Daydream Retriever (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 10)

by Susan C. Daffron

  They formulated an agreement that Lisa would only call them once a week on Sunday. Over time, it had gotten easier for Lisa to let go, leave the girls alone, and let them live their lives. But it didn’t mean she didn’t wonder how and what they were doing about three hundred times a day.

  Sundays had turned into Lisa’s favorite day of the week because she could finally catch up on everything she’d missed with her daughters. Even though she always thought of them as her “girls,” the reality was that Cheryl and Carol had grown into incredibly smart, funny women. Lisa was so proud of their accomplishments and loved to talk with them and hear about the trials and tribulations of classes and college life.

  Lisa pulled the truck into the parking area in front of the large brick building where visitors had to check in at the care center. It had been some time since she’d seen Betty, and the report from Mom didn’t sound promising. Maybe if the jewelry box contained whatever it was Betty wanted, everything would be fine.

  She grabbed the box from the passenger seat and went inside. The lobby had a muted beige and pastel color scheme that was typical of medical facilities everywhere. The receptionist greeted Lisa warmly and reminded her how to get to Betty’s room. As Lisa wandered down the carpeted hallways, she felt a bit self-conscious about being able to see into the rooms. In some ways, it felt like a terrible invasion of privacy, like going through a hotel where all the doors were open. When she’d been in rehab, she’d always felt like she was in a fishbowl. Today, no one seemed concerned, however. In fact, many of the residents were fast asleep.

  Betty was definitely not asleep. Lisa recognized her aunt’s voice booming from the room before she reached the doorway.

  “What do you call a snowman on a hot day?” Betty announced to a group of older women sitting around the small table in her room.

  Lisa stood in the entryway and responded, “A puddle.”

  Betty looked up and put down the cards she was holding. “Linda!”

  “No, I’m Lisa. My sister is Lynn, not Linda.”

  “Close enough. Your mother had a real fixation with the letter ‘L,’ so how am I supposed to remember?” Betty got up and ushered the other women out of her room. “Everybody out. I need to talk to Linda.”

  Lisa sighed and stepped aside so the women could shuffle by. Today it seemed she was going to be Linda. She walked over and hugged her great aunt. “How have you been?”

  Betty crawled onto her bed. “Those old biddies are trying to steal from me again. I know they are. You can’t trust any of them. I make sure to play cards with them every day, so I can keep an eye on them. Canasta is a good cover.”

  “No doubt.” Lisa set the jewelry box on the small table. “Mom said you wanted to look at something in this jewelry box.”

  Betty waved her hand dismissively. “No, that’s all junk. I want to see the other stuff. My stuff!”

  “Mom took all of her good jewelry with her when she moved. I don’t know if any of it was yours.” Lisa pulled out a drawer in the jewelry box and went over to the bed to show it to Betty. “She said you wanted to see something inside this box. It’s all the old costume jewelry we used to play with when I was little.”

  “Why do you think I want a bunch of pop-it beads? They’re plastic crap. I’m not a four-year old, you know!”

  Lisa set the drawer down on the bed. “What do you want then?”

  “Hey, here’s a question for you: what do a bungee jump and a hooker have in common?”

  Lisa knew better than to answer. When the topic of the joke turned sexual or scatological, it was best to ignore the question and pretend it had never happened. “Betty, I brought you the jewelry box. Do you want to look through it?”

  Betty raised her hand and moved her fingers in a gimme gesture. “Only if there’s something good. Those beads were tacky in 1954 and it’s not like pink plastic gets better with age.”

  Lisa carried the box to the bed, set it down, and pulled out the drawers. “This drawer has clip-on earrings. Is that what you want?”

  “I’m betting a man invented those. Maybe the same guy who invented the girdle. That’s another thing that pinches and hurts you in the name of making you prettier.”

  “Maybe. I think high heels fall into that category too.”

  Betty lifted a gaudy pink jeweled earring, held it in front of her eyes, and dropped it back in the drawer. “Yuck. Did Natalie really wear this junk?”

