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

  All of the Lowell kids had been hungry all the time. Lisa didn’t remember her mother doing a lot of shopping, but keeping the house stocked with food must have been difficult. With four teenagers at home, Mom must have had to do a daily store run after work to keep everyone fed.

  Lisa shook her head at the idea. Raising twins had been difficult enough. It was a miracle her mother had survived raising four active kids while running a family business. How exhausting. No wonder Mom hadn’t wanted to deal with the house for so long. She’d had more than enough to do.

  The phone rang and Lisa pushed her plate aside, got up, and grabbed the handset off the old wall phone. That hadn’t changed either. She was surprised to hear Kat Stevens’s voice on the other end of the line. “Hi Kat. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, but the Alpine Grove dog-related grapevine is buzzing with Harley’s exploits at the ski resort.”

  Lisa reached over to pet Harley. “Yes, at first I thought he was running away, but it turned out he had a serious mission.”

  “Brigid said there’s going to be an article in the newspaper tomorrow. AGAA wants to capitalize on this PR opportunity.”

  “AGAA? What’s that?”

  “Alpine Grove Animal Adoptions. I’m in charge of PR and Brigid wants me to do a write-up about Harley for the newsletter.”

  “The reporter asked about that, but I forgot the name of the group. That seems like a good idea.”

  “I know. It’s a huge opportunity. The newsletter is supposed to go out this week. I’m in between book deadlines, so I told Brigid I can write it up and redo the layout. We need to yank out another article and save it for next time, but this is a great chance to help get Harley a home and promote our foster program.”

  “Do you need to ask me questions?”

  “I don’t think so, but I really need a photograph of Harley. That’s why I’m calling. Could you bring him out here? My dog walker isn’t available tomorrow morning, so I have to be here.”

  “I suppose so. Doesn’t anyone else have a camera?”

  “Not a decent one, and I’m the only person who has a scanner. It would be great if we had a digital camera, but they’re too expensive. Maybe someday. Joel has to go to town tomorrow, so if you come out early I can take pictures and he can drop the film at the one-hour photo place, then pick up the prints on his way home and give them to me. Then I can scan the photo of Harley, dump it into the newsletter layout. Then Brigid is going to pick up the newsletter files and take them to the printer. They’re expecting them tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Good heavens. You certainly have this all figured out.”

  “My life is complicated at the moment. Could you get here around eight?”

  “All right.”

  Lisa hung up the phone. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep saying yes without thinking? It was supposed to snow and driving all the way out to the boarding kennel was not what she had expected or wanted to do tomorrow. Why didn’t she ever say no to anyone? Bev was right. She was a total pushover. Of course, with no real excuse she’d had no reason to say no, other than “I don’t want to.” And that wouldn’t be fair to Harley. She was actually starting to like the dog, and it wasn’t his fault he was homeless. He deserved all the free publicity he could get.

  She leaned over to stroke his head. “Okay, Mr. Hero Dog, let’s go to bed. You need to be well rested for your big photo shoot tomorrow.”

  Harley stood up, yawned, and stretched deeply. It had been a long day for everyone.

  The next morning, Lisa took Harley out for his morning trip around the yard to do his business. When she stepped outside, she discovered to her dismay that as predicted, it had snowed overnight. The snow was the heavy, wet “mashed potatoes” type that skiers hate. Drivers weren’t too fond of it either. Harley, on the other hand, was thrilled and cavorted through the sloppy muck with glee.

  Lisa smiled as he leaped around, throwing snow and slush around with his paws and grabbing it in his mouth. “Maybe you have a future as an avalanche dog after all. You sure love the white stuff. Let’s go inside, goofball. I have to get ready to go. We can’t disappoint your adoring fans.”

  Harley finally focused on the task he was supposed to be dealing with in the great outdoors, and after that mission was accomplished they went back into the house. One thing that was nice about staying in a house that was about to be remodeled was that Lisa didn’t have to worry about wet or muddy paw prints on the carpet because it was all going to be ripped out.

