Caprice wanted to find that out herself. As Michelle had told her, she wouldn’t be at the winery that morning but Neil was. He was waiting at the house when Caprice arrived.
“So you’re going to take him,” he commented.
“I’m going to find out if someone would like to foster him. If they foster, they might decide to keep him.”
Neil shook his finger at her. “That’s sly.”
“No, it works to see if an animal and owner are a good fit. I’m going to play with him a bit and see what commands he knows before I take him.”
“That’s fine, but he’s in your custody now. If he runs off, it’s not my fault.”
“I’ll take responsibility for him,” Caprice assured him.
After Neil went back into his office, Caprice took the Schnoodle around to the gardens. She’d brought along a ball and she tossed it for him. He ran after it, ears raised, tail wagging. He obviously liked someone to play with him. After he’d worked off energy, she tried basic commands—sit, stay, come. When she hooked him up to the leash, she said, “Heel” and he did. He walked right beside her.
Just where had he come from and why hadn’t anybody claimed him? But that was a question she’d had to ask too often.
“Let’s go see if we can find you a home,” she said to him.
His bright brown eyes were sparkling as he tilted his head as if he was listening.
“Do you like that word home?”
He barked.
“All right. Let’s see what we can do for you.” She opened the passenger side of her Camaro and he hopped in without hesitation. She unhooked the leash and went around to the driver’s side. “I’m not going to let you hang out the window,” she told him.
He gave her a soulful look, then he sat in his seat peering straight ahead out the windshield.
This might just work.
At a red light, Caprice braked. She glanced over at the Schnoodle. He was watching her.
“How do you feel about trying out an experimental home if who I’m thinking about will take you?”
He cocked his head at her with enough vigor to make one of his ears flop over.
Caprice smiled. “You are too cute for words. Let’s see if I can find you a home with someone who needs you as much as you need them.”
Caprice set her radio on an oldies-but-goodies channel. She was trying to find more songs to give the DJ for their reception playlist. She’d found a few—Our Day Will Come by Ruby and the Romantics, For Your Precious Love by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, I Love How You Love Me by the Paris Sisters, Only You by the Platters. But she needed to find a lot more. She was humming along to Dream Lover as she took first one road and then another and finally the gravel lane that led to Fred and Agnes Schmidt’s cottage. Agnes and Fred both had seemed to enjoy Lady. A dog could be good therapy for both of them. It all depended on whether the Schnoodle and the couple would bond. That’s what she was here to find out.
Fred opened the door to her again, but this time Agnes was sitting in her recliner, watching TV.
Fred looked down at the Schnoodle. “Who’s this?” he said, crouching down. “Another one of yours?”
Apparently familiar with dogs, Fred held out his hand to the canine. The Schnoodle smelled it all over, even each finger and then licked it.
Fred laughed. “He probably still tastes bacon from this morning.”
As Fred stood, Caprice said, “No, he’s not mine, and the thing is he needs a home. I thought maybe you and Agnes might like to foster him for a while. My fiancé has a cocker spaniel who is Lady’s brother and with my two cats, we have a full house of animals. Do you think you’d be interested?”
Fred started shaking his head. “Oh, I don’t think so. A dog takes care. We would have to let him out and take him for walks . . .”
Agnes called to her husband. “Fred. Let Caprice in. Is that another furry friend she brought with her?”
Caprice could hear the interest in Agnes’s tone. She looked at Fred with raised brows.
He just shook his head. “Come on in.”
Instead of nosing everything in the room like some dogs might do, the Schnoodle went straight over to Agnes. He even waited by the side of the chair while she lowered the footrest.
“Isn’t he just too adorable?” Agnes remarked. “What’s his name?”
“It’s like this,” Caprice said. She wasn’t going to hide the facts. “He’s a stray. Michelle found him at the winery, and she’s been taking care of him for about two weeks. She called all the veterinarians in the area and even put an ad in the newspaper but no one’s claimed him. A few days ago, she took him to her veterinarian who also happens to be mine, and he checked him out and gave him a flea treatment. He’s healthy, neutered, and probably about two or three years old. He needs a home. I know you probably haven’t thought about getting a dog but I wondered if maybe you’d foster him on a temporary basis.”
Agnes was using the electric control on her chair to raise the seat so she could stand much easier. After she did, she stooped down to the Schnoodle looking into his eyes. “If you stay, we’d have to give you a name.”
“What do you mean if he stays? Agnes, you can’t be serious!” Fred’s eyes were wide and his stance defensive.
Agnes addressed Caprice. “Sometimes my husband is a little too pragmatic . . . realistic in the sense that he can’t see outside of his box.”
“What box?” Fred mumbled. “You’re still recuperating.”
“That’s my point exactly,” Agnes said. “If we take in this adorable fellow, he would be good company for me. You could leave more often and not worry so much when you run errands, even just working out in the yard. Besides that, the doctor said I’m supposed to walk. What better way to motivate me than to have a dog to walk. And speaking of walks, why don’t you and Caprice take a little walk on this beautiful day and let me get to know him. When you come back, if he and I are good friends, then I think he should stay.”
