Bark to the Future (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 5)

by Susan C. Daffron

  “Hey, our poor long-suffering hero Preston could meet another woman. It’s not impossible, you know. Liz isn’t the only fish in the aquarium. Although I guess now she’s floating on the top of the tank.”

  Beth glared at him over the top of her glasses. “I believe you’re the one who suggested that we not speak ill of the dead. And I continue to affirm that you need to resurrect her.”

  “Maybe I can turn it into a zombie novel. That might be fun.”

  Beth sat up in preparation for mobilizing Arlo again. “Well, I haven’t finished the book yet. But if I find any zombies, I will think less of you as an author.”

  “Duly noted.”

  As they slowly walked back along the trail, Beth was overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu. In just a few days, she was going to return to Tucson. This was just like the summer before she went to college. As time started running out, she and Drew had spent more and more time together, going for hikes on trails like this one. Drew had spun long, complicated tales about his weird family, and woven throughout Beth’s memories of that time were many moments of laughter and an overall sense of well-being. It was notable, because she’d never felt that way since then. Well, until recently.

  They stopped to wait for Arlo. Again. Beth squeezed Drew’s hand. “I probably should have asked you this quite a while ago, but how long are you going to be house-sitting for Mrs. Oliphant?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not really sure. She seems to think she may be in that assisted-living place for a while.”

  “Where were you living before I saw you at the reunion? Don’t you have to get back somewhere?”

  “Not really. I was renting a cabin in Tahoe. But dang, you think it’s cold here? I was going to move in the fall, but then the book took longer than I thought and I almost froze to death in that place.”

  “Is all your stuff still there?”

  “Nope. I don’t have that much stuff. Like I said, I move around a lot. There are some things in storage in North Carolina. A lot of it is my Dad’s though.”

  “What are you going to do next?”

  He smiled at her. “Hey, what’s with all the questions all of a sudden? You’re one to talk. What are you going to do next?”

  “Go back to Tucson and try to find another job, I suppose.” She looked up at the darkening sky. “Perhaps just lie in the sun for a few weeks and attempt to thaw out.”

  Drew laughed and put his arm around her shoulder. “Do you think you can get that animal in motion again? I think our sun is leaving.”

  After they got back to the house, Beth started on dinner. Drew checked his e-mail and then joined her in the kitchen. He came up behind her and kissed Beth’s neck, causing thrilling tingles to shoot down her spine. She turned around and put her arms around him. “Thank you. What was that for?”

  “Just being social.” He gestured toward the pan on the stove. “That looks promising.”

  Beth could no longer deny the obvious, and it was beyond time to say something. Years beyond. There was no way she was going to panic and screw this up again. She had to let him know how she felt.

  Looking into his eyes, she tried to figure out what to say. “Drew. I…don’t…I mean I want to. I would like…it’s…been so. I don’t know how to say…I thought it was all just…well, you know. But it’s not.”

  His eyes widened in curiosity. “No, I don’t know. What are you trying to say, Beth?”

  “Drew. I…I love you. I think I always did, but couldn’t admit it before. I was too scared. But I am positive now that I have fallen in love with you all over again.”

  His kiss was slow and tender. “Me too, Bethie. I love you too.”

  Beth ran her fingers though the hair at the back of his neck. “How do you feel about the desert? If you are truly as homeless as you sound, I’d be happy to share my home. It’s warm.”

  Drew took her hand and looked down at it. “I’m not sure that’s such a great idea right now.”

  “Why not? We have gone for days without me lashing out or you disappearing. We have proof of concept as far as cohabitation.”

  “True. And there are some other notable perks to living with you. But this is like that summer after our senior year. It’s an unusual slice out of time. Here, you’re basically on vacation. This isn’t your real life, Beth. What happens when you get another demanding job at some huge tech company?”

