“He’s an author?” Glenn asked.

  “No.” She pointed at Savannah. “She’s the author.”

  “Oh yes,” Savannah said. “I remember you, but I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. It’s unusual like mine.”

  The woman laughed. “Sidney.”

  “Right,” Savannah said. “Good to see you again. You bought some of Rags’s books for your children?”

  “Niece and nephew,” Sidney corrected. “And I read your meowmoir. Loved it, by the way.” She reached out to pet Rags when he drew near. “What a cat!” She attempted to engage Rags, but Pauline had other ideas. The cream-colored beauty pushed past Rags and up to the woman, obviously hungry for attention. “Well, hello there,” she said. “Who are you? Another cat star?”

  Savannah chuckled. “Not yet. She’s a new addition to our family.”

  “Where’s her leash?” the man asked. “Won’t she run away?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Michael grumbled, joining them. When the others looked at him, he said, “That young lady has a mind of her own. We’ve had her for two days and already she has trained us to let her out on demand, to move over when she wants to sprawl on the bed next to us...”

  “Or on my pillow,” Savannah added.

  “But she won’t leave,” Michael complained.

  “Stop it,” Savannah scolded. “She’s a wonderful cat. She just can’t be restrained, that’s all. She’s her own person...um, cat.”

  “You’ve only had her for a few days and she doesn’t run off when she’s out here like this?” Sidney asked.

  “Apparently she likes us,” Savannah quipped. “No. She stays right with us. She’s a real good girl. Good with the kids and even the baby. She loves Rags, and, apparently, us.”

  By then, both Sidney and Glenn were petting Pauline, ruffling her fur, and cooing to her. “She’s lovely,” Sidney said. “Well, we’d better head on up the beach and see if we can find who this belongs to.”

  After waving to the couple as they walked away, Savannah glanced at her watch. “Three thirty. Hey, I’d better get ready for my signing. Who’s going with me today?”

  “Will Rob be there?” Michael asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Why?”

  “Then I’d just as soon stay here and soak up the last of the sun’s rays.”

  “I’ll go,” Adam said. “I want to see Rags sign books with his paw.”

  “You went to a signing with me before.”

  He nodded. “Yes, but all I can remember about that is chasing Rags around. He didn’t mind very well that day. So can I go with you?”

  “Sure,” Savannah said.

  “Me, too,” Cassie said.

  “Me, too,” Bethany mimicked.

  “Okay, I guess I’d better go along to help with the kids,” Holly offered. She chuckled. “You’ll have your hands full with Rags.”

  Holly’s prediction turned out to be true. Rags was especially creative that afternoon. It all started when Rob walked up to the Iveys’ car to greet them.

  “Oh,” Savannah yelped, “you startled me. I was trying to put Rags’s harness on him and he’s not cooperating. Oh no,” she cried when the cat slipped past her and leaped to the ground. “Grab him, Rob,” she instructed.

  “I’ll get him,” Adam said, climbing out of the car and running toward Rags, which startled the cat. Maybe he thought Adam wanted to play a game of chase, for he sprinted several feet away and ran under a car. “Savannah,” Adam called, “he won’t let me catch him!”

  “Yeah,” Cassie said, “he’s under that car over there.”

  “Is that Rags?” a woman holding a little boy by the hand asked. “I thought I saw Rags run past me.”

  “Yes,” Adam said.

  “The star of the books,” Cassie explained.

  “Everyone just stay where you are,” Rob bellowed. “Let us approach the cat.”

  “You mean he won’t come when you call him?” a man asked. “My kids think he’s well-trained.”

  “He’s a cat,” another woman said. “What do you expect?”

  “Yeah,” a young mother added, laughing, “and he can’t be very well behaved if he gets into all that trouble portrayed in his books.”

  “Do you mean that’s all true?” a girl of about thirteen asked.

  Rob looked at her. “I’m afraid it is. This is typical Rags behavior, isn’t it, Savannah?” He chuckled. “In fact, folks, you might be witnessing another book in the making right here and now.”