Caprice lowered her voice in a conspiratorial tone to Fred. “Does she often argue with you?”
“She doesn’t call it arguing, but somehow she gets her way.”
Agnes was talking to the dog in soft murmurs. Finally she petted him. Caprice could swear he gave a little doggie sigh as Agnes’s fingers went through his curly hair.
“We can stand right outside the door if you don’t want to go too far,” Caprice said. “And actually, I’d like to ask you something.”
“So you didn’t just come over to deliver the dog?”
“The dog was my main reason.”
They stepped outside and walked around the trellis out of earshot of Agnes. Nevertheless, Fred left the door open so he could hear what was happening with the dog.
“Can you tell me where you were the night Travis was murdered?”
“Do I have to?”
“Do you have an alibi?”
“Yes, I do, but I don’t really want Agnes to know about it.”
Uh, oh. Did that mean he was involved in something illegal?
Fred scowled. “I know what you’re thinking, and I’m sure you couldn’t possibly guess what I was doing.”
“So fill me in.”
“We need money. The night Travis was killed I met a friend at Suzie Q’s to talk to him.”
“Was this about a job?” Caprice guessed, following a logical track.
“Yes, it was.” Fred’s voice lowered. “It was a janitorial job. My friend works for the company and says he has good benefits and that’s what we need.” Fred was obviously embarrassed.
“Why don’t you want Agnes to know?”
“I don’t want her to think about me being a janitor to pay the bills.”
“So your pride is keeping you from being truthful with your wife?”
He looked toward the living room. “Put like that, I guess it’s not a very good reason. But I don’t have much left but my pride.”
“You do. You have your house, you have your
wife, you have your health. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Fred appeared chagrined. “That’s true, I suppose. I mean, after all, look at what happened to Travis.”
“What time did you meet your friend at Suzie Q’s?”
“Do you still not trust me?” Fred’s voice was angry.
“Trust doesn’t have much play in an investigation. Have the police spoken to you yet?”
“I got a phone call. I have to go in and see them tomorrow.”
“You can bet they’ll ask the same question. They’ll want to know about your alibi.”
With a resigned sigh, Fred explained, “It took me about a half hour to get there, and I was at Susie Q’s about an hour. A half hour to come back. So I was gone from seven to nine, longer than I like to be away from Agnes.”
“But now if she has a friend to keep her company, that might change,” Caprice suggested optimistically.
Fred’s scowl was even more ferocious this time. “Having a dog will be an added expense. I need to buy dog food, a leash, a collar.”
“No, you don’t,” Caprice assured him with a smile on her face. “I just happen to have all that in my car, including bowls and a bed. All of that comes with him.”
“Michelle bought him those things?”
“She bought the beds and bowls. She just had a little bit of food left, so I stopped to pick up that . . . and a few toys.”
Once more he looked toward the living room. “Come on. Let’s see if they’re getting along.”
Caprice wished she could take a picture of the scene she witnessed when they returned inside. Agnes was sitting on the recliner again. However, she’d pulled over a straight chair and set it right in front of her. The Schnoodle was on the chair, facing her. They looked as if they were having a discussion.
“He’s so responsive,” Agnes said as soon as she saw her husband. She held out a country magazine. “This was on the floor over there. He fetched it for me.” Demonstrating further, she told the Schnoodle, “Lay down.” He did and put his paw on Agnes’s knee then dropped his head onto his paws.
“See, Fred? He loves me already.”
“This is temporary, Agnes, just to see if things are going to work out.”
“You can believe that if you want to. But I know he’ll fit in perfectly, just as I knew I’d recover from my breast cancer. You have to have some faith, honey.”
At the endearment, Fred’s cheeks reddened. He gave Caprice a resigned look. “So I guess this is happening. Go ahead and bring in the supplies. But I won’t take charity. I’ll be donating to an animal shelter as soon as I find a good one.”
“I’ll bring the supplies in.” She quietly went to her Camaro.
After Caprice carried in the dishes and Fred placed them in the kitchen, after he hoisted up the bag of kibble, and she managed the bed, they stood back watching Agnes and the dog. The Schnoodle had crept farther and farther front and now half his body was practically on Agnes’s legs. She didn’t seem to mind a bit as she cooed to him, fussed over him, and scratched around his ears.
A loving look in Fred’s eyes as he watched his wife almost brought Caprice to tears. She was hoping the Schmidt home would be more than a temporary place for the Schnoodle to stay.
Chapter Ten
Caprice had called Derek Gastineau and asked him to be their contractor because she had a professional history with him. He’d built the model homes that Caprice had decorated the year before. She knew he was a developer, as well as a contractor, and she trusted him and his crews. She’d seen their work and it was top quality.
Derek laid out the plans for the addition to Caprice’s house on the coffee table. “This is exactly what you told me you wanted. However, I want you to take a good look at it and make sure. If we start and we have to make changes, it will cost you more because we might have to tear something out, put something else on hold, and spend more time on it. I’d like both of you to initial the right-hand corner.”