  “I don’t remember it, but I wore them a couple of times when I played dress-up. They do hurt your ears.”

  Betty grinned. “Told ya! So how did Burger King get Dairy Queen pregnant?”

  “If it includes the word whopper, I don’t want to know.”

  “Okay, I guess you heard that one.” Betty shrugged off the rebuke and pushed the drawer away. “This isn’t what I want.”

  “What do you want?”

  “The stuff in the house.”

  “Larry said that he made up something that you signed. I promise I’ll tell you what I’m planning to sell before I do anything.” Lisa mentally cringed at the idea of having to come back here regularly with lists of furniture. She held up a drawer filled with gaudy bracelets. “So you’re sure you don’t want any of these things, right?”

  “This is a bunch of garbage. I don’t care what you do with it.”

  “All right. I guess I should be going then.”

  Betty reached out and grabbed Lisa’s forearm. “Did you ever notice that bald eagles only have one eye?”

  “No.”

  “You never see both their eyes in pictures. Always profile. I think it’s a government plot.”

  Lisa tried not to laugh. “A plot relating to the national symbol of the United States?”

  “Yes. It’s because there are two kinds of eagles. Bald eagles are either left-eyed or right-eyed. The government doesn’t want us to know that because it affects the image on our currency. Like they say, he who has the gold makes the rules.”

  “Okay, well, ah, that’s interesting. I really should be going now, Betty.”

  “It was good to see you Linda. Come back soon!”

  Lisa leaned over to hug her aunt. “I will.”

  After collecting the jewelry and putting the drawers back in the box, Lisa left the room. Conversations with Betty were always confusing. Maybe in the process of going through thirty or forty years of detritus in the house, she’d finally run across whatever it was Betty wanted. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

  As she was walking down the hallway, a male voice called out, “Hey Lisa!” and she turned to look back at one of the rooms. Pete was lying on a bed with his leg elevated and encased in a complex knee brace. He waved at her to encourage her to come into his room. She’d only seen him bundled up in heavy ski gear and it was intriguing to find out what he looked like, particularly since as it turned out, he was remarkably attractive. Who would have guessed? The main thing she’d remembered from their prior encounter was the startling sky-blue color of his eyes and, of course, the blood on his face, which she would have been perfectly happy to forget.

  She stopped in the doorway, trying to look nonchalant. Her heartbeat had sped up, which was a little pathetic. You’d think she’d never seen a good-looking man before. Maybe Bev was right. She needed to get out more. At least she had a date tonight, for a change, but right now she needed to get a grip. “You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

  He scratched at the small bandage on his forehead. “I feel better. What are you doing here?”

  “My aunt is a resident.” Lisa shook her head. “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got time. Lots of time. Nothing but time. I’m bored and the Saturday morning cartoons are over, so the TV is switching to religious programming. I could lose my mind in here. Could you stay and talk to me for a minute? I’ll listen to any story you have.”

  Recalling how desperate she had been for visitors after her own accident, Lisa walked in and sat on the edge of the bed,
setting the jewelry box down beside her. “Okay, but just for a minute. I have to get back home and get ready for an appointment later.”

  “Hot date?”

  Lisa’s eye’s widened. How did he know? “That’s a good guess, although I don’t know how hot it’s going to be.”

  “That ski patrol guy was drooling all over you. He asked you out didn’t he?”

  “For someone who was severely injured, you certainly didn’t miss much.”

  “I’ve got eyes. Although right now, I’m so doped up on painkillers, my crime-fighting skills aren’t what they used to be.”

  Lisa wasn’t sure what he meant. Maybe he’d watched too many cartoons this morning. “How is your leg?”

  “I had surgery, and the doctors have talked to me about physical therapy and rehab. I trashed my knee and it’s a mess. I had no idea joints could be so complicated.”

  “I know. I had a somewhat similar accident when I was eighteen.”

  “That explains why you gave me that look.”