  “I go to work?”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “That’s my point. Right now, there’s no stress. For these two weeks, everything has been mapped out for you. All you have to do is go to the bookstore during the day and read my crummy novel at night. It’s all pretty low-key. You’re kind of like Arlo in that you don’t necessarily do well with the stress of major life-changes. It tends to freak you out.”

  She grinned. “I promise I will not defecate in your shoes.”

  “Thanks, Beth. I’m touched.” He bent to kiss her neck again. “I just think we should take it really slowly, that’s all.”

  Beth stepped back. “Wait. Is there something you’re not telling me? I mean, you know all about Graham. I know you said you’re not married, but is there someone?”

  “Nope. Not lately. I wouldn’t be here cohabitating with you if there were.”

  Beth tilted her head slightly. “I am happy to hear that, but perhaps a bit surprised.”

  “Recently, I’ve been too busy writing. And as noted, I’m not the easiest person to live with, so my few attempts at something more long-term didn’t end well. When I was doing a lot of traveling, I was never in one place long, and I never met anyone special.” He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t really want me to go into a whole lot of detail here, do you?”

  “I suppose not.” Beth sighed. “So are you still worried about what happened with me ten years ago?”

  “Maybe. I prefer to think of it as being cautious. We both have a lot of changes happening right now. Let’s just take it day by day and see what happens.”

  Beth took both his hands in hers. “Okay. But I’m going to leave in a few days, and I’m going to miss you. I don’t want to think about how much.”

  “I know. So we need to do our best to enjoy the next week as much as possible.” He grinned. “We can’t run off to LA and see the Dead, but maybe I can come up with other ideas.”

  “You are a very creative person.”

  The next week passed far too quickly. During the day Beth sorted books with Linda and then returned to the house to find out what Drew had plotted for the evening. One night he declared it was drive-in-movie night, so they needed to make popcorn, watch one of Mom’s old Hitchcock movies, and make out. Beth didn’t watch much of the movie, but it was okay, since she’d seen Psycho before anyway.

  Another night he brought tiramisu from the Italian place, which Cindy had told him was “to die for” on one of their not-so-accidental dog-walk meetings. Beth said, “Cindy still has the hots for you, doesn’t she?”

  “She just thinks Dixie is cute. And I prefer brunettes anyway. So here’s the deal. To get any tiramisu, you have to speak Italian.”

  Beth raised her palms toward the ceiling. “I don’t speak Italian.”

  “Well then wow me with fake Italian.” He grinned and waved the box in front of her. “It’s the language of love. If what you say sounds sexy, I’ll give you a bite.”

  “Si.”

  “Really? That’s the best you can do?”

  “Ragu.”

  He picked up a spoon. “Fine. I’ll start because this looks really good. Tu sei il sole del mio giorno.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You are the sunshine of my day, which, given the rain we’re having, is notable. I could turn into a mushroom if this weather keeps up.” He picked up the spoon and took a bite of the tiramisu and rolled his eyes in melodramatic ecstasy. “Cindy was right—this stuff is incredible.”

  “Oh please. You’re not going to hog it all, are yo
u?”

  “Italian.”

  Beth waved her hands and said in a singsong voice, “O sole mio.”

  “You kind of cheated, but thanks. Here you go.”

  Saturday evening, after closing the store, Beth walked slowly back to the house. It was hard to believe she was leaving Alpine Grove the next morning. It was going to be difficult returning to her regular life without Drew. She would miss their nightly conversations and all the tales of his travels. She smiled at the memory of his Oktoberfest saga. Then there was his description of seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise. He said the iconic white marble building lived up to all the hype and that there was a reason it was one of the wonders of the world. Maybe Beth would get to see it someday too.

  She kicked an antique chunk of ice off the sidewalk. What were the odds that a long-distance thing would work? Probably not good. But Drew had made no mention of visiting or even seeing her again. He waved it off, saying that he wanted to wait and see where they ended up. It all sounded logical and responsible. Beth hated it. She was supposed to be the responsible one, not him.

