Daydream Retriever (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 10) Read online

  Mom always argued that the house had been “done by a decorator” and she refused to change anything. What an avant garde few might have considered stylish and ornate in the late sixties and early seventies now was outdated and just plain ugly to virtually everyone.

  Although Lisa could no longer remember the name of the person who had committed the awful acts of interior design, whoever he was must have had some type of color-matching fetish, because each room had a color theme. The living room and dining room sported the kelly green, the master bedroom was magenta, Leo’s room was dark blue, Larry’s was harvest gold, and the bedroom Lisa had shared with her sister Lynn was orange. After growing up feeling like she was living inside a gigantic piece of fruit, Lynn claimed she couldn’t even bear the thought of drinking orange juice.

  Lisa followed Harley into the kitchen and put the bag of canine supplies on the counter. The walls had striped wallpaper with roses that matched the bubble-gum pink curtains exactly. At least the counters and appliances were white. The prospect of removing all the wallpaper throughout the house was too exhausting to contemplate, not to mention unloading the furniture. The whole place was like a grotesque Lowell family museum and updating it was now her problem. How on earth had she let herself get roped into this?

  Harley was obviously enjoying sniffing around the house. He wagged happily as he pressed his nose to the floor, snuffling along and undoubtedly learning all kinds of great things about the happenings of the last twenty-five years or so. Lisa smiled. Weren’t dogs color blind? If so, that would certainly help him deal with living in this house. “What do you think, Harley?”

  The dog looked up expectantly. Brigid had given Lisa a bag of dog food and bought Lisa a sandwich, so Lisa fed Harley and sat down at the kitchen table to have her lunch. After she finished eating, she called Bev to let her friend know she had arrived.

  Bev answered on the first ring and greeted Lisa enthusiastically. “You’re here!”

  “Yes, I stopped by Larry’s office to pick up the old hardware-store truck and now Harley and I are hanging out at the house.”

  “Who is Harley? Do you have a date? Well hallelujah to that! It’s about time.”

  “Calm down, Bev. Harley is a dog. He’s sitting here drooling on my foot. I fed him, so now he loves me.”

  “Since when do you have a dog? How did I miss that?”

  “You haven’t missed anything. I got talked into it. Larry’s new assistant or whatever she is…that Brigid woman…talked me into fostering a dog. I don’t know what is wrong with me. First I get roped into trying to fix up this house so it will sell, and then I end up responsible for a dog.”

  “Aww don’t feel bad, honey. I met Brigid, and as my momma would say, she speaks ten words a second, with gusts to fifty. You probably just nodded your head and she ran with it. You’ve always loved animals, so I’m sure it will be fine. He’ll keep you company.”

  “I suppose. He’s cute and it is a little odd being here alone.”

  “It’s time to fix that. I have a leftover bottle of champagne from New Year’s Eve because my oh-so-sexy husband fell asleep too early for us to drink it. So I’m gonna grab it and come over right now. We need to celebrate your return to Alpine Grove!”

  “Is it okay to drop everything and leave your family alone?”

  “Are you kidding? I’m getting my coat. See ya.”

  Lisa giggled and said, “Drive carefully,” but the line was already dead. Some things never changed. Once Bev was on the move, she was unstoppable.

  By the time Bev knocked on the door, Lisa had removed most of the sheets from the downstairs rooms, so the house no longer looked like the setting of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Harley barked madly and ran around in circles. He had the bark of a much larger dog and sounded quite ferocious. At least Lisa wouldn’t have to worry about break-ins while he was around. “Quiet, Harley!”

  She grabbed his collar with one hand and opened the door with the other. Bev was holding a tote bag and bent to pet Harley as she walked by. “Dang, I thought you had Cujo in here.”

  Lisa closed the door and took the tote bag. “No, just a goofball Labrador retriever. Meet Harley.”

  Bev gave Harley a final pat. “Definitely not Cujo.”

  “Well, he can dream.”

  “Hey, I love your hair! The sun-bleached look works.” Bev opened her arms for a big hug. “How are you doing, sweetie? I missed you!”

