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

“I guess. I’ll talk to the dog. I like him.”

  “It’s just twenty minutes. Remember, you need to stay awake.”

  He nodded again and Lisa pulled on the ski goggles and pushed off into the path she and Harley had made, back toward the ski run. It was so much easier and faster to slide and push than to walk. It was almost like cross-country skiing, minus one ski.

  She ducked under the snow fence and worked her way back onto the official ski run. Stopping at the edge of the trail, she moved the goggles onto her forehead and scanned the village below. The old ski-patrol building wasn’t there anymore, and now their office could be anywhere. Rather than wasting time trying to figure out where it was located, it was probably best to get down to the lift and ask the operator to call the ski patrol on the radio.

  After readjusting the goggles over her eyes, she waited for a break in skier traffic, clearing her mind the way she’d done before a race when she was in high school. With a whoop, she pushed off and shot down the slope on Pete’s ski, lifting up her unshod foot and balancing her weight on the single ski.

  For a moment, it was like no time had passed, and she was eighteen again, her body shifting, reacting, and responding to the turns automatically. She didn’t have a chance to be afraid and there was nothing except her, the mountain, and the need for speed.

  At the bottom of the hill, Lisa swerved over toward the ski lift. She skidded to a stop, the single ski swirling up a curtain of snow that landed on a few of the skiers in the lift line.

  Lisa stopped to catch her breath and suddenly the reality of what she’d done hit her. She started to shake from both the cold and some sort of emotional upheaval. She’d skied. How did that happen?

  To be fair, she was cold because she wasn’t exactly optimally attired. Beige dress slacks and a woolen pea jacket weren’t ideal ski wear. She hadn’t skied since that fateful day when she’d crashed so spectacularly and destroyed her dream of going to the Olympics. After months of painful rehab and physical therapy, she’d decided that she was done with skiing forever. Until now. She hadn’t even thought about it. She was so worried about Pete that she’d skied down the hill without thinking and without any fear. After so many nightmares about the crash, what she’d just done felt like a miracle.

  “Hey lady, no buttinskis! Get in the line like everyone else.” The well-bundled snowboarder jerked his mittened hand behind him to emphasize his point.

  A lift operator turned to look at her, gestured at his compatriot who was helping people into the quad chair, and walked down the line toward Lisa. “Can I see your ski pass?”

  Lisa gestured toward the village. “I need you to call the ski patrol right now. There’s an injured male skier up off Midway, in the out-of-bounds area they used to call the Cavern Chute. It’s in the trees between the rocks.”

  “The Cavern? Uh, wow, man, I’m not sure…like…where that might be at.”

  “It’s a steep chute, and I think he went off the cornice along Blue Ridge. I can show you, but you need to call someone now! They will need a toboggan—I think his leg is broken.”

  Startled into action, the young man pulled a radio off his belt. “Hey, dude. This is Joey. I have an emergency over here at the base of the quad. Could you get yourself on over here?” He glanced at Lisa. “Oh, uh, grab the sled and a toboggan, man. Some guy is hurt, uh, somewhere.”

  Lisa nodded, pleased that he seem to have conveyed some urgency. “Thank you, Joey.”

  “You’re dressed kinda funny for skiing.” He tilted his head. “Is that one of those cool monoskis like they have in Europe?”

  “No.” She held up her ski-less foot. “I’m wearing a regular ski with a boot that doesn’t fit right.”

  “Whoa, that’s gnarly.”

  They both turned at the roaring sound of a snowmobile approaching them at high speed. Clusters of skiers shuffled out of the way. The woman driving the machine stopped in front of them and Lisa was relieved to see that she appeared to be somewhat more mature than Joey, who looked like he was about twelve years old.

  Joey lifted his gloved hand in greeting and pointed at Lisa. “Hey, Rose…this is the lady I told you about.”

  Lisa gestured up the ski slope. “The injured man is up there. Please hurry—I told him I’d only be gone twenty minutes and I’m worried he’ll pass out again.”

  Rose turned in her seat at the sound of another snowmobile coming toward them. “That’s Jim—he’s bringing the toboggan.”

