Bark to the Future (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 5)

by Susan C. Daffron

  “I’m just sort of stunned. And whatever the opposite of flattered is.”

  “You don’t know?”

  She jerked at the phone cord coils. “I can’t think of anything right at the moment.”

  “Belittled?”

  “Thanks, Drew. I’ve always said you have a much larger vocabulary than you let on. I really should go take a shower, so I’ll be ready for this interview.”

  “Are you mad? Don’t let what I said get to you. That’s all ancient history. It doesn’t change anything. You know what happened later. It worked out. Well, sort of. Until it didn’t, I guess.”

  Beth sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just another blow to my already tattered ego. This hasn’t been a good day. And I miss you. It tears at my heart. I hate being so far away from you.”

  “I know Bethie, me too. Let me know how the interview goes.”

  They said their goodbyes and Beth hung up the phone. A dare? Really? Throwing her arms up in exasperation, Beth turned and walked down the hall toward the bathroom. Trying to sound like a confident professional after reliving yet another ghastly high-school indignity was going to be a challenge.

  Despite Beth’s concerns, the interview went extremely well. The hiring manager was starting to speak as if she’d already been offered the job, which was disconcerting. Using terms like “when you’re here” implied that they were optimistic about her prospects. Beth was getting excited, but she knew almost nothing about Seattle, except that it had a temperate climate. It rained, but it didn’t get bitterly cold and it almost never snowed. Decent weather was certainly a drawing card. Given her experience in Alpine Grove, if the job were in Minnesota, she wouldn’t be even slightly interested. She’d be perfectly happy to live out the rest of her days without seeing the thermometer drop below freezing.

  The next day, Beth went to her first stained-glass class. It was unlike anything she’d ever done before, and on the way home she stopped at an art-supply store to get the recommended tools and materials. The design she had selected for her first project was so pretty that she couldn’t wait to get started.

  After she got home, Beth tried calling Drew and discovered he had finally purchased an answering machine. At last! She left a message about her art class and the interview and asked him to call her.

  Later he returned her call, and after Beth had blathered on about her interview for a while, she realized he’d said almost nothing. She grasped the pendant on her necklace. What was going on with him? “Drew, is everything all right with you?”

  “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day for me and Dixie, that’s all. That little pup is crashed out like a light.”

  Beth smiled at the mental image of the brown puppy flat on the floor snoring away. “What did you do?”

  “We went to see Mrs. O. I guess she’s not feeling well. She said she wanted some puppy cuddle time.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet. I’m sure Dixie was happy to oblige.”

  “Yeah, she’s a sucker for love. I’m kinda behind on my revisions, though. There was one other thing she mentioned.”

  “What’s that?”

  “She’s gonna sell her house.”

  “What? She’s lived there forever. Is she okay? I thought she had gout. She’s not really sick, is she?”

  “I think she’s okay, but the house is just too much work for her. She wants to give me first-dibs on it. Assuming I can fix this fool manuscript, after I submit my revisions and get the final advance check for the book, I’m going to buy it.”

  Beth dropped her hand from her necklace. “What? You mean you are going to live in Alpine Grove permanently? Have you lost your mind? What happened to the wimpy southerner who bundles up when the temperature drops below sixty?”

  “I can always get away in the winter to someplace warm. But I started thinking back on all the places I’ve lived and I’ve had some of the best times of my life here. If I’m gonna settle anywhere, why not here? And I like the house a lot.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “How about ‘congratulations on becoming a homeowner’?”

  “I suppose.” Beth gazed out the window at the large ocotillo that stood like a sentinel in the yard. “I guess I was hoping you’d want to spend time with me.”

  “Your mom lives here. It’s not like you never come to Alpine Grove. You even said you get homesick for the trees.”

  “But I can’t live there again. Freezing my toes off at my mother’s house reminded me why I never ever want to live any place that has a lot of snow again. I hate snow and ice.”

  “Well, you just told me you’re going to move to Seattle, anyway.”

  “No, I didn’t. I haven’t even been offered a job. Even if I were, it hardly ever snows there. What if you lived there too?”

  “Have you ever spent any time in the Northwest, Beth?”

  “Not really. I’ve seen pictures. It’s very green and pretty.”

  “That’s because as you probably know, it doesn’t snow much, but it does rain. It rains a lot. Alpine Grove in the spring is nothing by comparison. We’re talking months of drizzle—it’s the kind of gray weather that makes me want to take to my bed, pull the covers over my head, and never leave.”

  “Well, what about Tucson? You could visit here. It’s warm and very sunny.” She looked down at her legs and grinned. “I’m wearing shorts right now.”

  “Sure, Beth, if you stay there, which from what you said doesn’t sound particularly likely. You know, I’ve really got to get to work on these revisions now.”

  “Drew, it feels like something is wrong. I can tell by your voice. Is the book going okay? Are you sure you don’t want to visit? Maybe I could help. Communicating by telephone is so difficult, and we don’t seem to be terribly proficient at it.”

  “I’m fine. It sounds like you have a lot of stuff going on anyway. Maybe you can get that PhD stuff done before you move. Have you started writing the dissertation?”

