Howl at the Loon (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 6) Read online

  Another loud noise came from outside and Robin wrapped her arms around herself. “You’re doing it again, Chuck. Telling me ghost stories just to scare me. None of the ladies who came out to clean said anything. Are you making this up?”

  “Nope.” He mimed an X across his chest. “Cross my heart. Ask anyone.”

  “Well, if Ernie ever shows up again, I’ll ask him. Have you talked to him about payment?”

  “Yeah, I got paid before I started the job. It’s best to get money up front in case he goes fishing.”

  “You’re a wise man.”

  Chuck grinned. “I’ve been doing this a while. Even if I hadn’t, it’s a small town and word gets around.”

  After coordinating a few more details with Chuck, Robin went out to the dining room and noted that Chuck or one of his helpers had set all the tables. He referred to the kitchen staff that dealt with serving and clean-up as his “roadies.” Whoever they were, Robin was glad he had a merry band of helpers and that dealing with all those dishes wasn’t her responsibility.

  She looked up as Brett moved through the lobby toward her to the dining room. He glanced at the garbage-can-tarp arrangement and went to the side of the room to take a look. With a shrug of his shoulders he turned, continued to the dining room, and sat down next to Robin. “Good evening. It appears the predicted rain has arrived.”

  Robin nodded. “The sound of the drips hitting the tarp and sliding into the garbage can is kind of soothing in a way. Like a slow waterfall.”

  “You have a wonderful way of looking at the bright side of things.”

  “I didn’t have enough time to do anything about the roof. I just hope it doesn’t cave in over the next week.”

  He put his hand on hers. “I’m sure everything will be fine. As long as you brought your raincoat.”

  Robin smiled. “I live in Portland, Oregon. I never go anywhere without it.”

  Alec came in from the kitchen and sat down at the table with Robin and Brett. He shook his head and droplets flew from his dark hair. “It’s really coming down out there.”

  Robin smiled at Alec’s wet-dog imitation. Where had he stashed Leroy this time? She hoped the dog wasn’t sitting out there in the rain, but she couldn’t say anything in front of Brett. She looked at her watch. Dinner was in fifteen minutes and the retreat attendees were starting to mill around and drift toward the dining room from the lobby, looking disoriented. Robin stood up and waved. “Welcome, everyone. Dinner will be over here.”

  A woman with jet-black chin-length straight hair strode purposefully across the room toward the table. Robin always envied women who could pull off the sleek glamorous look. No matter what Robin wore, with her dirty blonde hair and the splash of freckles that went across her cheeks, there was no way she could look anything beyond cute in a girl-next-door kind of way.

  This woman oozed classy sophistication. She was dressed in a designer outfit that was clearly not from the Eagle River catalog. The gray suit was tailored to hug her slim form, and the painful-looking peep-toes with four-inch heels matched the suit perfectly. Her ruby-red lipstick emphasized the grim expression on her face. Stalking up next to Alec, she pointed across the table at Robin. “What is with all the noise here? We’re in the middle of nowhere and there are all these creaking and crashing noises. Is there something in the attic?”

  Robin raised her palms upward. “I’m not sure if there is an attic. What did you hear?”

  “It’s like being at Disneyland. Did you ever go to the dopey haunted house with all the wailing and creaking noises designed to scare six-year olds?”

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve never been there.”

  “Well, it’s incredibly infantile. Unless you believe in ghosts. Which I don’t.”

  Alec said, “This building is old. Sometimes old wooden places like this make noise, particularly during storms.” A piercing crack of thunder accompanied by a flash of lightning emphasized his point. The woman jumped backward and flailed at Alec, who reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. The lights flickered momentarily and Alec let go. He looked up as he released her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, thank you. These shoes are a bit tippy. My name is Terri, by the way. You’re Alec Montgomery, right?”

  Picking up a fork off the table, he nodded. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you.” He pointed the fork at Brett. “This is Brett and I guess you already know Robin.”

