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

by Susan C. Daffron

  “Alec?”

  “Yes, he’s um, well, we work together. We’re doing another retreat here at the lodge and he’s doing the training, so he can’t really watch Leroy. I’m worried about the dogs. Is it okay if they stay there with you? I’d like to drop them off tomorrow morning. Is your driveway fixed?”

  “Yes, the driveway is significantly better since it finally stopped raining.”

  “I know! Isn’t the weather amazing? Please, please say yes. Oh, and Alec said he will pay for it. He is a bit more…affluent …than I am.”

  “All right. But please don’t come out here before eight.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you at eight.”

  Robin hung up the phone and placed her elbows on the desk. Thank goodness. The last thing she needed was for something to happen to Emma. Even the thought made her heart do a little lurch in her chest.

  At the sound of the door opening, Robin looked up. A dark-haired man with a scowl on his face walked up to the desk. He placed his hand on the counter. “Well, we finally made it here to this miserable hole. Where’s my room?”

  Robin smiled sweetly. “You must be Clark.”

  “Yes. Have we met before?”

  “No. Just a lucky guess.”

  Chapter 13

  More Bold

  Robin dealt with introducing herself, handing out keys, and showing everyone to their rooms. At this retreat, six women and two men were scheduled to attend. After Clark announced their arrival, the other people trickled into the lodge building. Robin mentally reviewed which names went with which faces so she could remember them at dinner later.

  Apparently, Alec wasn’t the only one who wanted to give Clark a wide berth. The man seemed to have nothing good to say about anything. After spending hours in a van with him, the others probably needed to decompress. Robin said a small prayer to the North Fork Lodge plumbing gods that the guy’s shower was functional. It was daunting to consider how unpleasant Clark was likely to be during the training. No wonder Alec had been so quiet. He was probably bracing himself.

  Robin checked in the kitchen and Chuck had already arrived with the roadies. She walked over to the large metal stove. “It’s good to see you in person again after all that time on the phone.”

  Chuck brandished a long wooden spoon and bowed flamboyantly. “You guys are paying for my kid’s braces. As far as I’m concerned, you can do as many retreats as you want.”

  Robin laughed. “Do you need anything?”

  “Nope, we’ve got it under control. See you at dinner.”

  Pleased that as usual, Chuck seemed to have the food program well in hand, Robin walked back down to the Pine Cone cabin. She opened the door and Emma and Leroy launched into a cacophony of barking. “Shhh, you guys. You’re supposed to lay low.”

  Alec sat up and rubbed his eyes. “So everyone made it?”

  “Yes. Everyone is here except Darrell. Do you know when he’s showing up?”

  “Not exactly. It’s a private jet, so he can get here pretty much whenever he wants.”

  “Okay. I think we’re off the hook until dinner then.” Robin crawled onto the bed next to Alec. “Chuck’s here and it’s all looking good food-wise.”

  He put his arms around her. “You can help me watch the dogs sleep.”

  “It looked like you were watching with your eyes closed.”

  “Maybe. Reading too much marketing-speak has that effect on me.”

  Robin jerked awake at the pounding on the door. The dogs leaped up and started barking and Alec launched out of the bed, tripping over Leroy. “Quiet, Leroy!”

  He pushed the dogs back and opened the door. Darrell strode in and stopped when he saw Robin. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m supposed to be here.”

  Alec pointed to the piles of papers littering the bed, “She’s helping me learn all this material I’m supposed to teach.”

  Darrell looked unconvinced. “What happened to this place and where is Ernie?”

  Robin got up off the bed and tried to smooth out her hair. “He’s probably in his apartment watching TV.”

  “I knocked on the door and no one answered.” He turned to Alec. “Do you know why there is a boat in the parking lot? And there’s a weird tarp and garbage can in the lodge. What’s with that?”

  Alec said, “Remember when I told you that the lodge might not be quite the same as you remembered it? That’s what I meant. I told you it needs some help.”

  “I can’t get a cell-phone signal anywhere!” Darrell pulled a phone out of his pocket at shook it at them. “No one can reach me.”