  Savannah smirked good-naturedly at Rob as she moved toward the car. She kneeled down and was about to offer Rags his favorite treat when she heard a man shout, “Hey, what’re you all doing around my car? Get away, I say. Get away. You’re going to scratch the paint. That’s a new paint job.”

  “Her cat’s under there,” a woman explained.

  “Yeah, the cat’s a star. He’s going to autograph books,” someone else said.

  The man lowered his brow. “Say what?”

  “That’s right,” Adam said. “He does paw-tographs.”

  The man scratched his head. He leaned over and peered underneath his car. He started to chuckle, stood up, and asked, “So whose cat is it?”

  “Ours,” Adam said, motioning toward Savannah.

  “Well, I hate to tell you this,” the man said, “but that cat’s probably soaking up some oil.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rob asked.

  Savannah leaned back on her heels and looked up at the man. “Yeah, what do you mean?”

  “Well, I just came from that auto parts store and I’m going home now to fix the leak I got going on under there. This is a vintage Pontiac, as you can see, and sometimes they spring a leak.” He shook his head. “That cat’s lying right where the oil’s coming out. I’m afraid you’ve got one mess on your hands there, young lady.”

  “Oh no,” Savannah said. “We have to get him out of there. We can’t have him licking that oil off his fur.”

  “How?” Holly asked. “How will we get him out?”

  Savannah let out a sigh. “Well, if everyone will be quiet, I’ll try to lure him out with these treats. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to get someone to crawl under there and push or pull him out.”

  “I can do it,” Adam said excitedly.

  Savannah looked at the boy for a moment. “Let’s see if I can entice him out first, okay?”

  “So who’s going to pick him up?” another man asked.

  “Huh?” Savannah asked.

  “If he’s covered in oil like that guy says, you’re not going to want to hold him.”

  “Anyway, he’ll be slick and slippery,” someone else suggested, “and you won’t be able to hold onto him.”

  Savannah sighed again. She rested her head in her hand for a moment thinking, then said, “Adam, Cassie, there’s a baby quilt in the back of the car. Bring it to me. I’ll wrap him in that.”

  Once the children had run off toward the car, Rob asked, “Okay, does anyone know how to clean oil off a cat?”

  One woman offered, “The commercials say to use one of the major dishwashing liquids. It works on baby ducks, anyway.”

  Someone else said, “Probably any of them will work.”

  “Can’t you use vegetable oil to dissolve the motor oil?” A woman asked.

  Savannah stared at her. “Gads, it sounds like you’d create an even bigger problem.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “Here, Adam, you and Cassie go to that grocery store there and buy some soap for washing dishes, will you?”

  Someone shouted, “Get the one with the baby duck on it!”

  Adam looked at the woman and nodded.

  “Hey,” Holly said, “there’s a Laundromat. Savannah, how about if I take him over there and give him a bath while you get started with your program?”

  “In a washing machine?” Cassie asked.

  “No,” Holly said. “They’re bound to have a sink with running hot and cold water.”

  “Bring him to my salon,” another woman suggested. “It’s right over there. I’ll help you bathe him.”

  Savannah relaxed a little. “Okay, we have a plan, then.” She glanced out over those standing around and said, “Thank you everyone. Now, let’s hope and pray he hasn’t been licking his fur, or he’ll be making an emergency trip to a veterinarian.”

  “I’ve been watching him, “Adam said. “I haven’t seen him licking. He’s just lying there looking like a meatloaf.”

  “Okay, quiet everyone,” Rob said.

  Savannah shook Rags’s bag of treats and tried coaxing him out from under the car. “Come on, Rags,” she cooed. “Come get a treat, sweet boy.”

  “Here he comes,” someone whispered.

  Once Savannah had enveloped him in the quilt, she picked him up and everyone cheered. Rags looked out over the crowd with interest.

  “How bad is it?” Rob asked.

  Savannah said, “Ewww, I can smell it. He smells like a mechanic’s garage.”

  “All right, just give him to me,” Holly said. She spoke to the beautician. “Where’s your salon?”

  “Behind you there—number one twenty-one. Follow me.”

