The Luck of the Paw (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 9) Read online

  Mia had been left with nothing. Absolute ground zero. Although she’d accomplished her mission of finally losing her virginity, she’d also amply proven to herself that sex didn’t fix much of anything. She’d had to get over everything that had happened and start being an adult. That was when the revolving door of employment failures began.

  Chris put his hand on her thigh, startling her from her grim recollections. He gave her a half-smile. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “You have an odd look on your face, that’s all.”

  “I was thinking that you don’t know me very well.” She gestured toward the road ahead. “I mean, there are so many things you don’t know.”

  “I’d like to know.”

  “But why?” Mia pulled into the Enchanted Moose and drove around back. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re interested.”

  After she shut off the car, he took her hand. “Why wouldn’t I be interested? You’re funny and smart and beautiful.”

  “Oh please, I have looked in the mirror, you know.”

  “Maybe you don’t see yourself that way, but I’m serious.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “How about saying you’ll have dinner with me again? After that hike, I’m hungry. And I’ve still got today’s per-diem meal allowance to burn.”

  Mia grinned at his hopeful expression. “Well, we can’t let those lovely expense-account funds go to waste, can we?”

  “No way.”

  Mia spent much of dinner laughing and commenting on caricatures Chris created of their classmates from high school. By the time they were having dessert, the placemats looked like an eighties rogues’ gallery.

  She took a bite of ice cream. “Except for the nasty woman at the DMV, this has been a great day. Thanks for feeding me again.”

  “I’m sure the number crunchers at Gilbert, Tingler, Halberstam, and Associates Architecture will get over it.”

  “That’s a mouthful. I’m glad I don’t have to answer the phone there.”

  “We usually call it GTH, which helps.”

  “Goth? Good thing they didn’t hire me in my Elvira days. People would talk.”

  Chris laughed. “So do you want me to go with you to talk to the gift-store lady tomorrow?”

  “That would be great. After the mean DMV woman, I’m traumatized.”

  Chris paid the check and they walked across the parking lot toward her car and his room. He gestured toward the door. “Do you want to come in for a minute? Lulu probably wants out.”

  Mia shook her head. “I should go.”

  “I wanted to show you the drawings of the house. I’ve been staring at it so long, I’m losing perspective on it, and I’m curious what you think.”

  “I don’t know anything about architecture.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” He walked toward room one fifty-six holding the key toward the door. “Please? It won’t take long. I have a meeting bright and early tomorrow with the developer and I’m worried it might be terrible.”

  “All right. But I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I’ve been living in a tin can for years. All you have to do is include normal-sized windows and I’ll think it’s great.”

  “Cool. You can bolster my confidence then.” He opened the door and held it open for her. Lulu barked a few times in welcome.

  Chris crouched next to the crate and opened the door. Lulu charged out into the room and stopped in front of Mia, who bent to pet her. “Don’t look at me. He’s the one who feeds you.”

  “The drawings are over there on the desk.” He went to the tiny kitchenette area, dispensed some dog food for Lulu, and placed the bowl on the floor.

  Mia stood in front of the desk. It was covered with sheets of vellum, rolls of tracing paper, a calculator, tape measures, white rulers, and what appeared to be thousands of pens, pencils, and notes. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be looking at exactly. “I’m afraid I might cause an avalanche.”

  “Sorry about that. My work junk gets out of control.” He held up two of the triangular white rulers. “I think the architectural and engineering scales I brought are starting to reproduce in here.”

  “At least I know you weren’t fibbing about having a job.”

  “No one would cart around this much stuff if they didn’t have to.” He pulled out a few sheets of vellum from the stack and laid them on one of the beds. “These are the preliminaries of the exterior and the floor plan.”

  Mia bent to look. “Wow, this is going to be a big house, isn’t it?”

  “As I may have mentioned, the guy is loaded.”

  “You were right about the windows looking out at the lake. That’s going to be beautiful. I think you could fit my entire Airstream in that living room.”