  Lisa embraced her friend and leaned her head on her shoulder. “It’s so good to see you.”

  Bev released her, grabbed her tote bag back from Lisa, and started for the kitchen. “Let’s celebrate the farewell to the horrible magenta and green. This is a major event. A turning point in the Lowell family history! Can you imagine what this house might be like once this seventies horror show is over?”

  “I know. I’m trying to envision it, but it’s difficult, since I lived with these colors for so long.”

  Bev busied herself opening the champagne and then got some glasses from a cabinet near the sink. “Once you start down the remodeling road, you’ll probably get into it. Getting rid of the carpet is your first step.”

  “I agree, but I hope my mother doesn’t have a heart attack. Every time I’ve mentioned replacing it, she says, ‘But it’s in great shape, dear. Why would you want to do that?’”

  “It frightens me when you imitate your mom, because you sound exactly like her.” Bev handed Lisa a glass of the champagne. “Here’s to finding a pretty house under here somewhere.”

  “Cheers.” Lisa took a sip and tipped the glass toward Bev. “I do not sound like my mother.”

  Bev rolled her eyes melodramatically. “So how did your family convince your mom to let you do all this remodeling?”

  “Larry was a little vague on that. I’m guessing he and my father didn’t mention it.”

  “How did they explain why you’re here?”

  Lisa shrugged. “Larry didn’t say. He said I should send all the bills to him, but I told him I’m not going to lie to Mom if she asks me about all this. It sounds like he and Dad have some type of agreement or bank account for it that Mom doesn’t know about. I figure if Larry signs the checks, it’s not my problem.”

  “Your mom is going to freak out.”

  “Not if you don’t tell her.” Lisa waved her glass. “But that’s not even the worst part! Larry said that he drew up a legal document that gives my Aunt Betty first right of refusal on anything we decide to unload.”

  “Did he forget that she’s completely off her rocker?”

  “I don’t know. This is a massive family disaster waiting to happen. How did I get myself into the middle of this mess?”

  Bev tipped her glass toward Lisa. “See what happens when you don’t stand up for yourself? How many times do I have to tell you—if you don’t make decisions, someone else will make them for you. You let Mike make all the decisions for years.”

  “Until he divorced me. Thank you for that special reminder.”

  “Well, I think coming here and helping out is a good thing. You’re one of those people who needs to be needed. Right now, your family needs you.”

  “And since you blabbed about how I wasn’t sure about school, they figured I’m a pushover.”

  “Well yes, that too. You’ve been trying to figure out what to do with yourself since you got divorced.”

  “Again with the special reminder of my failed marriage? So tell me again why we’re friends?”

  Bev grinned. “Because we’ve known each other since third grade. And you know you love me and that I’ll always look out for you. At least you took your maiden name back. That’s a step in the right direction. And I have another one for you.”

  Lisa frowned. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?”

  “I fixed you up.”

  “No.”

  “Yes! He’s really nice. I met him last week and told him all about you. And now you’re in Alpine Grove, so it’s even better.”r />
  “No. I mean it, Bev. Absolutely not. You just finished telling me I’m a pushover and now you go and do this?”

  “You have to get out there and meet new people sometime. It’s been two years. How long are you going to pine after a marriage that stank like a clogged septic tank?”

  Lisa gulped down the last of the champagne in her glass. “I’m not pining and my marriage was fine for years.”

  “Cut the BS. It’s me you’re talking to, sweetie.”

  “All right, it wasn’t fine for a while. Maybe a long while, and the end did stink. But I’m done with men and relationships. I need to figure things out first.”

  Bev raised her eyebrows “What things?”

  “I’m still working on that. But it doesn’t include men. I’ve decided they’re like television.”

  “What are you talking about? Does this relate to something you saw on Oprah?”

  “I don’t watch that show. I mean television, the thing. Remember when you were really, really little and getting a TV was a big deal? No one wanted to be the only family on the block without a TV.”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “Everyone was so excited to get a tiny TV with grainy black-and-white pictures and three channels. It was a momentous event.”

