Mission Impawsible

by Krista Davis

  “Ohh-kay,” Ben drawled like he wasn’t sure. “He’s much bigger than I expected,” he repeated.

  “Are you afraid of him?” I asked.

  “No. Well, maybe a little. Has he ever bitten anyone?”

  “If he had, I’m sure they wouldn’t have assigned him to you.” Feeling sorry for Huey, I handed Ben a fistful of tiny dog treats. “Why don’t you give him a try?”

  Ben brightened up. “You and Trixie could come hang out with us for a bit.”

  “I can’t. I’m working. Why don’t you and Huey go get a latte?” Maybe if Ben spent some time with Huey, he would see what a gentle and sweet fellow he was.

  Ben pitched his duffel bag into the office and picked up Huey’s leash. “Will he just come with me or do I have to say some magic word?”

  Zelda elbowed me. It was all I could do to keep a straight face. Ben was clueless. I rushed over with a Sugar Maple Inn GPS collar and fastened it on Huey. “Just in case,” I whispered into Huey’s ear. He wagged his tail and kissed my nose.

  * * *

  At nine o’clock, a golf cart, better known as a Wagtail taxi since the town had severe restrictions on cars, pulled up outside.

  “Here they come,” whispered Zelda.

  Two women approached the sliding glass doors at the same time.

  A portly black woman wore her hair up in an elegant twist and toted a small dog in a Louis Vuitton carrier. Her sky blue dress accentuated her curves.

  She was flanked by a slender white woman who wore her hair in a grown out pageboy cut that looked like she’d been in a wind tunnel. She wore a white denim jacket and carried a battered leather bag that had seen better days.

  The women politely paused as if to allow the other one to enter first. But in the end, they pushed through together and exchanged a frantic look before rushing the desk. They arrived at the same time, and both said, “Do you have a room left?”

  A harried man was right behind them. “Me, too!”

  Zelda glanced at me. I knew what she was thinking. What if the guy was Gustav?

  “Your name, sir?” I asked.

  The portly woman heaved a sigh. “Do men always receive better treatment in this inn? I believe we were here first.”

  The slender woman nodded in agreement.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess it looked that way. We only have one room available, and it’s because a man did not show up. I’m just making sure that the gentleman behind you isn’t the one who had a reservation.”

  The two women gazed at each other briefly then turned their heads toward the man.

  Trim and attractive, he didn’t appear to be uncomfortable even though he was on the spot. He bowed to the two ladies. “Alas, I did not have the foresight to make a reservation.”

  The women lost interest in him immediately.

  “Please,” pleaded the portly woman. “I can pay. Double, quadruple even. Don’t you have some kind of fancy suite that no one booked?”

  The slender woman tilted her head as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “Look, we arrived at exactly the same time. I think we should flip a coin.”

  “Actually, I think I was here first.”

  “We came in on the same Wagtail taxi!”

  Zelda cleared her throat. “Uh, Holly, Sit has two beds . . .”

  “Oh, no.” The portly woman cast a critical eye over the slender woman. “I’m sorry, but we’re strangers. That”—she coughed—“would not do at all.”

  Zelda gazed at her. “What’s your name?”

  “Hmm? Nessie Jamieson.” She smiled broadly, clearly believing that she had won the room.

  “And you?” asked Zelda, turning to the other woman.

  “Sky Stevens.”

  “Nessie, meet Sky.”

  The women forced smiles and nodded at each other.

  The man behind them lost his patience. “Look, I’ll take the room. At this point, I don’t care if it has a sleeping bag in it.”

  I forced the women’s hands a little bit. “I hear the hotel across town is booked.”

  Sky said, “It’s been a long time since I had a roommate. What do you say? I’m pretty tidy, and I don’t snore.”

  Nessie seemed pained. “Are you absolutely certain you don’t have another room? Hotels always have some rooms that are out of order. Don’t you have one with a clogged sink or something for her?”

  Zelda shook her head so hard that her long hair jiggled.

