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

by Susan C. Daffron

  He flopped onto his side and Leroy leaned over and slurped his ear. Pushing the dog’s nose away from him, he grumbled, “Ugh, yuck. Stop that, Leroy!”

  Robin looked down at herself, then over at Alec, who had rolled over onto his back and was lying spread-eagled in the grass. They were both covered in red paint. It looked like there had been a war and they’d both lost. She grinned at him. “I think we need to get a room.”

  “With a shower.” He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. “I think your art project is complete.”

  “The smattering of red paw prints add a touch of panache. Thanks, Em.” Emma wagged her tail proudly and Robin turned to Alec. “We should wash their paws and take them for a walk before we go inside.”

  He looked down at his clothes. “I’m not sure I should be seen in public like this.”

  “You obviously haven’t spent much time in my neighborhood.”

  He grinned. “I guess it’s time to change that.”

  Robin filled up a bucket with water and scrubbed the dog’s paws. Leroy didn’t seem convinced that the paw-cleaning program was a great idea, but put up with having his feet handled after Robin gave him a few treats to improve his mood.

  They leashed up the dogs and walked through the gate, out to the sidewalk. A tall lanky man with a rainbow mohawk walked by them, held up his fingers in a peace sign and said, “Rock on, man.”

  Alec glanced at Robin. “I think the paint is drying on my jeans. If it stiffens up much more, walking is going to be seriously unpleasant. There could be chafing in places I’d rather not discuss.”

  “You probably don’t want to know what your hair looks like then.”

  He touched the back of his head. “Eww.”

  After a short tour of the neighborhood, they returned to Robin’s house. At the front steps, she pointed at his shoes, “Take those off. I have wood floors and my landlord will kill me if you get paint on them.”

  “Me?”

  Robin pulled off her shoes and socks so she was barefoot. She and Emma scampered up the steps onto the porch. Alec followed with Leroy. They went into the house and Robin started unbuttoning the old oxford cloth shirt she was wearing while she walked toward the bathroom.

  Alec followed her. “I think I like where this is going.”

  Robin peered down at herself. “Well, horse feathers, there’s paint on my bra. That’s never going to come out. It was expensive too.”

  Alec pulled his t-shirt off over his head, dropped it on the tile, and reached out to run a fingertip along a dribble of paint that had traveled along most of the curves of her body. “The paint is not just on your underwear.”

  Robin looked up at his face as she turned on the shower. “I’m pretty sure I have paint in places I can’t reach.”

  He grinned and said in his best Eagle River customer-service voice, “I’d be happy to help you with that.”

  After a lot of soapy scrubbing, kissing, and laughter in the shower, Robin suggested they give up and try soaking off the last of the paint. She filled the old porcelain tub, threw in some bubble bath, and they settled into the warm sudsy water. Robin leaned back on Alec’s chest as he ran his hand down her arm, rubbing at some lingering dried paint spots with his thumb.

  She sighed and closed her eyes. “This feels so good.”

  Alec kissed her temple. “I know I’m relaxed.”

  Robin turned to glance at him, “Since I’ve been having my little career crisis, I’ve been wondering something.”

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “Why do you work at Eagle River?”

  “What do you mean why? Why does anyone work anywhere? To earn a living.”

  Robin took his hand and wrapped his arm around her. “True. But you don’t seem to like what you do very much.”

  “You’re one to talk.”

  “I know, but I just moved and I’m broke. In fact, looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have moved to Portland. That was probably a mistake, but I thought things would be different here.” She splashed at a mound of bubbles. “But that’s not the point. I’m asking about you. I’ve seen where you live and your car. You could do something else.”

  He stroked her hair back away from her ear. “I guess I could. It’s been so long, I guess I’ve invested a lot into the company.”

  “But you seem so unhappy. Away from work, you’re like a different person.”

  “Not really.”

  “Yes you are. The first meeting we had, I thought you were kind of mean. Then I realized you were just angry and unhappy. In Alpine Grove, I found out you’re way more than that.”

  He poked at some bubbles so they made little squishy popping noises. “Yeah, a dyslexic with illegible handwriting. I can’t believe I told you that. I don’t even think Darrell knows. It’s a good thing typewriters and computers exist, or I’d be in trouble.”

  She turned to look at him again. “That’s not what I meant at all. I didn’t think about that. I meant you—what you’re like. Now that I know you better, I know you like dogs, you’re smart and a great teacher, you can fix things, you’ve got a great sense of humor, and you’re totally sexy.”

  Alec kissed her earlobe. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ll put that last one on my resume though.”

  “Well, I suppose that would depend on the job.” Robin held her hand in front of her face and examined her thumb. “I’m turning into a prune.”

  “Maybe we can throw my clothes in here and let them soak. I think my jeans are toast. What am I going to wear home?”

  Robin stood up and stepped out of the bathtub. “Right now, I don’t think you need clothes. Maybe you can figure it out tomorrow morning.”

  “That sounds like an invitation.”

  “It is.”

  He got out of the tub, threw the pile of clothes in, and took her hand. “Lead the way.”

