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used Santa at this time of year to punish their offspring. But who would do that to a defenseless animal?
    Pet Palace, of course. The place was evil. He shuddered, remembering that day in his fifth life when his owner had taken advantage of Pet Palace’s discount coupon for neutering. Emasculation! He had been so terrified that first time. No wonder he’d had a heart attack and died on the operating table.
    “You should take Tom to get his picture taken with Santa,” said Blair.
    Nooo, he shouldn’t.
    “I don’t know,” Zach said. “That’s right up there with putting reindeer antlers on your dog.”
    Wearing reindeer antlers? That sounded like something a dog would do.
    “I’m just thinking that if you put a cute picture of your lost cat all dolled up in a Santa hat on Craigslist or Pet Finder you’ll get a home for him.”
    Cute! Ambrose didn’t do cute, and he certainly didn’t do cute with the big mean Santa monster. He’d rather throw himself into that fire than fall into the clutches of the man in red. And what did she mean by lost? He wasn’t lost. He knew exactly where he was.
    Ambrose used the need for a stretch as an excuse to turn back around and observe. Zach was frowning slightly.
    “James will be with his father next weekend, so I can help you,” said the cougar. “The poor cat should have a home. In fact, the sooner the better,” she added, and rubbed her nose again.
    Now Zach was looking thoughtful. And that didn’t look good for Ambrose.

FOUR
    The next time Blair came by the house she barely gave Zach a chance to kiss her before she wrinkled her pretty nose and said, “Ugh. What is that smell?”
    “What smell?” He’d showered.
    “Cat box,” she said in disgust. “When was the last time you changed the cat box?”
    “Tuesday, before I left for the station,” said Zach.
    She made a face and shook her head. “Your whole house smells.”
    He sniffed. Okay, it did stink a little. “I guess I’d better change it.”
    “I guess you’d better do something about the cat. Coming in here to that nasty odor is a definite buzz kill.” She dug a small bottle of perfume out of her purse and spritzed it around the front hallway, shuddering the whole time. “I’ll wait for you in the car,” she said, leaving him alone with his stinky house and his stinky cat.
    He started a new topic of conversation as they drove to Captain Crab for lunch, but later, when they sat in a corner booth, hemmed in by red tinsel garlands and looking over the menus, she brought up the subject again. “So, how are you coming with finding a home for the cat?”
    “I’m working on it,” Zach hedged. He set down his menu. “You know, Blair, I’m kind of surprised you don’t like him. I thought you’d be more of an animal lover. I mean, your dad owns Pet Palace, for Pete’s sake.”
    “Don’t be silly,” she said, making him feel both stupid and irritated. “That’s like expecting someone who owns a Japanese restaurant to like sushi.”
    “Yeah? Why would you want to own a Japanese restaurant if you didn’t like Japanese food?” he argued.
    “To make money,” she replied. “Look, I have nothing against cats, and I have nothing against the one you found except that he makes me sneeze. And now he’s making your house smell. Really, Zach, I get one whiff and I have no desire to hang around there.”
    He knew what that meant. It meant, well, no desire. Blair’s house was pretty much off-limits due to the presence of her teenage son. And the neighbors, who she was sure would tell the teenage son that she wasn’t just cleaning house when he was gone. Dumb, if you asked Zach. The kid had to know she had a life. Still, that was the way she wanted it, so he had no objections. Except if hanging out at Zach’s place stopped being an option … This didn’t bode well for their love life.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it,” he promised.
    “I hope you do,” she said. And to prove she meant