  Terri flashed a radiant smile at Alec. “I know I’m new—since the merger—but I’ve noticed you around. You’re hard to miss.”

  Robin wanted to roll her eyes, but managed to control herself. She stole a glance at Brett, who looked amused by the obvious over-the-top flirtatious moves. If he wanted to study interpersonal dynamics, here was his big opportunity.

  Alec twirled the fork in his fingers. “I’ll be doing the training. We have a lot of material to cover.”

  Terri tossed her head, her hair swishing against her cheek. “I’m looking forward to it. You have so much experience, I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful instructor.” Turning to look at Robin, she said in a flat voice, “See if you can do something about the noise or I’ll never get any sleep tonight.”

  Robin said, “I’ll look into it.” She gestured toward the chairs across the table. “Would you like to sit with us?”

  Terri smiled at Alec and said, “I’d love to,” as she settled down next to him, pulling the chair closer.

  Brett said, “So you worked for the High Country catalog? How do you feel about the merger?”

  Terri gave him a look of incredulity. “How do I feel? How do you think I feel? I’ve been treated like a second-class citizen. If I could find another job, I would!”

  Brett looked somewhat taken aback by the vehemence, which was nothing new to Robin. He’d really put his foot into it, and now he’d get to enjoy the smell.

  Alec said, “I’m hoping that once you learn more about the Eagle River process, things will get easier.”

  Terri put her hand on Alec’s hands, stilling them and pressing the fork down to the table. “Perhaps that’s true. But it won’t fix the environment. I’m tired of people poking their heads into my cubicle like whac-a-moles when I’m trying to concentrate on a sale.”

  Brett said, “What can you do to change that reality?”

  Terri turned to glare at him again. “Me? Why should it be me? I’m just doing my job. It’s not like I can put up more partitions. People are so rude. I have no privacy!” Another woman wearing a pretty turquoise blouse walked into the dining room and Terri gestured toward her. “Then there’s my cubicle mate. The lovely Loretta whose endless conversations with her gynecologist I get to overhear. Every. Single. Day. She keeps finding new maladies to whine about, and coughs constantly. Maybe she’s got the plague. I don’t know. What I do know is that I get to smell the horrible food she eats. But her various foodstuffs can’t actually touch each other, so she has 350 plastic containers in the refrigerator.”

  Upon spotting Terri, Loretta turned away toward another table and sat down. Alec pulled his hands out from Terri’s grasp and resumed his constant fiddling with dinner utensils. He was leaning as far away as possible from Terri, to the point that his ear was right next to Robin’s face. She tilted her head slightly and whispered in his ear. “Do you need me to move over?” With a stony look, he sat up straighter, placed the fork back on the table, and put his hands in his lap.

  Brett said, “If you could wave a magic wand, what would you want your work experience to be?”

  Terri looked momentarily confused and finally said, “Well, I want better walls. Solid walls that are taller! And I don’t want to share a cubicle. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, is it? And there should be rules about the microwave. No tuna. And no burning popcorn! Doesn’t anyone ever read the instructions? How hard is it to pay attention to your popcorn so it doesn’t stink up the whole building?”

  Robin was relieved to see the roadies coming out with plates of f
ood. At least there was no tuna on the menu, and the salads they were carrying looked tasty. Maybe eating would slow down Terri’s litany of complaints. Or maybe not. It seemed like she was just getting started and really warming to the subject. Brett looked less enthusiastic, but he nodded at the right places, which encouraged Terri to persevere.

  Alec quietly excused himself and headed for the kitchen. He was probably off to sneak some food to Leroy. Terri leaned across the table and gave Brett more information about the personal insults related to sharing a cubicle with Loretta.

  Robin slowly chewed her lettuce, watching as Brett listened to the growing list of transgressions. Mostly he remained silent with a sympathetic look on his face. A few times, he asked Terri what changes she could make to improve matters, which she ignored. The questions only seemed to remind her of more things she didn’t like. Apparently, she wasn’t much of a solution-seeker. The continuing diatribe seemed to drive off the others, who congregated at the remaining tables in cliques that clearly delineated their association with Eagle River or the High Country catalog.