  The next morning, Robin rolled over toward the edge of the bed and encountered two sets of black canine nostrils in her face. “Hi guys. Did you have a nice snooze? I guess you want breakfast.”

  The dogs wagged and looked enthusiastic at the mention of food. Robin sat up and nudged Alec, who still had some red paint in his hair. Oh well.

  He opened his eyes and smiled. “Good morning.”

  Leaning over, she gave him a kiss. “Your dog is hungry.”

  “What time is it?” Alec turned his head to look around the room. “Don’t you have a clock?”

  “I think it fell behind the dresser when I was moving stuff around.”

  He sat up and rubbed his face with his palms. “I need to get to the office. I have so much to do and I was planning to get in by six.”

  “I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed.” Robin got out of bed and pulled on an old t-shirt and sweatpants. She tossed a faded blue terrycloth robe on the bed. “I’ll go throw your clothes in the laundry. It’s in the basement, but I have to go outside to access it. The dog food is in the pantry in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.” He leaned over and reached for her hand, pulling her back to the bed. “Even though getting covered in paint was not how I expected to spend the evening, I had a really good time last night.”

  Robin put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Me too. I’ll be right back.”

  When Robin returned from the basement, she found Alec standing in front of her open refrigerator resting his arm on the door. He looked at her. “You have no food.”

  “There’s a loaf of bread and a jar of pickles right there.”

  “If I hadn’t called last night, what were you going to have for dinner?”

  “I told you I don’t cook. Check the freezer if you want to know.”

  He opened the door. “I see.”

  “I suppose you’re a gourmet cook?”

  “I eat out a lot because I’m too tired to cook by the time I get home. But I used to cook all the time.”

  “That works out well for me, because I like to eat.” Robin walked over to him an
d pushed her hands under the bathrobe so she could enjoy the warmth of his bare skin. “I hereby invite you to cook for me any time.”

  “I have liked your invitations so far.”

  “I’m really good at scooping out ice cream from the container, so you don’t have to worry about dessert.”

  He kissed her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Later, Alec left to go home, change his clothes, and spend a few hours at the office. Robin agreed to let Leroy hang out at her place, since they had plans for the afternoon to go to Mt. Tabor Park. They’d missed out on the street fair, but it was a beautiful day and Robin was looking forward to checking out the hiking trails. Alec told her that the park was actually an extinct volcano. It sounded pretty and they allowed dogs. Plus, how often did you have the opportunity to stand on a volcano and live to tell the tale?

  By the time Alec returned, Robin had mostly cleaned up the paint disaster in the backyard and hung up the somewhat weird painted sheet aka “tapestry” in her bedroom. Although it added some much-needed color to the space, the swash of red paint and paw prints were a little creepy. It looked like something had died on it and an animal had walked away from the scene of the crime.

  Alec leaned in the doorway. “You sure you’ll be able to sleep with that on the wall?”

  “I kind of like it. I was thinking I could call it Werewolf Surprise.”

  “It doesn’t look like it was a happy surprise.”

  “Maybe if I added another color it would help.”

  “Yeah, well…maybe.”

  Chapter 11

  The Bottom Rung

  They leashed up the dogs and loaded them into the Jeep for the trip out to the park. Robin put her hand on Alec’s. “So how was work?”

  “Same old stuff. You don’t want to know.”

  “Actually I do. You never answered me when I asked why you work for Eagle River. I’m wondering what you do every day that you dislike so much.”

  He shrugged. “I think mostly what I don’t like is the stress. Managing people and dealing with the fallout when people don’t do what they say they’ll do, which seems to happen on almost a daily basis.”

  “At least you make a lot of money doing it.”

  “True. I’ve gotten performance bonuses and I own stock. Being the third employee has a few advantages.”

  “No doubt. I’ve been thinking about that kind of thing lately.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What it means to be successful.” She motioned her hand toward him. “You pretty much define success. I think I missed something. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. When everyone else was working on having a career, I was coasting along, doing my kind of crappy job. Upward mobility never happened. My career trajectory is not on an upward trend. More like it’s flatlined.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  Robin shook her head. “The most confusing thing to me is that you don’t even like what you do. Most of my friends who are successful in their careers are obsessed with something. Like my friend Amanda, who loves math. I figured the reason my career is in the toilet is because I’m not that interested in my job and I never have been. But you don’t seem to like what you do, either.”

  Alec parked the Jeep and they unloaded the dogs. As they started down the trail, he stopped and turned to Robin, “You’re right. I don’t like what I do.”

  Robin waved in exasperation. “Then why are you so successful? We’re about the same age. It’s not fair that I’m eating macaroni and cheese from a box and you drive a Mercedes. What did I do wrong?”

  “Probably nothing.”

  As she waited for Emma to complete an important sniffing maneuver, Robin looked up into the trees. Chickadees, swallows, and sparrows were having a birdie celebration, singing and chasing each other through the green leaves. The spring weather was energizing to everyone. “Okay, if I didn’t do anything wrong, what did you do right?”

  “Probably nothing. Well, other than not getting fired over the years. I did get close a few times though.”

  “You’re not being helpful here. How did you end up at the top of the corporate ladder while I’m parked here on the bottom rung?”