  Savannah said to Adam, “Watch where Aunt Holly goes. After you get the detergent, take it to her there, okay?”

  “The what?” Cassie asked.

  “Dishwashing soap,” Holly called out, following after the salon owner with Rags in her arms.

  “Let’s go in,” Rob said, ushering Savannah toward the bookstore.

  She took Bethany’s hand. “Want to come with me? You can be my helper today.”

  Bethany nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Rob said. He glanced toward the beauty shop and shook his head. “...before Rags causes any more trouble.”

  ****

  Savannah had been speaking and answering audience questions for about twenty minutes with Bethany sitting next to her, when Holly and the other children returned with Rags. Holly carried the cat to Savannah, who placed him on a pad on the desk. She ran her hand over his fur and announced, “Boy, is he soft.” She leaned over him. “And he smells good, too.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  “If there are no further questions,” Savannah said, “I’d like to turn the program over to Rags. Come on up and meet him. He’ll be glad to paw-tograph books for you.”

  “After cleaning him all up, you’re going to put ink on his paws?” a woman asked.

  Savannah smiled. “We use a washable, nontoxic ink pad. Bring your book up and he’ll show you how he does it.”

  ****

  “How’d it go?” Michael asked when the women, the children, and the cat returned.

  “Smell him,” Savannah invited, leaning toward him with Rags in her arms.

  “Smell him?” Michael questioned. “Why do I want to smell a cat?”

  “Just smell him,” she said. After Michael had sniffed in Rags’s direction, she asked, “Doesn’t he smell divine?”

  He wrinkled his nose. “What is that? Keith, take a whiff of him. It’s like a mix of perfume and gasoline.”

  “Close, Dad,” Adam said, laughing.

  Holly chuckled.

  “Yeah,” Keith said, “he smells like Holly does when she’s been at the beauty shop, only with a little motor oil aroma mixed in.” He wrinkled his nose. “What is that?”

  “Bingo,” Adam said.

  “Yeah, bingo,” Cassie repeated, jumping up and down a couple of times.

  Both men looked confused and Michael asked, “Okay, what happened? Did he ransack a spa?”

  “Or highjack a beauty-supply truck?” Keith offered.

  “He’s been to the spa, all right,” Holly said.

  “He got all oily,” Cassie said, “and he stunk.”

  “Yeah, like a skunk,” Adam added. “So Aunt Holly and another lady washed him in dish soap like they do those baby ducks when they accidently swim in the oil.”

  “Ohhh,” Michael said, a puzzled look on his face.

  “So how’d he find an oil spill?” Keith asked.

  “Under a car,” Cassie blurted.

  Just then Pauline sauntered out onto the deck to greet Rags. Savannah put him down and Pauline approached him. When she got closer, however, she suddenly stopped and sat down, staring at him. He attempted to rub against her, but she hissed and backed away.

  Michael laughed. “She’s saying, ‘Who are you?’ She doesn’t recognize your perfume, Rags.”

  “Adam,” Savannah said, why don’t you kids take him down to the sand where he can roll around and maybe get some of that scent off him?”

  Adam took the leash. “Okay. Come on, Cassie.”

  The others chuckled when they saw Pauline scamper after the children and Rags. Savannah turned to Michael and asked, “So what’s been going on around here?”

  “Well,” Michael said, “someone came by asking if we’d lost a puka necklace. I guess it was one of those pricey ones. The gal found it outside her front door.”

  “More found jewelry?” she asked.

  Keith nodded. “Yes, and some lost jewelry.”

  Savannah chuckled. “Same jewelry?”

  “Apparently not. That gal told us she’s missing a tennis bracelet.”

  “Wow!” Holly said. “Talk about pricey.”

  “Yeah, she took it off to rub on some sunscreen, then went inside the house to get a glass or water or something. When she returned, the bracelet was gone.”

  “Odd,” Savannah said, somewhat distracted by her phone.

  “Catching up on your messages?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah.” She looked at him. “Are the kidlets in bed already?”

  He nodded. “They just about fell asleep in their dinner, they were so tired.”

