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And while Vena discussed Brutus’s treatment with Odelia, I happened to glance up at a shelf that was littered with Thank You cards from grateful pet owners, boxes of medicine samples, plush cats and dogs and all manner of pet toys. It also contained a mock-up of a hamburger—the popular dog toy. It was one of those plastic hamburgers, looking pretty realistic, too, and instantly reminded me of Big Mac. And as I stared at the hamburger, I was suddenly struck with an idea so novel and riveting that I momentarily forgot where I was. Only when Odelia told me it was time to go did I become aware of my surroundings again.

All the way home I found myself lost in thought, and by the time we arrived at Casa Odelia I’d made up my mind about the course of action to take. I could have told Odelia but I thought it was probably better to check out a few things first. And I knew exactly who to ask.

Chapter 38

That night, a soothing blanket of darkness and silence had draped itself across the happy little town of Hampton Cove, that jewel in the Hamptons crown. Revelers were enjoying the nightlife in places like Southampton, East Hampton or Montauk, but here locals slept the sleep of the peaceful. So did Odelia who, after a long and strenuous day, enjoyed the warmth of her comfy bed and would have enjoyed it even more if not a strange voice had suddenly started competing with the sweet dreams she was entertaining.

She frowned, the blanket of sleep rudely ripped apart, and opened her eyes.

“I found a love,” the voice was whining.“Darling just dive right in.”

She instantly recognized it as Ed Sheeran’sPerfect, only this obviously wasn’t Ed Sheeran straining his vocal cords but some amateur caroler. Or it might have been a cat undergoing a thoroughly painful castration.

She winced as the unknown singer transitioned into the second verse, effectively massacring poor Ed’s beautiful ode to love.

Neighbors left and right had also caught on, and voices now competed with the singer, shouting such encouragements as,‘Shut up!’ and ‘We’re trying to sleep here!’

Finally, Odelia couldn’t suppress her curiosity any longer, so she got out of bed and padded over to the window. She peeked through the curtains and when her eyes landed on the lanky male figure standing under her window, singing his heart out, she gasped in shock.

The Ed Sheeran wannabe was none other than… Chase!

She threw the curtains wide and opened the window.

When Chase saw her appear, he smiled and redoubled his efforts to butcher the song. And then the first boot landed. It landed at Chase’s feet and he stared down at it for a moment, not comprehending. The second boot hit him against the shin but only when a third projectile hit him in the face did he finally get the message.

“You better come in,” Odelia said quickly, not wanting her boyfriend to be pummeled with a waffle iron or Crockpot next.

Chase looked a little dazed but staunchly refused to back down. Going into the song’s final stretch, he belted out those last few notes with a zeal and a fervor possibly better reserved for a nobler cause. Still, it touched Odelia’s heart that he would do such a thing for her—expose himself to bodily harm to serenade her like an old-world troubadour.

The final note died away, Chase smiling up at her.

And then he was hit with a skillet and went down hard.

“Oh, crap!” Odelia cried and hurried down the stairs. Racing out into the backyard, she knelt down next to her knight in shining armor—which he could have used at this point—and saw that he was shaken but conscious.

“Odelia,” he said, a smile curling up his lips.“You look perfect tonight.”

“Oh, Chase,” she said. “Thank you so much. That was… lovely.”

It was, after all, the thought that counted, not the execution.

From next door, Marge and Tex’s faces had appeared in their bedroom window.

“Way to go, Chase!” Tex yelled, giving the singing cop two thumbs up.

“Wonderful song choice, Chase,” Marge said, wrapping her nightgown around herself.

“Thanks, Marge,” he said. “And I’ve got your husband to thank for it.”

“Who threw the skillet?” asked Gran, her head stealing out from her bedroom, like a turtle out of its shell. She’d probably waited until the sky stopped raining kitchen paraphernalia.

“Never mind the critics. You did great, son!” Tex cried.

“Give the kids some privacy, Tex,” said Marge.

Three heads retracted back into their homely shell and then it was just Odelia and Chase and the big canopy of stars in that great expanse of sky overhead.

“Do you want to come inside?” she asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” said Chase with a grin.

As he got up, he rubbed the spot on his noggin where the skillet had impacted.

Once inside, Odelia sat the wannabe Ed Sheeran down on a kitchen stool and inspected his head.“You’ll have a nice bump,” she said after a cursory check.

“It’s worth it,” he growled and dragged her onto his lap, then planted a kiss on her lips. When she came up for air, she was feeling dizzy. He might be a lousy singer but he was a great kisser.