The three of them slid in as Marigold Connolly came out and greeted them. The woman never seemed to age, looking more like Chicory’s older sister than her mother. “What have you been doing since you left, Poppy?”
“I create and train special breeds of dogs.” She smiled. “Magical dogs.”
Chicory laughed, and told her mother, “I got to dogsit them and they’re adorable.”
“How unique,” Marigold said. “I’d love to see them sometime.”
“You could call your business Magical Mutts,” Nalani chimed in with a laugh.
“I’ll send you some pics, Marigold, and I already have a business name, Nalani,” Poppy said. “Sleight of Hound.”
“Oh, I like that.” Marigold leaned against the side of the booth. “How long will you be in town?”
“Just this week, and then I’m going back home to Colorado Springs.”
“Well, it’s good to see you. Drop in again while you’re here and we can visit longer. And now I’d better get your orders.”
They each decided on the daily special — a breakfast casserole with eggs and bacon and veggies. And a breakfast dessert — Belgium waffles a la code, which meant with a light magical spell of happiness.
“Okay,” Marigold said. “I’ll go get your breakfast orders in.”
“Thanks,” Poppy said.
“My pleasure. Don’t wait so long to come visit next time. Five years is simply too long.”
“Wait,” Poppy thought to ask. “How’s your photography shop going?”
“Great,” Marigold said of her Dorian Gray Photography. “Herb is managing it for me while we get the restaurant started.”
When Marigold went back into the kitchen area, they picked up their conversation of the night before with Chicory, who said, “So if you were stranded on a desert island, which movie actor would you rather be stuck with?”
“Lassie,” Poppy said mischievously.
“Which guy, not dog,” Chicory said. “And my choice would be Chris Pine.”
Nalani sighed. “Chris Hemsworth for me.”
They both turned to Poppy, waiting for her answer. “It’s always a little McDreamy for me.”
“Patrick Dempsey?”
Poppy nodded. “Yes.”
They laughed.
“Okay, next question,” Chicory said. “Which real-life, non-actor guy would you like to be stranded on a desert island with?”
“That’s easy,” Nalani said. “Poppy would like to be stranded with Kea.”
“Really?” Chicory studied her. “You still have a crush on him?”
“No. I would like to be stranded with a guy I know in Colorado Springs. Matt,” she made up a name, “who is a survivalist and karate master and could keep me safe from marauding islanders.”
“Sure,” Nalani said. “Like we believe that.”
Thank goodness, just then Marigold returned, carrying plates of goodness — the breakfast casseroles. Setting them down, she said, “I’ll be back with the waffles in a moment.”
“Thanks, Marigold,” Poppy said. Thanks for taking the attention off her and her ridiculous crush on Kealoha Pueo.
Marigold paused, then said, “I understand your brother just got engaged, Nalani.”
Apparently Marigold didn’t get the memo about taking the attention off of Kea.
“Yes.” She frowned. “He did.”
“You don’t like her?”
Nalani shook her head. “None of the family does. We’re considering using witchcraft to get rid of her. Got any anti-love potions?”
Chicory looked serious. “Who is she?”
“Lizzie McBean,” Nalani said, shuddering.
“I don’t recognize that name.”
Nalani pulled out her phone and touched the screen until she pulled up a picture. “This is what she looks like.”
Chicory took the phone and studied the picture. Looking up, she said, “She came into the shop the other day. She bought a potion.”
“What kind?” Poppy asked, intrigued.
“Could it be a love potion?” Nalani asked. “Because he’s acting really weird. Not himself at all.”
“Love can do that to you,” Marigold said.
“No,” Nalani insisted. “This is different.”
Chicory handed back the phone. “I honestly can’t tell you what she bought. Elizabeth helped her.”
“Elizabeth Lee?” Poppy asked.
Chicory nodded. “Elizabeth is out of town for a few days. She said she was going off the grid, wherever that means. I can check the records and find out what Lizzie bought, though, if you’d like.”
