The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 7)

by Susan C. Daffron

  Brigid just nodded as she snuggled the dog to her chest. “She’s so soft.”

  “I know. I brushed her earlier while Dr. C was doing surgery. Gypsy loves being brushed. I wish I could adopt her, but my dachshund doesn’t like her. I think Roxy is determined to remain an only child.” Tracy pointed to the door. “The yard is right through there.”

  “Okay.” Brigid stroked the dog’s head as she walked toward the exit. “Are you ready for a little walk?” Gypsy looked up at her with round brown eyes. The dog really did look kind of lonely.

  Outside, Brigid put Gypsy down and walked slowly with her, watching as the dog sniffed at the grass. “You probably wonder what happened to your mama, don’t you?”

  After the dog had finished, she stood and stared up at Brigid with those soulful eyes again. Gypsy had pointy ears and a curly fluffy tail that did an impressive job of helping her express her various moods. The way the dog tilted her head and smoothed her ears back against her head almost made it look like she was asking a question. Brigid giggled at the dog’s inquisitive look. “Well look at this. You expect me to pick you up, don’t you? Aren’t you the demanding one?” The dog continued to stare and Brigid reached down for her. “All right. I’m guessing you were a little spoiled, weren’t you?”

  She took Gypsy into the office and sat on the floor with the dog in her lap, stroking her head and talking to her. Later, the door opened and Tracy smiled down at them. “You’re still here. We’re about to close up.”

  Brigid got to her feet and looked up at the clock. “I’m sorry. I had no idea it was so late.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll just put her back in her cage.”

  Brigid handed the leash to Tracy. “All right.”

  Tracy bent down to pick up the dog. “Are you ready for your dinner, Gypsy?”

  Brigid followed Tracy as she settled Gypsy back into the cage. Tracy went to a cabinet and began putting food in a bowl. Brigid said, “I guess I should be going. Thank you for letting me visit.”

  Tracy said, “Feel free to come back. Until she finds her new home, Gypsy needs all the loving she can get.”

  Brigid glanced at the cage where Gypsy was standing, just staring at her again. Those expressive brown eyes seemed to ask, “You aren’t leaving me here are you?”

  Brigid walked up to the cage and put her fingertips through the bars. “No Gypsy, I’m not.”

  Tracy walked up with the food bowl. “What did you say?”

  “What do I need to do to adopt Gypsy? Do I need to fill out forms or anything? I’ll take her. Right now.”

  “Are you serious?” Tracy grinned as Brigid nodded, and she handed over the food bowl. “Let me go get Dr. C. She’s going to be thrilled.”

  Tracy returned with a tall thin woman wearing a long white lab coat. She had curly brown hair and dark circles under her eyes. The veterinarian was probably tired and Brigid felt a little bad for making everyone work late, but there was no way she was leaving without Gypsy.

  Holding out her hand, the woman said, “I’m Karen Cassidy. I hear you want to adopt our fuzzy guest.”

  “Yes, I do. I had dogs when I was growing up, but I’ve never seen a dog that looks like Gypsy.” Brigid pointed at the cage. “I was curious if you know what breed of dog she is.”

  “She is some type of mix and we’ve been guessing maybe Papillon, Pomeranian, or spitz might be in there. She’s too big to be a Pom, but she has that kind of foxy face and similar coloring. Really, we have no idea. All we know is she’s small, very furry, and healthy. I gave her a full workup and she’s up to date with all her shots.” The veterinarian handed over some papers. “Here’s a copy of Gypsy’s records. The top paper also is a form I’d like you to fill out with your contact information.”

  Brigid put the papers on the counter and pulled a pen out of a cup. She looked at the vet. “I hope this isn’t a problem, but I’m just here for the summer. I’m renting a house.”

  Dr. Cassidy leaned on the counter. “The rental takes pets, right?”

  “It does, and it has a fenced yard too. The owner is really nice. But after the summer, I have no idea what I’m doing next. I’m sort of in transition, I guess you’d say.”

  Tracy nodded as she handed Brigid Gypsy’s leash. “Been there.”

