Kitties and Christmas Paw Paws Pet Bakery Cozy Mystery

“I can’t believe how you’ve transformed this place,” I said to my friend Georgina. 

It was the day after Thanksgiving, and I had come down to the town square with Georgina, where the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony would be taking place in a couple of hours to kick off the Sweet Haven Holiday Jubilee. Georgina was on the decorating committee and had asked me today if I could help her put on some finishing touches.

“I don’t really see how I can contribute at all,” I said. 

“Do you really think it’s that good? I’ve been staring at the plans for months, and we’ve been working on setting everything up for a week straight. I’m kind of at the point where I don’t really care what it looks like. I just want to be done with the tree tonight and enjoy the rest of the Christmas season.”

“I think it’s more than good. You and the rest of the committee have really outdone yourselves this year.”

Georgina smiled, and I could tell she was pleased. She had been so stressed out the last few weeks, worried that everything wouldn’t go perfectly.

“You have nothing to worry about. There is no way anyone in town isn’t going to think this is the best the town square has ever been decorated. Plus, didn’t you tell me you had a big surprise?”

“I did. I do,” Georgina said, and she smiled even wider. “Follow me,” she said and headed over to what was an empty storefront on the town square, which was currently the decorating committee's headquarters.

We headed in that direction, and my menagerie of pets, who had all been lying at our feet once they realized they weren’t going to get any more attention, jumped up and followed us.

“I still can’t believe Logan just took to your pack so easily,” she said of the cat, who had recently joined my family, which consisted of Beans, a Vietnamese pig, Daisy, my sweet St. Bernard, and Mr. Cuddles, a Cane Corso, who had been the most recent addition before Logan.

“I can’t believe that Mr. Cuddles was scared of poor Logan at the beginning. You wouldn’t think a huge dog would be scared of an itty-bitty kitty cat,” I said.

“I think Logan has quite the strong personality, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s able to put them all in their place. I’m just surprised he follows everyone around because he is a cat after all,” Georgina said.

“He does wander off occasionally, but he always makes his way back. I do worry about him, though, so I don’t let him off the leash that often. Plus, I don’t want to annoy people who would then annoy Ben by complaining about me having Logan off leash.”

Sheriff Ben Donovan was my boyfriend. We had recently elevated our relationship to that status, and there were people who would call the sheriff's office to complain about trivial things like my cat not being on a leash. I didn’t want to make his job any harder than it was.

“It seems like Ben would just take that with a grain of salt. You’re always going to have complainers. Besides, I don’t see how anyone has the right to complain as well behaved as they are. Look at them now, they are off leash and perfect angels.”

“True and Ben probably would ignore them, but I just want to avoid it if possible.”

When we entered the building and followed Georgina over to a large display case, I saw inside it an ornate star. It looked to be about twelve inches in diameter and completely encrusted in jewels.

“Please don’t tell me that is real gold and gemstones,” I said. 

Georgina nodded. “Yep, it’s real all right.”

“Where on earth did you get such a thing? It has to be worth a fortune.”

“It belonged to Gertrude Holloway as part of her art collection. She was one of the last members of the Holloway family who helped found Sweet Haven. She recently passed away and left some of her art pieces to the town. This was one of them.”

“This is a great surprise for the town. I read about her passing in the paper. I never met her, but I’ve only heard wonderful things about her. Everyone in town is going to be in awe when that switch is flipped tonight and the lights turn on. Logan, get down from there,” I said as I dropped his leash and he jumped on top of the display case to begin grooming himself.

Georgina laughed. “This is why I love cats. They’re just so independent.”

“I guess that’s one way to put it. Come on, you rascals, we need to get to our tent and see if Missy needs any help. Did you need anything else from me, Georgina?”

She shook her head. “No. I just really needed your opinion. Validation, I guess. I just need to walk around the square and make sure everything is as it should be and then anxiously await the ceremony.”

“Is Phillip excited to stand in for the mayor?” 

Phillip Baxter was the attorney Georgina was dating and had been head of the town's community outreach program but had run for deputy mayor when the previous deputy mayor resigned for personal reasons. The mayor, Thomas Adler, had just had minor surgery, so Phillip was filling in for him.

“He’s thrilled. He loves Christmas just as much as I do and he loves being deputy mayor.”

“He’s so diplomatic. He’s perfect for the job. Anyway, I’m sure I will see you later.”

“Thanks, Tillie. Bye, Daisy, Beans, Mr. Cuddles, and Logan,” she said, giving them each a pat. 

I started walking out, and Logan was still cleaning himself on top of the display case.

“Come on, Logan,” I called. He looked at me, his eyes all innocent, as if he wasn’t on top of the display case holding an antique ornament that had to be worth thousands of dollars. For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to jump down. I didn’t want to drag the others to go back over to the display case to get him, I would have to hold on to his leash later when people started to arrive, but right now it was just the people involved in setup, and I knew none of them minded my animals being around. But sometimes Logan could be a bit of a challenge. I called him again, and he finally jumped down and joined us as I picked up his leash again.

