“The Ivey family has become a spectacle in this community—maybe all over the world.” His voice accelerated. “I mean, that story is bound to go viral.” He shook his head in shame. “I try to be a professional in my craft. I run a clean business, and I have hundreds of satisfied customers, some of whom actually value the work I do. We attend church. We try to raise our children to be good people, and your cat…”

  “Uh-oh,” Savannah said, mocking him. She glanced at Gladys. “He’s my cat tonight. I guess my husband really is mad at him this time.”

  “Mad?” he questioned. “I’m embarrassed.”

  “He saved that little girl,” Savannah reminded him.

  “Yeah, but couldn’t he have done it without so much drama?”

  Savannah giggled and winked at her mother. “I guess not.” Before he could continue, she said, “Truly, hon, aren’t you just a little bit proud of Rags? What he did today was rather incredible.”

  Michael thought for a moment. “Showboating! That’s what he was doing—showboating—showing off. Why didn’t he simply let the nanny come out and get the child? End of problem. The baby would be safe and we wouldn’t have been dragged through the…”

  “Through the what?” Savannah challenged. “He’s being praised.” She grinned at him. “Are you jealous, Michael? You sound like you’re jealous that Rags got all that attention today.”

  “No, I’m not jealous, I’m embarrassed, I tell you. He kept the firemen from doing their job. He probably cost the taxpayers money.” He shook his head. “He’s a menace, that’s what he is.”

  Both Gladys and Savannah were laughing by now. “A menace?” Savannah repeated. “Not according to the newspaper. You should have heard the applause when the baby was rescued. When I came out of that building with Rags, everyone cheered again. Cameras were going off right and left.” She glanced at her mother. “Right, Mom?”

  Michael swallowed a sip of iced tea. “Yes. Those people had never seen a cat cause so much trouble before. They’re probably going to put up posters warning their neighbors about that crazy cat.”

  “Oh, Michael, just chill.” Savannah placed her napkin on her plate and stood up. “That reminds me, I need to call Rob and tell him what happened.”

  “Yeah, sing it from the highest mountain, Savannah,” Michael carped. “There’s no need to be laughed at by only our neighbors; let’s make sure we get notoriety all over Southern California, too.”

  Savannah started to leave the room, but stopped and put her hands on Michael’s shoulders. She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re teasing, aren’t you? I mean, mostly teasing, right?”

  Michael gave her a sideways look. “If you say so.”

  She walked away smiling and shaking her head. When she returned, she announced, “Rob’s still cracking up. He said he wants to contact the author for the children’s books right away, but I told him I’d like to include that story in my book. We decided it would be okay to share it in both books because they’re for different audiences and would be presented entirely differently.”

  “Makes sense,” Gladys said as she cleared dishes from the table.

  Savannah joined her, and Michael wiped Teddy’s face and hands.

  “Oh!” Savannah yelped. “Guess what Miss Kitty did yesterday.”

  “Who’s Miss Kitty?” Gladys asked.

  “Rob’s and Cheryl’s kitten.” She explained, “They adopted a kitten when we were in Arizona.” Savannah smiled. “She’s a little Rags clone—same colors and similar markings.”

  “What did she do?” Michael asked.

  “Well, they had a few people in the other evening and when everyone left, they couldn’t find Miss Kitty. A little while later, one of the guests called and said she had her. Miss Kitty had evidently crawled into the woman’s purse to take a nap. The woman was almost home, thirty miles away, when she heard a mew and saw Miss Kitty’s little kitty head pop out of her purse.” Savannah laughed. “I guess the woman almost wrecked her car she was so startled.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Gladys said, chuckling. “That would be startling. So did she take the kitten back to her home?”

  “Well, she offered to take her back the next day, because she and Rob had a meeting scheduled. But Rob and Cheryl wouldn’t hear of it. They drove the thirty miles to rescue their baby. Now Rob wants to have the author for the children’s books start a new series featuring Miss Kitty.”

  “Cool,” Michael said. “So is she that interesting and clever that they could create a whole book series about her like they have Rags?”