  “It’s going to be huge. If it were my lot, I would make the house smaller, but it’s not my decision.”

  “I think this will be gorgeous.” Mia sat on the corner of the bed. “But I’m curious what you would do instead, if it were your house?”

  He turned and grabbed a sketchpad off the desk and handed it to her. “I have a thousand ideas. When I’m stuck creatively, I goof around with ideas for imaginary houses.”

  Mia flipped through the pages and looked up at him. “I want to live in one of these. They’re more like a real home, where you could have a dog. The lake house is beautiful, but I can’t imagine actually living there.”

  He sat down next to her. “I know. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who feels that way. If you think the lake house is pretty, Ben will probably like it. He wants it to make a statement, which translated from developer-speak means he wants it to look expensive, so he can sell it for boatloads of money.”

  “It works for that.” She pointed at the paper. “But if I had that kind of money, I’d want a bigger kitchen. Maybe move it over and ditch that part of the dining room so you could see out to the lake. While I was living in the trailer, when I wasn’t fantasizing about vacations, I fantasized about kitchens. The idea of a full-size refrigerator makes me swoon.”

  He chuckled. “An interior designer would cringe at the idea of removing part of the formal dining room. Where would you put the long mahogany table that seats sixteen?”

  “I don’t know, but since I can’t think of sixteen people I would want to eat with, that’s not a problem.” She pointed at a house in the sketchpad. “I think this one is my favorite. I could live there.”

  “I like it too. I went on a mountain-cabin jag after I got here, as you can probably tell.”

  “The wood and stone is beautiful, and the circular room with the windows is so cool. I’d love to sit and read up there.” She pointed at the page. “You’re incredibly talented. I hope you’re not still thinking of giving up architecture?”

  “Not today anyway.” He took her hand and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “Thanks. No one has said anything nice about my work in a long time.”

  “You must have been hanging out with the wrong crowd. I mean, I’m not an expert, but maybe all you need is a few more fans cheering you on.”

  “I never thought of it that way, but you’re probably right. Everybody could use more fans.” He gave her hand a slight squeeze. “Someday you might actually believe the potential I see in you too.”

  “Maybe.” Mia stood up and looked down at their interlaced fingers. “Gizmo has been my only fan for a while. And I suspect he might be thinking about food, not me. In any case, I think I should get back to the H12.”

  He stood up and put his arms around her. “Do you really have to go?”

  “I think staying would be a bad idea. When is your meeting tomorrow?”

  “In the morning. Can we meet after that? What’s next on the postcard tour?”

  “I’ll bring a selection and let you pick this time. After we stop by the gift store, we can explore another fabulous scenic location in the greater Alpine Grove area.”

  “Sou
nds great.” He pulled her closer. “Can I have a goodbye kiss before you go? Because that’s all I’ve been able to think about.”

  Mia flashed a grin. “I’m glad it’s not just me.” She put her arms around his neck, pulling him to her, and pressed her lips to his. He responded eagerly, sending thrilling shock waves of pleasure ricocheting throughout her body.

  Mia pulled away and put her hand on his chest. This was getting complicated. They were six inches away from two large and inviting beds. “Okay, wow, um, I gotta go. I’m really going now.”

  Chris put his palm on the back of her neck and bent to give her a final kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Mia put her hand on his and gave it a pat before leaving. “Tomorrow.”

  The next day, Mia enjoyed a relaxing morning of doing absolutely nothing. She was relieved to have some time alone to think before dealing with humanity again. Chris had convinced her to take one last shot at finding her father by talking to the woman at the gift store, since Kat had said that Tracy’s mom Bea Sullivan knew “everyone.”

  If that didn’t work, Mia would pick up her mail and give up on the whole finding Dad program. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. Who really cared if he never found out that she won the lottery anyway? Maybe he hadn’t even sent the tickets to her.

