She grinned. “Good. So, now that we know what happened, who’s going to get Stan’s money? Is the library going to make out like a bandit?”
“From the number of attorney letters I’ve seen on Stephen’s desk, I’d guess it’ll be tied up in courts for months, if not years.”
Kristen snorted. She wasn’t a big fan of the lawyer breed.
“On the other hand,” I said, “both Caroline Grice and Gunnar Olson have sent nice donation checks.”
“Hey, congratulations!” Kristen held out her glass to tink with mine, but before the glasses clinked, she looked down. “Hmm. Minnie, methinks you might have an escapee.”
“Mrr.”
Sure enough, it was my rotten cat. “Eddie, what are you doing out here?” I’d left him inside the boat with the windows shut and the door . . . The door. I’d left the solid door open, leaving only the screen door latched. Wonderful. Eddie had learned how to open the screen door. Simply outstanding.
He bumped my shin with the top of his head, jumped up onto my lap, and turned around one, two, three times. When he finally settled down, he was facing Kristen. “Mrr,” he said to her, dipping his head.
She laughed. “And to you, Mr. Bookmobile Cat.”
I petted his thick fur. Eddie, the bookmobile cat. Eddie, the cat who had found Stan. Eddie, the cat who’d ripped up the Grice genealogy research that had been a waste of time. Eddie, who’d gone ballistic when he’d seen Audry. Eddie, who had nearly scratched a hole in the door when I’d left for the farmhouse.
I stared at him. Had he actually guided me toward the answers? Pushed me in the right direction when I was taking the wrong path? Tried to warn me of danger?
My hand stilled and I looked down at him. He looked up at me and our gazes met, my brown eyes staring into his yellow ones.
Nah. It was my imagination. Had to be. Eddie might be smart, but he wasn’t that smart. No cat was.
He shut one eye, then opened it again.
“Did he just wink at you?” Kristen asked. “He did! He winked at you!”
“I hope not,” I said slowly. “I really, truly hope not.”
Eddie shut both of his eyes.
And purred.