  “No. And I told you, I’m not moving. Nothing has changed. I don’t have a job. Plus, I need to take two more classes for my degree.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Hey, Dixie is awake. I gotta go.”

  Beth clutched her necklace. “Drew, I love you.”

  He said softly, “I love you too, Bethie. Talk atcha later.”

  Beth hung up the phone. She could tell from the particular tone in Drew’s voice that he was retreating again. She was willing to bet that the revisions on the book were not going well. Pulling off her glasses, she wiped her eyes, trying not to cry. There was no way this would ever work, because even after everything that had happened, he obviously still didn’t trust her. And buying a house in the one location she was positive she didn’t ever want to live pretty much quashed the idea of them being together on any type of long-term basis. Maybe it was stupid to believe they could get over everything that had happened in the past.

  Over the next few days, Beth made an effort to stop thinking about Drew. She went to her exercise classes and began digging into her dissertation research, since she didn’t have much else to do after her routine perusal of employment ads. Going over her dissertation reminded Beth why she had enjoyed her university classes so much. It was fascinating to delve into technology and how people interact with it. There were good reasons why certain software interfaces led to user frustration and others did not.

  While she had been at RTP, she had been so busy dealing with day-to-day managerial work that she had lost touch with some of the aspects of technology that she found the most intriguing. Days full of meetings and trying to reach some sort of consensus among recalcitrant people about trivial minutia were not exactly intellectually stimulating. As a manager, many of the problems she had to deal with were people problems. Interpersonal communication was not exactly something she excelled at, yet she had been responsible for keeping everyone on track and content. No wonder she had been so stressed for so long. In fact, she was finding that she missed RTP
and her job as a manager less and less all the time. It was like a great burden had been lifted and she could think more freely again.

  Beth tried calling and e-mailing Drew, which was a futile effort. It seemed he was done communicating. She’d left a number of messages in an effort to cajole him into picking up the phone, all to no avail. Beth knew what he was doing. After stewing about it, she decided to leave one final message.

  After the machine beeped, Beth said, “Drew, I know you’re there and you’re probably listening to me right now. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want to communicate. Fine. Don’t call. Don’t e-mail. I can’t force you to, and I promise this is my last message. But I want you to know that I know exactly what you’re doing. You’ve retreated into Gollum’s lair again and I want you to stop it. You are a brilliant writer and I love you. And if you have spent all day in bed, which I know you have, I want you to take a shower and get dressed right now. Furthermore, I am guessing that you are berating yourself instead of writing. You have a deadline and I want you to stop dwelling on what your editor said and figure out how to fix the book. If you need help, I am here, and I would give anything to help you. No one knows those characters better than I do, except you. If you agree, get on a plane. You have my address.”

  Beth hung up the phone. She’d said her piece. If Drew wanted to wallow in creative despondency, he was on his own.

  A few days later, Beth returned from her exercise class and went into the kitchen for a drink of water. This time there might have been a few endorphins and she even had a tiny bit of hope that her body wouldn’t collapse from overexertion. Getting into any type of decent shape was going to take a while.

  It was another sunny day and she opened the sliding-glass door out to the backyard so the warm breeze could flow into the house. Out of the corner of her eye, Beth noticed movement in the shade under her pergola. A person’s foot was dangling off the lounge chair. Beth covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to scream. Someone was in her backyard! Maybe she could quietly tiptoe back to the living room and call the police. Drew leaned out around the back of the chair, turning his head to look at her. He grinned. “Dang, it’s nice out here. All I need is a margarita.”

  Beth dropped her hand from her mouth and ran to him. “Drew! I’m so glad to see you. I can’t believe you’re here. How did you get into my backyard?”

  He got up and stretched out his arms, enveloping her in his embrace. “The airport shuttle dumped me at your front door. When you weren’t home, I just climbed over the block wall so your neighbors didn’t start to wonder about the creepy guy loitering on your front stoop.” He kissed her and looked into her eyes. “I missed you, Bethie. I got your message. The last one.”

  She put her arms around his neck. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

  “Yeah. I hate admitting it, but you were. I kept thinking about all the criticism so much that I couldn’t even see the story anymore. I could use some objectivity here. You’ve always been good at pulling me out of these nasty mud bogs my brain gets into.”

  “I’ve been thinking about the story and I have a few ideas.” Beth kissed him again, took his hand, and led him inside the house. “I was working on my dissertation, but I kept having thoughts about your book, so I typed everything into a memo so I wouldn’t forget.”

  “How corporate of you.”

  She nudged him. “The memo format can be useful.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. Beggars can’t be choosers. Lay it on me.”

  “Well, since the case revolves around serial arson, I do understand why you killed Liz in that way. But it’s just too awful. What a horrible way to die. Burning to death? How could you? Every time I think about what you wrote, I just start to cry.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, okay. I got that.”

  “Well, we all know about the first suspect. But what if the clue caused Preston himself to be the second suspect?”

  Drew raised his eyebrows. “Okay, you have my attention. So wait, you want me to toast Preston instead? You thought killing off Liz was a problem? Taking out the hero is worse—doing that definitely ends the series in a very permanent way.”

