Karen Anne Golden - The Cats That 03 - The Cats That Told a Fortune Read Online Free Page A

refrain from running over and giving him a passionate kiss.
    “I loved it!  Can I take your picture?” she asked, taking her smartphone out of her pocket.
    “Of course,” he said, flashing his handsome Cokenberger smile.
    “I want to text it to Colleen. I’ll do that at lunch.”
    “Are you ready?” he asked, collecting his lecture notes.  “I’ve got this great Chinese restaurant in mind.  They have an incredible buffet.”
    “I’m starving.  Is it far from here?” she asked, still exhausted from the sprint from the stadium parking lot.
    “Oh, I’m parked outside the building,” he answered.  “By the way, you parked in the parking garage, right?”
    “No, I couldn’t find a spot.”
    “So where did you park?”  Jake asked, taking her arm and leading her to the door.
    “It’s called the stadium.”
    Jake laughed.  “The lower forty?  Okay, we’ll take the Jeep to the restaurant.  Great food, but it isn’t on campus.  I’ll drive you to your Sue-bee afterwards.”
    They exited the building and Jake directed Katherine to the blue Jeep Wrangler. 
    “I’ve got a faculty sticker,” he chuckled.  “Jump in,” he said, opening the door.
    Katherine climbed in and fastened her seat belt.  Jake got in behind the steering wheel.  He started to put the Jeep in gear, but paused and said, “Hey, I forgot to tell you something.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You were the most beautiful woman in the entire class,” he said, reaching over and kissing her on the cheek.
    “Ahhh,” Katherine gushed.
    He put the Jeep in gear and eased out into traffic.  “How did your first class go?”
    “It was a disaster!” Katherine answered disappointedly.
    “What in the world happened?” he asked, gaining speed and putting the Jeep into second gear.
    “I had an incident with one of my students, and I had to evict her from the class.”
    “You what?” he asked incredulously.  “It’s a community service for crying out loud.  Who was it?”
    “Barbie —”
    “Oh, no,” he interrupted.   “Not Barbie Sanders?  She’s in your class?”
    “Was,” Katherine said.  “How do you know her?” she asked with a curious side-glance.
    “Well, definitely not in the way you’re suggesting,” he laughed.  “Okay, you don’t have to tell me now, but over lunch I want to hear all about it,” he said soothingly.  “But first, you never did tell me how you selected five students from all those applications.”
    When Katherine told him about Scout and Abra assisting, he couldn’t stop laughing.  Finally, he said, “Next time you need a better plan.  Who else is in the class?”
    “Michelle who works in the library, a guy named Glen Frye, and Wayne’s girlfriend, Leslie.”
    “How strange the Siamese picked two people you either know or just met.  Glen Frye is a bit of a Casanova.  He’s the day chef at the Erie Hotel.  I played high school basketball with his older brother. But Barbie Sanders – the massage queen?  Oh, no you didn’t.”
    “Luck of the draw.  Jake, I’m nervous about something.”
    “What could that be?” Jake said , pulling into the Chinese restaurant’s crowded parking lot.
    “Do you think there’ll be any nasty consequences?  Michelle said Barbie’s dad was a crim.”
    “I hope not, sweet pea,” he said affectionately.  “The Sanders and the Cokenbergers, as the locals say, ain’t friends.  But, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
    “I notified the fifth candidate – the alternate.  I’m teaching the course to her later this afternoon, so she’ll be able to join the rest of the class on Wednesday for the practice session.”
    Jake eased into a parking spot close to the restaurant’s entrance.
    Katherine remarked, “Incredible!  What’s with you and finding the closest parking spaces?” 
    “Well, I thought you’d want to be closer to great food than if we’d parked at the stadium and taken the bus.”  He chuckled again.
    Katherine poked