  All the lethargic reading time she’d had meant she was now officially out of books. While she was in town, she also might check out the used–book store. For the first time in years, Mia didn’t have a stack of library books, so she didn’t have a ready supply of free reading material. Since she wasn’t staying in Alpine Grove, they wouldn’t give her a library card, assuming there even was a library lurking in town somewhere.

  Fortunately, she’d found a way to get her mail while she was in transition. One advantage of living in a trailer park was that she was exposed to a lot of ads directed to full-time RVers. By using a mail-forwarding service based in South Dakota, she had a forwarding address to put on the forms when she left Windiberg. Then all she had to do was let the mail-forwarding company know when she was going to be in one place for a little while. They would then send her accumulated mail general delivery to the local post office for her to pick up.

  When she gathered her mail at the Alpine Grove post office, she’d undoubtedly find a few final bills for lab work related to her doctor’s appointment when she’d gotten her physical. She also was supposed to get a check refunding her security and pet deposits, but it was entirely possible the Edgewood Paradise Estates would think up some way to screw her out of the money. She was also likely to receive countless offers to help her spend her lottery winnings. Being repeatedly hit up for money by everyone she met was something she hadn’t missed one little bit.

  After getting breakfast at the cafe, Mia walked down the main street to the bookstore. It was a cute little shop called Twice Told Tales, which had a display of books and crafts in the window. As she walked in, the bells on the door jingled. A woman with short, graying curly hair was sitting at an antique desk reading a hardback book. She put down the book and smiled. “Hello. May I help you?”

  Mia shook her head. “Just booking. Looking. I mean, I’m just browsing.”

  “I like booking. That’s appropriate here. My name is Margaret. If you need help finding anything, just let me know.”

  Mia nodded and settled into perusing the covers of novels by her favorite authors. It was a well-stocked store with books crammed into just about every possible nook and cranny. Margaret mercifully left her alone to her selections, which was wonderful. Mia hated being hounded by people when she was shopping.

  She brought a stack of books up to the desk. Margaret smiled as she picked up a novel off the stack. “Oh, you’re going to love this. And the best thing is that there are five more in the series.”

  “It looks grape…great.”

  “He’s a local author, and I promised him I’d put the covers face out. He’ll be so pleased; it seems to be working.” Margaret carefully moved a sheet of carbon paper and wrote up the receipt on a little pad. “Now that he’s my son-in-law, I need to keep him happy.”

  Mia picked up the book and turned it over. “A.J. Emerson is your son-in-law? He’s very handsome.”

  “Oh, that’s not Drew. It’s a model. But yes, my daughter married him last summer. It was a lovely wedding.”

  “Congratulations.”

  Margaret handed her the receipt. “They were high school sweethearts. I’m not much of a romantic anymore, but I think everybody cried at that wedding.”

  “Oh wait, I heard about this! Your daughter is Beth, right? Kat said everybody cried when they read their vows.”

  Margaret counted out change and handed it to Mia. “They certainly did. You know Kat?”

  “My dog Gizmo is staying at her kennel. That’s where I’m going now, actually. She lets me go on their midday walks. I miss Gizmo so much, but the place I’m staying doesn’t allow dogs.”

  “It’s beautiful out there and Kat became one of my favorite people when she agreed to board Beth and Drew’s puppy while they were on their honeymoon. Thank heavens. I’m too old to deal with a puppy.” She handed Mia the bag of books. “Enjoy!”

  Mia thanked her and was about to leave. “I have a sort of odd question. Have you lived here for a while?”

  “Yes, I raised my daughter here.”

  “I don’t suppose you ever met anyone named Dan Riggins, did you? He might have been through around 1975.”

  “The name doesn’t sound familiar, but I was going through some issues of my own at the time.”

  Mia moved her hand dismissively. “I’m sorry to bother you—never mind.”

  “If you’re looking for someone, keep asking, dear. This is Alpine Grove. Eventually you will find someone who knows him.”