  A man in a red coat wearing goggles and a pointed red ski cap pulled his snow machine up next to Rose’s. He took off his goggles and his eyes widened. “Holy cats! Lisa Lowell, is it really you?”

  Lisa grinned. “Sweet Baby James! Who let you onto the ski patrol?”

  Jim smiled. “Wow, nobody has called me that in a long time. I joined the ski patrol years ago. Now I’m in charge of it.”

  Lisa removed her ski and stomped over to hug Jim. What a blast from the past. When he’d been a liftie, he’d played James Taylor tapes on an endless loop, which led to his nickname. “You know Cavern Chute, right? That’s where Pete is and I think he’s got a bad break in his leg. His head is pretty scraped up too. I’m worried he has a concussion. We need to hurry.”

  “Throw that ski into the back and hop on. Let’s go get him.”

  Lisa settled in behind Jim, put her arms around his waist, and he took off, jetting up the hillside. Skiers veered away from them, getting out of the way. Although the noise of the snow machine made conversation impossible, Lisa pointed a few times to indicate where they should go.

  Lisa gestured at a spot at the edge of the woods where the path she and Harley had taken was visible in the snow. Jim stopped and they got off as Rose drove up. After a quick consultation with her, Jim hooked the toboggan up to himself, and they set off into the forested trail with Lisa in the lead, pushing along on her single ski.

  When Harley barked sharply, Lisa smiled and turned back to Jim. “That’s Harley. We’re getting close.”

  “Harley? We have an avalanche patrol dog named Gracie. But I left her sleeping in my office.”

  “No, Harley is my dog. Well, sort of. I’m taking care of him.”

  “How did your dog end up on the slopes?” Jim waved a ski pole ahead of him. “Is he a search-and-rescue dog or something?”

  “Definitely not. He’s not obedient either. I had a little problem.”

  Jim shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

  Pete was exactly where Lisa had left him, and when Harley jumped up, Pete turned his head to look at the group approaching him. He raised a hand in greeting. “What took you so long?”

  Lisa stopped, removed the ski, and knelt down next to him. “This is Jim. He’s on the ski patrol, and even though he used to be kind of an idiot, I think he’s matured.”

  After detaching the toboggan, Jim got down next to Pete and began digging in the snow to assess the situation with Pete’s leg. “Don’t listen to her. I’m the best there is. But Rose is way cuter than I am, so focus on her.”

  Rose whacked Jim’s shoulder with her mittened hand and settled into a spot in the snow. She removed her gloves and began pulling items out of her backpack. “Who’s your favorite totally sexy actress in a movie?”

  Pete made a wry face. “I don’t know. Princess Leia was pretty hot when she wore that metal bikini thing.”

  Lisa said, “Who’d have guessed? You’re a space geek!”

  Rose continued, “Now pretend Jim is sexy Leia. He’s gotta move your leg so we can get you out of here, and it’s going to be uncomfortable.”

  Pete winced and twisted to see what Jim was up to. “What are you doing? That hurts!”

  “Hey, I’m sexy Leia. Ignore me, or I’ll hurt you more. If I can take out Jabba the Hutt, you’re nuthin’.”

  “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” Pete chuckled in spite of himself. “You guys are a little twisted, you know that?”
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br />   Rose nodded. “We know.”

  Having successfully moved Pete’s leg, Jim continued his first-aid activities. “Hey, you should be grateful that you were found by someone famous. Not everyone could have gotten us up here so quick.”

  Pete ran his gloved fingers across the fur on Harley’s head. “The dog is famous?”

  “Not the dog.” Jim pointed at Lisa. “This is Lisa Lowell. The pride of Snow Grove and an Olympic hopeful. She tore up the Giant Slalom back in the day.”

  Pete gazed up at Lisa. “You went to the Olympics?”

  “No I didn’t, and I’m certainly not famous. Don’t listen to him. My old friend Sweet Baby James has always had a tendency to exaggerate,” Lisa said.

  “Hey, you were awesome,” Jim said. “I had the biggest crush on you.”

  “That was a long time ago and I haven’t been on skis since.”

