“I called her. She is your sister after all, and she walks dogs for a living.”
“I suppose.” Joel scowled. “She could probably stand some karma points after almost losing my dog too.”
“Well, I didn’t put it quite that way, but yes.”
Joel turned onto a back road, headed north, and put his hand back on Kat’s leg. “That was nice of you to help Brigid.”
“I’m impressed she’s trying to do this. What a lot of work.” Kat squeezed his hand. “In addition to all the dog walking, forms, papers, blah, blah, just dealing with that meeting and cooking all those appetizers? It makes me tired just thinking about it. And those little spinach turnover things made me swoon. I tried to control myself, but I could have eaten fifty of them.”
Joel chuckled. “Yeah, you were camped out next to that tray.”
“Okay, maybe I wasn’t being as discreet as I thought. I always hate introducing myself and you in situations like that. There needs to be a word other than boyfriend to describe someone you live with. It sounds like we’re twelve-year olds on the playground.”
“Well, roommates makes it sound like we barely know each other and just shake hands in passing.”
“True. But lovers makes it sound like we never get out of bed. Or like we’re part of the cast of Days of Our Lives. I’m sorry, but I just can’t introduce you as, ‘my lover’ with a straight face.”
Joel smiled. “I don’t think I can either. You’d give me a funny look and then we’d both start laughing.”
“That would be embarrassing. I’m enough of a social mutant as it is.”
They turned and went down the driveway toward the house and Joel parked the truck under a large cedar tree. Kat got out and looked up at the towering evergreens and the starry sky beyond. “It always smells so good here. It’s one of those things I notice almost every time I come home.”
“Me too.” Joel took her hand and swung it between them. “You know, we should get married.”
“Okay, sure.” Kat jerked her head to look at him. “What? Wait. Was that you proposing? It was, right?”
“Yes, it was. I guess that wasn’t particularly romantic, was it?” He stopped and turned to grin at her. “I’ve just been thinking about it for a while.”
“And you came to a logical conclusion?”
“You know me so well. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so I think we should get married.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Assuming you agree, that is.”
Kat ran her fingertips along the side of his neck. “Yes. I definitely agree. But at the risk of sounding mercenary, I’d like a ring. After all the confusion with Ned, I want to make sure this actually happened and it wasn’t just a really, really good dream.”
“It did happen. I promise.” He took her hand again and pulled her toward the house. “I have an idea.”
They went inside and were greeted by an uproar of vociferous barking. Kat turned on the light and looked down the stairs at the canine faces behind the gate. “Hi guys. Hold on for a couple minutes.”
She followed Joel into the bedroom. “What are you up to?”
Joel was rummaging around in a drawer in his dresser. “I’m looking for something.”
“Well, if it’s socks, I think you’ve found them.”
“Nope.” He pulled a long black box from the drawer and handed it to her.
Kat looked down at the leather case, which was obviously designed for jewelry. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she sat down on the edge of the bed. She opened the lid and several pieces of jewelry sparkled in the dim lamplight. “Wow. What is all this?”
Joel sat next to her on the bed and pulled a ring from the box. “I’m not sure if this is something you would like. If you don’t, it’s fine, we can get something else. But all of these were my mother’s. When my parents died, Cindy got most of Mom’s jewelry, but I took a few things.” He held out a ring with a glittering square-cut diamond. “Including this.”
Kat held out her left hand, which was shaking. “Oh my God, it’s beautiful.”
He put the ring on her finger and slid it around. “Okay, it might be a little big.”
“I’m guessing your mom was a zillion feet tall like you and Cindy.” Kat looked down at the ring on her finger, holding it in place with her other hand. “I can get it resized.”
He pulled some other jewelry from the box. “You could have the jeweler add some other stones to it if you like. Make it your own.”
Kat looked through the pieces, some of which were obviously very old. She looked into his eyes. “I don’t know what to say. These are antiques. I couldn’t take them apart.”
