“So you’re opening a… what exactly?”
“A private investigation firm.” I bit my lip while he continued to stare at the sign with a furrowed brow.
“And you’re a pet whisperer now?” His eyes snapped up and locked with mine.
I took a step back and forced a laugh. “It’s just a cute name Nan and my mom came up with.”
“So you don’t talk to animals?” he asked, raising an eyebrow now. He didn’t appear judgmental, just curious. Still. I really would have preferred a different name for my new firm.
I shook my head so hard, I practically got whiplash. “No, ha! Don’t be silly!”
“Too bad,” Cal said after making a gentle clicking noise with his tongue. “I think it would be interesting to hear what they had to say.”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I’m sure it would be. Especially considering my cat turned up missing yesterday, and I’m worried sick about him.”
“Octavius, right?” he asked. “I remember that guy. Do you need any help searching for him? It should only take me a few minutes to hang this sign, and then I have the rest of the day free.”
I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling much better about Cal’s visit. Nan was only trying to help expand our search team. All the flirty stuff was just her way of adding a bit of dramatic flair, but not really the point. “Thank you, Brock—I mean, Cal. That would be really nice, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
A curtain rustled in the window, and I saw Nan poke her head into view wearing a giant, naughty grin. I, of course, shot her a death glare. Whether or not her heart was in the right place, sometimes her tongue ran away with her. Sometimes I needed to put my foot down, to remind her that meddling with my life wasn’t an appropriate—or appreciated—hobby.
Less than a minute later, Nan flung the front door open and pushed her way between us on the porch. “Did I hear you’re going to help us search for our sweet missing kitty?” she cooed, batting eyelashes so long I had to wonder if she’d applied fake lashes—or at least several extra coats of mascara.
“Yes, of course,” Cal answered, fixing her with a charming smile. I don’t think I’d ever met a single person who didn’t immediately adore my nan. It was kind of like her own personal superpower.
“Oh, goodie,” she cried. “Angie and I need all the help we can get. We are so worried about our little guy.”
“Think nothing of it. It’s my pleasure,” Cal assured us both just as another vehicle pulled up the driveway and stopped in front of our manor house.
Well, Nan and I were certainly popular this morning. I, of course, recognized the dusty black sedan right away. Sure enough, Charles parked quickly and then lumbered over to join us on the porch.
“Nan,” he cried. “I came as soon as I got your text. Is everything okay?”
Nan floated over to give him a hug hello, smiling at me as she did. Would every eligible bachelor in Blueberry Bay show up at my house this morning? Ugh, I sure hoped not.
Exactly two thoughts flittered through my mind then as the four of us stood awkwardly together on the porch.
One, I definitely regretted teaching my grandmother how to text.
And two, I was going to kill her.
Chapter Seven
Everyone except for Nan seemed a bit uncomfortable during our impromptu porch meeting. This was made incredibly clear by the fact that no one said anything for several moments.
“Are you okay?” Charles finally asked Nan again, seeing as she hadn’t given him a clear answer upon his arrival. “Your text worried me.”
“Oh. I’m fine, dear,” she responded with a grandmotherly grin. “I’m just so worried about Octo-Cat. You know how it is. He didn’t come home last night, and poor Angie is sick with worry, too. We could both really use some help and a friend through this trying time.”
Well, that at least was true. I pumped my head in agreement. “Sorry to call you out of work,” I muttered by way of apology.
“That’s okay,” Charles said, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze. “This is important.”
Cal shifted his weight between his feet and took a small step back. “Hi, Charles,” he muttered.
“Brock,” the other man said, clamping a hand on his shoulder now, too. “Good to see you, man.”
Things seemed more than a little awkward between them, despite the fact that Charles had gotten Cal acquitted of a double murder charge not too long ago and had been dating Cal’s twin sister for the past several months to boot.
Was the sister thing what made them so tense around each other? And if so, might that mean trouble in paradise? Most importantly, though, why was I so darned happy about that possibility? I needed to quit daydreaming and get back to focusing on finding my lost fur friend.
“I do have a bit of bad news, unfortunately,” Charles said just then, looking from me to Nan and back again. “I exchanged some emails first thing this morning, and needless to say, we can’t get a continuance for the arbitration.”
“Which means?” Nan prompted as she rolled her hand at the wrist impatiently.
Charles sighed. “We need to find Octo-Cat and find him fast. That’s the only way we’ll be able to contest, and believe me, you’ll want to contest.”
“Wait,” Cal said as he lifted his hands in apparent confusion. “The cat is the one who needs to go to court. Not the two of you?”
“The cat,” Charles informed him, “is the beneficiary, so yes, he does need to be present.”
Cal grabbed my hand and gave it a friendly squeeze, then said, “Don’t worry, Angie. I’m sure we’ll find him today, and if we don’t, how hard could it be to find a lookalike to take to court in a pinch?”
My jaw dropped open, and I was too agitated to speak. I wanted to rip my hand away from anyone who would suggest such an awful solution to our problems.
Then Cal burst out laughing. “Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood with a bit of humor. I guess that joke flopped and flopped bad.”
“It was a big ol’ belly flop,” Nan told him with a wink. “Why don’t you come with me, Cal? We can buddy up for the search. Charles, are you fine escorting Angie?”
I saved my breath rather than try to explain to Nan that I didn’t need an escort for this—or really anything else. It would be nice to spend some time with Charles, to have a partner in the search, especially since I was now losing hope at a depressingly rapid clip.
“We can pick up where we left off last night, or at least by doing what we talked about. Come with me,” Charles said, motioning for me to follow him toward the woods.
The woods!
“Just a second,” I called, darting back into the house and straight past Nan and Cal as I dashed toward the pantry. I found an unopened jar of peanut butter and grabbed it for my new squirrel informant, Maple, making sure to hide it from view as I passed Cal. No need to invite any awkward questions if they could just as easily be avoided.
“Have a craving?” Charles asked with a sarcastic smile when I returned to him.
Heat flooded my cheeks, but then I remembered that Charles knew everything, and I had absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. “Let’s just say I owe a squirrel a favor,” I said, making a clicking noise as we fell into step beside one another.
“A squirrel, huh? Did he have any good leads for you?” He asked this as if it were a completely normal and rational development, and I loved him for it.
“She, and not really. But I’ve asked her to be my eyes and ears in the forest, provided she stops thinking about peanut butter long enough to pay attention to anything else.”
Charles chuckled. “Maybe we need to find you a different animal helper. Who do you think would be good at playing detective?” He raised his hand to his chin and rubbed it while making a funny face. He even took on a fake British accent as he ran through the possibilities.