  “That’s surprising. The chatter on the radio was that some woman was tearing up Midway on one ski.” Jim held up a roll of bandages and gestured toward the ski run. “I gotta say that’s pretty hot. Sexy Leia’s got nuthin’ on you.”

  Lisa laughed. “Oh brother—give me a break. Pete’s right; you guys really are twisted.”

  As he and Rose moved Pete onto the toboggan and strapped him in, Jim continued his offbeat commentary. Discussing the nuances of Star Wars films seemed to distract Pete sufficiently and before she knew it, Lisa was walking Harley behind Jim and Rose back out to the ski run.

  When they arrived, another member of the ski patrol was waiting for them with a toboggan that had been outfitted with a sky kennel. Jim had radioed for reinforcements to make sure Harley didn’t try to run off again.

  The parade of snow machines and skiers made their way back down to the village, where an ambulance was waiting for Pete. Lisa was impressed by Jim’s actions during the entire rescue. He’d been such a bonehead when he was young that it was strange to see him behave so responsibly during an emergency. No wonder he was in charge of the ski patrol. It was good to see that Pete was in good hands.

  After the ambulance pulled away, Jim stood next to Lisa, holding the handle of the toboggan. “So hey, you didn’t say why you were here and running around the slopes with no skis, not to mention no ski pass.”

  “I didn’t come here to ski. I had to bring some legal paperwork up here for my brother.” She looked down at Harley. “Then he ran off. I don’t know what possessed him to do that.”

  “Dogs are smarter than you might think. Maybe you can train him to be a rescue dog. I mean, you don’t see dogs like that every day.”

  “He’s not really my dog. I’m fostering him for the local rescue group.”

  “Okay.” Jim shrugged and then looked into her eyes. “So tell me what you’ve been doing for the last twenty years or so. I mean, there was the horrible accident, but I never found out what happened, except when I stopped by the hardware store once, your mom said you got married.”

  “I did. And I have twin girls, Cheryl and Carol. They’re in college now.”

  “So who’s the lucky guy?”

  “His name is Mike, um, Dr. Michael Ryan. I met him during my rehabilitation after the accident.”

  Jim smiled. “Hey, that’s great. I’m happy for you.”

  “Well, I’m divorced now.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, well, uh, so are you…um… seeing someone? I wasn’t kidding about having a crush on you.”

  Lisa gave him a coy smile. “Why Sweet Baby James, are you asking me out?”

  “Yeah, I might be. Maybe dinner? I could drive over to Alpine Grove and we could go to that Italian place.”

  “That would be great.” Lisa pointed at Harley. “But I have this dog problem. In addition to not being obedient, he hates being alone. I’m staying at my parents’ house right now because I got roped into remodeling it so it will finally sell. How about if you stop by the house and I’ll make you dinner?”

  Jim grinned. “It’s a date.”

  After exchanging phone numbers with Jim, Lisa walked Harley back to the truck. What a strange day. Bev would be so proud of her for agreeing to go out with Jim. She could hear her friend’s voice in her head saying, “It’s about time you rejoined the world!”

  While Lisa drove back to Alpine Grove, Harley amused himself by staring out the window and panting as he watched the scenery go by, apparently oblivious to his earlier heroic deed. It was hard to imagine the goofy Lab being trained, much less a search-and-rescue dog. Lisa would need to make sure to tell his new owner about his big adventure though. Maybe Jim was right and the dog had undiscovered talents. Harley paused in his panting, looked thoughtful for a moment, and then belched loudly.

  Okay, maybe not.

  Lisa stopped by the deli in town and ran inside for a sandwich and newspaper. She parked right in front of the door, so she could keep an eye on Harley in the truck through the window. The newspaper purchase was just for the crossword puzzle, since the periodical wasn’t good for much else. Finally she pulled into the driveway of her parents’ house. It was such a relief to be home. At least for a couple more days everything would be quiet, then the deluge of contractors would begin. Which reminded her that she still had a few more phone calls to make. Oh boy.

