Eternally 21: A Mrs. Frugalicious Shopping Mystery by Linda Joffe Hull

spreadsheet I’d made of stores and their advertised specials along with a few key websites. 7 Entitled, Frugal Yule Cool? Shop for Your Junior During Back to School , I hoped Karen B. and any other readers anticipating a lean holiday season might find a Frugasm or two of their own.
    And, since I couldn’t, share their pleasure with the group.
    I finished, pressed upload, and headed downstairs, hopefully to catch up on a rerun of CSI , Law & Order, or whatever was on cable before I had to go get the boys from practice. Applebee must have had the same idea, because I found her curled up on the sectional, purring away. With a long, luxurious ahhhh , I plopped into the leather La-Z-Boy, which had all but contoured into the shape of Frank, pushed the recline lever, watched my aching feet rise before me, and reached for the nearby clicker.
    At which point I heard what sounded like a muffled meow.
    Followed by what definitely sounded like a meow.
    I reached over to the center of the sectional to pet Applebee. She purred even more loudly, but not enough to cover what was clearly mewling. As I tried to figure out where the sound was coming from, Applebee moved involuntarily.
    Something was rolling beneath her.
    Forcing myself out of the comfort of the recliner, I picked up Applebee, set her on the floor, removed the cushions, and watched the movement under the fabric.
    Chili.
    Why she’d chosen to be utterly silent both times I’d come through this room was anyone’s guess, but at least she’d finally made herself known. She’d somehow gotten herself stuck inside the guts of the couch.
    I heaved up the bottom of the leather sectional and leaned the backrest against the windowsill. To my dismay, a substantial hole had been clawed into the under fabric.
    The muffled meows that followed sounded so pitiful that I couldn’t stay angry. I almost felt guilty for running to the kitchen to grab a flashlight from the utility drawer. But, if the cat couldn’t find her way back out from a different angle, I had to be able to see her so I could reach in and help. I turned the flashlight on, aimed it inside the hole, and was about to see what sort of tangled mess Chili had gotten herself into when the phone rang.
    “Call from Eternally 21,” squawked the caller ID alert. “Call from Eternally 21.”
    My flashlight reflected against my damask curtains as I abandoned my rescue mission and lunged for the handset. “Hello?”
    “Maddie Michaels, please.”
    “Tara?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    “I’m so glad you called!”
    “Um,” she said. “You left your driver’s license here.”
    “Oh.” My knees, having braced for some information about Laila, softened. I eased my way back down beside the couch and directed the flashlight beam into the hole. “Can I stop in tomorrow and pick it up?”
    “Uh … ” Tara said.
    A pair of yellow eyes reflected back at me.
    “I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
    “Because of Laila?”
    “Uh-huh,” emerged through the phone as a squeak, not unlike the sounds I was hearing from inside the sectional.
    “How is she doing?”
    “She’s at the hospital.”
    “Oh my God!” I said, spotting five tiny kittens tucked into the stuffing beside my cat.
    “That’s what I keep saying.” Tara began to sob. “I just can’t believe she …”
    My heart began to pound. “She what?”
    “Is gone.”
    “What?” I asked, sure the sight of newborn baby kittens beside my supposedly spayed cat had affected what I’d heard. “What do you mean gone ?”
    “She—” Tara faltered. “Laila died at the hospital.”
    6 . While fuel economy is a compelling reason to trade in that big SUV, particularly given the rising cost per gallon, fuel isn’t the greatest cost associated with buying a vehicle. Depreciation is. Before you unload that late-model gas-guzzler, you need to calculate what your car is worth relative to what you paid.
    7 . Before you set out for the stores, Google