  “They can leave a message and there’s a phone in the lobby you can use,” Robin said. She touched Alec’s arm. “Why don’t you go up to the lodge with Mr. Lambert, so he can talk to Ernie?”

  Darrell turned to Alec. “I need to talk to you anyway.”

  Robin said, “Please don’t tell Ernie about the dogs. They’re going to the boarding kennel tomorrow morning.”

  Darrell shook his head. “All right. I don’t care. Let’s go.”

  Robin closed the door behind them and breathed a sigh of relief. She stroked Emma’s head. “Maybe we could go for a little stroll while they’re gone. You probably need an outing by now.”

  After the dogs had a short on-leash tour of the grassy areas near the cabin, she fed them dinner and they settled in for more relaxation. She hoped Alec would be back soon, since she needed to make sure everything was still on track in the kitchen.

  A woman screamed outside and Robin jumped up off the bed. Grabbing her key off the dresser, she rammed it into her pocket. She bent down and held her palms under the two canine chins. “If strangers try to break in, you need to bite them. I mean it. Bite them hard.”

  The dogs looked like they’d be up for some ferocity if it was warranted, so Robin left and locked the cabin behind her. It was just for a minute. The sound of the woman screaming echoed through the trees again and Robin ran up the path to the lodge. Alec, Darrell, and Ernie were standing on the porch looking down at a tall woman that Robin knew was Paige, the Creative Director. She was pointing at the side of the building.

  Robin ran up to Alec and Darrell, who had walked down the steps. Paige hiccupped and waggled her index finger. “I… what…I don’t…what…yuck!”

  Robin walked over to the woman and put her arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay, Paige?”

  Paige shook her head and Robin looked at the wall, which had a strange symbol on it that looked like it had been painted with red paint. Uh-oh. She glanced at Alec, who moved closer to the wall. He shook his head slightly. It wasn’t paint. This was getting scary.

  Ernie stomped over to Darrell and Alec and put his hands on his hips. “What is going on? I didn’t give anyone permission to paint. And they aren’t even good at it either.” He glared at Robin. “Did you hire painters too?”

  Robin said, “No! Just people to clean. I told you about that. I have no idea what this is.” Maybe that was a little fib. She did have some idea. Some horrible person was wandering around with blood and a paintbrush. It was like some late-night horror movie.

  She looked at the symbol more closely. The paint slashes almost looked like letters, but not quite. TUO TIG? What if it were reversed? She covered her mouth with her hand. In that case, it would say “GIT OUT” except with horrendous penmanship. Or brushmanship? Whatever it was, it was messy and the spelling wasn’t the greatest either. Did poltergeists always write backwards? Or was that just a movie thing? Who did you ask to find out answers to this type of question?

  Darrell pointed at Alec and said, “You. Clean up the wall.”

  Paige hiccupped again loudly and Darrell pointed at her. “You. Go have a glass of water.” With one last horrified glance at the wall, she ran up the steps and went inside.

  Darrell turned to Ernie. “We’re not done talking. Let’s go down to my cabin.”

  Robin said, “It’s right down that path.”

  He gl
ared at her. “I know where it is. I was coming to this place when you were in diapers.”

  Robin could tell her cheeks were red and she studied her tennis shoes for a moment as Darrell and Ernie wandered off. Alec came up to her and whispered, “Okay, now I’m getting freaked out too.”

  She looked into his eyes. “I’ve got to go. I left the dogs alone. When you’re done with this, come get me and I’ll deal with dinner and bring you back some food.”

  “You always have a plan, don’t you?”

  “When you return, the second phase of my plan is to give you a big hug. By then maybe I will have stopped shaking.”

  “If not, the hug will help.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  After Alec returned and Robin got her hug, she went to the lodge to ensure that dinner went as planned. She sat down next to a woman named Jill, a marketing manager who had come from the High Country catalog after the merger. The woman had a pixie haircut and was wearing a moss-colored dress that brought out the flecks of green in her pretty hazel eyes.

  Robin put her napkin in her lap. “Hi Jill. Did you get settled in okay?”

