Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Advice. Purrfect Passion. A Purrfect Gnomeful

Her mother and father had left the week before for a three-week trip around Europe. London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam… They were doing it all and doing it in style. Odelia had been getting tons of pictures, and her mother’s Facebook feed was full of snapshots of the two of them in front of Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum… And in every picture they looked a little tanner and more relaxed.

“I wouldn’t mind going on a trip around Europe myself,” said Gran now. “Though it wouldn’t be much fun on my own. I’d have to find a friend to tag along.”

She darted a meaningful glance at Odelia, but the latter held up her hand. “I can’t get away right now. I have a big story to tackle for Dan, and he’d kill me if I took off.” Not to mention that her piggy bank couldn’t afford the financial onslaught of three weeks in Europe.

“How about Scarlett?” asked Chase. “I thought you and her were BFFs now?”

Gran’s face sagged. “It’s one thing to finally be reconciled again, but another to be joined at the hip for almost a month while you hopscotch around an entire continent.”

“I’m glad you two are getting along so well again,” said Odelia. “And maybe you could start by going on a weekend trip together? See how it goes?”

Gran didn’t look convinced. “Mh,” she responded unenthusiastically. “She friended me on Facebook the other day, and has been sending me a never-ending string of personal messages.”

“That’s very nice of her,” said Odelia encouragingly. “It shows she really wants this friendship to work.”

“All pictures of half-naked men,” Gran clarified. “I’m starting to think the woman is some kind of nymphomaniac. I mean, I like the male form just as much as the next gal, but there are limits to the number of oiled-up pecs and glistening six-packs you can see.”

“She probably thought you’d like it.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t, and when I see her I’ll tell her in no uncertain terms what I think of all of this spam.” And with these words, she got down from her stool, dumped her plate in the sink and stalked off, presumably to start her move into the spare room.

“She’s in a mood,” Chase remarked.

“I think she misses Mom and Dad a lot more than she’s letting on,” said Odelia. “I miss them, and I don’t even live with them.”

“Looks like we’re turning our office-slash-gym into a spare bedroom again, huh?”

“Yeah, looks like it,” said Odelia, and placed a hand on her understanding boyfriend’s arm. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Chase. “I like your grandmother. She can be a handful, but she has a good heart, and I’m more than happy to accommodate her for two—“

“Three.”

Chase grimaced. “Three weeks.”

Odelia smiled. The last time Gran had moved in things had gotten a little tense. She hoped that this time the old lady would behave.

Her phone produced its telltale series of beeps, announcing a message from Mom, and she swiped to open the message. She smiled when she found herself glancing at her parents standing in front of what looked like a Roman centurion, goofy smiles on their faces, as Dad pretended to be engaged in a display of sword fight with the Roman.

Chase, glancing over her shoulder, said, “I can understand your gran. I wouldn’t mind taking a little vacation myself. Things have been pretty hectic at the office lately, and I’m due a vacation.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Odelia intimated. “Not Europe, though. We don’t have the time or the budget.”

“How about a weekend trip to the Keys? I think we could afford that, right?”

“Let’s talk about it once Mom and Dad are back,” Odelia suggested. A weekend trip was fine, but what she really longed for, she now realized, was the kind of vacation that involved a lot of lazing around on a tropical beach somewhere, the blue azure water lapping at her feet, waiters at her every beck and call, umbrella drink in hand and a good book. But since that wasn’t in the cards, she simply sighed and put down her phone.

Just then, the doorbell chimed, and she got up, wondering who it could be. She wasn’t expecting any visitors. She opened the door to find her uncle standing on the mat, accompanied by a woman she’d never seen before.

Uncle Alec smiled widely, and said, “Would you like to go to Thailand for three weeks?”

Chapter 5

I pricked up my ears at the mention of the word ‘Thailand’. As everyone knows, cats aren’t frequent travelers, but lately we’d already flown to LA and even the UK, all in the wake of our human, who’s something of an amateur sleuth when the mood strikes.

Dooley and I locked eyes, and I could see that he, too, was impressed by this sudden turn of events.

“Thailand,” said Brutus. “Isn’t that where they eat cats and dogs for dinner?”

“Brutus!” Harriet cried.

“I’m sure they don’t eat cats in Thailand,” I said reassuringly.

“No, they do,” Brutus insisted. “And dogs.”

We all watched Uncle Alec step inside, followed by a young woman of petite dimensions. She had long dark hair and horn-rimmed glasses perched on a cute little nub of a nose. She glanced around nervously, not entirely at ease. I wondered if she was the travel agent Uncle Alec had secured for this unexpected trip he’d just mentioned.

“I don’t want to go to Thailand, Max,” said Dooley, wasting no time getting worked up. “I don’t like to be eaten.”

“Nobody likes to be eaten, Dooley,” I assured him.

“What’s this all about?” asked Chase, throwing down his napkin and joining his commanding officer in the living room.

“First let me introduce this young lady,” said Uncle Alec. “Kimmy Flannery, meet my niece Odelia and her future husband Chase, also known as Detective Kingsley. Kimmy works for a production company in the capacity of assistant producer, isn’t that right, Kimmy?”

Kimmy nodded. “I work for Sunshine Pictures. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them?”

Both Odelia and Chase shook their heads.

“No, I guess the product we make is more famous than the company. Passion Island is our main product right now, and has been a big hit for the past five seasons, now in prep for season six.”

Odelia’s mouth opened, and Chase’s jaw dropped. And when I glanced around, I could see that both Brutus and Harriet were very impressed indeed as well.

“This is serendipity,” Harriet said in a low voice. “I’m a believer, you guys.”

“A believer in what?” asked Dooley.

“Serendipity!” said Harriet.

“I’ve heard about that,” said Dooley. “It’s a national park in Africa.”

“I think that’s the Serengeti,” I said, and brought my paw to my lips in the universal sign of ‘Better shut up now or risk Harriet’s ire.’

“First off, this is not official,” said Kimmy, as everyone distributed themselves amongst the couches, or at least those spots that hadn’t been taken up by yours truly and my three friends. Cats are not easy to dislodge, so we simply stayed put, even if it meant that Uncle Alec had to remain standing, and Chase had to take the arm of the couch.

“I’ve worked for Sunshine Pictures from its inception,” said Kimmy, as she glanced around nervously, as if expecting nefarious elements to spring up from behind the curtains. “And don’t get me wrong: I love my job, and my colleagues. But something very strange has been happening, and I don’t know what to do about it, or how to proceed.”

“Kimmy is Charlene’s niece,” Uncle Alec explained. “And when Charlene heard about what happened, she told her to come and see me.”

“At first I didn’t want to,” said Kimmy, giving Uncle Alec an apologetic look. “In fact going to the police was the last thing I wanted to do.”