  Given that the rest of her family had opted out of providing any input on the remodel, Lisa had to make some choices. She planned to replace the carpet with wood or laminate flooring because it would be easy to clean. Wood grain also never went out of style, unlike the jarring rainbow of hues that had graced the Lowell household for so many years.

  After dealing with the morning routine and getting herself organized, Lisa loaded Harley into the truck for the drive north. It was no longer snowing, but the sky was dark with gloomy clouds that looked like they might want to spew forth more unpleasant forms of semi-frozen precipitation. It was a dismal day for photography. Kat said she had a good camera, but no camera was that good.

  Lisa’s mood darkened along with the sky as she got off the highway and onto the back roads toward the kennel. The plows had obviously not visited yet, and the heavy slop on the road was slippery. Although Larry’s ugly truck had four-wheel drive, it could only do so much.

  It began drizzling and Lisa stared at the road ahead, carefully navigating the ruts in the slush. About ten nanoseconds after she turned onto a side road, she realized it wasn’t the right one. This wasn’t the way to Abigail Goodman’s…or Kat’s…place. What was she thinking? Lisa cursed her stupidity as she slowed the truck, trying to find a place to turn around without getting stuck.

  As the incline of the road increased, the truck started to fishtail mildly. Underneath the slush was a layer of ice, and because Lisa had slowed down, the vehicle had lost momentum. She clenched the steering wheel more tightly. There was no way she was going to make it to the top of the long hill. She slowly brought the truck to a stop and shifted it into reverse. Turning in the seat, she carefully backed down the hill and then into a driveway. The mailbox said “The Millers” and Lisa said a silent thank you to whichever Miller had plowed their driveway that morning.

  She took a deep breath and looked both ways at the road. A car came over the top of the hill and Lisa could sense that it was going far too fast for the conditions. When it hit the downhill side, the little silver two-door car began swerving. The driver over-corrected, a tire hooked the edge of the road, and the little Hyundai shot off the road into a ditch just past the driveway where Lisa was parked.

  The driver got out of the car and Lisa could tell from his wild gesticulating that he was using some creative language to describe his predicament.

  Lisa shook her head. In Alpine Grove during the winter, slide-offs were not an unusual event, and yet people never seemed to learn to slow down. “Okay Harley, I need to go check on this guy. You behave yourself. I’ll be right back.” Harley wagged a few times and laid down on the seat, resting his head on his paws.

  Lisa got out of the truck and reached down to press the seat release to determine what junk Larry had stashed back there. When Dad had owned the truck, he’d always carried a tow strap and jumper cables with him everywhere.

  The good news was that amid the fast-food wrappers and other trash behind the driver’s seat was the same heavy-duty yellow tow strap that had been there for as long as Lisa could remember. The bad news was that Harley was likely to be late for his photo shoot.

  Holding the neatly folded tow strap in her hand, Lisa walked across the road to the car. The man was wearing a wrinkled brown suit and was younger than she was, although the scowl on his face made him look older than he probably was. He had a stocky build and the kind of white-blonde Scandinavian hair that women spent lots of money trying to achieve artificial
ly with a noxious brew of peroxide-laden dyes. Lisa had tried the Marilyn Monroe look once long ago, chemically treating her hair to a crispy, crackly crunch. Never again.

  She smiled and held up the strap in greeting. “My name is Lisa. Do you want me to pull you out?”

  The scowl remained on the man’s face. “How? This is such a nightmare. I can’t believe I missed the turn. But that sign wasn’t visible. Those people need to cut down that tree. How is anyone supposed to see that sign?”

  Lisa was taken aback by his hostility. Usually people were grateful when you offered to yank them out of a ditch, since getting a tow was expensive and time-consuming. “If you prefer, I can call a tow truck for you when I get to my destination.”

  “Hey, I don’t know how you think you can get this car out of the ditch, but be my guest. It’s not my fault. I think the steering is screwed up on this thing.” Apparently having a momentary bout of self-consciousness, the pinched look on his face relaxed and he said more mildly, “Uh, my name is Steve, by the way.”

