“My therapist thinks so. Or maybe the sun melted my brain while it was crisping my face. I was kinda hoping I might remember something, so I’d have an excuse to stay here and go look for the treasure again. Guess not.”
“Even worse, now I’m going to miss you and I’ll have ABBA stuck in my head for the rest of the day.”
He grinned. “Just a little something to remember me by, I guess.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think there’s any way I could possibly forget you, Captain.”
“You’re pretty memorable yourself, Sparky.”
After showering and packing up their things, Sara and Zack loaded their respective cars. Then it was time to say goodbye. Sara couldn’t believe how upset she was about Zack’s departure. She’d only known him a few days. Yes, they had been intense and unusual days, but still. How could she be so emotionally entangled with someone she’d known for such a short period of time? It didn’t make any sense.
While Zack went to check out of the H12, Sara settled Olivia and the new cat carrier into the back seat of her car and closed the door. The cat squalled loudly, expressing her displeasure at being confined in the plastic box. Getting her in there had been no mean feat. At least the lobby door was closed so the guy at the front desk wouldn’t hear the unhappy yowling coming from her car. Sara leaned against the driver’s side door, trying to look casual.
Zack returned from the lobby and walked up to her. “Trying to disguise the fact that you’ve been harboring an illicit feline?”
“Yes, I hope they didn’t notice.”
“It’s okay. If they did, they’ll hit my credit card with an extra fur fumigation charge or something. No big deal.” He put his arms around her. “So I’ll call you tonight at your parents’ house.”
Sara hugged him and gave him a kiss. “Drive safely.”
“You know it.” He put his hand on her cheek. “Take care, Sparky.”
She took his hand and squeezed it. “You too, Captain. Go get your leg looked at as soon as you get home.”
After one final goodbye kiss, Zack got in his car and left. With a sigh, Sara settled into the driver’s seat of her car and turned to look back at Olivia. “I’m sorry, but I have some bad news for you. I’m taking you to the vet for shots.”
Olivia meowed loudly from the back seat.
“There’s no use complaining. I don’t know your history, so you need to be checked out. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
At the vet clinic, Sara collected Olivia’s carrier from the car and went inside. A blonde woman at the front desk looked up and smiled. “May I help you?”
“Yes, my name is Sara Winston. Someone here told me it would be okay to drop off my cat this morning.”
“Yes, I talked to you. I’m Tracy.” She walked around the desk and took the carrier while Olivia squawked in protest from within. “You’re leaving her with us for a while, right?”
Sara nodded. “Yes, I have to go pick up my dog.”
“Let me take her and get her settled.” Tracy nodded at a clipboard. “Please fill out those forms, and I’ll be right back.”
Sara took a pen and the papers and sat down in one of the chairs. She looked up when Tracy returned to the desk. “All I can fill out is my information. Olivia is a stray I found.”
“No problem. We’ll get her checked out for you. She seems like a nice kitty.”
“I know. She’s incredibly resourceful too. Thank you for taking her on such short notice.”
“Since you can leave her here, we can work her check-up in with other clients. You can stop by this afternoon to pick her up.”
Sara handed the forms to Tracy. “Okay. I put my home phone number and my parents’ phone number on here. My house here needs…um…a bit of work, so after today I’ll be staying in Gleasonville for a week or so.”
“We’ll take good care of her today.”
Sara thanked Tracy again and went out to her car. She hated taking an animal to the vet and leaving it. It felt so heartless and mean. But it was the right thing to do. What if Olivia got some terrible disease that could have been prevented with proper vaccinations? Sara would never forgive herself.
Next on the agenda was going to her house to pick up some things. She’d talked to the fire department and they’d said it was okay. Apparently, the house had suffered smoke damage, but structurally it was fine. Her landlord was paying for the cleanup and repairs, which would happen over the next week. Since she hadn’t been home, he couldn’t blame her for the fire. The man she talked to at the fire department said the current theory was that someone had been smoking nearby and a cigarette had rolled next to the door. The doorjamb caught on fire, and it traveled up the front of the house. Fortunately, a neighbor had noticed and called the fire department before the whole house had gone up in flames.
Sara parked her car in front of her little cottage and gazed at the blackened siding for a moment before getting out. Accidents happened, but it was still a melancholy scene. Maybe it was her mood, but in its damaged condition, the little house looked downright sad.
She walked inside and discovered that the rooms reeked of smoke. Trying to hold her breath as much as possible, she quickly walked to her bedroom closet and packed a bag full of smoke-infused clothes. A big load of laundry was going to be the first thing she needed to do when she got to mom and dad’s house. Yuck.
Sara packed another suitcase with important papers and some cherished photographs, just in case. The fire probably was an accident, but given all the strange goings-on of the past few days, she wasn’t taking any chances. Maybe Zack’s dragon dream really did mean something. There was no way to know, particularly since he didn’t know. If nothing else, the last few days had also shown the value of being prepared. Better safe than sorry.
After hauling the suitcases to the car and throwing them into the trunk, Sara locked her house and bid it farewell. She needed to drop off an extra house key with the professional cleaners for her landlord and then go out to Kat’s to pick up Holly. It felt like it had been forever since she’d seen her dog.