  Nessie winced. “Where do we sign in?”

  The man behind them strode over to the love seat and turned to his phone.

  I asked Nessie if her dog would like a Sugar Maple Inn GPS collar for their stay.

  Nessie declined. “Lulu is never more than a few feet away from me.”

  I showed them to their room. Delicate yellow walls gave it a cheerful feel. A stylish bombé chest separated the two beds. Each double bed featured a white duvet, loads of pillows, and a large yellow-and-white plaid blanket folded at the foot at the bed. Tasseled yellow curtains framed a large window that overlooked the lake and the mountains beyond. Two comfy armchairs in a blue-and-yellow French print flanked a table. A writing desk and another dresser completed the room.

  “This is charming.” Sky dropped her purse on one of the chairs.

  “Do you like dogs?” Nessie opened her fancy dog carrier and a bright-eyed papillon leaped out.

  “I love them!” Sky knelt on the floor and Lulu made a beeline for her. Not to be outdone, Trixie raced over and demanded equal time.

  Nessie watched them with wary eyes. “I see that you’re not wearing a wedding ring, Sky. Are you here to find a man?”

  I was surprised by her question, but Sky took it in stride. “I’m widowed.”

  “Oh! I’m so sorry. That must be difficult. I’m divorced.” The corners of Nessie’s mouth twitched. “Three times.”

  Sky looked up from her petting session. “Actually, I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit it, but my daughter, Maddie, is here to meet a boy who likes animals as much as we do.”

  “Does she know you’re here?” asked Nessie.

  “No. She didn’t tell me her plans until the last minute. That’s why I didn’t have a reservation. I never expected everything to be booked. There must be a lot of animal lovers looking for their human counterparts.”

  Nessie let out a guffaw and laughed so hard that she nearly bent double. “My daughter, Celeste, was left at the altar last year. I thought I’d never be rid of the idiot she meant to marry. Nobody ever saw a mama so happy that her baby was hurt like that. I danced the night away.” Nessie shook her finger in the air. “That man turned out to have two children he never bothered to mention to Celeste. Can you believe it? Now that girl has come up here to this pet matchmaking thing to meet somebody.” She flicked her right hand in the air for me to leave. “Holly, you can go now. We’re just a couple of mamas watching out for our babies.”

  I quickly ran through my spiel. “Information about the inn is on the desk. We serve breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea. Room service is available on request. You’ll see the special dog menu there, too. Just call me if you need anything.”

  As I took my leave, I heard Nessie saying, “You know, we might be able to help each other spy on our girls. Celeste wouldn’t know you, and your Maddie wouldn’t recognize me.”

  Four

  I closed the door behind me, thinking I was glad neither of them was my mother!

  When I returned to the desk, Zelda fluffed her hair one more time. “How do I look?”

  “Eager and lovely,” I said.

  She left to get the results of Macon’s survey.

  The reception lobby was quiet. Twinkletoes sat on the desk, carefully washing her face. Ben hadn’t returned with Huey. I wondered where they had gone and hoped all would go well for th
em.

  Ben’s apartment wasn’t big enough to hold my shoes. It would be a tight fit for Huey. Then it dawned on me that they didn’t allow pets in Ben’s building. Maybe Ben had finally decided to buy a house? It didn’t make sense that he suddenly wanted a dog.

  The doors slid open and Cooper the yellow Lab trotted inside. Trixie ran to greet her new friend. Their tails wagged happily at meeting again.

  A nice-looking guy in his late thirties followed Cooper.

  What if he was Gustav? “Please don’t tell me you’re Gustav Vogel.” I looked at him hopefully.

  He tilted his head and little wrinkles etched his forehead. “I don’t know Gustav, but it sounds like you’ll be happy to know that I’m not him. I’m John Adele.”