  Lisa was regretting ever getting out of her truck. What a creep. “To answer your question, as you can see, I have a tow strap and my truck over there has four-wheel drive. I’ll attach the strap to the front of your car and pull your car back up onto the road.”

  Steve glanced at the salmon-colored truck. “You think you can pull me out with that hunk of crap? Who paints a truck pink?”

  “It’s my brother’s truck and technically, it’s a salmon color.” Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Obviously, you have a very, very small…car. And my brother’s hunk of crap has pulled out a lot of cars a lot larger than yours.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “This car is a temporary thing until I get something better. I have, uh, I had a Camaro. An IROC-Z, which was the best Camaro ever made.”

  Lisa wanted to roll her eyes. Given that Camaros had rear-wheel drive, the oh-so-fabulous IROC probably wouldn’t have been good in the snow either. He just would have hurtled himself into the ditch more quickly. “Well, your car has the advantage of being small and light. After I’ve hooked up the strap, once you feel the pull, I’ll need you to carefully give your car some gas. Don’t gun it or you’ll end up digging yourself deeper into the ditch.”

  Steve nodded and got back into the little car while Lisa attached the tow strap. She pulled the truck in front of the car and attached the strap. She slowly pulled forward and when the strap was taut, she waved out the window for Steve to press on the gas. There was a roaring noise and the tires spun. The car dug itself deeper and began moving forward down the ditch.

  Lisa stopped, got out, and waved her hands at him. “Stop that!”

  “What are you doing? You’re dragging me down the ditch.”

  “Let the truck pull you out. Be patient. I’m going to end up going sideways, but it’s on purpose. When that happens, turn the wheel so your tires can go back up onto the road.”

  Steve frowned, but nodded his agreement.

  Lisa got back into the truck and pulled forward, so the tow strap was taught again. Maybe Steve would do a better job of following instructions this time. She slowly pressed the gas and the truck started going crab-wise down the road. The little car behind her moved forward a few feet, then as Lisa had predicted, suddenly all four tires were on the road and Steve was motoring toward her. Lisa pulled over and he stopped behind her.

  He waved out the window. “Hey, it worked.”

  Lisa got out, undid the ends of the tow straps, and walked up to him. “You’re welcome.”

  “Uh yeah, thanks. I’m really late for a sales appointment. I’ve been trying to get the hardware store gig in this backwoods town for years and they won’t go for it. It’s nuts, since I have great prices. I mean, come on, everyone needs drywall—even out here in the middle of nowhere people build stuff. I don’t know what their problem is.”

  Lisa smiled. “What’s your last name, Steve?”

  “Middleton.”

  “Good to know. By the way, my name is Lisa Lowell. My family has owned the hardware store for a very, very long time. It’s been a real pleasure to meet you, Steve.”

  The expression on Steve’s face changed to deep dismay as the realization of who he was talking to settled in. “Yeah, well thanks again.”

  Lisa waved as he drove by, pondering the upcoming chat she was going to have with her father about drywall. She got back into the truck and Harley sat up, ready for whatever was next.

  Lisa gave the dog a pat. “Sorry about that. I guess today I had to be the hero. Lucky me.” Harley wagged a few times in sympathy. Sometimes making someone else’s day wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, particularly when they didn’t deserve it.

  When Lisa arrived at the boarding kennel, Kat was walking from the house toward the kennel buildings accompanied by a huge, furry brown dog. She was wearing a remarkably ugly coat that appeared to be several sizes too large. As Lisa got out of the truck, the big dog strolled toward her and barked a few times without much enthusiasm. Kat waved in greeting as she approached.

  Lisa unloaded Harley, who wagged happily, obviously pleased to see the gigantic hairy beast again. Lisa pointed at the pair. “I guess they know each other.”

  Kat nodded. “This is Linus. He lives here. I was starting to get worried about you two. Were the roads really bad out there?”

  “It would have been okay, but I turned onto the wrong road and then stopped to pull someone out of a ditch.”

  “Joel has done that a few times. I guess that’s what happens when you have a truck.”

  “Yes, although I have to say, people used to be a lot more gracious about being rescued than they are now.” Lisa waved at the forest in exasperation. “Ugh, I sound like my mother. I’m not old enough to be saying something like that.”