Although it was a relief to be getting her life back on track, Sara felt at loose ends. Getting so close to finding the treasure but then not finding it offended her sense of justice. It was annoying that they’d had to give up the way they did. And then Zack had just left with no plan for trying to find it again. After everything they’d gone through, it was all a huge letdown.
The cleaning company was slightly north of Alpine Grove, so she slowly pulled out onto the main street of town. As she passed the gift store, she jerked her head to the right. The man in front of the store was the same person they’d seen at the marina who had complimented her on the nice cat. His long gray hair was distinctive and he was wearing the same blue t-shirt and filthy long pants. What a weird coincidence.
Because Alpine Grove was such a small town, she was always recognizing people, and even the tourists started to look familiar if they hung around long enough. With any luck, she wouldn’t see that man again. The last thing she needed was for him to ask questions about the expensive boat she and Zack had incompetently docked and then quickly abandoned at the marina. Sara shook her head. She was such a terrible liar; it would be just like her to say, “Oh, you mean that boat we stole?”
Once her in-town errands were complete, Sara drove north toward the forests beyond Alpine Grove to pick up Holly. She turned at the driveway and wound through the trees and past the new kennel buildings, which appeared to be almost finished. Kat had said that they were planning to open officially in September and that Holly was the last dog she planned to board until then. Although Kat had been polite, it was obviously a nice way of saying, “Don’t even think of ditching your high-energy dog here again for a while.”
Sara got out of her car and heard Holly barking from inside the outbuilding. At the sound of the front door of the house opening, she turned and waved at Kat, who was descending the stairs slowly.
Sara frowned at K
at as she walked up. “Are you limping?”
“A little. It’s a lot better now, but I had a mishap with my ankle while I was walking Holly.”
“What happened?”
Kat made a wry face. “You aren’t into hunting are you?”
“What? No, why do you ask?”
“Holly is a terrible bird dog. I think she thinks grouse are playmates or something. It’s hard to tell. But she’s obsessed with wildlife now.”
Sara looked down at Kat’s battered hiking boots. One was unlaced at the top. “Did you sprain your ankle?”
“It’s not bad. The doctor said to wrap it for a while if I need more support.”
“You had to go to the doctor? Why didn’t you say something?”
Kat looked somewhat taken aback. “I, uh, tried to get in touch with you. I called everyone I could think of.”
“You’re right. I know. You told me that when I talked to you. I feel terrible about this and everything that happened, as far as me being out of contact. Even though I couldn’t do anything about it at the time, I made everyone so worried.” Sara looked down and began rummaging through the bag she was holding. “I’m so very, very sorry you were hurt. Let me get you the check.”
“I’ll go get Holly. Given all the racket, she’s obviously well aware that you’re here.”
Sara opened her checkbook, looked at her balance, and pulled out a pen. She changed the amount on the check and initialed it. Maybe her parents could lend her some money before her September rent rolled around.
Having the summer off was a nice benefit of teaching, but the down side was that she didn’t get paid over the summer because her teaching contract was for ten months. It looked like the end of August would be financially challenging. At least freeloading off her parents would help offset some of the money she didn’t make from being a camp counselor. The cleaning for the fire damage was being covered by her landlord, or more likely his insurance company, so that was one less expense to worry about. But simply living life had a way of costing money.
The barking subsided and Kat limped out with Holly. Sara looked up from her checkbook and held out her arms. “Holly!”
Kat dropped the leash and Holly rushed into Sara’s embrace. She snuggled the warm fur and let Holly lick her face. “I missed you so much, sweetie!”
Sara picked up the leash and stood up. Holly sat attentively next to her. “Having her back with me makes me feel like my life is finally returning to normal.”
Kat gestured toward the forest. “So, what exactly happened to you? When we talked before, you didn’t say.”
“When I was canoeing, there was a thunderstorm and I had to go to shore on the other side of the lake. It’s somewhat remote. Then my canoe was stolen.”
“Who steals a canoe during a thunderstorm?”
“I have no idea. I met…well…a person who said he was being chased by someone.”
Kat raised her eyebrows. “So someone steals your canoe and chases you? Why would anyone do that? Did you meet a criminal or something? What did you do? Weren’t you scared?”
Sara paused for a moment to consider the question. Most of the time she hadn’t been scared. “Not really. I had my emergency kit, so I was able to catch fish. I also had matches and water purification tablets. We ate some berries as well.”
“Okay, I’m impressed. I would have freaked out. Or gotten eaten by something and died.” She pointed at the house. “Living here is about as much outdoors as I can stand. And it’s indoors.”
Sara giggled. “That’s like the person I met. Zack is just about the least outdoorsy person I’ve ever known. It was a good thing he found me.”
“So in addition to being chased, you met a guy out in the middle of nowhere and saved him from dying?”
“I suppose so, if you want to put it that way.”
“I think your story of battling the elements and returning safely to civilization trumps my sprained ankle.”
Sara touched Kat’s arm. “I’m so glad you’re not angry. At night while we were out there, all I could think about was how you must have thought I’d abandoned Holly.”
