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“Hrmph,” Wilbur repeated. He’d recently shaved off his beard and mustache, but was growing them back. The beard didn’t become him, and neither did the mustache. The beard was white and made him look like Father Time, and the mustache was the color of urine and gave him the aspect of a derelict. Along with his bushy brows and skeletal build, he looked more like a bum than the owner of one of Hampton Cove’s most popular stores.

“So I’ve been thinking,” she said now as she gazed out across the ocean, which reflected the light of the full moon.

“What?” he said, openly gawking at a pretty young thing strolling past on the arm of her boyfriend.

“About the watch. What if we recruited a couple of new members? That way we could cover more ground.”

“What would you want to do a silly thing like that for?” asked Wilbur, his jaw moving lasciviously as he ogled another young girl moving by on roller skates.

“Because one neighborhood watch isn’t enough, Wilbur. If we want Hampton Cove to be the safest town on the East Coast we need a watch in every neighborhood. And that means recruiting people from all over the place. Responsible citizens.”

“You go ahead if you want. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is, without being responsible for the safety of an entire town.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest you leave well enough alone. If those other neighborhoods want to start a block watch, then let them. It’s none of our business.” He glanced at a tall blonde with a deeply cut cleavage. “Frankly I don’t see why you even bother.”

“I bother because I care about this town of ours. I want people to feel safe when they’re out on the street. And I want them to feel safe when they’re at home. Don’t you?”

But the shopkeeper shrugged.“As long as I’m safe, that’s good enough for me,” he said, causing Vesta to raise her eyebrows and cast a censorious look at her date.

“You know, Wilbur, when Scarlett suggested we go out on a date, I’ll admit I was skeptical.”

“Oh?”

“But now that we’re out and about, I think she was right. This was a great idea.”

“It was?” he said, giving her a look of surprise.

“Why don’t we take a seat on that bench over there,” Vesta suggested. “I’d like to hear some more of your ideas about the watch.”

“Okay,” said Wilbur as he walked her over to the bench and took a seat. One bench over a young couple sat, locked in a tight embrace, their lips also locked and clearly in their own world. Wilbur glanced at the young couple, then at Vesta, and he grinned a suggestive grin that showed all of hiscrooked, yellowing teeth.

“So what do you want to ‘talk’ about?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully.

“How you see the future of the watch?”

He frowned.“Um… Well, we drive around some, like we’ve been doing, and if we see something that ain’t right, we call the cops.” He was leaning in again, an arm slowly sneaking around her back.

She glanced down at her nice dress, which she’d worn especially for this occasion. She hadn’t worn it in a while, and she was starting to feel a little silly wearing it now. “So you’d call the cops if you saw something suspicious. Not go in there and deal with it yourself?”

“Are you nuts? What if these people are armed? We don’t want to get our heads blown off, do we? No, we let the cops take the heat. They know what to do.”

“Cops are people, too, Wilbur. With families and lives they’d like to keep.”

“They get paid to do this shit, Vesta. With our tax money. So I say let ‘em go in first.”

“And if they get shot?”

Wilbur shrugged.“They knew what they were getting into when they signed up for the job.” He pulled her in a little closer. “Aren’t you cold? You look cold.”

She half expected him to offer his jacket, but instead he wrapped his arms around her, and suddenly she felt as if she’d been snagged by an octopus. And since he’d pinned her arms to her body, she couldn’t even pinch his other nipple!

So when he lowered his mouth to hers, instead she bit his tongue—hard!

“Ouch!” he cried, and released her from his grip. “What did you do that for?”

“Wilbur,” she said with a smile, “I think this date has been very illuminating.”

“What are you talking about, you crazy woman?” he said, touching his mouth.

“I’ve made up my mind. From now on you will no longer be part of my watch.”

“What?!”

She got up swiftly.“You’re fired, Wilbur.” And she started walking away before turning. “Oh, and this will be our one and only date. Goodbye.”

‘Eleven ten—Wilbur almost choked again. This time in his own arrogance and bad behavior and terrible opinions. Lucky for him I performed CPR. He didn’t seem to like it.’

Chapter 19

Dooley hadn’t stopped talking about the upcoming wedding of Gran and Wilbur Vickery since we left the park. It was clearly bugging him a great deal.

So finally instead of going to bed, I decided to suggest something else.

“Why don’t we go and spy on Gran’s date with Wilbur?” I said. “And then maybe you’ll see that there isn’t all that much to worry about.”