  Kat laughed as she unzipped her coat and pulled out a camera that was hanging from a strap around her neck. “At least the weather isn’t committing some horrible act of precipitation right now. Let’s take the picture before the atmospheric gods have a change of heart.”

  “Where should we stand?”

  “How about over in front of that wall? The newsletter is going to be black and white, and it’s so dreary outside that any background will look crummy no matter what we do. I’ll zoom in close, so everyone can see Harley’s sweet Labrador face.”

  Lisa smiled down at the dogs. It was touching how much effort everyone involved with the rescue group was going to on Harley’s behalf. Maybe Kat wasn’t so bad after all. If the photo helped Harley get a good home, dealing with the repugnant Steve would have been worth it. But she still was going to have a chat with her father about who he should not use as his drywall supplier in the future.

  Chapter 5

  Advice

  After Lisa left, Kat went back inside. Joel was standing in the kitchen eating a sandwich. Given the expression on his face, he was obviously still annoyed about how late Lisa had been for Harley’s photo shoot.

  Kat hurried to get the film out of the camera. “I know you have to go, but Lisa wasn’t late on purpose. Hold on while I wind this back.” She opened up the camera, pulled out the film roll, and put it in a canister.

  Joel didn’t say anything, but he raised an eyebrow as Kat capped the film canister.

  A flush of anger washed over Kat like a wave. Maybe she hadn’t been all sweetness and light lately, but she was tired of living with Captain Monosyllable. She thrust the film at him. “Here you go. Enjoy your trip to town. May you have a wonderful time with your friend.”

  He took the film from her. “Why are you giving me that look? I told you before, I went to college with Casey. It’s not every day someone I know passes through Alpine Grove.”

  “I know. It’s just that you’ve barely spoken to me in what feels like forever. It’s starting to really get to me.”

  “I have a lot on my mind.”

  “Like what?”

  “Can we not get into this right now? I’m really late.”

  Kat cro
ssed her arms. “Fine. Maybe someday I’ll get to meet this fabulous guy.”

  “Not this time. Casey is leaving tomorrow.” Joel bent to give her a kiss. “See you later.”

  “I’ll be here hanging out, waiting for FedEx to show up.” Kat uncrossed her arms and let them flop at her sides as the door closed behind Joel. Had she been so wrapped up in her work that she’d managed to completely screw up her relationship with Joel? Was that what was happening?

  After reading over her chapters for what felt like the thousandth time and packaging them up for FedEx, Kat was still upset about her recent non-conversations with Joel. She had three typical responses to upsetting situations: eating ice cream, reading a novel, or calling her friend Maria. She was too tired to read and calling Maria was less fattening than ice cream, so she picked up the phone.

  Maria answered on the first ring. “Hey, girlfriend! How are you? I miss your voice. Are you finally emerging from your writer’s cave?”

  “I am! Or at least until I have to crawl back inside for the next set of chapters. FedEx is supposed to pick up my peerless prose soon. I’m tired of my office and feeling really squirrelly.”

  “It’s Friday, and I think you are facing a serious TGIF situation. In fact, this may be the TGIF situation to end all TGIF situations. We need to do happy hour. Plus, Larry left me another message.”

  “Larry? You mean Larry the lawyer? Are you together again? I thought that was ancient history.”

  “It is. Or it was. He keeps asking me out and I’ve been making excuses because to deal with him and let him down gently, I need a wing woman, and you’ve been too busy. If you come to the Soloan with me tonight, I can get him off my case. The dark dive-bar ambiance might be good in case he gets all weepy or something.”

  “Well, I have to lay out a newsletter this afternoon, but after that I guess I could go. You really want to go there though? That’s where Fred works.”

  “No big deal. Fred knows about my sordid past with Larry. And Fred and I broke up anyway, so it’s none of his beeswax anymore.” The muffled sound of Maria’s voice came through as she covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “Girlfriend, I have to do the work thing, which is seriously disappointing. But your voice sounds sad. What’s wrong? Do we need to talk? Can you get away for lunch?”