“It did cross my mind. In a way, tripping and hurting my ankle wasn’t all bad. I had to deal with a few things I’d ignored for a long time. But I’m relieved you returned because we have to go to a wedding this weekend and it would have been difficult to give Holly enough exercise. How did you get back?”
Discussing her foray into maritime theft was not something she wanted to get into, so Sara opted to ignore the question. “A wedding! How wonderful. I’m sure you’ll get inspiration for your own wedding plans. Did you set a date yet?”
“Yes, we’re getting married on the first day of spring.”
“That’s not a pretty time of year here. It will be all rainy and horrible then.”
“Not in Hawaii.”
“You’re getting married in Hawaii? That’s so romantic! I’m jealous.”
“We’re getting married here, but we decided to spend our honeymoon on Kauai.”
“The wedding is more important though. You should wait until June. Everyone wants to be a June bride.”
“I haven’t figured out the wedding part. Only the honeymoon part.”
“Oh. How…ah…unconventional.” Sara thought back to their previous conversation. This was the woman who wasn’t even going to change her last name. It probably wasn’t a good idea to delve into another disagreement about wedding traditions and risk damaging the tiny amount of goodwill she’d forged. “I’m sure Hawaii will be nice at that time of year.”
“It’s supposed to be.” Kat grinned. “Certainly way better than mud season in Alpine Grove.”
They said their goodbyes and Sara loaded Holly into the back seat for the trip back to the vet to pick up Olivia and then the journey southward to her parents’ place in Gleasonville.
Given the personalities of the two animals, it was unlikely that Olivia and Holly were going to be thrilled to meet one another, but they were just going to have to deal with it. At least Sara’s parents wouldn’t be back from Wyoming for a couple more days. By then maybe everyone would have adjusted and be one happy family. Maybe.
Chapter 8
Garden Party
Kat stood in front of the kitchen counter with her hands on her hips, facing the enormous pile of veggies that rose like a mountain above the old laminate countertop. No one in their right mind would plant this much of anything. Who knew the garden had such fertile soil? All she did was water the plants and they went berserk.
Joel walked in the front door and stopped short when he saw the vegetables. “Oh no, not more beans. We can’t eat that much. No one can eat that much.”
Kat turned to him. “I know. I told Brigid about my situation and she’s going to show me how to can this stuff. She said that the ranch has all kinds of big pots, jars, and other canning supplies, so I’m going to take all of this over there and get canning lessons.”
“Canning? You mean like grandma used to do?”
“Well, yes, my grandma did, anyway. When I moved in here, I found all kinds of antique food that Abigail had canned, lurking in the back of the kitchen cabinets. She wasn’t into labeling though, which I think is important. It’s good to know how long something has been in the jar. If something was preserved in 1972, it’s probably past its expiration date.”
“Yuck.”
“I know. Some of the jars were frightening. You have no idea. But I’m trying to get past those ugly memories. Brigid says canning is easy. And then we’ll be able to eat beans from our garden in December.”
“But not in the year 2020, I hope.”
“You’re supposed to eat the stuff you can within a year or so. When Brigid told me that, I felt vindicated in my decision to throw away Abigail’s antique decomposing food.”
“I’m glad you’re figuring out something to do with all of this produce. We have no room in the freezer, thanks to your twenty-five loaves of zucchini bread.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Not really.”
“Brigid says that pickled zukes are great. She likes them better than traditional cucumber pickles.”
“That sounds promising. I like pickled stuff.”
“Good, because we’re canning dilly beans too!” Kat held out a huge green bean and pointed it at him. “I thought you were going to be in the kennel painting doorway trim or something.”
“I’m done. It’s done.”
“What’s done?”
“The kennels. Painting the trim was the last thing.”
Kat’s eyes widened. “Done? You mean like really done done?”
“Yup.” He grinned. “Completely and totally finished.”
“I don’t believe it!” Kat threw the bean on the counter and launched herself into his arms. “Do you know what this means?”
Joel released his hold on her and looked into her eyes. “I can return to programming?”
“That too. But also no more dogs in the house! It will be only our dogs from now on. And I can start advertising and treating this like a real business. Hire someone to help walk dogs. All the thousands of words that I’ve written in all those business plans—I can finally stop thinking about it and just do it. After all our conversations and thinking and working and everything. It’s all going to happen at last.”
“I never doubted it would.”
“That makes one of us.” Kat hugged him again and leaned her cheek on his chest. “Thank you so much for all your help. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Joel bent to give her a kiss. “You probably would have found other ways to get the kennel built.”
“I’m glad I didn’t have to. I love you.”
“I love you back.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “We should celebrate.”
Kat looked at the pile of vegetables. “I’m not sure I want to savor this moment with a stack of green beans. Somehow they don’t seem particularly festive.”
“Maybe we could go out to dinner.”
“It is a big occasion. How often do you finish a major building project like this? And there are no boarding dogs here for a change. It’s just us, and this is a major life event. I could even wear a dress!”
The Treasure of the Hairy Cadre (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 8) Page 16