  “Okay, what does this have to do with men?”

  Lisa shook her head as she poured more champagne into her glass. “Then everyone was excited about color television. When your family got a color TV before mine did, I was so jealous. The pretty peacock was in living color and it was amazing.”

  Bev took a sip and put down her glass. “Okay, so it was cool at the time. I’ll give you that. What’s your point?”

  “Now, everyone has cable with 350 channels and you can’t find anything worthwhile to watch. So you give up and go read a book.” Lisa gestured toward the windows with her glass, spilling some champagne on the counter. “The whole thing with men is like that. First you have the gee-whiz factor. ‘Wow, a date!’ Then you graduate to sex. ‘Yippee, now I know what everyone is talking about.’ Then you get married and you can have sex whenever you want. But you don’t, because it’s boring like all the junk you don’t want to watch on cable. So you say ‘forget it.’ That’s where I am now. I’d rather read a book than deal with a man again.”

  Bev grinned. “You’ve put some thought into this, haven’t you?”

  “Maybe a little. But I’m serious. After Mike and the whole divorce mess, I’ve had it. I’m done with men.”

  “I promise this guy isn’t like cable and it’s not like you have to marry him. When we chatted, he was interesting and told me about how he used to work in an advertising department. He did lots of creative stuff.”

  “The last guy you fixed me up with in high school was about as fascinating as a lint-covered Dorito.”

  “Aww come on! Harold wasn’t that bad.”

  “I don’t want you to fix me up with anyone, Bev. I’m serious. I hate blind dates now just as much as I did then.” Lisa reached down to pet Harley. “And I have a dog now. I can’t just leave him alone. This poor guy is an orphan.”

  “He seems pretty well adjusted to me. I doubt he’d mind if you got someone to take care of him for one evening.” Bev pointed at Lisa. “Hey, I thought of something—there’s a new boarding kennel in Alpine Grove. You can take him there.”

  “I heard about that place. The owner is named Kat, which I thought was a little ironic for someone who deals with dogs. Brigid said I have two free days of boarding coming to me because I’m fostering Harley.” Lisa squeezed her eyes shut. “Never mind. You didn’t hear that.”

  “Oh, but I surely did.” Bev put her arm around Lisa’s shoulder. “You’re fresh out of excuses then, sweetie. I’ll tell Jonah you can’t wait to meet him.”

  “If by ‘can’t wait,’ you mean, ‘would rather have a root canal,’ then, yes, I can’t wait.”

  Bev hugged Lisa. “I refuse to let you turn into a hermit.”

  “Just like old times, huh?”

  “You betcha. Welcome home.”

  After spending the remainder of the evening laughing and drinking champagne with Bev, Lisa had almost forgiven her friend for fixing her up with the allegedly captivating Jonah. Bev also offered a list of suggestions of people in the construction trade who might be available to help begin shredding the interior of the Lowell family homestead.

  Harley was the perfect dog all evening. According to Brigid, he was great except when he was left alone, and that assessment seemed to be true. The dog seemed to enjoy the conversation and reminiscing as much as Lisa had. After Bev left, Lisa was too tired to make up a bed and besides, all the sheets were dirty, since they’d been draped over furniture collecting dust for months. She laid out a couple of blankets on her childhood bed and curled up, exhausted from the long day. Harley daintily hopped up on the end of the bed, turned around a few times, curled up in a ball, and began snoring.

  The next day, Lisa got up and made quite possibly the worst cup of coffee in her forty-two years of life. She filled the teakettle, placed it on the stove, then scooped some instant coffee and nasty powdered creamer into a cup. Gazing down at the mound of chemicals, she pondered their age. How long had those jars been sitting in that cabinet? She poured in the hot water and stirred. It was as if she were conducting a chemistry experiment made of ingredients dating from the Mesozoic era. And yet, she was going to drink it. Even awful, possibly poisonous coffee was better than no coffee. The noxious brew also made it clear that she needed to go to the grocery store as soon as possible.