“Why not?” He held up a bracelet. “You never wear bracelets. This one is sort of funny-looking, which is why Cindy didn’t want it. But the rubies are nice.”
“Well, they’re yours, for one thing.”
“I don’t wear bracelets either.”
“You know what I mean.”
“One aspect of getting married is that what’s mine is yours.” He handed the bracelet to her. “I hope you’ll be wearing the ring for a long time, so you should like it.”
Kat looked down at the bracelet, then back at Joel. “You’re sure?”
“Very. I love you.”
She fisted her hand so the ring wouldn’t fall off, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. “I love you back. I guess now I need to call you my fiancé.”
“I guess you do. Until you call me your husband.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.”
The next day, Brigid left later than usual for her excursion out to the ranch. Cleaning up the kitchen disaster took longer than she expected and then Jake called from the police station to check and make sure Ed was really allowed to take Layla.
After reassuring Jake that all was well, she hugged Gypsy, ran out of the house, and jumped into the stinky Honda. The stench had faded enough that if she rolled down the windows, it wasn’t too horrible. Or maybe she was getting used to it.
So much had happened since the last time she’d talked to Clay, and she couldn’t wait to tell him about the success of the meeting. It would be so much fun to get his take on it, since he probably knew some of these people far better than she did.
As she turned into the driveway to the ranch, the panoramic view ahead of her was like a palette of every possible shade of green. It had rained lightly overnight and in the morning light, the glittering moisture seemed to add a crisp clarity to the lush colors of sprouting vegetation. The meadows were a deep emerald and the evergreen trees beyond were a dark hunter green. In between, the shrubs and forbs ranged from a mossy to an almost teal hue. Brigid wished she were an artist so she could capture it.
Exiting the trees, she drove up past the barns to the house. Her heart sank when she discovered that another car was parked in the driveway next to the barn. She wasn’t that late. Judith wasn’t supposed to show up for another half hour. Pulling up in front of the house, she got out of the car and looked up at the sound of the front door closing. Clay was walking down the porch steps toward her, holding a cup of coffee.
Thrilled to see him, she practically skipped toward the house with a grin on her face. He smiled, but put out his hand in front of him to stop the impending hug. “You sure look happy.”
“I am. I have so many things to tell you.”
He took a sip of coffee and motioned toward the barn with the mug. “I know, but maybe you could deal with that woman first.”
“I’m sorry I’m late, but Judith wasn’t supposed to show up for another half hour. I thought I’d have plenty of time to walk Nugget.”
Clay shrugged. “I politely suggested that she might not want to feed him, but she didn’t want to hear it, so I went inside and got another cup of coffee. Judge was barking his head off. It sounds like he finally shut up anyway.”
“Uh oh. Did she feed Nugget?”
“I don’t know. I
do know she’s not much for suggestions. I’d take it as a personal favor if you could get her off my land as soon as possible.”
Brigid was taken aback at his words, but managed to stammer, “Okay.” What had Judith said? Clay was gripping the handle of the mug so tightly, his hand was practically shaking. Was he angry? It was hard to tell.
“I’ll be in the barn having a conversation with Aziz if you need anything.”
Brigid smiled. “Did he find more horse-eating things to be scared of?”
“No, it’s not that kind of conversation.” Clay took another sip of coffee. “I’ll see you later.”
“Wait! Is TJ still here? She said maybe we could talk this morning.”
Clay gestured toward the house dismissively as he turned to go, “She’s inside packing.”
Brigid stood for a moment watching him stride toward the horse barn, and then turned to go deal with the dogs and Judith.
At the sight of Brigid, Judge began barking sharply, working himself up into an exuberant howl. She bent down and shushed him. “Judge, enough!” With a final yip to punctuate his excitement, the dog stood and wagged expectantly.
Judith was standing next to Nugget’s cage, frowning at the greyhound. She strode toward Brigid. “This dog is dreadfully thin! Haven’t you been feeding it? This poor animal looks like he is starving.”
