A knock at the door took her out of her daydream, and she immediately rearranged her features into her professional ‘Madam Mayor’ face.
“Yes!” she called out.
The door swung open, and a large bouquet of flowers appeared. Then, as the bouquet lowered, a face became visible: it was none other than Alec Lip himself, not fighting crime, but delivering flowers to his boss.
“Chief!” she said, her heart skipping a beat. “What’s going on?”
“These are for you, Madam Mayor,” the Chief said as he hesitatingly stepped into the room and haltingly launched into his speech. “I just figured… I just thought… Well, you do such a great job, day in and day out, to keep this town running… that I figured…”
“Well,” she said, admiring the gorgeous selection. “Just, um, put them on that table over there, will you?” She took a whiff and smiled. They smelled delicious.
The bouquet placed down, they both stood staring at it for a moment, lost for words. Then finally the Chief said, “Actually there’s something…”
“… something I wanted to say…” she said simultaneously, then smiled, and added, “You go first.”
“No, please, by all means…”
“I just wanted to know if, um…”
“The thing is,” said the Chief, clearing his throat and inserting a finger between his collar and his reddening neck, “… that, um…”
“I’ve been thinking that, um…”
“You were thinking…” he said, a hopeful look in his eyes.
She swallowed, and felt heat rising to her cheeks. Oh, for God’s sake, she thought. She was a grown-ass woman. Why couldn’t she simply… “I was thinking that maybe…”
“Would you like to have dinner with me?” suddenly the Chief blurted out. “I mean, if it’s convenient and appropriate and… if you have the time… we could discuss… stuff.”
“Yes, of course,” she said, blinking. “Hampton Cove stuff, and…”
“… other… stuff…”
They stared at each other for a beat, then suddenly the Chief closed the distance between them with a single step, and then they were kissing, and she was melting into his arms, and a sigh escaped her throat, and it was… oh, so wonderful.
When they finally broke the kiss, Alec was looking a little rumpled, and her glasses were askew, and steamed up, too, and he said, haltingly, “I like you, Charlene. And I thought that maybe… you like me, too, so…”
“I do like you, Alec,” she said with a smile. And when five minutes later Charlene’s secretary walked in on them, they were still kissing.
Crap, she thought. Soon the word would be all over town. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind one bit. And after Alec had left, and as she was reading Gabi’s column again, her eye was drawn to another message the advice columnist had written.
‘Dear Lonely Heart, if you like your boss so much, why don’t you grab the bull by the horns and tell her already? We all know what happens to those who wait: nothing! Just buy her the biggest bouquet of flowers you can find, ask her out for dinner and tell her how you feel. And I can tell you with all my heart you won’t be disappointed. So jump!’
Charlene smiled. Well, they’d jumped. Both of them. And she had a feeling that wherever they landed would be someplace pretty excellent.
Epilogue
“Max, what’s happening!”
“I have no idea, Dooley,” I said.
Though I had the distinct impression it had something to do with Gabi—or the two Gabis. No one in town knew for a fact, but I now had confirmation that Gabi was in fact none other than Grandma Muffin and her newfound friend Scarlett. They’d been dispensing advice left, right and center, and some pretty good advice, too, which seemed to focus on bringing sundered hearts together—or hearts, period, sundered or not.
I’d walked in on Gran one night a couple of days ago, and she was typing something on her laptop. And when I jumped up on her desk, she quickly closed it, but not before I’d read the opening line of her piece, which read, ‘Dear Nervous Heart…’
She’d told me not to divulge her little secret, and of course I’d told her I wouldn’t.
“I think it’s beautiful,” said Harriet. “I love it when people are in love, don’t you, mi amor?”
“People and cats,” said Brutus as he munched on a piece of sausage. “People and cats.”
“Exactly,” said his mate for life.
We were in Marge and Tex’s backyard, with Tex manning the grill and producing the kind of delicious treats only a grill master of his caliber could provide: scorched sausages, burnt patties and incinerated steaks. Still, if you scraped off the black stuff, it was still pretty decent food.
Marge was there, dishing out her famous potato salad to all who wanted it, which was everyone, and of course Odelia and Chase, but also Gran and Scarlett and Uncle Alec and… Mayor Butterwick for some reason, which had caused Dooley’s outcry.
“The family is expanding, Max,” said Dooley. “Soon this backyard will be too small.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Plenty of space left.”
“So what’s going to happen to Kirk’s non-existent fortune?” asked Odelia as she took a sniff from her burger and replaced it on her plate.
“Well, the insurance will pay out,” said Chase, “and the money will go to his wife Sandy, which is probably not what Kirk would have wanted, but what is actually the right thing, after all that she suffered at the hands of her husband.”
“I think a toast is in order,” said Mayor Butterwick, who was seated next to Uncle Alec, darting loving glances at the big guy from time to time. “To Odelia and Chase, for solving the unsolvable murder of Kirk Weaver, and ridding our town of his killers.”
“Hear, hear,” said Uncle Alec, taking a swig from his Corona beer.
Odelia, as the Mayor spoke these words, lifted her own glass of lemonade, and held it up in a salute to yours truly, a gesture I appreciated. It had been mostly coincidence that had set me on the trail of Jack and Harlan. Being at the right place at the right time. Still, I enjoyed the praise.
“So when are you leaving, Mom?” asked Odelia now.
“Um, well, the tickets are all booked, and so are the hotels. And three weeks from now we’re taking a flight to London!” said Marge happily.
“About time!” said Chase, as he shared a wink with Tex, who held up his tongs in agreement.
“It’s all because of Gabi, really,” said Marge. “If she hadn’t given us the final push, we probably wouldn’t have jumped, even now.”
“I wonder who she is,” said Uncle Alec.
“Dan is refusing to tell me,” said Odelia, when all eyes turned to her. “I’ve asked him and he says he needs to respect Gabi’s desire for privacy, and so I’m not going to snoop.”
“I think she’s one smart lady,” said Mayor Butterwick, or Charlene as everyone was now calling her, even Uncle Alec. “And I’m sure I’m more than grateful for her meddling ways.”
“Those meddling ways led to our first dinner,” said Uncle Alec.
“And I hope to many more,” said Charlene, and shared a sweet kiss with Odelia’s uncle, causing all those around the table to grow a little misty-eyed, and us cats, too.
“I think you couldn’t have chosen a better guy, Charlene,” said Gran. “My Alec is a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy, and you’re a great gal, and I heartily approve of the match.”
“We’re just dating, Ma,” Alec grumbled good-naturedly. “It’s not as if we’re getting married or anything.” Though judging by the looks they gave each other the wedding wasn’t far off.
“Speaking of marriage,” said Scarlett. “Have you two lovebirds finally set a date?”
“Yes, we have,” said Odelia. “It’s going to be a September wedding, and it’s going to be small but beautiful. Isn’t that right, honey?”