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

  Mia kept rewinding the text of her father’s letter in her mind. It had taken ages for her to come up with the existence of Gwen, and in all likelihood, her father probably had provided contact information in the letter Gizmo must have eaten. Whatever he’d said before, now he was obviously disappointed that she hadn’t followed up.

  Little did Dad know that she’d driven hundreds of miles and talked to countless people in her efforts to follow up. She’d gone way out of her comfort zone, faced hugely mortifying situations with a whole lot of people, and she still had no idea where he was. The letter indicated he was leaving Santa Barbara. And it almost sounded like he was sick or dying. At this point, she had no idea.

  She gripped the steering wheel more tightly. Gwen had better have some answers. Maybe she could ask Kat if she could look up Gwen’s number in her phone book. It was time to resolve this whole thing once and for all.

  She parked the car in front of the kennel, got out, and rang the buzzer. Kat opened the door of the house and walked down the driveway toward them.

  Chris got out of the car while Mia was unloading Gizmo. He stood next to the RAV with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the trees.

  Kat walked up to them. “Hey Chris, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “Lulu would give you her regards, but she’s too short to see out the window.” He pointed at the car. “And she’s too lazy to get up on her hind legs.”

  Kat peered into the window. “Hi Lulu.”

  Mia handed Kat Gizmo’s leash. “I was wondering if you either have the phone number for Gwen Davis or have a phone book. I need to get in touch with her.”

  “Sure. She lives next door, over that way.” Kat pointed toward a copse of massive cedars. “Joel plows her driveway in the winter sometimes, so her number is on the refrigerator. Let’s put Gizmo away, and then we can go up to the house and I’ll give it to you,”

  “This is such a beautiful home site,” Chris said. “The trees in this area are huge.”

  “A lot of them are cedars. We have a friend who is a forester and he claims it’s an unusual habitat type,” Kat said.

  After Gizmo was settled into his kennel, they walked up to the house. Mia could tell that Chris was studying the log home. He probably knew every nuance of how they were actually put together. All Mia knew was that it was probably significantly more complicated than stacking a bunch of Lincoln Logs. How did you run the wiring or plumbing in a log house?

  They went inside and Chris and Mia stood in the entryway listening while the dogs launched into a frenzy of barking from the downstairs hallway. Kat glared down the stairs, announced her presence, and they dispersed.

  Joel waved from the kitchen. “What’s up?”

  Kat reached into a drawer and pulled out a pad of paper and pencil. “I’m getting Gwen’s number for Mia. The house is still for sale, right? But I think she’s still there, isn’t she?”

  “I think so.” Joel leaned on the counter. “I talked to her a couple weeks ago and she was really upset that the real estate season is ending and she might be stuck here for another winter.”

  “Well maybe she’ll find someone who loves shoveling snow to rent the place.” Kat handed a piece of paper to Mia. “Here you go.”

  Mia thanked Kat and then turned to look at Joel. “I don’t suppose you have a sister, do you?”

  “Cindy,” Joel said. “Did you see her walking dogs in town?”

  “I was at the post office. She looks a lot like you.”

  Kat closed the drawer with a thump. “I bet she said something nasty about us, didn’t she?”

  Mia looked at Chris, who shrugged. “Well, I don’t know...”

  “It’s okay, we’re used to it,” Kat said. “Are you coming by tomorrow?”

  “I think so. I’ll let you know if I can’t make it,” Mia said.

  “Okay, see you then.” Kat followed Chris and Mia to the door and closed it behind them.

  Chris took Mia’s hand as they strolled down the driveway back to the RAV. “It’s probably not cool for an architect to like log houses, since half of them are made from kits. But I love the warmth of the wood, and how it smells inside.”

  “It did smell a little like trees in there. Well, trees mixed with dog. I know you didn’t see the whole place, but even though it’s old, the house has that same type of well-loved, homey feel that I got from your sketches.”

  “The house I grew up in was like that. When I’m goofing around, I think about families raising their kids and spending holidays together in the houses I’m designing.”

  “Why do you work for a firm that designs office buildings and shopping malls?”

  “There’s more money in commercial architecture.”

  “I think I’m starting to see why you don’t like your job.” Mia gestured toward the forest. “You should be designing houses, not retail complexes.”

  “Usually, it’s more like I design the storage closet on the second floor of a retail complex.”

  Mia opened the door of the RAV and looked over the roof at him. “I bet it’s a great storage closet though.”

  He laughed as he got into the car. “I don’t know about that. You’re being pretty generous.”

  “Speaking of generous, is Gilbert, Tingler, Halberstam, and Associates Architecture taking us to dinner again?”

  “You’d better believe it. I’ve been skipping breakfast and heating up canned soup on the hot plate for lunch, so we can go wild on fine Enchanted Moose diner fare.”

  “I think my cheapskate ways might be rubbing off on you.”

  “Well, it’s about time. I also made a bunch of calls related to my student loans, trying to figure out if I can lower the payment. It’s confusing.”

  Mia glanced at him. “I’m impressed. Are you really going to work on the whole debt problem?”