  She opened the door to the house and Arlo and Dixie ran toward her, barking enthusiastically. The new medication the vet had prescribed for Arlo seemed to be helping, and the exercise and a regular routine seemed to have evened out his digestion. It didn’t hurt that he liked Drew and Dixie, but Beth knew the dog would be thrilled to have Margaret back, since he absolutely adored her mother.

  Drew had turned on the radio and Mom’s favorite oldies station was playing. He came up to her, grabbed her around the waist, leaned her back, and gave her a passionate kiss. He grinned. “Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!”

  Beth straightened, readjusted her glasses, and said breathlessly, “I’m glad to see you too, Jerry Lee.”

  “A little rock-and-roll can make cooking more fun.”

  “What are we having?”

  “Pizza. They delivered it a couple minutes ago. I thought Arlo was gonna have a coronary, he was barking so hard. I think he stressed-out the delivery guy.”

  Beth giggled. “Sounds good.”

  The strains of “In the Mood” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra filled the room and Drew took Beth in his arms, whirling her around. “So, do you remember how?”

  “You tried to teach me swing-dancing at the prom, but I am not sure I was the most apt pupil.”

  He pulled her closer to him, “You did fine.”

  The song ended and Beth leaned her head on his shoulder. “That was such a magical night. I still can’t believe you asked me.”

  He touched her chin, encouraging her to look at him. “You looked beautiful in that green dress. And there were a lot of magical nights afterward too.”

  Beth smiled. “Yes. I’ve always been glad my first time was with you. It was terribly awkward and nerve-wracking, and when I look back on it, the whole thing was actually somewhat humorous. But you were so sweet and kind. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had.”

  Drew kissed her. “Hey, you may have gotten an A in biology, but the only way you can really learn about sex is to try it out.”

  “The next day, I kept thinking, well, so that’s what all the fuss is about. And I felt like everyone knew and they were looking at me.”

  “Maybe they were. You looked pretty happy.”

  “I was. Sneaking off to the beach was so much fun.” She touched her necklace at the base of her throat. “That was when I found my silver heart pendant just sitting there in the sand at the edge of the water. The waves were splashing around me, and picking it up felt like some kind of sign.”

  He touched the heart with his fingertip. “Do you ever take it off?”

  “No, I always wear it. I don’t think my mom ever found out about our illicit trip either. She still refers to you as that nice boy I went with to the prom.”

  “Hey, I can be nice.”

  “I know. Are you sure you don’t want to visit the desert? I can’t stand thinking about how much I’m going to miss you.”

  “Beth, we talked about this. I am gonna have to do the revisions on the horrible novel. This week has just been a reprieve, since my editor stopped e-mailing me. At this point I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It sounds like she’s having some crisis with another author who is dealing with even more writerly angst than I am. She tells me that creative people can be very annoying. I can’t imagine why.”

  Beth giggled. “Perhaps because they can be a wee bit temperamental.”

  “Plus, I told Mrs. O that I’ll be here until I get the revisions done. If this dismal weather keeps up, I sure won’t be distracted by any outdoor activities.”

  The next morning, Beth and Drew packed up their things and loaded them into their respective vehicles. Beth put Arlo in the kitchen and locked the gate. She bent to stroke his head. “Be good, buddy. Cindy will be by in a few hours. And then Mom will be back. I promise I won’t tell her about the rug if you won’t.” Having completed his goodbyes, Arlo wagged a few times and strolled over to his bed for a morning nap.

  Beth locked the house behind her and stood in front of Drew, not knowing quite what to say. The sky was gray and the air was heavy with an almost imperceptible drizzle. “I’ll call you as soon as I get to Tucson.”

  “I’ll be here.” He gave her a lingering gentle kiss and touched his fingertips to her cheek. “Choose to be happy, Bethie.”

  Chapter 9

  Drama & A Dare

  As she drove home from the airport through the desert landscape, Beth opened the sunroof on the Acura and enjoyed the feel of the sun on her skin. She finally felt like her bones might thaw out again. After arriving home, the first thing Beth did was change her clothes, since it was a balmy seventy-three degrees. Time for a return to t-shirts and flip-flops.