“I would like,” Nalani said. “Thanks.”
“So,” Marigold deadpanned, “Elizabeth waited on Lizzie, which is short for Elizabeth?”
Nalani said, “I think it’s actually short for The Thing That Crawled out from Under a Rock.”
Marigold laughed. “Tell us how you really feel, Nalani.”
Nalani smiled at that. “I’ll try.”
After breakfast, they drove back to the rental house. Poppy fed the dogs, put their magical harnesses on them so no magical mishaps would happen, and took them for a short walk around the block. Wencheng had claimed mental anguish at being stuck in the kennel for an hour.
Not that she’d walked. Nalani had carried her around the entire block.
You’re a con artist, sent Poppy.
Wencheng answered with I prefer the term charismatic.
As they walked, Nalani talked. And talked. And talked. The theme seemed to be how much she hated Lizzie. Couldn’t stand her. Despised her. And she was willing to bet she was using some kind of love potion on Kea. “Did you see how strange he acted?” she asked.
Poppy nodded. Actually, she had noticed. While Lizzie was asleep, he had hardly seemed to remember his fiancée — and then when she woke up, he was entranced by her. But what did that mean? She didn’t know and she wasn’t about to get in the middle of it. She could sense that spending any time around Kea would be injurious to her emotional state.
Nalani finally ran out of rant after she’d beaten Poppy at card games, then she’d pulled out some ice cream and fixed some monster chocolate malts.
Poppy laughed. “That ought to help us get over our upset.”
“I know. And if not, I have another gallon in the freezer. I could gain a hundred pounds by the time of their wedding.”
“Depends on how soon the wedding is,” Poppy said gently. “Maybe just twenty pounds.”
“If you stayed in town with me, we could gain weight together.”
“How can I say no that that?” Poppy laughed.
So they enjoyed the malts while they talked, this time of more nostalgic things. Nalani had apparently burned through her upset at Lizzie.
Poppy didn’t know what was up with the woman, but anyone with purple eyes had to be suspect. Just look at Elizabeth Taylor and her violet eyes! And what was with all these women named Elizabeth, anyway?
After finishing her malt, Nalani looked at her watch. “Oh, hey, it’s almost time to leave for Indian Falls. I sent you a text with the time. Did you get it?”
“I did. We need to be there by noon, and it’s an hour’s drive, so you’re right. We need to head out. Let’s get the dogs loaded in the van.”
“Hey, my mom asked if I’d help her load stuff into her car and drive her. My dad’s going to be late to this thing.”
“I can go over with you and caravan.”
“No, seriously, just go. We’ll be a few minutes late. Maybe you can start setting up the scavenger hunt stuff in the park. I’ll transfer some of it to your van.”
“Okay,” Poppy said, though the whole thing felt a little weird.
She checked the text again. It had the address of the park and the time they needed to be there. Noon.
“Okay, dogs, let’s get loaded in the van. We’re going to Indian Falls and I need to have you on your best behavior.”
Good luck with that, Wench
eng said, and licked her paw. Like a cat.
Fifteen minutes later, after moving two boxes of scavenger hunt supplies to the van, she and the dogs were on the road.
It was ten minutes before noon when Kea pulled his truck into the Indian Falls Park pavilion that his mother had reserved.
Weird. There were no family vehicles here. His mother had told him she would be here thirty minutes early, so she, at least, should be here. And Lizzie, too, since his mother had insisted that Lizzie ride with them for that so-called bonding time.
He drove around the park, looking for other pavilions in case he was at the wrong one, but they all had other families in them. The one he’d driven to first must be the correct one, but he had no idea where his family was.
He pulled back around. There was now a van there, and three dogs. And a woman.
Poppy.
His heart warmed at the sight of her. She looked so wholesome and sweet. He’d always thought she was cute, even when she was still in high school and hung around with his spoiled little sister. He’d even considered asking her out when she got a little older. And then her family had moved out of town.
