Maggie and the Whiskered Witness by Barbara Cool Lee

Author:Barbara Cool Lee [Lee, Barbara Cool]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pajaro Bay Publishing

Chapter Fifteen

A customer finally came in late in the afternoon. It was her old nemesis Mrs. Hightower, a very rich and very spoiled lady who loved to do beadwork, as long as it was simple and didn't require any manual dexterity.

She had bailed on Maggie's last class because she'd been forced to wait five minutes before the shop opened, but now she was back, and Maggie was ready for whatever new trouble she would manage to get herself into. None of which would ever be her own fault, of course.

Mrs. Hightower was fresh from the spa, and she had the relaxed and half-asleep expression she usually sported after being primped and prodded and massaged by her favorite service providers, none of whose names she could remember. All of them, Maggie was sure, remembered Mrs. Hightower very, very well.

But she lost her sleepy expression when she saw the dogs lounging under the work table. She sniffed the shop, as if suddenly noticing it smelled a little off. "Perhaps you should use a bit of air freshener, dear," she said to Maggie.

Maggie knew Jasper had been bathed last weekend with a coat-conditioning shampoo that left only the faintest trace of vanilla scent. And Hendrix was clean as he could be, with a shiny and well-maintained coat. So it was unlikely Mrs. Hightower had even noticed them, until she spotted them lying asleep under the table.

"Thank you for the suggestion," Maggie said, working hard to make sure she didn't sound at all sarcastic.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Hightower said obliviously. "I'm glad to help you with your little business." She seemed to think the bead shop was a hobby, not Maggie's livelihood. She confirmed that when she said, "so why aren't you in LA with your handsome boyfriend?"

News travelled fast in Carita. At least she didn't mention the tabloid photographs. She probably thought that would be gauche, though she had no problem smirking at Maggie to let her know she'd seen them.

"So how can I help you today?" Maggie asked her, pretending not to hear all the innuendo.

"I want to make my granddaughters charm bracelets for Christmas."

"What a wonderful plan!" Maggie said, and she meant it. She was thrilled at the idea, since it only required Mrs. Hightower to buy the charms and stick them on a chain bracelet.

Even she couldn't cause too much damage with a project like that. It might even turn out cute.

So Maggie got out all her finest charms and spent a solid hour helping Mrs. Hightower decide which ones would be best for little Amy and little Sue and little Jenny, all of whom Maggie knew were actually teenagers and probably not quite as babyish as their grandmother pictured.

But it was a pleasant project, and the older lady picked out several hundred dollars' worth of sterling silver charms, which made up for an otherwise pointless day at the shop.

Maggie listened to an explanation of the meaning of each charm, and nodded her head at the story of how Amy broke

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