Derek was sitting beside Grant and Caprice on the sofa. She and Grant moved to the edge of the couch cushions to study the architect’s renderings of the structure that portrayed all the requirements on their list.
Caprice traced her finger over each line of the addition, each wall, each door, each window. She’d started with the planned sunroom. They’d be using the same entrance from the garage into the sunroom, from there into the kitchen. They could also access Grant’s new office from the sunroom as well as from outside.
Beside her, Grant studied the plans too. He must have been following her tracing because she stopped when she reached the powder room.
Grant asked her, “Are you sure you want the expense of installing a bathroom?”
“I’m sure. It will be convenient for you and any clients who come in. Not only that, if we have guests and need another room, we can put a pullout couch in your office and then the bathroom would be there. I think it will pay for itself in convenience.”
Derek nodded vigorously. “Caprice, as well as my builders, knows that bathrooms and the kitchen often sell a house. I know you’re only thinking about now, but think about the future too. Whether you stay here forever or whether you sell it eventually, in a buyer’s mind, the two bathrooms down here could make up for only having one upstairs.”
“Do you think we should put a shower in down here?” Caprice asked.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Derek agreed. “Especially if at some time you want to use it as a guest bath. If you plan to stay here during your retirement years, the house would have everything you need on the first floor.”
Caprice automatically turned toward Grant. “What do you think?”
“That sounds good,” Grant said. “But how much will it cost?”
“We’ll be working with the same size room. That won’t change,” the contractor said. “There’s plenty of space in there for a decent-sized shower. Knowing Caprice and how her tastes run . . .” He wrote a figure down on the small notepad that he’d laid next to the plans. He turned it so Caprice and Grant could see it.
“Now remember, Caprice, I’ll be giving you a ten percent discount on materials because we’ve worked together in the past and I’m sure we’ll work together in the future. But the labor cost is the labor cost, unless of course, you want to do anything yourselves.”
Grant seemed to think about it for a long minute, but then he shook his head. “You know the materials. You know how they fit together. The truth is, I don’t want to mess something up by doing it myself and then paying for the cost of redoing it. Painting, Caprice and I can handle. But the floors and the skim plaster coat, experts need to do.”
“Grant’s right,” Caprice said, nodding. “And we do want this done as quickly as possible.”
“Are you sure you want the skim coat of plaster rather than inlaid wood panels. It is an office.”
Grant answered him. “Caprice and I have agreed that we want the addition to complement the features we already have in the house.”
“You have old-fashioned plaster in the rest of the house. A skim rough coat on blueboard will give you the same look. I do have one more suggestion you might want to consider.”
“I can see the dollar signs,” Grant murmured.
Derek smiled and Caprice was sure he had this conversation with all of his clients. “I’d like to suggest you put in a gas stove. We’re updating your heating system so the office will be warm enough. However, you know Pennsylvania winters. You know the electricity has often gone out, especially with ice storms and heavy snowstorms. If you put in a gas stove, you would have a remote to turn it on and off, and you don’t need electricity to fire it up. I know you have a fireplace in the living room, but it’s certainly not going to give you a lot of warmth with the hot air escaping through the chimney. If you want to make it more efficient, you should put a wood-burning insert in your fireplace.”
Caprice was already shaking her head. “I always wanted a real fireplace and I’d
like to keep it.”
“That makes my suggestion even more important. You can have your fireplace going, but you could also keep the office warm and sleep there without worrying about putting out a fire or stoking it. The office can have its own self-sufficiency. You have gas appliances now. We can just run a gas line to the stove.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Grant obviously wasn’t sure about the stove.
“I like the idea,” Caprice assured Derek. “But if Grant’s not sure, then we need to think about it and we can let you know.”
“All right then,” he said.
Caprice had served coffee and her chocolate loaf before they’d started. Derek took his mug from the side table, took a healthy swallow as if to fortify himself, and then suggested, “Let’s look at the figures. I included the stove, but I can easily deduct it if you don’t want it. I’d rather start out with everything you might want and then go from there.”
He stooped to his messenger bag and pulled out a stapled set of pages. He handed them to Grant and Caprice.
After both of them had gone over the contract, Grant said, “This only came in a little higher than what Caprice estimated it would. It looks fair.”
Caprice was smiling now. “I told you Derek was one of the good guys.”
“I think I’ll have to prove that to Grant,” Derek confirmed with a smile. “But you can watch the work every step of the way, as long as you don’t get in the way.”
They all laughed. They both signed the contract.
Ten minutes later they’d said good-bye to Derek and seen him out. Then they returned to Caprice’s living room. Lady and Patches were sleeping under the cat tree where Sophia and Mirabelle dozed on separate shelves.
Grant took Caprice’s hand. “We have to talk about something.”
His voice was somber and she wondered if he was having second thoughts about the addition. “Was there something you didn’t like on the plans?”
He shook his head. “No, not at all. I want to make a suggestion, and I want you to really think about it before you react.”
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