  He said his name like I was supposed to recognize it, but I had no idea who he was. He missed six feet by about an inch. His hair parted on the left and while I gazed at him, he brushed it back a bit with his hand. It didn’t hang in his face but was casually mussed—no hair gel for this guy. A round face and mischievous blue eyes gave me the impression that he was fun. But I was confused by his presence. We had filled all our rooms. Surely we hadn’t overbooked! “Do you have a reservation?”

  “You’re Holly, right? It’s working already.” He motioned toward Trixie and the Labrador. “Cooper loves your dog! That must be Trixie.”

  Cooper and Trixie clearly liked each other. Both tails waved high as they gave the formal doggy bow that meant let’s play.

  John grinned at me. “So you live in Wagtail? Perfect. What time do you get off? Maybe we could go for a drink? What’s your favorite watering hole?”

  I stared at him in confusion.

  He gazed at the floor and then back up at me, his mouth bunched. “You don’t have a clue who I am.”

  With relief and a great deal of embarrassment, I admitted, “I’m afraid not. Have we met before?”

  “We were matched on the Live Love Bark questionnaire for dog people.”

  That was curious. I didn’t fill out a questionnaire. I pondered how to handle the situation. I’d been determined to stay out of the matchmaking scene, but John was cute and seemed like a decent guy.

  “I’m sorry, John. I think there’s been a mistake.”

  He blinked at me before withdrawing a sheet of paper from his pocket and studying it. He showed it to me. “There’s no error unless there’s another Holly Miller who works at the Sugar Maple Inn and has a Jack Russell named Trixie.”

  And then Twinkletoes had the nerve to walk over and head-butt John’s chin.

  He ran his hand over her head and scratched her cheek. I could hear her purring.

  “This has to be Twinkletoes.” He tapped the paper with his forefinger. “See? It’s all here.”

  Slightly alarmed by the information he had about me, I scanned the sheet. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand how this happened.”

  “Okay. I get the message.” He tucked the paper into his pocket. “Is it me or Cooper that you don’t like?”

  At the mention of his name, Cooper stopped playing, looked straight at me, tilted his head like he was confused, and pawed the air with his right front foot. He was adorable.

  I ventured around the desk to pat Cooper and offer him a Sugar Maple Inn treat. Cooper wriggled from end to end at the attention.

  “Cooper is great. It’s just that—”

  The glass doors slid open, and Ben walked in with Huey.

  Trixie barked at him, and Twinkletoes hissed.

  “Whoa,” said John. “They really don’t like that dog.”

  “It’s not the dog,” I muttered. “It’s Ben they don’t like.”

  John’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I never saw anyone get such a strong reaction. What did you do to them?”

  “Nothing. I have no idea why they don’t like me.” Ben shrugged as though he didn’t care.

  John shot me a curious look, but said to Ben, “You must be putting out some pretty negative vibes for them to act that way.”

  “Holly and I get along great. It’s just these animals she picked up that don’t care for me. When Holly was fired from her job, I asked her to marry me. She would have if it hadn’t been for them.”

  “I wasn’t fired!”

  Ben’s eyebrows raised. “Short memory?”

  “Okay, I was fired, but it’s not like it sounds. There were complicating issues.” John didn’t need to hear all the details or think poorly of me.

  “You two were engaged?” asked John.

  Ben said, “Yes,” at the exact time that I said, “No.” I was surprised that I cared what John thought of me and rushed to say, “We dated a long time ago but were never engaged. Ben, don’t you need to take your bag upstairs?” I fetched it from the office and handed it to him. Unfortunately, he didn’t take the hint.

  “People keep asking me what breed Huey is. Do you have any idea?”

  As though John knew what I was thinking, he said, “Shepherd. Maybe some husky? Two very intelligent breeds.”

  Huey studied us with warm brown eyes.

  “Would you like another dog?” I asked John. “Huey seems very sweet and well behaved.”

  John turned to Ben. “You don’t want him?”

  “It’s a long story,” Ben said. “I was supposed to be set up with a small dog for the weekend, but they gave me Huey. I called WAG and tried to trade him in for a Chihuahua or some small dog that doesn’t have a lot of energy—”

  John looked at me, clearly astonished. “Is he for real?”

