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

by Susan C. Daffron

  He looked across the table at her with his intense dark-brown eyes. “I want to apologize for letting you fall the other day during the Trust Walk. I have not been at my best this week and my behavioral choices led to that situation.”

  “That was Terri’s fault, not yours. She’s not my biggest fan. In fact, I’m pretty sure she despises me.”

  “Whether or not that is true, as the leader, I must be conscious of everything happening with all participants to help guide their actions.”

  Robin shrugged. “You can’t be everywhere at once. We were all wandering around in the trees.”

  “I wasn’t completely present for you and the others. My mind has been elsewhere and that has governed my behavior.”

  “Well, you have looked like something is bothering you. Is everything okay?”

  He reached out his hand across the table. “You are such a perceptive person, Robin. I have not been one-hundred percent in the moment and my performance has suffered.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t honor my commitment to be here tomorrow. In the morning I need to set out for home. There is a legal entanglement that I can’t avoid and it’s vital that I be present.”

  “I can tell everyone tonight at dinner. They might enjoy having a morning free before we all have to head back.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Still always looking on the bright side.”

  “You look so sad. Is there anything I can do?”

  “No. But if you can avoid it, don’t get divorced. And if you do get divorced, please do it before you decide to have children.”

  Robin’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I hope everything works out.”

  He released her hand and stood up. “I should go pack. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Robin. I hope our paths cross again.”

  He seemed to want to be alone, so Robin stayed at the picnic bench and watched as he slowly walked back down the path toward his cabin. The thought of legal entanglements involving kids was heartbreaking. No wonder he was having trouble concentrating.

  After dinner, Robin got everyone’s attention and announced that the team-building exercise had been canceled for the next day. She thanked Brett and wished him well on his trip home. Terri was sitting next to Brett and took his hand to pull him away for a private conversation at another table in the corner of the room.

  An older woman named Trudy who had flaming red hair said, “Since we’re almost done with the retreat, I wanted to share something.”

  Robin sat down and said, “What’s that?”

  “Tequila!”

  Robin said, “Where did you get that?”

  Trudy, whose word was tidy, stood up and smoothed the front of the pink and purple floral blouse she was wearing. “I brought it. It’s in my room. I think we should celebrate that tomorrow is the last day of the retreat and that we get the morning off! Who’s up for slammers?”

  A few women voiced enthusiasm for the idea with shouts of “Yeah!” and “Bring it on.”

  Trudy stopped by Robin’s table on her way out. “Could you find us some shot glasses and 7-Up?”

  Robin wasn’t sure what a slammer was and she hated tequila, but she went to the kitchen and returned with a large heavy shot glass in one hand and a liter bottle in the other.

  Trudy returned with a big gold bottle and placed it in the center of the table. “Everyone gather ‘round!”

  Darlene said, “There isn’t a worm in that bottle is there? I heard tequila has worms.”

  Trudy said, “No, that’s mescal.”

  Darlene looked disappointed. “Well, I don’t drink anyway. My church discourages it.”

  Robin said, “What’s a slammer?”

  Trudy held up the bottle of tequila. “You mix tequila and 7-up, then put your hand over the shot glass and slam it on the table. It fizzes up and you drink it.”

  Robin cringed. How revolting. “We only have one shot glass.”

  Nigel reached into his pocket. “We can play quarters.” He put a quarter on the table and moved his empty water glass in front of it. “If you can bounce the quarter into the glass, you don’t have to drink. If you miss, you have to suck down the slammer.”

  Emily reached over and picked up the quarter, “I played quarters in college. I’m extremely good at this game.”

  Trudy poured some tequila and 7-Up into the shot glass. “You’d better hope so.”

  Emily flipped the coin into the glass, which landed with a clang. “See!” She handed the quarter to Robin. “You’re up.”

  Robin whapped the quarter onto the table and the coin leaped over the water glass and rolled off the other side of the table. “Oops.”

  While Emily looked under the table for the quarter, Trudy passed the shot glass to Robin. “Slam it, baby!”

  Robin did as instructed, putting her palm over the glass. She smacked the shot glass on the table, and the drink fizzed onto her palm. She tilted her head back and downed the shot, which flowed through her like agonizing molten lava. She coughed and licked the fizz off her palm. “Flaming heck, that’s absolutely disgusting.”

  Trudy giggled as Emily passed the quarter to Alec. He smiled and quickly flipped the quarter into the glass. “I’ve played this before too.”

  Linda tried and failed to get the quarter into the glass. “Oh dear. Do I really have to drink?”

  Every said, “Yes!” in unison and Linda downed her fizzy shot.

  As they went around the circle, Robin discovered she was extremely bad at quarters. There was a trick to this game, which some people like Emily knew and she definitely did not. By the third trip around, they’d lost one quarter that had rolled off into oblivion. Maybe Chuck would find it again someday. But Darlene rummaged around and found a quarter in her purse, so the game was still on. After missing the glass yet again, Robin handed her shot over to Alec. “This isn’t fair. You haven’t had anything!”

  With a grin, he slammed the shot on the table and drank it with a gulp. “Happy now?”