  “I suppose I should ask you a bunch of questions to make sure you’re a good person, shouldn’t I?” Dr. Cassidy said as she ran her fingers through her hair. “But from what Tracy said, you seem to love Gypsy. Just update us once you know where you’ll be. And if you decide to move away from Alpine Grove this fall, we’d like to give Gypsy a check-up before you go.”

  Brigid looked up from the form. “I promise I’ll give her a good home and I’ll be sure to let you know when I move.”

  Tracy crouched down next to a cabinet, pulled out a variety of items, and put them in a paper grocery sack. “When Gypsy arrived, she came with quite a few toys and a crate where she used to sleep. I’m also giving you some food to get started.” She held up a bag. “She really likes these treats too. Once she gets to know you, she’ll be easy to train.”

  “She seems so quiet.” Brigid glanced at the cage. “When I was petting her, she hardly moved.”

  Tracy dropped another toy into the bag and stood up. “I think she’s depressed. Gypsy was a lot more animated when her owner used to bring her in. Small dogs can be more demanding than you might expect. My doxie is a little snot.”

  Brigid laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Yeah, Roxy spends most of her day with my boyfriend making sure no one enters his office without her consent. When she gets too snotty, we do a few training sessions to remind her who pays for her dog food.” Tracy opened the kennel, put the leash on Gypsy, and snuggled her up for a hug. “Are you ready to go home? I’m going to miss you, little dog.”

  Gypsy wagged her feathery tail and licked Tracy’s cheek. Tracy handed her to Brigid and said, “You be good.”

  Brigid took Gypsy in her arms and stroked the soft fur on her head. “Do I owe you any type of adoption fee? I didn’t really notice, but is this an animal shelter in addition to a vet clinic?”

  Dr. Cassidy crossed her arms. “No. Well, it’s not supposed to be anyway.”

  Tracy grinned. “Dr. C. is a soft touch. Alpine Grove doesn’t have an animal shelter.”

  “Where do people take lost dogs?”

  Tracy glanced at the vet. Dr. Cassidy shrugged and said, “Technically, you’re supposed to take strays to the police station. But the dogs can’t stay there long because there are only a couple of kennels. That’s basically the “dog pound.” After their hold time is up, the dogs are transferred to a place that doesn’t, well, keep dogs for very long.”

  “Everyone knows what that means, so people avoid the pound,” Tracy said.

  Brigid snuggled Gypsy a little more tightly. “So they end up here?”

  “Sometimes. If they aren’t picked up as strays by the police or the county sheriff.” Tracy said. “I know quite a few people who have dogs that ended up on their doorstep. When they couldn’t find the owner, they just kept the dog.”

  “We really don’t have the space here to handle stray pets. We can’t take every dog that people find or want to give up, particularly big ones.” Dr. C. gestured at the cages. “I mean, look at those cages. They aren’t ideal. And Tracy and I are pretty busy caring for people’s pets. There’s only so much we can do.”

  “That’s terrible,” Brigid said.

  Tracy said, “As more people move here, it’s becoming more of a problem.”

  Brigid put Gypsy on the floor. “Thank you both for helping Gypsy. And for letting me adopt her. I promise I’ll try to be the best dog mom I can be.”

  Dr. Cassidy smiled. “I know you will.”

  Chapter 2

  Introspection & Judge

  Over the next few days, as Tracy had predicted, Gypsy started to come out of her shell. As the little dog began to settle into her new home and daily
routines, her shyness subsided and she followed Brigid around everywhere. It didn’t seem like Gypsy had received any training in her last home, so Brigid wanted to teach her some basic commands. Having a little furry shadow was flattering, but it would be good to teach Gypsy the down-stay, so she didn’t get stepped on while Brigid was cooking in the kitchen.

  When Brigid was about thirteen, she had taken her shepherd mix to obedience class, but it had been years since she’d done any dog training. She needed to talk to Margaret about a pet deposit for the rental house anyway, so maybe she could get a couple of dog-related books while she was there, along with the self-help ones. After leashing up Gypsy, they set out for the bookstore.