  “You guys ate without us?” she whined.

  “Just the little ones did,” Michael assured her. “No, we waited for you.”

  “Okay,” Savannah said. “I want to go kiss the babies good night and change my clothes before I finish going through my messages.”

  When she returned to the deck, she sat down on a chaise and stared into her phone screen again. After several minutes, she heard someone say, “Hi.”

  She looked up. “Hi, Sidney. Been swimming?”

  “Yeah. Body surfing,” she explained. “I learned how last summer and now I’m hooked.” She nodded toward the ocean. “The waves are just right this afternoon. I caught some good ones.”

  “Cool,” Savannah said. “Sounds fun.”

  Sidney’s face brightened. “It is. Let me know if you’d like a lesson.”

  Savannah waffled. “Oh, I don’t think so. I can barely work the boogie board.”

  Sidney smiled, then said, “By the way, Savannah, I’m missing something, Rags hasn’t been out and about without supervision, has he?” When Savannah looked puzzled, she said, “Remember, he took my bathing-suit top last time we were here.”

  Savannah winced. “Oh, yes. I remember.” She became more serious. “Gosh, I don’t think so. We keep him on a harness any time we’re outside and in his pen at night. He’s been gone with me for the last few hours. No, we aren’t aware that he’s escaped at all. What is it you’re missing?”

  “A set of keys.”

  Savannah frowned. “Oh, that’s not good.”

  “No, but it’s not terrible,” Sidney said. “We have duplicates. It’s just that it’s a hassle having new ones made and those keys with chips—oh my, they’re expensive!”

  “Where were they?” Savannah asked.

  “On the kitchen counter.” She shuddered. “Gads, I hope someone didn’t sneak into the house and take them.” She cocked her head. “You’re sure Rags hasn’t been getting out?”

  “Yes, as sure as I can be about Rags. Gosh, I hope you find them, Sidney.”

  Just then Holly joined them. She greeted Sidney, and Savannah explained, “She says someone may have come inside their place and took some keys.”

  “You’re missing a set of keys?”

  “Yes, have you seen them?”

  “No,” Holly said, “but I’ve misplaced my own keys. I’m sure it’s me. I do it all the time.”

  “Did you say you lost some keys?” Glenn asked, approaching the women from the beach. He held up a key ring. “Does this look familiar?”

  Holly studied the keys. “No. Where’d you find them?”

  “A guy down the way just gave them to me. He said he found them on his beach access steps. Are they yours?”

  Holly shook her head.

  Sidney looked at them and also denied that they were hers.

  Savannah grinned at the two of them, then she glanced at the keys, exclaiming, “Oh, my gosh!”

  “What?” Holly asked suspiciously.

  “They’re Michael’s. Where did you say you found them, Glenn?”

  “A guy about three doors up found them on his way down to the beach this morning. He’s kind of crippled up and I told him I’d try to locate the owner. They’re your husband’s?” he asked, surprised.

  “I think so.” She took them from Glenn and held them up. “Michael, are these yours?”

  He patted his pockets, then moved closer and took them from Savannah. “Yeah, where’d you get them?”

  Glenn explained, “Some guy found them up the beach this morning. Didn’t you miss them?”

  “No. I thought they were in our bedroom. I haven’t used them since we’ve been here.”

  Suddenly Sidney called out to a woman who was walking past. “Hey, excuse me!” She moved toward her. “Where did you get that bracelet?”

  “I found it this morning,” the woman said. “I’ve been trying to locate the owner. I’m leaving first thing in the morning, though, so if I don’t find her, I was just going to keep it. Why? Do you know who it belongs to?”

  “Yes, it’s mine,” Sidney said. “It disappeared from our deck yesterday.”

  “Where are you staying?” the woman asked.

  Sidney pointed. “Two doors down.”

  The woman frowned. “I’m about six houses up and I found it on my deck.” She looked suspiciously at Sidney. “Are you sure it’s yours?”

  “Yes,” Sidney insisted. “You may have noticed there’s a problem with the clasp—I planned to get it fixed when I got back home.”