Read Online The War Against Miss Winter by Kathryn Miller Haines - Free Book Online

I gripped the door so tightly I left fingerprints on the paint.
    Jayne cleared her throat and feigned interest in our uninvited guest. “So now that the show’s closed, what are you going to do, Ruby?”
    “I’ve hardly had a chance to catch my breath, but Lawrence has a new show he’s finishing that he wants to open in six weeks. He’s offered me the lead.”
    My mind rumbled with the unfairness of Ruby’s getting cast in plays that hadn’t even been written yet while I was begging for any theatrical leftover.
    As though she heard my thoughts, Ruby turned her attentions back to me. “Did you work over the holidays, Rosie?”
    I shifted my sweaty hold on the door. “Not in theater.”
    She pursed her lips sympathetically. “That’s right—you have that little secretarial job. Good for you.”
    I moved my head closer to hers. “What the deuce does that mean?”
    “Just that I know it’s been a while since you had an acting job, so it’s good you have something to fall back on.” She paused and ate up the ire that leached from my body. “I hope you’re not offended by my saying that. I’m trying to think positively.” Her mood shifted faster than a baby on vaccination day. “Say, I have a famous idea! Why don’t I talk to Lawrence about casting you in the new show? I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big part, but Belle won’t care.”
    “That’s a great idea,” said Jayne. I ducked behind the open door and shook my head so fast my ears rang. “That is,” said Jayne, “it would be a great idea except Rosie has a job.”
    “Is that so?” asked Ruby. I gritted my teeth. This wasn’t the sort of thing I could get away with lying about. There may have been an endless amount of theater in New York, but it wouldn’t take much for Ruby to verify if I had a paying gig.
    “Sort of,” I said. “Nothing’s official yet, but it looks very promising.”
    “What’s the show?”
    “I don’t want to say yet—don’t want to jinx it. You know what, Rube? I’m exhausted and I think I want to call it a night. It was good seeing you.” I tried to push the door closed but was interrupted by Ruby’s pale well-toned arm.
    “I forgot to ask,” she said. “Did I hear a cat in here?”
    I put my forehead against the door. “No. What you heard was an extraordinary imitation of a cat. Do it again, Jayne.”
    Jayne’s mouth dropped open and her eyes became wide and empty. On cue, Churchill began to cough up whatever he’d devoured in my bag.
    “It is a cat!” Ruby pushed all of her weight against the door, shoving me out of the way.
    “Ruby,” I said. “If there is a cat in here—and I’m not saying there is—we’d appreciate it if you kept this between…”
    She stuck her head into the hallway. “Hey, girls! Rosie and Jayne got a cat.” Every door on the second floor burst open and our room filled with ten cooing women intent on coaxing kitty out from under the dresser. When he finally emerged, the women fought for the right to pet him with the same intensity displayed by bridesmaids competing for the bouquet.
    “Oh, he’s adorable!”
    “He’s soft as silk.”
    “Is kitty hungry? Thirsty?”
    Churchill lapped up the attention and pretended he was a normal cat. He rubbed his head between bosoms and bellies and stared longingly into ten different sets of eyes. It took fifteen minutes for the excitement to die down. By then Churchill was asleep on Ruby’s lap with his head hanging over her arm.
    We were strong women, independent women. We lived on our own and we paid our own way. Yet we could be reduced to goo in the presence of a small mammal and we latched on to gossip like it was the air we breathed. Naturally, this could work to my advantage. Churchill and I were sworn enemies, but I didn’t have it in me to give him the gate. If, however, someone else snitched, I could lose the cat and keep myconscience.
    “Pipe this,” I said. “We can’t have a cat. Belle can’t know about the cat.