  After not checking her e-mail for two weeks, Beth was both curious and afraid to see what lurked in her inbox. For years she had been obsessed about being as connected as possible for work, and it had been somewhat freeing to be rid of the digital tether while she was in Alpine Grove. But now it was time to buckle down and find a job. There had to be something out there somewhere.

  She fired up her computer and tried not to be too disappointed when she discovered there were no e-mails from TheRealAJEmerson waiting for her. Oh well. She’d told Drew she’d call today anyway.

  There were a few e-mails from the Amazon web site advertising books she didn’t want and one from an RTP colleague commiserating about being laid off. Two more e-mails were from people she’d asked about employment reporting back to say they didn’t have any job leads. There was a lukewarm e-mail from her former boss Joan that said she “might” be able to pass Beth’s name on to someone she knew at a company in Seattle. Overall it was a demoralizing series of missives. The only bright spot was an e-mail from her doctoral dissertation adviser at the university, wondering what she was planning to do next semester.

  That was a good question. If she was going to be in Tucson, maybe she could return to her studies. But not every employer was as supportive of higher education as RTP had been. She couldn’t keep signing up for classes and dropping them. And eventually, she’d get so far behind that she wouldn’t be able to catch up.

  Technology wasn’t going to wait around for her to figure out what she was doing. It was going to march on without her, whether she liked it or not. The dissertation was about process improvements in product usability testing. Methods of testing and correcting usability problems would change as products changed, and this fact was undoubtedly not lost on her adviser Deborah Hartson. She sent a reply to Deb requesting a meeting, since she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her before she went to Alpine Grove. It might help to discuss the situation she was in as far as her employment options, or lack thereof.

  That evening Beth tried calling Drew. The phone just rang and rang. Apparently, he still had not acquired an answering machine. She’d been thinking about his book and had a couple of ideas on how it could be rew
ritten so Liz could survive the end of the series. Maybe he was out walking Dixie. Beth was tired from the trip, so she went back to her computer and sent a quick e-mail to him and went to bed. Tracking down Drew by phone seemed to be problematic.

  The next morning Beth slept late, enjoying indolently drowsing in the late-morning sun that was streaming through her bedroom window. Being a lazy underachiever wasn’t all bad. Resuming her neglected exercise program could wait until tomorrow.

  Later, Beth made some breakfast and turned on her computer, willing herself to muster some enthusiasm for the job search. It was Monday and she had no more excuses. But first, she needed to call her eye doctor to make an appointment for new contacts. Maybe new glasses too. She pushed the horrid things back up to the bridge of her nose, trying not to think about the huge red marks that undoubtedly were blooming on her skin because of the thick, heavy lenses. The ruddy mottled look was definitely not attractive. When she checked her e-mail, she found Drew had sent a short reply.

  Hey Liz,

  Sorry I missed your call. I was outside standing in an icy-cold rain watching my small brown puppy run in circles like some kind of crazed drenched rodent. I’ll try giving you a call tomorrow.

  - A.J.

  It was a relief to hear from Drew, but she desperately wanted to speak to him. Once he heard from his editor, Beth had a bad feeling he might take the criticisms poorly and vanish into his cavern of despair again.

  Today’s plan needed to include calling her mother to find out how her vacation had been. Beth had left a long note explaining all the options she’d researched for getting the sofa repaired, but it would probably be a good idea to talk to Mom and apologize verbally. She sighed at the prices she’d received. Upholstery-repair options in Alpine Grove were limited and expensive. Sorry Mom.

  After a depressing foray through both the online and paper job ads, Beth felt a strong desire to get out of the house. Sitting and stewing about being unemployed wasn’t going to help anything. There was no reason to panic because she had the severance package, but eventually she was going to have to work again doing something. The jury was still out as to what that something might be.