She looked up and saw him, gave a pretty smile and waved.
He definitely remembered that smile from before. It had weakened his knees on more than one occasion. Why hadn’t he ever contacted her after she moved? Probably because he’d gotten caught up in education and career, moving his way up the chain of command at the fire department.
The thought of having a few minutes alone with Poppy made him smile and actually caused his heart to do a little pitter-pat.
He parked and climbed out, smiling back. “We’re the first ones here.”
“I can see that. Where the heck is your family?”
“I wish I knew.”
A frisky Dalmatian pulled at his leash, straining to reach Kea. He smiled and stepped closer, kneeling down to pet the spotted dog. “You’re a cutie. What’s your name?”
“This is Blaze,” Poppy said, in a worried tone. “I’m still training him. And this Labrador is Max. And the Shih Tzu is Wencheng. Short for Princess Wencheng.”
He petted the Labrador and the Dalmatian. He glanced over at the teeny little Shih Tzu, who lifted her head. “Not going to come get petted, huh? See what you’re missing out on.”
She turned her head in a bored fashion.
Kea laughed. “She’s aloof, isn’t she?”
“It definitely has to be her idea. She’ll warm up to you. I remember you being good with dogs.”
“Yeah.”
She said, “I still miss your Border Collie. She was such a good dog.”
“Half Border Collie, half St. Bernard.”
“That’s why she was so huge. But sweet.”
“She was that.” Kea motioned to Blaze. “He’s still little, but his paws look like he’ll grow into a really big Dalmatian.”
“That comes from … well, I’m not sure where exactly.”
Kea checked his phone. “It’s 12:15 and no one is here. That’s just weird.”
“I know,” Poppy shrugged. “Would you give me a hand with the boxes of scavenger stuff? Nalani said I could hide some of it if I got here before them.”
“Why isn’t she here with you?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Nalani said your mother asked her to drive her car.”
Kea pulled out his phone. “Something’s not right.”
His sister answered on the second ring with a cheerful, “Hi, Kea.”
“Aloha, what’s going on? I’m here and I’m the only one here. Well, Poppy’s here, too. Your text said to be here before noon and I was. And now it’s a quarter after, and did I mention that no one is here yet?”
“Well, of course not. The party doesn’t start until two.”
Irritated, he said, “Then why did your text say noon?”
“Check it again, bro. I think you’re getting senile. You are older than me, you know. See you in an hour and a half.”
And she hung up on him. He stared at the phone, then shook his head and stuck it in his pocket.
Poppy was studying him. He told her, “Aloha said we’re not supposed to be here until two.”
“No way.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll pull up her text right now.”
He did the same.
“Look,” she said, then she looked confused. “What? Now it says two.”
He opened the earlier text from Aloha. “Mine says two, also.”
He exchanged a long look with her. “Either both of us are crazy, or my family has an ulterior motive.”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “I think they just volunteered us to put out all the scavenger hunt stuff.”
He shook his head. He thought there might be another reason, and he was actually glad to have some time to spend with Poppy. “We’re crazy. Both of us.”
She laughed. “Oh, come on, Kea. Let’s get to work. You can do the heavy lifting and I’ll hide stuff. It’ll be fun.”
“Fun. Yeah.”
He turned and nearly tripped — over the teeny little dog. “So you’re ready to get petted now, are you?” He reached for her — and she stepped backward several steps.
“Now, Wencheng, don’t be rude.”
The little dog stepped forward.
“It’s as if she understands you,” he said, scooping up the minuscule dog. She couldn’t weigh more than four or five pounds. He ran a gentle finger along her neck and down her back, and said, “You’re a little one, all right.”
Poppy opened the back door of the van. “Okay, muscles. Time to get to work.”
He chuckled and set down the little dog. “Yes, ma’am.”