  “Rob thinks she is. He said she surprises them every day with the cute things she does.”

  “Have you met that children’s books author?” Gladys asked.

  Savannah shook her head. “No, but I might get the opportunity soon. Rob wants us to do a joint book signing before the holidays.”

  “Oh?” Michael asked. “Where?”

  “Maybe San Francisco.” When she saw Michael straining to see out the window, she asked, “What are you looking at?”

  “Someone’s here.” He cringed. “I hope it’s not reporters from some TV station. Tell them I have no comment, will you?”

  “Oh, Michael,” Savannah said, joining him at the window. “It’s Antonio. I almost forgot he was coming this evening.” She faced him. “He wants to talk to both of us about landscaping—you know, now that the horses are gone and all.” She opened the door and greeted, “Hi Antonio, Juan. Come in. Would you like a bowl of chili beans and some corn bread? It’s still hot.”

  “Or a brownie?” Gladys offered.

  The father and son glanced at each other and Antonio said, “We should work now while there’s still light.”

  Juan nodded, then his face lit up. “Maybe we can have a brownie later.”

  Gladys smiled at the younger man and held the plate toward him. “How about one now and one after?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Juan said enthusiastically.

  When Gladys offered Antonio a brownie, he grinned and reached for one. “Hard to say no, Ms. Gladys. You make good cakes. Gracias.”

  “You’re welcome,” Gladys said.

  Michael picked up the baby. “Well, gentlemen, let’s go see what we can do to clean up the mess the horses left, shall we?”

  Gladys offered, “Michael, you can leave Teddy here; I’ll get him ready for bed.”

  Michael thought about it and said, “Oh, I haven’t seen the children all day. Why don’t we take them outside? They might have some of their own ideas. You can come too, Gladys,” he invited. “You have a knack for landscaping.”

  Before they could walk outside, Antonio began chuckling. He pointed toward the cats’ feeding station. “Is that the gato in the newspaper tonight?”

  Juan nodded enthusiastically. Mush-mouthed because he’d just taken a bite of the brownie, he agreed, “Yes, that’s him. That’s the cat that saved the baby today.” His eyes danced with excitement when he asked, “Did he really do that? I mean, keep that little baby from falling off the balcony?”

  “He sure did,” Michael said. “I guess he wouldn’t let anyone near her. He must have been afraid they would hurt her or let her fall or something.” He petted Rags when he approached. “Yup, he saved the little girl’s life—kept her from crawling through the railing and falling to the ground. Pretty remarkable, isn’t it?”

  Savannah and Gladys appeared stunned. They grinned at one another.

  “Well, come on, let’s go design the yard, shall we?” Michael suggested.

  ****

  “So what do you think about our landscape design?” Savannah asked later as she and Michael prepared for bed.

  “I think this will be a showplace. You’ve been wanting to fancy up the yard, haven’t you? Finally, you get your wish and I get something out of it, too.”

  She smiled at him. “Do you mean the playhouse?”

  “Yes! What a great idea. The kids are going to love it and I’ll have fun building it—a little kitchen for Lily and a workshop for Teddy.”

  She grinned at him. “And you’re going to build me a gazebo. The sketch you drew earlier is really nice. I love the idea of a roll-out cover for shade and rain. It’ll be so cozy and welcoming. I can already imagine using burnt-orange bench cushions with turquoise accents. It’ll be smashing!” she said, spinning around with joy.

  He pulled her down onto the bed with him. “And I’ll be able to use my power tools. That’s what excites me.” He propped himself up on one elbow. “I like the idea of cutting down on the amount of lawn we have by creating pathways and planting shrubs.”

  “But we’ll choose low-growing shrubs so we don’t lose the children out there. Michael, won’t it be nice to be able to let the children run a little freer?

  He nodded. “Yes. The fence will be our most valuable addition.”

  She agreed, adding, “And I like that only part of the yard will be fenced. I mean, we don’t want to mess with a gate every time we drive in, and it wasn’t going to work to enclose the tack room and corral area. Juan and Antonio have some great ideas.”