  Loretta was almost as bad at quarters as Robin was. After taking another drink, she said, “I have a confession to make. After I heard the weird noises, I was so scared I had a cigarette. Then another. I have a pack in my purse, and I know I shouldn’t have put it there. My husband doesn’t know. He’s going to kill me.”

  Robin was pretty sure this was not going to be much of a revelation to Loretta’s husband, since the woman wafted eau d’ashtray wherever she went. Unless her husband had no sense of smell whatsoever, it wouldn’t be a major news bulletin. She waved her hand emphatically, “You have to quit! Smoking is bad for you. And you shouldn’t smoke in your room. Yuck!”

  Emily said, “Smoking causes more than eighty percent of lung cancers.”

  Loretta glared at Emily. “Don’t you think I know that? My mother died of cancer. I was just so scared. But I know I need to quit.”

  Trudy put her arm around Loretta’s shoulders, “Aww honey, I quit last year. It’s hard. But there’s a smoking cessation group near work. I’ll give you the information when we get back.”

  After taking her shot, Moira said, “I have a confession too. I’m the one who put the half-eaten tuna sandwich into Claire’s garbage can.”

  Claire glowered across the table at her. “That was you? What were you thinking? That was the most revolting thing anyone has ever done. That nasty thing sat in the can over the weekend and my desk smelled like a fishing trawler for a week! If you didn’t want to smell that stink, what makes you think other people would?”

  “I’m sorry. I was in a rush. I should have admitted what I did a long time ago.”

  With a small smile Claire said, “Well, you did find the feather for our team during the scavenger hunt, so maybe I can forgive you.”

  Nigel’s quarter missed the glass and he took a shot. “Man, that was one rank fish smell. Legendary even. It stunk up the whole building. Even the memory grosses me out.”

  The quarter wa
s passed her way, and Robin bounced it so it flipped across the table and clattered onto the floor again.

  Nigel laughed. “I think you win the prize for distance, Robin.” He tapped the table “The glass is right in front of you. You don’t have to whack the quarter so hard. It’s quarters, not hockey.”

  Robin gulped down her shot. “These are kind of yummy. I haven’t had 7-Up in a long time.”

  Trudy held up the bottle. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think with that last shot, Robin has killed it.”

  Everyone slowly got up and began to stagger back to their bedrooms. Trudy walked over to Loretta and put her arm around her shoulders again, inclining her head to whisper something to her. Robin stayed where she was, since getting up seemed strangely difficult. She needed a few minutes to collect herself. Maybe that last shot wasn’t such a good idea. She should have made Alec drink that one too. Leaning forward, she placed her forearms on the table and let her head rest on them, so that her forehead was touching the nice, cool wood. It was a relief to close her eyes.

  At the touch of a warm hand on her shoulder, she raised her head and opened her eyes again. “What?”

  Alec smiled at her. “I think you should go back to your cabin.”

  “I will.” She put her head back down.

  “Come on, Robin.” He gently pulled at her arm and lifted her out of the chair.

  She got up, put her tote bag over her shoulder, and suddenly was dizzy. “The room is spinning.”

  “I know. Let’s go.”

  He put his arm around her and they walked outside. The fresh air and the support of Alec’s arm improved matters. Robin smiled up at him. “I think I might really, really suck at quarters.”

  “I think you might be right.”

  At her door, she rummaged in her bag for her room key. She tried to put it in the lock but couldn’t quite find it. Alec took the key from her and opened the door. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She staggered into the room and heard Leroy bark on the other side of the duplex. “Hi, Leroy!”

  Alec followed her in and steered her toward the bed. “Why don’t you lie down?”

  Robin did as instructed and flopped down on her back. It was wonderful to be horizontal. She closed her eyes and felt Alec remove her shoes and pull the blanket over her. He whispered, “Have a good night,” next to her ear and a few seconds later the door closed.

  The last thing she heard before falling asleep was Leroy’s happy barking. Soon she’d get to see Emma again. She missed her sweet little dog.

  Chapter 9

  Packing and Hints

  The next morning Robin rolled over and opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. She was still fully dressed, and she badly needed to brush her teeth. Yuck. What a strange evening. Did everyone in the world play quarters in college except her?

  Although her stomach was queasy, it could have been a lot worse. Once, in college, she’d thrown up all over her roommate’s sweater. That was an all-time low. Even though this wouldn’t be the worst hangover she’d ever had, it would be unpleasant. Loretta had been looking pretty ragged last night too. It could be a slow morning for a lot of them.

  After her arctic shower, Robin was more awake but still headachy and vaguely ill. She took a couple of aspirin and considered the day’s activities. It was way too late to bring Emma out to the lodge, but she did need to call Kat and arrange a time to pick up Emma the next morning. Maybe Joel would have to carry the dog across the creek again. Kat hadn’t sounded particularly optimistic about the state of their driveway the last time they had spoken.

  Robin went back into the bathroom, pulled back her hair with a couple of combs, and tried to do something makeup-wise. It was a lost cause. Tequila certainly wasn’t much of a beauty aid. Maybe no one would notice the dark circles under her eyes if she put on a little more mascara.