A Rendezvous at Motel 666
OPENING THE BOXES ON THE TABLE, they found plastic eggs with surprises inside, even though Easter had been four months before, and inexpensive toys. A few gift cards in decorative containers for the adults. A mix of miscellany.
Each item had a number written on it or on a strip of masking tape on it. There was a corresponding sheet of paper with those numbers. “Oh, look, we not only have to hide this stuff, but we’re supposed to write down where we hid everything.”
Kea looked over and chuckled. “I think we can never trust my family again.”
She grinned at him. “We could always make a few mistakes — totally accidental, of course — and switch some of the locations.”
He snorted an appreciative laugh. “And risk the wrath of my mother? I think not.”
“True. Okay, then, let’s start hiding. Do you want to find the hiding place or write where it is?”
“I’ll hide.”
For the next hour, they hid and wrote and laughed.
“What do you suppose this is?” Poppy held up a circular plastic item with four stems extending off of it like spokes that went outside the wheel.
He tipped his head, and finally shrugged. “I have no idea.”
She and Kea laughed together, and it was like it used to be between them, years ago, when he’d teased her and seemed to like her.
She was hyper aware that he knew she wasn’t the annoying friend of his bratty sister any more, but that she was all grown up now. Each glance he sent her way, every smile.
He glanced at her again. “Is that it? We’re done?”
“That’s it. You can rest now.”
“Oh, good.”
She opened the gate on the portable enclosure she’d placed the dogs inside while they worked. It was large enough to allow them room to play.
He went to his truck and pulled out a Frisbee. “Any of your dogs know how to catch one of these?”
“Max does.”
At his name, the Labracadabrador raced to Kea’s side. The big guy tossed the disk and Max raced after it, leaping high, snatching it from the air.
Kea laughed. “That’s good.”
Max brought the Frisbee back to Kea and they repeated the game for the next five minutes.
When Blaze barked, Poppy froze, wait
ing, but there wasn’t so much as a puff of smoke. The harness was working to keep his flame contained. Thank goodness! The last thing she needed Kea to see was that her little dog could breathe fire! Ever.
She flipped open a blanket and arranged it on the ground, under an ancient tree that spread its branches wide to offer shade. The dogs ran to her side, and Kea followed. She motioned toward the blanket, and he sat beside her.
“This is a pretty park,” she said. “Nice and green, lots of shady trees, a great playground for the kids.”
Kea looked around and nodded, then turned to her and grinned. “When did you grow up on me, Poppy Brooks? Last I knew, you were trailing behind my little sister.”
Though she thrilled at his obvious admiration, she shrugged and feigned indifference. “We all grew up. When I left, you weren’t the all-important fire chief, either.”
He chuckled. “Not so all-important.”
She leaned closer to him and lowered her voice, speaking earnestly. “You save lives and that’s very important.”
With a shrug, he said, “It’s just part of my job.”
“It’s a heroic job. Don’t shrug it off. I bet you’ve saved lots of people’s lives.”
“A few.” He nodded.
“See. Heroic.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, and watched Max and Blaze chase each other.
You like him, Wencheng sent accusingly.
Yes. I always have. Go play with the others.
You wish.
Poppy sighed. Yes, I do.
Wencheng barked, surprising both Poppy and Kea. She put her hands back against the blanket behind her. Kea looked delighted and reached for her, but she backed away again. He waggled a finger at her. “I’m going to win you over, little dog.”
He wishes.
When Kea turned to Poppy, still smiling at her naughty little dog, she was caught in his gaze and her heart did a funny little jumping pattern.
His smile turned soft, and her heart jumped again. His smile made her all warm inside and she wanted very much to kiss those full lips.
Since he was staring at her lips, too, she suspected he was thinking the same thing.
They sat like that for a long moment, neither of them making even one tiny move to close the distance between them.
The Dog Designer Ruffles Some Feathers (Moonchuckle Bay Romantic Comedy #8) Page 5