  “I hope you’re right. Thank you again.”

  Mia walked back to the H12 to drop off her books before driving out to Kat’s to walk Gizmo. She riffled through the stack of postcards and pulled out a few of the more scenic ones for Chris to consider later.

  She smiled at the idea of seeing him later. A little twinge of excitement skittered in her chest at the thought of kissing him again. No one had ever made her feel like that—all those little butterflies of anticipation twirling around her insides indicated they really had some serious chemistry going.

  Intellectually, she knew that he was on the rebound from being dumped. But it was only a matter of time before she wouldn’t be able to restrain the impulse to kiss those thrilling lips and then leap into bed with him afterward. She gazed down at the dingy plaid bedspread in her room. So many available motel rooms and so little control. But they were two consenting adults now, not the geeky, awkward teenagers they were in high school. Maybe she’d stop by the drug store on her way out of town. Just in case.

  When Mia got to the kennel, Kat seemed to be in a better mood than she had been the day before. Gizmo was all leashed up and ready to roll. Mia took the leash from Kat. “So I was wondering if it would be okay if I took Gizmo for a hike…I mean a hike somewhere else. And then brought him back here.”

  Kat smiled. “Of course. He’s your dog.”

  “I mean, I’m not going to steal him and run out on my boarding fee or anything.”

  “I didn’t think you would.”

  “Okay, so I can just take him?”

  “Sure.” She pointed at the sign next to the door. “If you could bring him back during the pick-up and drop-off hours, it would make my life easier.”

  “I will. Thanks!” She bent down to cuddle Gizmo. “You ready to go for a hike with me and Chris?”

  Gizmo wagged happily and circled around, reveling in the attention.

  Kat said, “So it sounds like Chris is still in town. How’s Lulu doing?”

  Mia stood up again. “They’re both fine. We went for a hike yesterday and I wished I’d thought to bring Gizmo. He would have loved it.”

  “I see. Well, I’m sure you’ll have a great time t
oday.” Kat gestured toward the road. “They’re saying the weather is supposed to turn, so you should take advantage of the sun before it goes away. Sometimes when it leaves, it stays gone for a while.”

  Mia loaded Gizmo into the RAV and waved goodbye to Kat, who was walking back to the house. Gizmo was wandering back and forth across the backseats, eagerly anticipating whatever was next. It was a good thing he was such an enthusiastic traveler. Mia smiled at his reflection in the rearview mirror.

  At the Enchanted Moose, she parked in front of room one fifty-six and told Gizmo to behave himself while she went to collect Chris and Lulu.

  Mia knocked and when Chris opened the door, they just stared at each other for a moment. Then she reached up, moved her hands behind his head, and pulled him toward her. Her lips moved against his and it became obvious he’d spent as much time thinking about kissing her as she had about kissing him. He walked backward, pulling her into the room with him toward the bed, and flopped down so that she landed on top of him.

  A few moments later, Lulu yipped from her crate, and Mia raised her head. “Gizmo is in the car. We need to stop before he eats his way through the interior.”

  Chris gave her one last kiss before releasing his hold on her and letting her roll off him. He sat up and looked around the room. “We didn’t even close the door. Just give me a second to compose myself and think about something not sexy.”

  “Work, cubicles, your boss, deadlines.”

  “Okay, you can stop. That’s plenty. I have to say, you sure know how to make an entrance.”

  “I guess I’m glad to see you.”

  “Me too.” He pressed his palm lightly against the side of her face and traced a fingertip across her jaw. “Really glad.”

  Mia drove toward town while Chris looked through the postcards. He held one up. “This one with the massive rock jutting out over the water is amazing, but it doesn’t say where it is.”

  “I know. Obviously, it’s on the lake somewhere, but I don’t know where. I was hoping maybe you’d seen it.”

  “Nope. I’d remember that. If you find out where it is, I want to go there.”