  “Ignoring it and hoping it will go away hasn’t been working out too well.” He reached over and took her hand. “I’m glad you said something, even if it didn’t seem like I appreciated it at the time.”

  “Friends are supposed to be honest with one another.”

  “I think our friendship is evolving. I don’t usually spend most of the day thinking about ripping all the clothes off my friends.”

  “I hope not.” Mia released his hand to change gears, and slowed the car as she pulled into the Enchanted Moose parking lot. “That’s got to be distracting.”

  “It is.”

  Mia moved papers off a chair, sat down at the desk, and looked through an array of sketches while Chris fed Lulu and settled her in for a nap.

  When he was done, she followed him to the door. He suddenly turned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her toward him into a fierce embrace. Nuzzling her neck, he whispered, “How hungry are you?”

  As she attempted to catch her breath, Mia’s stomach growled loudly. “Pretty hungry I think.”

  He released her. “You’re not going to eat and run away again, are you? Because I’m hoping I can convince you to stay here tonight. I’m not sure my persuasive skills are up to the task, but I’m warning you that I’m going to give it my best shot.”

  “You don’t have much to worry about.” Mia reached into her bag, yanked out a box of condoms, showed him the front, and dropped it on the desk. “I was planning on it.”

  He grinned. “This is going to be the longest meal ever, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe. But dessert could be pretty fantastic.” She took his hand. “Let’s go eat. You might need your stamina. If that kiss earlier was any indication, we’re not going to get much sleep tonight.”

  They walked hand in hand to the diner and settled into what Mia now thought of as “their” booth. Chris pulled out a crayon and began doodling on the placemat while they waited for the server to show up.

  Mia leaned on her elbows, peering across the table. “What are you drawing over there?”

  “Lines.”

  “Those are some suggestive lines. I think our waitress m
ight raise her eyebrows if she sees that.”

  “Sees what? It’s just lines.” He turned the placemat around so she could see. “Look. It’s three lines. No big deal.”

  “You’re saying those curves don’t remind you of anything? Nothing at all?”

  “Maybe. Sometimes what you’re thinking about comes out in art.” A corner of his mouth turned up as he added more lines. “Maybe I’m still thinking about dessert.”

  Mia reached over and traded placemats, flipping his over in the process. “She’s coming. Draw a chocolate cake or something.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  Mia stared at him intently and licked her lips slowly. “Mmm, chocolate. Melted chocolate. Oozing chocolate. Sweet, luscious, creamy chocolate.”

  Chris dropped his hands into his lap as the waitress walked up to the table. The woman stared at them impassively and pulled her order pad out of her apron pocket. “May I take your order?”

  Mia ordered a big salad, vegetable soup, and a sandwich, since it felt like she hadn’t had many vegetables lately. Being on the road was turning her into a junk-food junkie. Chris got a hamburger and fries, apparently not worried about nutrition for the time being. He seemed to have other things on his mind.

  After the waitress left, he resumed drawing on the placemat. The chocolate cake had some rather interesting embellishments. Maybe no one would notice.

  Mia had been taking the placemats with her when they left the restaurant because she loved Chris’s the doodles and sketches and couldn’t bear the idea that they’d be thrown away.

  It had been fun to look at the drawings and reflect on the conversations later when she was back in her room at the H12. Remembering to grab these placemats before they left this evening would be particularly important. If the next occupants of the table sat their children in front of X-rated placemats, they might not be quite as amused by them as Mia was.

  Mia reached across the table and pulled the crayon from Chris’s hand. “Do you have any meetings tomorrow?”

  “No, although I should work. I’m kind of behind on my drawings. Not having a real drafting table slows things down. There’s not really enough space on the desk.”

  “Not to mention that you’ve covered every flat surface with stuff.”

  He took the crayon back from her and sketched a teetering stack of papers. “Tomorrow, you call Gwen. Then what?”

  “I’m not sure. I guess it depends on what she says.”

  The waitress returned with their food and Mia dug into her salad. Chris pointed a French fry at her. “Okay, I guess you were really were hungry, and not just putting me off.”

  She lazily ran her tongue along the tines of the fork. “Why would I do that?”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “Uh, I um…I was thinking you might be worried about the whole rebound thing again.”

  Sucking on the fork languidly for a few seconds, Mia finally put it down. “I thought about that and decided I don’t care.”

  “What do you mean you don’t care?”

  “You’re going to leave in a few days, and I’m going to go find my father. Well, assuming he’s not dead, that is. It’s quite possible we’ll never see each other again. But so what? If I were about to die would I want to miss out on spending the night with you?” She licked the fork suggestively again and pointed it at him. “No, I definitely would not. In fact, I think we’re going to have an extremely good time tonight.”

  “I think so too.” Chris leaned forward and his eyes widened. “The death part is a little worrisome though. You’re not sick or something are you?”

  “I’m fine. I went to the doctor for a physical before I hit the road. I’ve just decided I need to take more of a carpe diem approach to life.”

  “Carpe diem? You mean, seize the day?”

  “That’s all the Latin I know, but it’s the best way to describe what I’m feeling. I have spent a lot of time being afraid, and I’m tired of it. Years in a cubicle, protecting myself from anything scary, and just existing. Worrying about talking to everyone all the time.”