  “He doesn’t know much about dogs. Not anything, really.”

  “Listen, Ben. Bad news, buddy. Little dogs can be hyper. Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they lie around all day.”

  “I did not know that,” Ben said. “Women carry them in their purses, so I thought they would be less active. It doesn’t matter anyway, though. They’re out of small dogs at the shelter.”

  That was actually good news. Not for Huey, of course.

  John stroked Huey’s back. “I hadn’t thought about another dog.” He shifted his attention to me. “I was more interested in meeting a girl.”

  I felt the red blush of embarrassment flooding my face and the tops of my ears. “Maybe you could ask Macon to match you to someone else.”

  There was no mistaking his disappointment. “Think she’ll be as perfect for me as Holly Miller of Wagtail?”

  Ben fell into a coughing fit.

  Five

  I made a face at Ben.

  John’s brow furrowed. “This is all a little confusing. So you have a boyfriend—”

  “Had,” I corrected him.

  “But you still signed up for Live Love Bark, and now you’re denying that you ever signed up. Maybe we’re not a good match after all.”

  Ben did not appear to be the least bit contrite.

  I was, though. I hadn’t wanted to be set up. I hadn’t been interested in meeting anyone, yet I wished John didn’t think I was an awful person. “I’m sorry. It’s not like that. I really didn’t sign up.”

  John nodded, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. “Sorry to have bothered you. I’m a pretty simple guy, and I’m not into women who play games. C’mon, Cooper.”

  When he walked by Ben, he muttered, “Good luck,” in a thoroughly sarcastic voice.

  I felt awful.

  The door closed behind John. It resolved the situation for me, but I didn’t like John thinking I was some kind of manipulative worm. Not that it mattered. I probably wouldn’t ever see him again. But it still bothered me.

  The sad truth was that I had no interest in Ben, other than as a friend. No matter what he thought or expected. And I had been very clear about it.

  “What a crabby guy.” Ben handed me Huey’s leash. “Would you mind watching Huey for a little while?”


  “Ben, the point of If the Dog Fits is to spend time with the dog. How will you know if you’re good together if you pawn him off on me?”

  “Come on, Holly. I just want to take my stuff up and grab a quick shower.”

  “Then take him with you.” I looked at Huey, who watched us intently as if he understood what we were saying. “He’s such a sweetheart.” I caved when Huey tilted his head like he was pleading with me. “Okay. I need to take Trixie for a walk anyway. Huey can come with us.”

  Ben was smiling when he collected his bag and headed for the elevator.

  He’d barely been gone a minute when Oma appeared on the staircase. It was almost like she had been waiting for him to leave.

  Oma took to Huey immediately. She murmured to him in German, and Huey appeared to love it. His long whitish tail wagged happily, but Oma seemed subdued. “I see the Ben has returned.”

  I hated that she called him the Ben, and she knew it. “Oma,” I warned, “please don’t call him that.”

  “But Ben is his name, no?”

  “The Ben. Please don’t say that. It sounds weird. Like you’re putting him down.”

  “I do not mean to offend. It is surely my poor English that causes me to make such mistakes.”

  Poor English, my foot!

  “Why does he come here this time? I thought you broke things off with him.”

  “I did. I guess he wants a dog.”

  “This one? He is beautiful. If I did not have my Gingersnap, I would love such a dog.” Oma tore her attention away from Huey. “Zelda is participating in the matchmaking events. Don’t you want to join in, Holly? There will be many men to choose from.” I could have sworn I heard her add under her breath, “Far better than the Ben.”

  “Oma,” I groaned.

  She squared her shoulders. “I cannot blame you. Love is elusive for me also. But you are young. You should meet with the other young people and have fun.”

  “Oma, did you fill out a Live Love Bark form in my name?”

  “Would I have done such a thing?”

  Of course she would have. “Yes.”