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“Of course. Time’s a-wasting, big guy!”

“But… what about jet lag? I thought we’d take a nap first.”

“Forget about jet lag, babe. I wanna see Paris! Besides, we slept on the plane.”

And so Odelia and Chase left again, leaving us to do what we do best. No, not scaling roofs or robbing people. Napping! And what a glorious nap it was!

CHAPTER 4

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“I’m so happy we came,” said Odelia as they strolled along the Champs Elys?es in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe. They’d already seen the Notre Dame, strolled along the Seine, had coffee on a sidewalk caf?, seen the Luxemburg Gardens, the Louvre—she was definitely going to pay a visit the next day—and were now taking in some of the shops along perhaps the most famous boulevard in the world, quickly working through Odelia’s list of things she wanted to see.

“Yeah, me too,” said Chase as he snapped a picture of the wide boulevard on his phone. “Something to show the folks back home,” he muttered.

“Too bad Mom and Dad couldn’t come, but then they’ve already been to Paris.”

“Didn’t your grandmother want to come?” asked Chase.

“Not particularly,” said Odelia as she looked away.

Chase grinned.“You didn’t even tell her we were going, did you?”

Odelia returned his grin as she took his arm.“You know me all too well, hubby of mine. No, of course I didn’t tell her.”

Gran was a lovely person, but since the whole purpose of this trip was to have a relaxing time away from home, she and her mom had felt it better not to mention to Gran they were going to Paris. The old lady would have found a way to tag along, and this was, after all, a sort of second honeymoon, and crusty old grannies with a mind of their own tend not to be much fun on honeymoons.

Odelia got her phone out of her pocket and checked her WhatsApp. Mom had been posting a steady stream of updates on Grace, and she kept an eye on them.

“Don’t worry, babe,” said Chase. “Grace is just fine. Besides, she’s probably asleep right now, seeing as it’s nine o’clock in the evening back home.”

“That means she’s probably awake, and keeping everyone else awake, too.”

Even though Grace had already gotten a lot more regular in her sleeping habits, she still liked to wake up if she felt like it, and let her presence be known.

“It’s only five days,” said Chase gently. You’ll be able to hold her in your arms again before you know it.”

“I know,” she returned, as she placed her head against her hubby’s broad shoulder. “It’s amazing, though, isn’t it, to think that until a couple of months ago, we didn’t have a care in the world, and still we worried all the time, and now there’s only one thing I think about and worry about and that’s Grace, and all those so-called concerns seem to have evaporated.”

“Meaning they were never real worries at all.”

“I guess.” She frowned. “Do you think Max and Dooley will be all right?”

“Now, see, that’s a worry you can drop right now.”

“You think?”

“Of course! When have Max and Dooley ever not been all right?”

“Yeah, I guess they can take care of themselves.” She released a nervous laugh. “And it’s not as if this cat burglar is going to steal them or harm them, is he?”

“Of course not. Besides, burglars usually strike at night, so they’re perfectly safe.”

They admired the Arc de Triomphe and took some pictures from all sides, then continued their walk through Paris in the direction of the Galeries Lafayette. After checking out this most beautiful department store, they took the subway to Montmartre, home to Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, and a maze of cozy little streets, squares, cafes and bars. And as they searched around for a place to take a load off their feet, which were starting to hurt by now, they hit upon a section of Montmartre that had been cordoned off for some reason.

When they approached, she saw that none other than Amalia Pulpweed, dressed in a lavender tulle dress and bright yellow heels, was strolling along the street, a camera on a tracking rail hot on her tail, capturing every movement as she swished along, her high heels clacking on the cobblestone street.

“It’s Amalia!” Odelia said excitedly, squeezing her husband’s arm.

“Is it, now?” Chase grunted. Clearly he wasn’t as impressed by this glimpse at the shoot of the new season ofHearts& Roses as she was.

Amalia was heading for a small caf?, where her two friends were waiting, surrounded by extras, all sipping from tiny cups of coffee. Then Amalia joined Penney and Natalie, and someone yelled, “Cut!” and that was that.

A man Odelia recognized as Oscar Kinetic, the creator-producer-director-writer of the show, strode to the fore, and started talking animatedly with his three stars. Amalia didn’t seem to agree with him, and she voiced her protestations with wide sweeping gestures of her arms. For a moment it looked as if they were going to come to blows.But then she abruptly got up and started walking away, much to the astonishment of the show’s hyphenate overlord.

“She’s coming this way!” Odelia cried. “Do you think I should ask for a selfie?”