  Alec returned to the dining room and crossed behind Terri to another table, where he sat down and began chatting with some other employees. Robin knew they were from Eagle River, not High Country. For all she knew, he might have known those women for years.

  Darrell wasn’t wrong about the resentments and jealousies running rampant through the company. As she finished her dinner, Robin tried not to dwell on what the next day might bring. At least picking up Emma and spending time with her would be great. Her dog wasn’t hung up on injustices and allegiances. For the most part, Emma just loved everybody.

  The next morning, Robin took another frigid shower and went to the lodge. Breakfast was a serve-yourself affair, and Chuck or one of his roadies had obviously stopped by early to set everything up. Robin practically pounced on a mug, eager for some coffee. A few early risers were scattered around the room, sitting at tables looking sleepy. Maybe they had hot water in their rooms. The cold showers in the Pine Cone cabin certainly helped wake a person up quickly in an unpleasant and jarring way.

  Robin was eager to pick up Emma, so she grabbed a bagel and returned to her cabin. After listening to Terri the previous evening, she didn’t want to hear more complaining about life at work. Terri hadn’t been exaggerating about the conditions. They’d tried to cram far too many people into a small space and the situation was awful. The call center was a maze of cubicles with mismatched partitions and old office furniture. Robin didn’t exactly love her cubicle either, but at least she didn’t have to share it with someone else. No wonder Terri was angry. And Loretta probably wasn’t loving the environment either.

  Unlike Terri, who seemed to have no problem voicing her unhappiness, Robin was more cautious about sharing her concerns. She needed the job at Eagle River badly, and it was more than a little surprising that she been hired at all. After college, she’d worked at JK Manufacturing in Spokane, which was a family-owned contract garment manufacturer. By the time she left, the company was struggling because of competition from cheap foreign labor. As they lost more and more contracts to companies in China, Robin had started looking for a new job.

  It had taken months before she’d finally landed the position at Eagle River. And she’d had to do some fast talking to convince them that buying fabric for a company that made ugly uniforms was similar to working in catalog retail. Robin still worried that her manager, Diane, wasn’t completely convinced she was truly qualified. At work, Robin tried to be friendly with everyone, but also say as little as possible about her actual job. Coming up with a deposit and first- and last-month’s rent for her apartment in Portland had cleaned out her savings. If she got fired, she’d have to crawl back home to Spokane and live with her parents. At her age, that would be utterly humiliating. And what about Emma? Momma was allergic to pet hair, so what would happen to Emma?

  Shrugging her shoulders in an effort to shake off her spiraling thoughts, Robin opened the door to her cabin. It was useless to worry about things she couldn’t control. If Darrell fired her because of this retreat, it wouldn’t be like she hadn’t tried her best. She had friends in Spokane who might take her in. Maybe Becky would let her crash on her sofa, even though her cat wasn’t exactly thrilled with Emma.

  The rain pounded on the metal roof of the cabin while Robin gathered her things for the trip out to Kat’s. It was absolutely pouring and driving out to the sticks to get Emma was going to be a soggy adventure. The whole idea was probably stupid. Given the weather, it wasn’t like she and Emma were going to enjoy a peaceful lakeside stroll. The lake looked gray and the wind was whipping up whitecaps on the water. But Robin missed her little dog. It would be nice to have a sympathetic friend, even one of the canine variety.

  As Robin drove north out of Alpine Grove, water seemed to be everywhere. The ditches along the sides of the roads had turned into small creeks, which were starting to overflow their banks in some places. Because of the unusually wet spring, the ground was saturated and the water had nowhere to go. At the turn-off to Kat’s place, the creek alongside the road was experiencing some type of fundamental drainage problem. Water was going over, not under, the end of the driveway. Robin stopped the car to evaluate how deep the water was and if her car had enough ground clearance to get through it without stalling out in the middle of the small stream.