  “What look?”

  “Like my leg was totally screwed up and you knew I’d be hating life once I got off that mountain.”

  Lisa felt strangely uncomfortable. How could he possibly recall something that specific? When she’d found Pete, he’d barely been conscious and she’d figured he wouldn’t remember much of anything. “Well, yes, I was afraid you were badly hurt.”

  “You’d seen it before.”

  “Yes.” How did he know that? Had she told him? She couldn’t remember. Lisa moved to get up. “I should really get going. It was nice to see you again.”

  “Have fun on your date. And hey, I don’t think I said it before, but thank you for saving my life. I could have frozen to death out there if you hadn’t found me.”

  “I think Harley is the one you need to thank.”

  “You’re right! Are you going to come visit your aunt again?”

  “Yes, I promised her I would.”

  “Great! Bring Harley. People bring dogs to visit all the time. No one will mind. How about tomorrow? If the religious programming is this bad today, imagine what TV is going to be like tomorrow. On a Sunday, it will be all televangelists all the time. I may have to throw myself out the window.”

  “I’m not sure. On Sundays I make phone my calls.”

  “You’re on the telephone all day? Who are you talking to for that long?”

  “My kids. I suppose it doesn’t take all day.” At the imploring look in his eyes, Lisa smiled. “All right. I’ll check with the staff on my way out to make sure it’s okay to bring Harley here. He isn’t good about being left home alone.”

  Pete shot both his arms up in the air. “Yes! A visitor under the age of eighty-five.”

  Lisa laughed. “Get some rest. Harley and I will be back soon.”

  After taking her own dogs for their afternoon walk with Joel and a couple of the boarding dogs, Kat went back outside to round up the rest of the boarders for their turn. She went into the kennel building and Harley jumped up on his kennel gate, barking eagerly.

  Kat put leashes on a shepherd mix named Velma and a small dog whose heritage was anyone’s guess. Marvin was some type of gray terrier with short legs and wiry hair. He undoubtedly had quite a few breeds lurking in remote branches of his family tree. The two dogs ran around in the walkway in front of the kennels while Kat got Harley out and put on his leash. Finally, everyone was leashed and ready to head out into the forest.

  Kat opened the door and the dogs rushed outside, eager to get on with the walking program. Marvin wasted no time taking care of his personal needs while Harley sniffed everything within reach. The Lab obviously had a serious sense of smell.

  As she walked, Kat went over the topics for her upcoming book chapters in her mind. Her dog-walker Mia would return from her days off the next day and Kat was determined to get back into writing as soon as possible.

  If Kat were brutally honest about it, she knew her own incessant procrastination was a big part of the reason she’d ended up down to the wire in submitting her previous book chapters. Her failure to suck it up and write had led to the sleepless nights and resulting surly attitude. But she was determined to do better and meet her final book deadline with grace and ease, instead of pain and agony this time. She’d promised Joel that even though she’d probably be stressed and anxious about the book, she’d try harder not to make his life miserable.

  Kat was jerked from her ruminations by Harley yanking on his leash. Suddenly the end of the leash dropped to the ground and Kat was left holding the handle and watching Harley bolt into the trees. The other two dogs were startled to see their compatriot having more fun than they were and began whining.

  After a moment of stunned paralysis, the reality that the dog was no longer attached to the leash in her hand hit Kat and she ran toward the trees shouting Harley’s name, dragging the other two dogs after her. Marvin immediately fell behind, his stubby legs not up to the task of hurtling through trees at high speed. Kat stopped and looked down at the dog, who was clearly annoyed and committed to being small furry dead weight. They weren’t far from the kennel, and losing one dog was bad enough. Losing three was even worse, so she hustled the dogs back to the kennel as fast as she could and put them back into their cages.

  She ran up the driveway to the house and around to the back door. Slamming the door behind her, she ran inside and stopped at Joel’s office door, panting, “Help! I need help!”