During the Sweet Haven Holiday Jubilee, the town’s businesses were able to set up tents to sell their holiday items. It was only a few hours a day, longer on weekends, until two weeks before Christmas when it was extended. This was the first year I had participated simply because in the past, I didn’t have the manpower. But we had recently hired another part-time person at the bakery, Candace Hill. She, Missy and I were going to take turns being out in the town square and back at the bakery. Since it was Michigan, it was already cold, and we’d already had a couple of snowstorms. Being on Lake Michigan meant we often got that lake effect snow. We had a little heater for our tent, and the town had set up several heaters in areas with tables because there were probably more food and drink tents than anything else. My bakery catered to fur babies, not humans, but our Christmas-themed merchandise had always done well. People loved to buy their animals presents, even if it really was for the people, not for the animals.

I saw Phillip on my way to my tent and lifted my hand to wave, but he didn’t even notice me. It looked like he was having an argument with Jerry Seymour, the town controller. That was odd. Phillip was one of the nicest guys around. He and Georgina had been seeing each other casually, but lately, things had been getting a little more serious. I thought they made a great couple.

“I knew you would have everything ready when I got here,” I said to Missy when I arrived at our tent dropping the leashes knowing they would sniff around before plopping down to rest. These animals had it rough.

“It was easy to set up.” She shrugged. “I can’t wait to see the tree all lit up.”

“Me either. Georgina showed me the surprise.” I told Missy about the ornate star that would go on top of the tree.

“Wow. I’ve heard rumors of the fantastic artifacts that Gertrude Holloway collected. I can imagine it’s out of this world.”

“If I hadn’t seen it myself and it was described to me just like I described it to you, I wouldn’t even be able to comprehend how beautiful it is. I didn’t ask if all the jewels were real, but I’m assuming they are.”

Missy was nodding. “I’m sure they are. There have always been a ton of rumors that have gone around about the Holloways. Obviously, they are rich. You just have to look at the family house or mansion rather, to know that. But the rumor was they were rich on a whole new level.”

“Well, it’s awesome they donated the star to the town because we’re all going to get to enjoy it. Speaking of which, we should probably head over there if we want to get to the front.”

The Sweet Haven town square wasn’t all that big or really fancy most of the year, but at Christmas, it was completely transformed, and they always brought in a beautiful twenty-foot tree. I wasn’t scared of heights, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to climb to the top of the ladder that would be needed to put on the star.

I grabbed the leashes out of my bag and clipped one on each of their collars. Mr. Cuddles and Daisy never minded, but Beans and Logan had strong opinions about things, and being on a leash was one of them. Beans shook his head in annoyance, and it was kind of funny when I saw Logan do the same. All four animals got along, but Beans and Logan had a special bond. They were also the most difficult.

“Listen, you two. It’s a small price to pay for you to be out where people are going to pet you. I need you to behave.”

“Do you want me to take Daisy and Mr. Cuddles, and you can deal with the incorrigible ones?” Missy laughed.

“That would be wonderful.” 

Beans and Logan finally settled down, and we all headed over to get our spot. The lighting wasn’t for another thirty minutes, and already we were about three people deep from the front row. It was great to see this kind of turnout, though. It was good for the town and good for the economy. Wallets opened a little more easily this time of year.

You could feel the energy and tell everyone was excited. Phillip walked up on a small stage to the left of the tree and turned on the microphone, which gave a shriek. There was quite a comical shocked look on Phillip's face, and then the person running the sound turned some dials, and the shriek went away.

“Well, I guess that got everyone’s attention,” Phillip said with a chuckle.

The crowd laughed.

“Today is going to be an amazing day. Not only is it tree lighting, but the Christmas committee outdid themselves again this year with picking what must be the most perfect tree. I want to give a big shout-out to everyone who helped make this amazing night come together.” He paused, and there was a round of applause. “You may have heard that we have something special planned this year, and when I say something special, I mean it. We know the Holloways founded the town of Sweet Haven and have always been about giving back to the town. Well, the late Gertrude Holloway, God rest her soul, donated a few of her prized items to the town. One of those being the Holloway Christmas star.” 

He paused again, and there was a gasp throughout the crowd. Phillip nodded like it was something he expected.

“I felt the same way when I found out. For those of us who have lived our entire lives in Sweet Haven, and are a certain age, we know the Holloways had the Christmas star commissioned by a well-known artist. Because the star is fragile and worth a lot of money, we are going to use it ceremoniously for the ceremony, but then after this evening’s events, we will take it down and put it in the display case for everyone to see. Freddie, are you ready to bring the star out?” Phillip called out. 

Fred Coffman was head of the town's department of work, so it made sense that he would be the one climbing the ladder to put the star on the tree. Now that I knew it was genuine gems, I was doubly glad that it wasn’t my job.

“Freddie, we’re ready,” Phillip called again. 

The crowd turned to look in the direction that Phillip was looking, which was at the empty storefront the Christmas committee was using, which made sense since I knew that’s where the star was. A few seconds later, Freddie walked out, and he looked pale as a ghost.

“Are you ready with the star, Freddie?” Phillip said.

Freddie shook his head. “The star. It’s missing.”