  Beth shook her head. “No, no, not that. Preston has to survive too. I think you can do something more circuitous that leads to a more satisfying ending. I created a flowchart.”

  “A flow chart? You turned my creative work into a flowchart? Ugh.”

  “Flowcharts can be helpful for visualization.” Beth turned on the computer. “Sit down and let me show you. Your story was so intricate, I didn’t want to lose that. I just made a few little tweaks in the storyline.” She clicked a few times and brought up a diagram on the screen. “See. Like this.”

  Drew put his elbow on the desk and rested his chin on his palm. “Hmm. Okay, that’s interesting.”

  “Interesting? Oh, please. What are you actually thinking?”

  “I like it. Well, sort of.” He pointed at the screen. “But what if you move that thingie over there?”

  Beth leaned over him to use the mouse. Grasping her around the waist, Drew dragged her into his lap and nuzzled her neck. “I like the scantily clad you. It’s like summertime again. And hey, someone has been working out.”

  Moving away from him, Beth said, “I really need to take a shower.”

  He kissed her and murmured, “Want company?”

  Later, Beth copied the flowchart onto Drew’s laptop and set up a makeshift office for him in her guest bedroom. She worked on her dissertation while Drew holed up with his novel rewrites. He had only a few days left to meet the deadline to submit his revisions.

  Looking up from her data analysis as Drew emerged from the bedroom, she smiled. “Hi. How is it going?”

  “Better. I need to get away for a little while, though. It feels like my brain is melting. Wanna go somewhere? I could stand to absorb some sun.”

  “Yes.” She clapped her hands together. “You can experience the Silver Bird!”

  “I saw it in the driveway. It’s cute. Can I drive? Sometimes driving helps clear my head.”

  Beth narrowed her eyes. “I assume that with years of practice, you are a better driver than you used to be.”

  He gestured an X across his chest. “No speeding tickets in years. Cross my heart.”

  “All right. Let me get the keys. I know just where to go. You’ll love it.”

  Beth directed Drew to the north side of town, so he could take the route up the Catalina Highway to Mount Lemmon that she’d driven a few weeks ago right after she bought the car. If he wanted to drive, that was the place to do it, away from the city traffic and up toward the trees.

  Drew glanced at her and grinned as he shifted gears. “I like the Silver Bird. Thanks for letting me drive.”

  “You remain a serious lead-foot.”

  “Hey, I’m just seeing how she handles. The sun feels good after being cold for so long.”

  Beth put her hand on his leg. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

  He smiled. “I am. You know, except for the whole desert thing, this is kinda like the road up the hill to Alpine Grove.”

  “Yes. I noticed that too. It’s significantly shorter, though. Windy Point is up ahead on the left. We should stop and look at the view.”

  Drew pulled off the road and into the parking area. They got out, walked over to the long stone wall, and looked out over the valley below. The warm breeze swirled around them and Beth took Drew’s hand. “It feels like a long time since I came up here, but it’s only been a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, considering you lost your job, you’ve been kinda busy.”

  Beth turned and looked up into Drew’s face. “Something has been bothering me.”

  “Uh-oh, that’s never a good way to start a conversation.”

  “I’m serious. It’s about what you told me about the prom. The fact that you went with me on a dare.”

  “Beth, I told you that’s ancient history. It doesn’t matter.”

 
; “I know. But there’s something I don’t understand.” She squeezed his hand. “After a decade, I now finally know why you asked, given that in high school, we had never even talked to each other before. But I don’t know why you kept seeing me afterward.”

  “Well, the short answer is because I wanted to.”

  Beth smiled. “How about the long answer? I have no idea why. You’ve said more than once that I am rather high-maintenance, as you like to put it.”

  “Well, that night…the way it was for me…I don’t know.” Drew bent his head and kissed her quickly. “Okay, so we get to the prom and we’re there in that dim room. The endless eighties music is playing and we’re sitting there all uncomfortable, not knowing what to say to each other. I’m thinking, ‘Dang, this is gonna be one long evening.’”

  “Well, this is all quite flattering, so far.”

  He kissed her knuckles. “I’m not done yet. So I figure, I should at least ask you to dance, since hey, that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?”

  “And you did.”

  “Yeah, I did. So I took you in my arms and it felt all awkward and weird. But then I looked down into your eyes. You have the most beautiful expressive eyes, you know. And I guess I really saw you for the first time. I realized you weren’t the stuck-up brainy snob everyone said you were. When I looked in your eyes, I could see that you were just scared.”

  Beth nodded. “Utterly petrified, actually.”

  “I thought to myself that every girl remembers her senior prom. I had the chance to help make the memory of that night fun or miserable for you.” He shrugged slightly. “I opted for fun.”

  Beth hugged him. “I’m so glad you did. Even if I still can’t swing-dance very well.”

  “It’s okay. You have lots of other talents. And once we finally relaxed and started talking, I don’t know—things just kind of clicked. You were just so easy to talk to and you didn’t treat me like I was some dumb Carolina hick.”

  “Well, of course not. You’re one of the brightest people I’ve ever met. And you’re brilliant in wonderfully creative ways that I am not.”