  He looked away from his computer monitor at her and jumped up out of his chair. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Harley…got away…I don’t know what…his collar…leash. Something broke and he ran. I need help.”

  “All right, let me get my coat.”

  Kat clipped a leash on Tessa and handed it to Joel. “Tessa has a nose like no other dog I’ve ever seen. Hang onto her and maybe she can help us track him down.”

  Tessa, who was hyperactive on a good day, was beside herself with joy, leaping around them, ecstatic at the thrilling concept of getting an extra walk. Generally, she went for walks harnessed to Linus because he was huge and Tessa was almost impossible for any human to tire out. Kat called Linus the “boat anchor” because he weighed about four times as much as the slight golden retriever, which helped to keep her exuberance in check.

  Kat called Linus and opened the door to let the large dog out. She waved the other three dogs back. “You have to stay here. It’s just Linus and Tessa this time.”

  Tessa dragged Joel out the door and headed for the forest trail. Kat said, “Okay Tessa, I need you to find Harley. Let’s go.”

  One good thing about having soggy muddy snow on the ground was that it was easier to follow Harley’s trail. It was obvious where he’d left the dog-walking path and headed off into the trees. His tracks weren’t obscured until they got deeper into the forest, where bare patches had opened up under some of the larger cedars after the recent thaw and rainy weather. Tessa seemed to be inspired, her nose snuffling along the ground, following the scent of something.

  Kat looked up at Joel. “Do you think she’s following Harley or a deer?”

  “Who knows? As you’ve pointed out before, she has the attention span of a fruit fly.”

  “I know. Brigid is going to kill me if I lose Harley. How awful is it to lose a dog that’s already homeless?” Kat turned her head, scanning the forest ahead. “I hope you know where you are, because I’m going to end up lost too.”

  “I know where we are. We just passed a spot where I cut firewood last fall.”

  “At this rate, we’re going to end up on the national forest land, if we aren’t already. Where the heck is Harley going?”

  “Don’t ask me. It is the land of many uses. Maybe Harley thought up a new one.”

  Kat smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re retaining your sense of humor, even in the face of disaster.”

  “Last night left me in a good mood.”

  A bark came from somewhere ahead of them and
Linus ran from Kat’s side toward the noise. Kat ran after him, shouting “Harley!” as loudly as she could, followed by Joel and Tessa.

  Kat stopped at a break in the trees where Harley was standing in front of something and barking madly. Joel and Tessa came up alongside her and he said, “What is that?”

  Kat shook her head and took a few steps forward. She said quietly, “Harley, shhh, come here, buddy. Let me help.”

  Harley looked over at her and wagged his tail, but refused to move from where he was standing. Kat got closer and realized he was standing over what looked like an old white laundry bag. The bag moved and Kat leaped backward, crashing into Linus. Placing her hand on the dog’s back to steady herself, she turned to Joel and pointed at the bag. “It moved!”

  He made a face. “That can’t be good.”

  “You know I’m way, way too big of a chicken to see what’s in there.”

  “All right. Hang onto Tessa for a second.”

  He handed Kat the leash and walked closer. When he was next to Harley, he crouched down near the bag. “Hi, Harley. So what do you have there?”

  The bag moved again and Joel grabbed the drawstring, dragging it closer to him. A mewing noise came from within and Harley stretched his nose closer to sniff. Joel carefully lifted the end of the bag and opened it slightly. A hissing sound came from the bag and after closing it, he gazed up at Kat with a despairing look in his dark green eyes.

  “Oh no, is it awful, scary, gross? What?” Kat said, “Why are you looking at me like that? What’s in there?”

  “I think Harley found a friend. How do you feel about adopting another cat?”

  “We already have more than our fair share of felines.” Kat stepped closer. “There’s really a cat in there? You’re saying someone left a cat out here in the middle of the forest? Who would do that?”

  Joel stood up, gathering the bag in his arms. “I don’t know, but this kind of thing makes me sick. We need to get him or her back to the house.”

  “You’re right. The poor thing must be freezing.”