  “Yes, although there certainly are a lot of odd noises here.”

  Robin didn’t want to hear Jill’s answer, but it would have been impolite not to ask. “Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. What kind of noises?”

  “Well there are random doors slamming and I kept hearing the sound of water running somewhere.”

  “It’s an old building and people were probably washing up before dinner.” Robin twisted her napkin. At least the horrifying crying noises hadn’t started yet.

  “Yes, I know.” She smiled. “I guess I’m used to my house out in the quiet suburbs. We just bought a place out in Lake Oswego, and I love it there.”

  Darrell walked up and sat down heavily next to Robin. Jill sat up straighter and said, “Hello Darrell, what a pleasant surprise! I didn’t know you would be here. Are you going be participating in the training? I would welcome the opportunity to share my ideas about enhancing brand awareness with you.”

  Darrell gave her an irritated glance. “No. Alec is doing the training. Talk to him. I have other things to deal with here, and then I’ve got to get back to Portland as soon as possible.” Ignoring Jill’s crestfallen look, he turned to Robin. “You and Alec were right. It’s not good. I left him in the apartment with a piece of bread. That’s all he eats and that can’t be healthy. I’m taking him to the doctor tomorrow. Gloria is getting names for me.”

  Darrell undoubtedly didn’t want to reveal much about his uncle in front of Jill, so Robin said simply, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Lambert.”

  Darrell shook his head. “I know you’re being polite, but I think at this point you can call me Darrell.” He grabbed a piece of bread from the basket and took a bite. “At least the food is good. You took my advice there.”

  Robin smiled. “Chuck is completely unflappable and a fantastic cook.”

  “I suppose he told you all the ghost stories?”

  “Yes, Chuck likes to talk while he cooks. I’ve heard quite a bit about Julia Lambert at this point. At the last retreat, there was a big storm and the electricity went out. Everyone thought it was Julia.”

  Darrell shrugged. “Hey, don’t underestimate her.”

  Clark placed a glass of water on the table and sat down next to Darrell. “I’m glad to see you here, Darrell. I need to talk to you.”

  Robin could practically feel Darrell’s muscles tense as he said evenly, “What do you want, Clark?”

  Clark widened his dark eyes, which sported thick black lashes. “Have you actually seen the latest ad copy? It’s boring. No one’s going to read that. We need more bold. More flash. How can we sell anything with these dull-as-dirt ads? I know there are ways to increase wallet-share on a customer-by-customer basis and I want to have some face time with you about it.”

  Darrell waved his hand dismissively. “This isn’t my problem. You need to talk to Alec about advertising.”

  Clark slapped his palm on the table. “I already did. That guy is useless and you know it. Did you see the headline for the Better Homes and Gardens ad? Someone changed it from what I wrote. Now it’s a warm bowl of nothing. We need to leverage some wordsmithing best-practices to add wow factor.”

  “So fix it.”

  “But what about the campaign? It has to be consistent. Why do I always get pushback? I have to have the same conversation with every ad agency I work with. Those people always throw me under the bus. No one understands my vision.”

  “Talk to Alec and figure it out.” Darrell stood up. “I need to make some calls now. Robin, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks for your good work here.”

  Robin smiled at Darrell and then glanced at Clark, who was glaring at her. She said, “I hope everything is okay with your room.”

  He took a drink of water and then slammed the glass on the table, causing a few droplets to spill on the tablecloth. “Who are you, anyway?”

  “I told you, my name is Robin. Normally, I work in merchandising, but I’m managing the retreat this week.”

  “So I don’t suppose you know where Alec Montgomery is, do you? I haven’t seen that show pony anywhere and I need to touch base with him. He is here, right?”

  “Oh yes, I’m quite sure he’s around somewhere.”

  The rest of dinner was long and awkward, filled with attempts at warding off animosity from Clark and making small talk with Jill and another woman named Inga, who was an art director with the thickest, most luxurious light-brown hair Robin had ever seen. Finally, when she could gracefully excuse herself, Robin went to the kitchen, got a care package from Chuck, and returned to the Pine Cone cabin.