  “I keep telling you, it’s not a big deal.”

  “I decided you might be right. I’ve probably spent more time talking to strangers in the last three days than I have in the last three years. Yes, it was embarrassing, and some people were mean, but some were nice too. Talking to them wasn’t the end of the world. It didn’t kill me, and I survived.”

  He shook a fry, flapping it in front of her. “See! I knew you would.”

  “It’s not like I’m going to run out and get a job in customer service. I still hate talking to people I don’t know. It’s stressful, and half the time I make a fool of myself. But winning that money—it’s like the universe is giving me a second chance to live my life. Really live it. So at least for today, I’m not going to worry about your ex-girlfriend or what happens tomorrow.”

  Chris picked up another French fry and held it up to his mouth, encircling it with his tongue before taking a bite. He gave her a small half smile. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

  Mia held up her fork and skimmed her tongue across a leaf of lettuce, licking off the dressing provocatively. “Oh, I definitely do.”

  They spent the rest of the meal watching each other eat. It was by far the sexiest dinner Mia had ever had, and by the time Chris paid the check, she was achingly desperate to get back to his room.

  Chris took her hand and they ran across the parking lot to room one fifty-six, laughing. He opened the door and they were greeted by a yip from Lulu in her crate. He bent down to peer inside. “Sorry Lulu, you know it’s bedtime.”

  Mia closed the door behind her and turned to face the room. “This time, we are not going to jump each other in front of the entire parking lot.”

  In two steps, Chris was in front of her. He put his palms on either side of her head on the door and pressed his lips to hers. Mia reacted instantly, pulling him closer and then pushing her hands under his shirt, wanting to feel the warmth of his skin.

  The next few minutes were a flurry of laughter, flying clothing, and papers. Chris threw his glasses on the nightstand and shoved sheets of vellum off the bed onto the floor. They leapt under the sheets together, unwilling to stop touching one another, even for a second. Mia closed her eyes and gave in to the sensations, letting all her worries evaporate in the heat.

  Later, she was curled up next to Chris, her legs trapped in a complex tangle of sheets. “Help. I think I’m knotted in place.”

  He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “That’s good. It means you can’t leave.”

  “I should get back to the H12.”

  “Why?”

  “You said you have to work.”

  “It’s the middle of the night. Why would you leave now?” He slowly ran the tip of his index finger behind her ear, down her neck, and rubbed the hollow at the base of her throat. “I’m not thinking about work at all right now.”

  Mia struggled to disentangle herself from the sheets enough to roll over and look into his face. “Then what are you thinking about?”

  “That this is the best evolution of a friendship I’ve ever experienced.” He smiled. “Ripping off your clothes was even better than I thought it would be. I think you should consider being naked more often.”

  “Carpe nudity?”

  He laughed, gave her a hug, and kissed her earlobe. “That’s it exactly. Carpe nudity.”

  Mia jerked awake, her heart pounding in her chest. When she opened her eyes, she was disoriented for a moment until she saw Chris looking down at her.

  He gently placed his fingertips on her temple and pushed her hair back from her face. “Are you okay?”

  “I had one of those falling dreams. You know when you step off a curb or trip and there’s that moment of panic when you realize you’re falling?”

  “I hate that feeling.”

  “Sometimes I have that sensation in a dream, but there’s no context. It’s just the falling part. May
be I fell out of bed when I was little.” She put her palm on his cheek. “Usually there’s no one around though, so I just lie there and wait for my mini heart attack to subside. It was a little startling to wake up and see you there.”

  “Where would I go?” He grinned. “This is my room, remember?”

  “I know. Usually, I’d have left by now.”

  “What do you mean usually?” Chris readjusted himself so he was lying alongside her with his head resting on his arm. “You said something about that last night. There’s no way I wouldn’t want to wake up next to you.”

  “I’ve never spent the entire night with someone before.”

  Chris propped himself up on his elbow. “Really? That’s, uh, I don’t know…unusual, I guess.”

  “Unusual being code for ‘wow, what’s wrong with you,’ right? It’s okay. I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that the mushroom girl didn’t have a lot of boyfriends in the traditional sense.”

  “Okay, well, maybe not. It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that the geeky nerd didn’t get much attention from the opposite sex either. I didn’t have a girlfriend until, well, I was so old it was turning into a joke among everyone I knew.”

  “College?”

  “Yes—and remember I was in college for an extra-long time. A few guys in my dorm tried to fix me up. They had become completely obsessed with me losing my virginity. It was pretty humiliating.”

  “I took on that problem myself. Remember the Eagle’s Nest Tavern? It was over off Fourth Avenue.”

  “That dive? I hope you didn’t go alone.”

  “I’m not proud of some of the things I did. But at that age, all you hear about and think about is sex. I wanted to just get it over with.”

  “That’s not very romantic. Not to mention potentially dangerous.”

  “I went through a self-destructive phase, probably because I was so unhappy and messed up, I guess.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you weren’t dancing for joy back then.”

  “I also was worried there was something really wrong with me. That maybe I might have inherited my mother’s mental health problems. Looking back, it might have been better if I’d just avoided those medical books at the library.”