Brigid stood up. “Greyhounds are naturally thin. It’s just what they look like.”
“My experience is with poodles. I’ll need to talk to my colleagues who know this breed. In any case, I gave him some food, which seemed to improve his disposition.”
“That might not have been a good idea. I told you last night—he gets car sick.”
“I’m sure it will be fine. I bought a crate with a pillow to put in the back of my vehicle, which is much safer and more comfortable for the animal. I will need to be reimbursed for those expenses. Do you have a form?”
“When we talked about foster responsibilities, I mentioned that reimbursements need to be approved. And that I still need to create the request form. Everything needs to be tracked.”
“Well, wouldn’t you have approved it?”
“Probably, but maybe not right now. I need to work out some money…well, I need to talk with everyone about doing some fundraising.”
Judith waved off the comment. “Fine. Give me the form when you get it. I want to get out of here and get the dog settled. I’ve set up one of the guest bedrooms for him.”
“Okay.” She opened the cage door and Nugget did his snuggling move with his head. Brigid looked over to grin at Judith. “See! Isn’t this the cutest thing?”
“That’s very nice. Let me go open up the car.” Judith turned and walked out of the barn.
Brigid crouched down next to Nugget and rubbed his ears. “It will be okay, sweetie. No more loud roommate. Judith knows a lot about dogs, and it sounds like you even get your own room. But I’m going to miss you.” She clipped on the leash and led him out.
After a short walk around the yard, Brigid loaded Nugget into the crate in the back of Judith’s rather opulent-looking, brand-new Land Rover. The dog didn’t look too excited about another car ride, but Brigid knew that staying in a home would be better for him. From the sounds of it, Judith had everything all ready, and she was obviously eager to get him home.
Brigid waved goodbye as Judith turned the car around and left the ranch. She turned at the sound of the front door closing. TJ was walking down the steps with a small duffel bag over her shoulder. She was leaving already? What was with everybody this morning?
Hustling up the driveway toward the house, she met TJ at her car. “Hi, I was hoping we could talk for a minute.”
TJ looked down at the ground, “I really should get home.”
“Thank you so much for coming last night. I was hoping we could talk a little about fundraising this morning, but Judith showed up early for Nugget.”
“I know.”
At the expression on TJ’s face, Brigid had to ask. “What is going on? Is there a problem with Judith I don’t know about?”
“Just ancient history.”
“I’m sorry if she upset you. She does seem very committed to helping Nugget though. She has lots of connections in the dog show world and said she has a friend who loves greyhounds. The woman might come to Alpine Grove to visit Nugget and maybe even adopt him. I really want him to find a home where someone will appreciate what a wonderful dog he is.”
“I hope so too. Don’t worry about Judith. She’s not a bad person and I know she loves dogs. It’s just there’s some bad blood between our families. And she has a special dislike for Clay, which bugs me.”
Brigid shook her head. “I don’t understand that. He’s been great with the dogs and so generous about everything.”
“So…about that.” TJ readjusted her bag on her shoulder. “I, well, don’t know what’s going on with you and Clay, but I want you to know that he is the most tender-hearted person you will ever meet. I know he acts like a bonehead sometimes and he’ll never tell you, but he’s had some hurt heaped onto him and he takes it hard.”
“Okay.” Brigid smiled weakly, not sure exactly how to respond. “I guess right now he’s having a conversation with a horse.”
“Yeah, he does that when he’s upset.” TJ opened the door to her car, then turned back to Brigid. “We can talk about fundraising ideas on the phone if you want. Just give me a call.”
“I will.”
Brigid watched as the minivan slowly cruised away. The mood of the morning had gone from exaltation to bewilderment all in the span of about a half hour. It was strange, and Brigid had no idea what happened. She really wanted to talk to Clay, particularly if he was upset. But she still needed to walk Judge. As she started back down the driveway, Clay emerged from the horse barn mounted on Aziz.