  “They’re professionals,” Michael said. “They have a lot of clients and they’ve done many landscaping projects. They know what they’re doing.”

  “Apparently.” Savannah laughed out loud.

  “What?” he asked.

  “You bragging about Rags’s adventure today. Cracked me up. I thought you were mad at him. He embarrassed you.”

  “Don’t judge me, Savannah,” he said, feigning indignation. He rolled over and kissed her and she kissed him back.

  ****

  “Finally,” Margaret said the following day as she drove toward the Teagues’ stables, “we’re going to get a look at the feral cat colony. Have you seen their place since they rebuilt?”

  Savannah nodded. “Yeah, a few days ago when Bonnie and I caught those two feline burn victims. I guess they’re still putting the finishing touches on the barn. And Bonnie told me they have to do some work on their septic tank.”

  “Because of the fire?”

  “No, it’s another issue they’ve needed to take care of for a while, and they decided to do it all at once.”

  “I feel left out,” Margaret grumped.

  “Why?” Savannah asked. “Left out of what?”

  “Everyone’s getting new landscaping, new fences and playhouses and gazebos and barns.”

  Savannah grinned slyly. “You want a new septic tank?”

  “Not particularly, but I wouldn’t mind sprucing up our place a bit—doing something fun with plants and trees, building a terrace, maybe, or a spa. Whenever we do anything around our place it’s adding more pens or shelter space or roofing. Last month we had to fix the heating system for the cats.”

  “You’re in business,” Savannah reminded her. “That’s what you do when you’re in business.”

  “I guess. Wow,” Margaret said as they approached the stables. “Look how close the fire came to their home. Gosh, were they lucky.”

  “Yeah, I understand there was smoke damage and they had quite a job cleaning that up.” She pointed. “Drive on past the house; we’ll park near those trees and walk out to where the cats are. They have some areas of cover, as you can see.”

  “How many cats does Bonnie think are out here?” “Barney estimates maybe a dozen. From what he says they consume every day, I’m guessing more than that.” Savannah turned toward her aunt. “Bonnie said she saw another cat she thinks was burned.”

  “Poor thing. Well, I brought the net. Let’s hope we see him and can get close enough to catch him. We want to get help for any injured or sick cats as soon as possible.”

  “Got gloves?” Savannah asked.

  “Oh, yes.”

  The two women eased out of Margaret’s car and walked slowly toward the trees and shrubs where the cats were known to hang out.

  “There’s a feeding station,” Margaret said. “They aren’t keeping it very clean. Look at that caked-on food. Yuk!”

  “Well, they’re doing the best they can. At least they’re feeding them. I think one of the hands has taken on that job.”

  “Do you have your notepad?” Margaret asked.

  “Yes,” Savannah said, pulling out her pen and preparing to write.

  “Feeding dishes,” Margaret said. She glanced around. “Looks like we’ll have to haul in water. I don’t see a hose out here, or a spigot.”

  Savannah wrote that down on her pad, as well. “Oh, look!” she hissed. “Good gosh, that little tortie looks awful. It must be the burned one Bonnie told me about. Oh, Auntie, we have to catch her. I’ll go get the net.”

  “Okay, and kibbles,” Margaret suggested. “Although if they’re being fed, then food might not lure her. On the other hand,” she speculated, “an injured cat is sometimes treated badly among the colony, so she may not be getting her share of food.”

  When Savannah returned with the net, a towel, and the kibbles, she found Margaret sitting on a stump near where they’d seen the injured cat. Margaret motioned for Savannah to get down and move slowly. Once she’d passed the net to Margaret along with a pair of heavy gloves, Margaret whispered for her to walk toward the feeding station and see if she could lure the cat with the food.

  While Margaret waited, Savannah squatted and watched for the cat to show herself. When she did, Savannah spoke softly to her and tossed a couple of kibbles in her direction. It took a few moments, but the cat moved forward and gobbled down the treats. Savannah tossed a few more and the cat moved closer and ate those. When the tortie was a mere five feet away, Savannah began to croon, “Sweet kitty. Come on, little girl, let’s get you some help, shall we? You need some loving care, don’t you, girl?”