  She looked around the living room and came to the disturbing conclusion that the idea of Jim seeing the house in its current colorful glory was completely mortifying. The house had always been embarrassing to everyone, except Lisa’s mother. Wanting to crawl into a hole and hide when people stopped by the house was nothing new, but what had Lisa been thinking when she invited Jim here? The only consolation was that Lisa would be able to explain that the hideous house was going be exiting its seventies-flashback mode soon.

  Lisa had spent some time with flooring samples and brochures so she was starting to have a better feel for what the house could look like someday. If you ignored the hideous color scheme, the physical layout of the house was family-friendly and comfortable, with large rooms. And it was located on a large, beautiful lot close to town.

  Once the place finally sold, it was likely her parents would earn back the money they’d have to spend to make the house more appealing to potential buyers. The fact that Larry had told her not to mention what she was doing to Mom remained worrisome though. He claimed that Mom was under the impression that Lisa was taking a little vacation in Alpine Grove and needed a place to stay. When it came to dealing with Mom, Larry could be such a wimp.

  Lisa was settling into her late lunch and crossword puzzle when the phone rang. Harley didn’t stir or even open an eyelid at the noise. Lisa groaned as she got up. Harley wasn’t the only one who was tired. After the ride in the truck and sitting around the house, all of her long-unused ski muscles were seizing up. It would be a miracle if she could move at all by tomorrow.

  An unfamiliar voice announced he was a reporter for the local newspaper. “Is this Lisa Lowell?”

  “Yes.” Lisa put her hand on her back and rubbed the sore muscles. What did the newspaper want with her?

  “I’m following up on a story about a ski accident and rescue that involved a dog at Snow Grove. They said you found the skier and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  “Okay, that’s fine I guess.” Lisa stuck her tongue out at Harley, who was now sitting up and looking at her expectantly.

  “The story I got from the ski patrol is that your dog found Peter Harmon, who was injured, and you put on one of his skis and went for help.”

  “Yes, that’s true. Harley ran up the hill and I ran after him.” She paused. “But he’s not really my dog. I’m fostering him for a rescue group.”

  “What’s the name of the group?”

  “Um, I can’t remember. But Brigid, the secretary at my brother’s law office is the person who runs it.”

  The reporter paused. “So your brother is Lawrence Lowell, right? The lawyer working with the owners of Snow Grove on the sale?”

  “Yes, Larry is my brother. I was
delivering some paperwork to the resort and I brought Harley with me. He doesn’t like being alone.”

  “I see.”

  Lisa wasn’t sure what the reporter could “see,” but she was starting to be a little worried that maybe some huge scandal would erupt if she said the wrong thing. The Alpine Grove newspaper wasn’t widely known for its accuracy or journalistic integrity. She cleared her throat and tried to sound businesslike. “I was just in the right place at the right time. I hope Pete is okay.”

  “I talked to the hospital and he’s out of surgery. It sounds like he’ll be fine, although he’s probably not going to be skiing again for quite a while.”

  “Oh, that’s a relief. He seemed like a nice person.”

  “Based on what the ski patrol said, I did some research, and you are the same Lisa Lowell who was predicted to go to the 1972 winter Olympics, correct?”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. Wow, this guy had actually gone to the effort of digging up all that ancient history? “Yes, that was me. But I didn’t go to the Olympics. I had an accident that ended my skiing career.”

  “Yes, I read about that too. Well, I think I have what I need. Thanks for your help.”

  Lisa hung up the phone, still worried that she might have gotten Larry in trouble. If nothing else, her past was likely to come back to haunt her again. There might be three people left in Alpine Grove who actually didn’t know or remember her failure to go to the Olympics. Apparently, those select few members of the community that hadn’t known before were about to find out.

  After taking a long and steamy shower, Lisa felt much better. Maybe her poor, exhausted body would survive the skiing ordeal after all. She really needed to get into better shape, but the idea of engaging in more exercise sounded inordinately unpleasant, so Lisa opted for a snack instead.

  Wandering around the old kitchen in her bathrobe took her back to lazy afternoons in high school after she’d returned from practice on the mountain. She had the same slightly sore, relaxed, and hungry feeling she’d had after training all morning. But back then, the house was full of noise and activity as her siblings passed through foraging for food.