  It didn’t seem that deep, so she inched the car through the rushing water. With a small cheer of victory, she successfully reached the other side and continued toward the house. That was a relief. Did Kat know that the driveway was under water?

  She parked the car under the tree next to the filthy green truck again. The front yard had turned into a sea of muck and Robin was glad she had worn boots for the trip out here this time. She pulled the hood of her raincoat over her head and got out of the car. Running through the torrential downpour, she scampered up the steps to the landing in front of the door, shook the water off her sleeves, and knocked. The noise was answered with a cacophony of barking, and Robin smiled at the sound of Emma’s high-pitched yips. Apparently, what Kat said was true—Emma was part of the pack now.

  The sound of thumping footsteps came from inside, then Kat opened the door. Robin blushed slightly at Kat’s rumpled appearance. She did not appear to have brushed her hair yet. Maybe it was a little early. Robin smiled weakly and said hello.

  Kat said, “Come in for a minute and let me go get Emma. I’ll be right back.” She ran down the stairs and opened the gate at the bottom. With a great clattering of claws, Emma charged up the steps. Robin squealed at the sight of her dog, crouching down as Emma ran into her arms. She hugged the dog and ruffled her fur. “I’ve missed you!” Emma waggled and wiggled joyously, adding a few happy, chirpy woofs for emphasis.

  Kat walked back into the entry area. “She sure is glad to see you. It’s too bad the weather is so dismal for your day together.”

  Robin stood back up and gazed down at Emma. “We live in Portland. A little rain doesn’t bother us, right Em?” The dog wagged in agreement and Robin looked back at Kat. “Did you know there’s a bit of a river at the end of your driveway?”

  Kat handed Robin her leash. “It’s been getting worse, but thanks for letting me know. When are you bringing Emma back?”

  “Probably after five. I hope that’s okay. There’s a break between the training and dinner, so I can run back out here.”

  “Okay. We’ll check on the river along the road today. Hopefully my house won’t be waterfront property by the time you return.”

  Robin clipped the leash on Emma. “We’ll see you later!”

  Chapter 5

  Possessed

  Kat closed the door and went into the kitchen. Where was the coffee? How pathetic was this? Actually misplacing the coffee indicated a critical need. She walked to the bedroom, where Joel was lying on the bed with his legs crossed at the ankles and sipping from a mug. He grinned at her, “Looking for something?”

&nb
sp; “Did you steal my coffee?”

  He reached over to the nightstand and handed her a mug. “No. I brought it in here, since I didn’t think Robin needed to meet the pre-caffeinated, unwashed me.”

  Kat looked down at her wrinkled clothes. “I know. When she said she was stopping by, I didn’t realize it would be quite this early. At least I was dressed.” Barely.

  “You might want to establish some pick-up and drop-off times.”

  “I know. Having people show up at our front door at all hours of the day and night is getting ridiculous.”

  Taking a sip of coffee, he peered over the rim of the mug and raised an eyebrow. “Well, at least the tousled look is kind of sexy.”

  “Tousled?” Kat glanced at her reflection in the mirrored closet door, uttered a tiny squeak, and put down her mug so she could yank her fingers through her long dark hair in an attempt to work out the tangles. “My hair looks like something is living in it. Or died in it.” She put her face in her palms. “How embarrassing.”

  “Well, it’s too late now. Maybe Robin didn’t notice. Have some coffee. You’ll feel better.”

  Kat crawled onto the bed next to him, picked up her mug, and took a sip. “I’m pretty sure she noticed my coiffure. Or lack of one. Robin is one of those women who always looks perfectly put together. She wears all these gorgeous clothes from Eagle River. When she dropped off Emma, she gave me a catalog. I don’t think she was impressed with my dog-walking coat.”

  “It’s utilitarian.”

  “I suppose, but it also makes me look like a bag lady. And after a long winter and record-breaking rains, it’s become disgusting. Even I think it’s horrible now.”