  “Luck.”

  “Luck? That’s all you can tell me? I was hoping for some meaningful career insights here.”

  “It’s the truth. I was in the right place at the right time. Darrell and Sue lived near my parents’ house and I had just dropped out of college. They needed help and I had nothing better to do, so I helped them out. That turned into a job. So yes, it was basically luck.”

  At the crest of the trail, they stood in front of a bronze statue of a man named Harvey W. Scott, who had apparently been an editor of The Oregonian newspaper from 1865-1872 and from 1877 until his death in 1910. Robin looked at Alec. “A journalist rated a statue, huh?”

  “It looks like his wife gave it to the city. Having lots of money is handy for that kind of thing.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t know.”

  He touched her arm. “Robin, just because you don’t make a whole lot of money right now, doesn’t mean you have no talents or you’ll never find a job you like. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

  She hugged him and rested her cheek on his chest. “Thanks. I’m sorry I’m having a pity party. You are a really nice person, you know.”

  “Not always, but I’m glad you think so.”

  “I do.”

  After the hike, they went to the grocery store and then Alec’s place. He’d been mildly appalled by Robin’s kitchen. The meager collection of elderly cast-off pots and pans was a little embarrassing, but she’d never worried about it. All she needed was a microwave and a pot big enough to boil pasta. Everything else seemed like overkill.

  He put the grocery bags on the expansive kitchen counter and Robin sat on one of the stools at the island. Emma and Leroy stationed themselves at key locations in the kitchen to closely monitor any food that might land on the floor.

  Robin waved her hand toward the shiny appliances. “I think your kitchen is bigger than my living room.”

  “It also has knives that have been sharpened within the last decade. How can you live in Portland and not be into food? We have gourmet grocery stores, locally grown produce, restaurants—it’s incredible.”

  “Well, I haven’t lived here long and all those designer goodies are expensive.” She grinned. “You are kind of a foodie, aren’t you?”

  He looked up from the refrigerator. “You said you like to eat. So do I.”

  Robin watched as he chopped up some tomatoes. “What are you making?”

  “Fast food. I’m hungry and the focaccia bread looked great. A few roma tomatoes, onions, olive oil, and a little rosemary and it’s an appetizer.” He put the bread into the oven.

  “Your definition of fast food is a little different than mine.”

  “No doubt.” Reaching up to a cabinet, he pulled down multiple jars of spices.

  Robin got up and looked at the shelves. “I’ve never seen that many spices. What the heck is kasoori methi?”

  “Dried fenugreek leaves.”

  “Right.”

  “It’s an Indian spice. I’m making a Makhani gravy.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It will be good. I promise.” He turned and pulled the focaccia bread out of the oven and slid it onto a cutting board. “Technically, with Indian food, we should have naan, but I’m starving, so we’re mixing ethnic groups.”

  She sat down at the island again. “Is that some foodie faux pas?”

  “Probably. But I prefer to think of it as fusion.” He put a plate in front of her. “Try it.”

  Robin took a slice of the bread and tried not to swoon. “How can something made with only four ingredients be so yummy?”

  “It’s the magic of real food.”

  Robin watched as Alec prepared some rice and then started chopping up something white. “Eww, is that tofu?�
�

  “Yes. I’m a vegetarian. Usually vegan actually, although sometimes it’s hard to avoid cheese when you go out.” He shrugged. “Pizza is my downfall.”

  “Son of a nutcracker! I never noticed before—you’re a health nut.”

  “Not really. But I work long hours, and it’s too easy to fall into bad eating habits. About ten years ago when I started having enough money to go out to eat, I gained a lot of weight. The worst part was that I felt terrible. So I tried a vegan diet, lost the weight, and felt better again. Around here it’s easy to get health food.”

  “No wonder the Chinese food yesterday was full of veggies.” She chewed the focaccia bread slowly. “No steak ever again? I can’t imagine that.”

  He popped a piece of tofu into his mouth. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”

  “You lost weight? How much is a lot?” She shook her hands in front of her. “Wait, is that too personal? I’m being nosy. Don’t answer if you don’t want to. But um, well, now that I’ve spent so much time naked with you, I’m curious.”

  “Twenty or thirty pounds, I think.”

  “That’s difficult to imagine.”

  “Growing up, I was the short fat kid who couldn’t read right, so I got beat up a lot.” He waved a spatula in her direction. “You might not know this since everyone loves you, but kids can be incredibly mean.”

  “Yeah, I was the cute little blonde girl who got to go to all the coolest birthday parties. You are definitely not short now.”

  “The summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I grew like seven inches or something. It was kind of bizarre.”

  Robin walked over to the stove next to Alec and looked down at the food simmering in the pan. “That smells amazing. There’s tofu in there?”

  “Yes, but don’t worry. It’s well hidden.”

  The next day, they drove out to Multnomah Falls, which Robin had learned was the second-highest year-round waterfall in the United States. They walked up the Overlook Trail and enjoyed the views of the water cascading down the cliff. The lush, misty, gorgeously green trail reminded Robin of Alpine Grove a little. Except with a whole lot more people.