my bedroom. Not in the morning. Not ever. Understood?”
“Yeah, I understand. The cat and dog are allowed in, but just because I’m a raccoon…” He threw his arms up in the air. “That’s profiling. Just because I’ve got a mask and rings on my tail. Frankly, I didn’t take you for the type.”
“Outdoor animals need to stay outdoors,” I eked out between clenched teeth.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, sweetheart. Do you even hear yourself?” Something lit in his eyes, and he laughed. “Oh, I get it. This isn’t about me at all.”
“It’s not?”
“No, you’re threatened by my investigative prowess. I get it. A failed P.I. like you? Of course you’re threatened by a brilliant ingenue such as myself.”
“Excuse me,” I thundered, then chased the little bandit out of my tower, down two flights of stairs, and through the electronic pet door, which somehow he’d managed to hack once again.
Paisley ran behind me, barking the whole way.“And stay out, you no-good doodoo head!” she ruffed before bolting through the pet door herself.
I pulled back the drapes to watch the two of them fly through the yard where, sure enough, an enormous moving truck stood idling in our driveway.
2
I strode through the door and right up to that big truck, then motioned for the driver to roll down his window. When he did, he looked me over with an odd smile, making me realize I was still barefoot and in my oversized polka-dotted pajamas.
“Hi. Can I help you with something?” the driver asked, tipping his baseball cap cordially.
Suddenly I became very conscious of the fact that I wasn’t wearing a bra and crossed my arms over my chest to preserve my decency as much as I could given the situation. “This is my driveway,” I offered with a shy shrug.
He stared at me blankly, blinking a couple times in clear and utter confusion.
“I didn’t order a moving truck,” I added for clarity.
“Oh. Right. Sorry about that.” The driver stopped speaking and frowned. After a bit of hesitation, he continued, “We’re helping the old lady next door. My crew is running a bit late, so she sent me away and told me not to come back until we’re all here and ready to clock in for the job. She also mentioned that she’d be reducing her payment.”
“Confess!” Pringle screeched at the top of his lungs as he and Paisley darted beneath the truck, then ran back out again. Luckily it seemed like my companion didn’t notice the rogue animals skittering about.
“Just how late is your crew?” I asked, trying to keep our conversation on topic despite the crazed antics taking place right in my front yard.
The driver glanced toward the digital clock on his dashboard.“Maybe seven minutes now. They had an early morning pack-up across town and agreed to meet me here to unload. That first job ran a few minutes over, but they’re on their way now.”
He sighed, and I inadvertently found myself doing the same.
“Sounds like your day is starting off a bit rough.”
“I’ll say.” He dipped his head and sighed again just as Paisley and Pringle scampered off into the forest that lines our yard. Once again, he missed seeing them entirely. Still, I felt bad for the guy, having to wake up early just to wait.
“Can I bring you anything? Coffee? A muffin?”
The corners of his mouth lifted into an odd smile but then immediately gave way back into a frown.“That sounds divine, but I really shouldn’t. I don’t want to give the old biddy anything else to complain about.”
Hmmm, this couldn’t be good. My new neighbor had only just arrived and already she was leaving a sour taste in people’s mouths. Then again, maybe she wasn’t quite as bad as the mover was making her out to be. He could have fabricated his story to make his crew look better. Whatever the case, someone had finally moved into the vacant manor next door, and stopping by to welcome her would be the neighborly thing to do. Even if I was a bit nervous about it.
I said a quick goodbye to the driver, hoping the animals wouldn’t resurface to bother the poor guy, then marched back inside to find Nan.