A Picture-Purrfect Christmas (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 13) Read Free

something to photograph people without their permission?”
    “Well, Vannie, what do you want him to do—ask everyone who walks by if he can take a picture?” She frowned. “Why would he want photos of people he doesn’t know, anyway? Are you sure that’s what he was doing?”
    “Yeah, I think so.”
    Margaret glanced around at the array of people in the mall. “So who was he photographing—young girls wearing short skirts and low-cut tops?”
    “Actually, I think he was shooting a couple of kids.” She pointed. “That boy on the little carrousel and those two girls.”
    “Oh, aren’t they cute? I wouldn’t mind having a picture of those kids myself.” She looked at Savannah. “They look…what do you call it…photographic…photogenic…photo-worthy?”
    Savannah straightened. “Well, I would not want a strange man…or woman…secretly photographing my daughter. There’s just something kinda creepy about it. I mean, what’s he going to do, exploit those kids all over the Internet?”
    “Vannie, for heaven’s sake,” Margaret said, “you’d think he was committing a crime or something.”
    Savannah thought about it for a moment. “Maybe he was. How do you know he wasn’t? He looked pretty sneaky when he was taking the pictures, if that’s what he was actually doing.” She shivered. “Makes my skin crawl.” Then, peering under the blanket covering the stroller shade and noticing that Lily was still asleep, she readjusted the shade and the blanket, making sure the baby was concealed from view before continuing on.
    ****
    “So your mall walk resulted in a riding invitation, did it?” Michael asked as he relaxed on the sofa with his wife later that evening.
    Savannah nodded. “And a chance to do a little photography.” She faced him. “Did I tell you I may enter a photo contest?”
    “Yeah, you started to when Lily interrupted with demands for more watermelon.”
    “Yes, bless our amazing gardener Antonio for his green thumb and the hothouse he built. He tries to keep watermelon on the vine year-round for her.” She took a breath. “Anyway, the winner of the contest gets to go on a photo-shoot trip to Hawaii.”
    “Really? What pictures will you enter? Have you decided?”
    “I’m thinking about that gnarly close-up shot I took last year of the hummingbird in flight, or the one of Rags leaping out of the bushes after the bumblebee. But maybe I’ll get something better when Shelly and I go riding.”
    He squeezed her hand and gazed at her admiringly. “So you’re going to be a teacher again?”
    “Yes.”
    “You enjoyed that before, didn’t you?”
    “Sure did. But this will be even more fun. I get to pursue my photography. Only…”
    “Only what?”
    “Only these are at-risk kids. I don’t know what to expect—insolent kids who don’t want to learn? Will they bring machine guns to class? I must say I’m a little apprehensive about what I’m getting myself into.”
    “Awww, hon, they’re probably just good kids without much family support.” He turned to face her. “I once helped a friend with a group of supposedly at-risk boys. We took them camping at the beach and had a great time. Not one of those kids was rude or unruly.” He thought for a moment before saying, “Well, there were a couple of kind of rowdy boys, but we helped them channel their energy in positive ways while making sure they were still having fun.”
    “How’d you do that?” she asked, creasing her brow.
    “We organized boogie-board and tug-of-war contests. We challenged the kids to see who could drag the largest batch of firewood back to camp…things like that. I learned that praise goes a long way with these kids—well, probably any kid.” He chuckled. “Look at how Lily responds to a little applause.”
    Savannah laughed. “She thrives on it, doesn’t she? Without it, she may not have learned to walk until she was in kindergarten.” She then said, “Oh, by the way, can you and Adam