  Just then Margaret dropped the net over the cat, reached out with the towel, and grasped the cat by the ruff. “Get a carrier.”

  Savannah moved away from the area slowly and returned with a carrier. She helped her aunt ease the frightened cat into it.

  “Got her,” Margaret said. “Thank heavens. It looks like one of her eyes is damaged. She really needs medical attention. Want to call Michael and Bud and tell them what we’ve got?”

  “Sure.” Before she made the call she pointed and whispered. “Auntie, look.”

  “Oh, my gosh. Vannie, see if you can get that one. He’s in worse shape than this tortie. What do you think happened to him?”

  “I don’t know,” Savannah said. She began tossing treats toward the large black long-haired cat. “He’s limping,” she said, “and look at that nasty gash.”

  “I’m not surprised that he’s limping. Could be the tendons are cut—maybe muscles.” She whispered, “Here he comes.”

  It didn’t take them long to put the black cat into a carrier. Once the two injured cats were settled, although certainly not happy, in the back of the car, the women returned to the place where they’d found them and spent another few minutes watching for more cats to appear. They logged three additional adults and a couple of kittens probably six or eight months old. Before leaving with the two injured cats, Savannah tossed the rest of the kibbles out for the others to share.

  “We’ll be back with your supper,” Margaret called out into the stand of trees as she and Savannah walked away.

  ****

  “How are the cats?” Savannah asked when Michael arrived home that evening.

  “Those you and Maggie brought in? They’re pretty amazing to have survived all this time. Well, the black one needed quite a few stitches. He’ll be on antibiotics for a while. He also has burned paws. I think he’ll heal up nicely, but it will take time. The little tortie will be okay, too. She has a lot of spunk. Despite her obvious pain, she evidently continued eating, and that’s probably what pulled her through. That gave her the strength to survive—that and her kittens.” He asked, “What did you do with her kittens, by the way?”

  This surprised Savannah. “Kittens?”

  “Didn’t you notice she’s nursing kittens?” he asked.

  “No. We didn’t get a chance to look her over. Our goal was to secure her in the carrier and rush her to you for treatment.”

  Michael nodded knowingly. “We didn’t notice until we had her under anesthesia. You’ll want to go back and look for those kittens. Let’s hope they’re old enough to be eating on their own.”

  “Gads, let me call Auntie. We’re going out to feed before dark. I hope we can find them.”

  “Take the wonder cat with you,” Michael suggested, winking at her.

  Savannah chuckled. “Good idea. He is a kitten magnet.”

  After the Iveys finished an early dinner Savannah called her aunt. “Are you ready? Hey, Michael said the tortie’s a mother—a nursing mother. I thought I’d bring Rags this evening. He should be able to help us find her kittens.”

  “Good lord,” Margaret said. “Yeah, pick me up. We don’t have much daylight left.”

  “On my way,” Savannah said.

  “So does Michael think they’re newborns?” Margaret asked, edging into Savannah’s SUV.

  “He doesn’t know. We just hope they’re old enough to eat on their own.”

  “Let’s hope so. I grabbed a couple cans of kitten food, just in case. It would be nice if we could catch them. I don’t like to think of them out there like that, even if they are in the weaning process.”

  “I know.”

  “How’s Frankie?” Margaret asked.

  “Oh, just fine. Bri’s picking him up tonight. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see his mom. He didn’t really fit in all that well at our house. Walter is the only cat he can relate to.”

  “That social outcast of yours? Why, I wonder.”

  “I don’t know, but Frankie climbed up in the chair with Walter a couple of times. Walter was a little confused by that, but he didn’t seem to mind the intrusion. He actually let Frankie lay with him for a while.” Savannah chuckled. “I got some great pictures of the opposites.”

  “Opposites?”

  “Yes, two beautiful fluffy cats, only one’s coal black and one’s pure white.”

  “Oooh, that would be a nice picture,” Margaret agreed.

  “Yeah, and they were sort of intertwined, so that made it all the more interesting. I might enter that picture in the county fair photo contest next year.”