  As she sipped the vile concoction, Lisa made a grocery list, went through Bev’s list of contractors, and began making a few phone calls to line up meetings. Quite a bit of destruction was going to have to precede the redecorating process. While flooring people and laborers were tearing up the house, Lisa could go through the various rooms, boxing up stuff and cataloging the furniture.

  Although most of the furniture wasn’t old enough or nice enough to qualify as antique, some of the mid-century modern vintage oddities might appeal to somebody. If someone had a taste for white French provincial dressers and tables with gold trim, they’d be in luck. Most of the furniture was incredibly ornate and heavy, and Lisa loathed it. The orange bedroom she’d shared with Lynn was notable for the hideous brown, orange, and gold plaid bedspreads that still graced the pair of twin beds.

  Along with the many house-related calls, Lisa also called the boarding kennel. She needed to make arrangements to board Harley because much to Lisa’s dismay when she’d talked to Bev that morning, her friend confessed that she’d set up the date with Jonah. Already!

  Bev had apparently been confident that she could convince Lisa to go on the date if she pressed the issue. Bev then confirmed the date with the guy for that evening. Way to set that ball in motion. Since everything was already set up, it was easier for Lisa not to argue about it. She loved Bev like a sister and even though she could be bossy, her friend had always been there when she needed her.

  One good thing about getting thyroid cancer—okay, the only good thing—was that having a major illness showed you who your real friends were. Bev, Lisa’s siblings, parents, and her daughters had been by her side and supportive throughout the entire ordeal.

  Mike, on the other hand, who was supposed to be her partner in life, had treated her like she was another patient at the hospital. Yes, he was a doctor, but his response to her illness had taken professional detachment to a new level. She’d been his wife, for heaven’s sake, not a lab rat or an amoeba in a petri dish.

  Although Lisa no longer harbored any ill will toward him, going through her diagnosis, surgery, and treatment had revealed fundamental problems in their marriage. Their mutual dissatisfaction had happened slowly, over time, like tiny cracks in a piece of china. Getting cancer was the hammer that had finally shattered their marriage into tiny shards.

  She shook her head, forcing herself to let go of the depressing train of thought. Ho
w many times had she told herself that it was time to leave the past behind? Lisa vowed yet again that she was done rehashing her divorce in her mind. She had moved on and was healthy now. Although right at this particular moment, she did feel tired and listless. Maybe it was the champagne. She pressed her fingertips to her neck. Were her glands swollen? What if it was something with her lymph nodes?

  Maybe she shouldn’t go out on this ridiculous blind date. But she’d already set everything up with Kat Stevens, the owner of the dog-boarding kennel, who’d said Harley was welcome. Backing out now after giving Kat so little notice in the first place would be incredibly rude.

  When Lisa had talked to Kat, it sounded like she already knew about Harley. It wasn’t really a surprise. Alpine Grove was so small that if you owned a kennel and lived in the area long enough, it was inevitable that eventually you’d know every dog in town.

  After completing her arguments with herself, Lisa got ready to take Harley to the kennel, which was located out in the woods north of town. If Lisa was remembering correctly, it sounded like the place was somewhere near where Abigail Goodman used to live. Lisa’s parents had been friends with Abigail for years. If she had time, maybe Lisa could stop by for a visit while she was in town.

  Harley happily leaped into the truck again. At least the dog was good about riding around. He’d be a great dog for a family that liked to get out and hike. Or maybe he’d be a good farm dog. Lisa felt a little bad dumping him at the kennel after only one day. Harley had been so sweet sleeping at her feet all night. Any little kid would adore this dog. She could easily imagine how her girls, Carol and Cheryl, would have loved playing with him. They’d always wanted a dog.

  Lisa drove out of Alpine Grove and up the highway past the Kmart and the Enchanted Moose Motel and RV Park. The Moose appeared to be under construction. That was a novelty. The owners had managed to get away with minimal maintenance for years, thanks to a serious lack of competition. Maybe people had finally noticed it was turning into a dump and made an effort to find somewhere less disgusting to stay.