  Alec glanced at her face and said, “What happened to you?”

  “I had to sit next to Clark. He’s looking for you, by the way. And he’s not happy.”

  “Clark is never happy.” Alec sat down at the desk with the plate of food. “I suppose he told you that the ads are boring and need to be rearchitected. I’m guessing he wants to have a skull session with a deep dive into recontextualizing the language of penetration pricing.”

  Robin giggled. “Yes! How did you know?”

  “Welcome to my world.” He pointed his fork at her. “Now you know why I like it here so much. No one ever asks me for more bold type.”

  Robin walked over and kissed his neck. “I’m sorry, but your world is unpleasant.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  The next morning, Robin loaded Emma and Leroy into the Jeep for the ride out to the kennel. The scary noises had kept her awake again and it was clear something was going on. It would be much easier to get through the rest of the week without worrying about the dogs. Escaping for a little while also made it possible to avoid people at breakfast who’d undoubtedly heard the eerie noises too.

  The driveway to the kennel was covered with new, bright-gray gravel, which was a stark contrast to the deep green of the trees. The roadway had been smoothed, so it was almost like driving on a regular asphalt street. What an astonishing difference. Not even one pothole graced the long winding path through the towering evergreens.

  Robin arrived at the house at precisely eight o’clock. As she drove up, Kat was sitting on the bottom step reading something. She stood up and walked toward the Jeep.

  Robin got out and was relieved to find that Kat appeared to be cleaner and more awake than the last time she’d been here with Emma. “Hi! Thank you again for letting Emma and Leroy stay. And your driveway is amazing. What did you do?”

  Kat shrugged. “Moved a lot of rocks and spent enormous sums of money. I’m glad you noticed the difference. I’d hate to think I spent all that cash for nothing.”

  “No, it’s great. Really!” She turned, opened the back door of the Jeep, leashed the dogs, and they both jumped to the ground. “You know Emma already. This is Leroy.”

  Leroy wagged his tail at the new human and Kat smiled as she bent to greet him. “A
ww, you remind me of Linus. It must be a big-dog thing.”

  Robin handed the leashes to Kat. “Oh wait—one more thing.” She turned back to the Jeep and dug around in her purse. She handed a check to Kat. “I asked Alec to write the check in advance. After last time, I mean, that was so rude of me. Post-dating a check? I was so embarrassed and it’s not very businesslike. I’m so very sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. Once it cleared, you contributed to the new driveway rock.”

  Robin brightened. “Oh, that makes me feel better. I should get back now, but I’ll be back on Saturday to pick them up.”

  “We’ll be here.”

  Kat and Joel did the canine introduction routine with Leroy and the resident dogs and discovered that like Emma, Leroy was a mellow dog who just wanted to be friends with everybody. After determining canine compatibility, they set out on the trail for the dog walk through the forest. Joel walked Leroy, Kat walked Emma and Chelsey on leashes, and the other dogs cavorted around them. It was quite a crowd.

  Joel gestured toward Leroy. “Did you notice that this dog has sort of weird fur? His back has a white-on-white stripe.”

  “Robin told me Leroy was a stray. Even though he’s a big dog, he’s incredibly skinny. Now he’s probably getting healthier, and that might be his new improved fur growing in. He sure is a happy guy.”

  “True. I’m still surprised you were willing to take on two dogs, given all the stuff happening right now.”

  “I know. But all that stuff is expensive. We need all the money we can get. The fact that Robin said she was getting someone else to pay improved my mood. She implied that Leroy’s dad is more financially solvent than she is, so I agreed. In fact, she paid in advance and apologized for the problem with the check last time. So that made me feel better too.”

  “She paid in advance? Wow, that’s a novelty.”

  Later, Kat was sitting at her desk staring at her computer and hoping that she’d suddenly gain a flash of inspiration on her latest article. Her office chair was surrounded by dogs. Leroy was lying on the left side, Linus was behind her, and Tessa was sprawled out on the right. She looked down. “Listen here, I need to get up, so somebody needs to move.”