The horse’s black coat looked particularly shiny in the morning light. Maybe Clay had brushed him. Were there hair products for horses? She had no clue, but the rippling equine muscles practically shimmered in the sunlight. He was absolutely stunning, even to someone who knew next to nothing about horses.
Brigid waved at Clay, who turned Aziz to walk up the driveway to meet her. The grim expression on his face combined with his perch astride the enormous animal made Clay seem unusually imposing. In a lame attempt at conversation, she said, “I guess you’re going for a ride?”
“I don’t have any responsibilities today, so I’m going to the falls.”
“There’s a waterfall around here? I had no idea.”
“It’s back in the national forest land. About a half-day ride each way. I might be back late.”
“I was thinking that when I come back this afternoon to walk Judge, I could bring you the leftovers from the meeting. You fed me, and I thought I might return the favor as a thank you for your help with the dogs. The spanikopita is gone, but I still have lots of other yummy stuff I made.”
“I’d like that.” He moved the reins to start turning Aziz around.
“Wait!”
He turned the horse back and looked down at her expectantly. “Okay.”
Brigid reached up and put her hand on his thigh. “Please promise me you won’t do horse yoga on this horse.”
“All right.” He put his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “If I get an overpowering urge to do yoga out there in the forest, I’ll do it on the ground.”
Brigid reluctantly let go of Clay’s leg. “Thank you. Please be careful.”
When Brigid got back to her house, the light on her answering machine was flashing frantically. She picked up Gypsy and put her in her lap as she wrote down phone numbers and notes about the messages.
Jake had called to let her know that two women he’d never seen before stopped by about walking dogs.
Maren called to complain that Jake was mean to her and Maddie. Ed called to let her know that he had picked up Layla and that she wasn’t housebroken. Brigid put her palm over her face and groaned. Judi
th called to tell her that Nugget had vomited all over the crate and she wanted to be reimbursed for getting the dog pillow dry-cleaned.
Brigid stopped petting Gypsy. “Dry-cleaned? Who buys a dog bed that needs to be dry-cleaned?” Gypsy looked up at Brigid. “Sorry Gypsy, but really. Is she kidding me?”
The only message with good news was from Leslie, who said the puppies were adorable and the kids were fighting over who got to take care of them. She also volunteered that Dr. Cassidy thought the puppies might be sheltie mixed with pug.
“Pug, huh? Well, who knows? The last time I saw them they just looked brown and furry.” Gypsy wagged her tail. “I’m sure Shelby isn’t about to kiss and tell either.”
Brigid spent most of the rest of the day returning phone calls and placating volunteers. She also set up a date to have coffee with Sonia, who had expressed interest in helping raise money. At the end of the meeting at Brigid’s house, the woman had pulled her aside and explained that because she was retired she finally had time to travel, so she couldn’t commit to a hands-on role tending to dogs or fostering, but she did want to help.
By the time she was done with the calls, Brigid was desperate to go anyplace where her telephone was not. She packed up all the leftovers from the meeting into a brown paper grocery bag and put on Gypsy’s leash. They went out to the Honda with the goodies, and on the way stopped at the mailbox. Brigid pulled out her credit-card bill, took a look, and jammed it into her purse. Perfect. That would be some fun reading. Maybe Sonia or TJ had ideas for making money extremely quickly because she was going to need it.
The ranch was quiet when she arrived. Horses were grazing in the pasture and bees were buzzing around the flowers, but other than that, everything was almost completely still. Clay was apparently still out in the forest somewhere with Aziz.
Brigid carried Gypsy and the bag of food up the steps and pounded on the door. Scout walked around from the other side of the wrap-around porch and wagged at her. She put Gypsy down and the smaller dog and Scout sniffed their greetings.
Brigid said, “So, is your dad home or not?” Scout wagged noncommittally and stared at the door, so Brigid opened it to let him inside. Because she’d lived for years in cities, it was odd to her that Clay didn’t seem to worry about leaving his house unlocked all the time.
The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 7) Page 18