  After giving up on looking anything close to pretty, she pulled on a sweater and walked up to the lodge to get some breakfast. Some toast might help. At the sound of a bark, Robin turned. Alec was coming up the path from the beach with Leroy. He waved and she stopped to wait for them.

  Alec looked disgustingly hale and healthy. He grinned at her as he approached. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ve been better. I’m hoping food will help my stomach. Every once in a while, it does a little flip-flop to remind me that tequila is evil.”

  He laughed. “I doubt you’re the first person to notice that fact.”

  She reached out to touch his forearm and met his gaze. “Thank you for taking me home. That was kind of you.”

  “No problem. I’m glad you’re okay.” He turned toward the Pine Cone cabin and called Leroy to follow him. “See you later.”

  In the dining room, Robin sat down at a table with some dry toast. Loretta sat down next to her and Robin noticed that her hands were shaking, but she didn’t smell like cigarettes. Robin pointed at the plate in front of Loretta. “I think the toast is going to be a popular choice this morning.”

  Loretta picked up a slice and took a bite. “I feel a little sick. Since I feel terrible today anyway, and I’ll be trapped in a van and an airplane tomorrow, I decided to quit cold-turkey.”

  “That’s wonderful, Loretta. I know you can do it.”

  “Trudy and I talked last night. She is a lovely person and we have a lot in common. I feel better than I have in a long time…about a lot of things.”

  Robin put her hand on Loretta’s to help still the trembling. “I’m so glad, Loretta.”

  They finished their toast and Robin returned to the Pine Cone to lie down for a while and let her stomach adjust to the presence of food. A thud that was undoubtedly Leroy bumbling around, and the low sound of Alec’s voice came from the other side of the duplex. It was comforting somehow to know they were there. She closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.

  When she woke up, she looked at the old clock. It was almost lunchtime. She sat up and evaluated her condition. Her blouse was completely wrinkled, and it looked like she’d been run over. She needed to stop sleeping in her clothes. With a sigh, she got up and looked through her remaining wardrobe options.

  The rest of the day was going to involve a lot of work packing up everything. She also needed to call Kat about Emma. At least after the nap she felt a bit better. She found another blouse in her closet that was somewhat more presentable and went over to the lodge. Kat said picking up Emma would not be a problem, since they had a rudimentary fix for the driveway.

  After lunch, Robin attended the final training class, which was basically a question-and-answer session. When Terri asked a question about doing a product exchange, it occurred to Robin that the woman had not partaken of the evil tequila. Where had Terri been last night? After the drinking started, Robin had forgotten about her. Okay, after a week of animosity, maybe she wanted to forget about Terri. But Terri had not been a member of the slammer circle. Where had she disappeared to? Did she go off somewhere with Brett? Robin frowned slightly at the idea. Brett had enough problems without adding Terri to the equation. Poor guy.

  The questions wound down and Alec dismissed the class early. As everyone filed out of the building, Robin stayed behind to help him pack. She walked around the table picking up papers and stacking them in her arms. She looked at him. “Do you want me to move my car closer, so we can throw all this into the back?”

  He looked up from the easel he was disassembling. “That would be great.”

  They continued packing and Robin said, “I can’t believe we’re almost done with this retreat. This has been one heck of a bizarre week with you and Leroy scaring me, Ernie disappearing, and that awful storm. At least the complaining slowed down a little. I was about ready to smack Emily if she mentioned her dripping faucet again.”

  Alec grinned. “You’re too nice to smack her.”

  “Maybe. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t want to. Even Terri shut up about that problem with her closet door. She hates me, so I fig
ured she’d keep whining at me until I got in my car and left.”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.”

  Robin put her hand on her hip. “She tried to kill me with a tree.”

  “I think you’re exaggerating.”

  “Well Brett apologized, which I thought was really sweet of him. It wasn’t his fault, but he said he should have been paying more attention.”

  Alec threw a pile of catalogs into a box with a forceful thump. “I suppose.”

  She stopped and looked at him. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Well, not really.” He shrugged. “You’ll think I’m an idiot, but I’m actually going to miss this place.”

  She smiled. “You do seem more relaxed. I’ll miss it too. I know we had problems, but it’s beautiful here and I loved walking all over the property every day—even when it was pouring rain! After ghosts and scavenger hunts, spending all day staring at inventory spreadsheets again is going to seem sort of tame by comparison.”

  He laughed. “No kidding.”

  Robin went back to her cabin and resumed packing. She was supposed to make an announcement at dinner about reviews. Darrell had told her that after they returned to Portland, everyone would fill out an evaluation of the retreat. Knowing that Terri would be spelling out her litany of complaints in excruciating detail was depressing. It would be a miracle if Robin didn’t get fired, and the worst part was that none of the problems were her fault. After his one appearance after dinner, Ernie had been MIA again. Although she wasn’t worried he was dead anymore, the fact that he was never around his own lodge was disconcerting.

  At dinner, Robin ended up seated next to Nigel and Angela who were chatting happily about going home and seeing friends and family. Angela said, “My husband has had to deal with two teenage boys for a whole week all by himself. I think he’ll have a new appreciation for all the things I do around there.”