  At the door, she picked up the little dog, since dogs probably weren’t allowed in the store. If Gypsy’s dainty paws didn’t touch anything, it might be okay to at least talk to Margaret for a minute.

  Brigid leaned on the door and the bells jingled as she walked into the shop. Margaret was talking to a tall man who was holding a battered leather cowboy hat in front of him with his fingertips.

  As the pair turned to look at her, Brigid pointed at Gypsy. “I have my dog with me. I hope that’s okay that I brought her inside. I need to ask you a question.”

  Margaret waved her over. “My dog Arlo comes in here all the time. As long as the dog doesn’t relieve herself on the merchandise, it’s fine.”

  Brigid smiled as she walked toward the desk. “No, I don’t think Gypsy would do that.”

  The man backed away from Margaret, holding up a paperback. “It looks like you’re busy. I’ll just be going now. Thank you for getting the book for me.”

  Margaret waved. “Don’t run off, Clay. This is Brigid. She’s renting a house down the street for the summer from a friend of mine.” She pointed at the man. “Brigid, this is Clayton Hadley.”

  He smiled and nodded at her.

  Brigid said, “It’s nice to meet you. Do you live around here?”

  “I have a place north of town,” he said in a deep low voice.

  “Oh it’s an amazing ranch!” Margaret said. “With all the gorgeous horses grazing out in the green pastures, it’s like a photograph on a calendar. My friend Jill and I went for a trail ride there last fall and it was lovely.”

  He grinned, “Well, that’s kind of you to say since it’s not that much of a ranch anymore, but thank you.”

  Margaret put her hand over her mouth in surprise and dropped it as she exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, Clay, your teeth look fantastic!”

  Brigid turned her head to look at both of them. She’d missed something here. Although the rest of him seemed somewhat weathered, the man did have nice, straight white teeth.

  Clay laughed warmly. “Yeah, I used some of that movie money to get them fixed.”

  At Brigid’s confused expression, Margaret said, “Clay was on the rodeo circuit for a while and, well, the last time I saw him, he was missing a few teeth.”

  “If you fall off a horse, don’t land on your face,” he said.

  Brigid readjusted Gypsy in her arms. Clay had light-brown wavy hair and given his tan, he evidently spent a lot of time outside. He had a serious scar on his chin and his hands were chapped. Although the tiny wrinkles around his deep-set eyes gave him a somewhat weary look, it was easy to imagine him galloping a horse across a vast expanse of ranch land.

  After putting Gypsy on the floor, she stood up and took a closer look at his face. His eyes were a rich walnut brown with striking topaz flecks around the pupil. She gestured toward the hat in his hands. “I’ve never been to a rodeo. What did you do?”

  He shrugged. “Mostly trick-riding shows.”

  “I know your poor parents were worried sick about you the whole time you were doing that,” Margaret said. “On the trail, you told us some great stories about the horse training and stunts you did in Hollywood too. I can’t believe you met Steven Spielberg and went to Tunisia. I’ve never met anyone who has been there.”

  “It’s hot.”

  “Jill and I had so much fun. We want to go riding again! I’m so glad you came back home.”

  “Yeah, I missed Alpine Grove more than I thought I would when I left,” he said.

  Margaret nodded. “I think that happens to many people who grow up here. My daughter is thrilled to be living here part of the year again, which given her attitude in high school, is nothing short of remarkable.”

  “It’s hard to imagine little Beth all grown up,” Clay said. “The last time I saw her I think she was probably eight or nine years old.”

  “I guess that’s around the time you left town.” Margaret said, shaking her head sadly. “But did you hear? Beth is getting married. We’ve been doing lots of wedding planning and it will be so much fun. I can hardly wait.”

  “That sounds nice,” he said, picking the book back up off the counter. “It’s been great catching up, but I should go.”

  “Please give your parents my regards,” Margaret said.

  “Will do.” He turned to Brigid. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too.”

  As she and Margaret watched, he put on his hat and strolled out of the store. Brigid smiled to herself. Alpine Grove was an interesting place. Maybe it was just the hat, but how often did you get to meet an actual cowboy?

