The Nine Lives of Christmas Read Online Free PDF

didn’t allow pets (a new policy they adopted right after Merilee moved in) and Mrs. Winnamucker took her job as a guardian of the complex’s carpets seriously. Living on the ground floor just two apartments away from her was, well, dangerous. At least it was dangerous these days because Merilee was harboring a cat.
    But what could she do? Queenie had been one of several kitties the animal shelter had brought to Pet Palace, hoping to find families for them. All had gotten homes but poor Queenie. For some reason she had gone beyond her expiration date. The thought of the little white cat being destroyed had been more than Merilee could bear, so she’d done something very un-Merilee. She’d broken the rules and smuggled Queenie into her apartment. And she wasn’t sorry. Not one bit!
    She was, however, nervous. If Mrs. Winnamucker got wind of this, if someone heard Queenie meowing, they’d both be cast out of the Angel Arms and into the cold sans damage deposit. She could always go home to her parents but because Merilee’s mother was allergic to cat dander Queenie would be homeless. Merilee couldn’t do that to the poor cat. If only she could afford a nice, snug rental house with pet-friendly landlords. Sigh.
    The best way out of this was to find a home for her furry houseguest soon, before she got caught. Queenie was such a sweet cat. Surely someone would want her. Merilee had put a picture up on the bulletin board at the library and placed an ad on Petfinder.com but no response so far. She’d tried to convince both of her sisters that they needed an animal, but they’d turned her down with flimsy excuses like allergies and busy schedules. Her younger sister, Liz, had even quipped that she was already engaged to an animal and one was enough. Ha, ha.
    What was wrong with people, anyway? Didn’t they get how dependent animals were on them? It was too bad there weren’t more people out there like the man she’d met in the grocery store.
    Envisioning his smile heated Merilee to the point that it made her coat unnecessary. If only she could have said something clever to him when he came into Pet Palace maybe she’d have had a date with him instead of her TV tonight. If only she’d thought to toss her hair, or run her tongue across her teeth or do any number of things that worked for women in the movies. Except she didn’t have enough hair to toss. ( You should never have cut it. Fool!) And doing the tongue-tooth thing when talking about feline leukemia would have made her look demented. Anyway, it was too late now, so there was no point in even thinking about it.
    Merilee made it to the Dumpster and threw away the bag with the damning litter box contents. Mrs. Winnamucker had been known to poke around the Dumpster for telltale signs of excessive partying or drug use but luckily for Merilee it was winter. Even Mrs. Winnamucker had her limits. Anyway, who here did she think was going to go wild?
    Merilee, of course. If only.
    The evidence of her criminal behavior ditched, she pulled her jacket close and hurried back toward her apartment. She was ten feet from Mrs. Winnamucker’s door when the manager stepped out, her plump body encased in a long, red quilted coat, her gray curls hidden under a jaunty red hat.
    With her round face, wire-rimmed glasses perched on a button nose, and sweet granny smile, one could almost mistake the woman for Mrs. Claus. Looks were deceiving. Mrs. Winnamucker could sprout fangs at a moment’s notice. Merilee knew. She’d seen it happen.
    “Hello, Miss White,” she greeted Merilee in the deceptively sweet voice she favored.
    Merilee’s steps faltered, but she pulled herself together and smiled at the manager like a woman who had nothing to hide. “Hi, Mrs. Winnamucker. Nasty night, isn’t it?”
    “It certainly is,” said the woman. “I’m surprised you’re out in it, my dear.” She added a cocked eyebrow to the smile. Every time Mrs. Winnamucker cocked an eyebrow Merilee felt