  Turning to Margaret, she cleared her throat. Time to get down to business. “As you can see, I have a dog now. So I need to give you a check for a pet deposit to give to Linda.”

  “All right.” Margaret gestured toward a pile of books on the desk. “I was hoping you’d come back, so I pulled out some books for you to look through. These are some of my favorites from the self-help section.”

  “If you could point me toward the pet-care books, I need to read up on dog training too.”

  Margaret pointed toward the side of the store. “They’re on that wall over there. My dog Arlo can be a bit of a problem child, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time with those books as well.”

  Brigid picked up Gypsy again and gave her a hug. “They warned me at the vet clinic that Gypsy would start to behave differently once she was more comfortable. But I think she might be a little too comfortable now. She’s on the high road to spoiled rotten.”

  Margaret reached over to pet Gypsy. “Oh, but she’s so cute.”

  “She’s well aware of that. And that I adore her.”

  After spending far too much money, Brigid walked Gypsy back home, carrying a big bag of books on positive reinforcement for both humans and dogs. As Brigid opened the door to the house, she said, “Okay Gypsy, if we follow the advice in all these books, we’ll be unstoppable. You’ll be the best-behaved dog in the world, and I’ll never have another crummy job, bad relationship, or even get angry again. I’m going to know what my life’s purpose is and we’re going to be blissfully happy. You’ll see. It’s going to be great.”

  Gypsy looked up at her with wide eyes. Brigid smiled as she bent to unclip the leash from the dog’s collar. “I’m kidding! You always look so serious.”

  Apparently sufficiently convinced that all was right with the human, Gypsy ran off into the house and plopped down into her dog bed, ready to settle in for a nap. Brigid curled up on the sofa with the books and started flipping through them, trying to determine which problem to focus on first. Good thing she had the whole summer to figure everything out. Deciding what she wanted to do career-wise and rebuilding her battered confidence could take a while.

  A few hours later, Brigid’s brain had reached self-help overload. She couldn’t stand pondering her own life anymore and her thoughts began wandering to all the people she’d met in Alpine Grove. Her mind drifted from possessed cats, to cowboys, to upcoming weddings, to the stray dogs at the police station. Considering she’d only been in Alpine Grove a short while, it suddenly seemed like she knew quite a bit about a lot of different people and things. After living in cities for so long, she was used to being insulated in a cocoon of anonymity. It was odd for her to have met so man
y people who were so open about what was going on in their life.

  Over the next few days, Brigid went out to the lake and checked out a few hiking trails with Gypsy. Not working had a lot to recommend it, but she could feel herself getting antsy for something else to do. Sitting home all day pondering her psyche was not in her nature.

  In the past when she hadn’t been able to find a job or was in the process of looking, she’d volunteered with various groups. She’d helped at food banks, libraries, schools, and animal shelters. Volunteering had given her structure and a much-needed sense of accomplishment. It also helped her to meet people after she moved yet again. Even though she’d only be in Alpine Grove a few months, there was probably some place where she could help out. It wasn’t any different from the many short-term locations she’d experienced as an Army wife. The recurring theme had been to meet people, get to know them a little, and then say goodbye.

  As Gypsy continued to blossom into a happy little dog, Brigid couldn’t stop thinking about the stray dogs stuck at the Alpine Grove dog pound. They must be scared. Who fed and walked them? Presumably, the employees were busy with other things, weren’t they? Was someone in charge of the dogs? If so, who?

  Questions roiled in her mind and finally she was too curious not to find out. The worst thing that could happen was that some law enforcement officer would tell her to get out and mind her own business. After dealing with so many people in the military for years, she certainly wasn’t going to be intimidated by a uniform.

  Gypsy was happily napping, so Brigid figured it was a good time to investigate the situation. She drove the short distance to the town’s municipal buildings and parked in the lot next to the large square brick edifice.

  She walked inside the police station and found a young officer of the law leaning back in a chair reading a magazine. The Alpine Grove criminal element must be busy doing something else at the moment. He pushed a lock of black hair off his forehead and put his feet on the floor with a thump. “Can I help you ma’am?”