The Dog Designer Ruffles Some Feathers (Moonchuckle Bay Romantic Comedy #8) Read online

  He circled the house and opened the gate to see the males of his family finish the haka.

  He looked around to see … Poppy.

  They were performing for her?

  Why? And what was she doing here? Last he'd heard, she was in jail. He’d been talking to different people trying to track down the man who’d called in the tip so he could get her released, and here she was.

  The family saw him and his mother smiled. “Welcome, son.”

  The men split up, pounding each other on the back. They didn’t even look guilty that he’d been excluded. What was going on?

  Poppy stood and thanked the men. So it had been for her benefit.

  Kea asked his mother, “How’d she get out of jail? Were the charges dropped?”

  A shake of her head told him that they hadn’t. “We bailed her out.”

  “Oh.” That meant she was still in danger of being charged with the arson.

  The dogs raced around and, when they spotted him, barked joyously, racing toward him.

  He leaned down and petted the two, but the tiny one stood aloof, as usual.

  Poppy approached him. “Hi, Kea.”

  He stood and looked down at her pretty face. “Hello, Poppy. I’m glad you're out of jail.”

  ‘I am, too, and I want to stay out.” She looked up at him, giving him big, adorable, irresistible Disney eyes — or at least as close as a real person could come — and said, “Will you please help me find the man who called in the tip so we can prove he’s lying?”

  How on earth was he supposed to say no? “I’ve already started looking for him, but so far I haven’t had much luck.”

  She looked so grateful that it touched him. He wanted to protect her. It was already driving him crazy that he couldn’t keep her safe.

  “Thank you, Kea. I was hoping I could count on you.”

  Look at the Woman

  AFTER MOST OF THE FAMILY had gone home, Poppy, Nalani, and Kea had brainstormed ideas. They were determined to learn the truth about the fire and the arsonist.

  Finally, Kea said, “It all comes down to the crime scene. There ought to be some evidence, physical evidence, of the arsonist, but none has been found.”

  That’s when Wencheng had come up with a fantastic idea: Let Max do his sniffing thing.

  Poppy turned to stare at the dogs lying at her feet. What a great idea. She turned back to the others. “Wencheng has just reminded me that Max has superb powers of smell. What if we take him next door tomorrow and see if he can come up with anything?”

  The other two agreed, which was why Poppy found herself taking Max out back the next morning.

  Kea said, “How does this work? I didn't realize there would still be deputies there. We’ll have to contact the sheriff and get permission to take the dog over there.”

  “Or,” Poppy said, “we can let him use his other magical ability.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ohhh,” Nalani said. “You’re going to take off his harness.”

  Poppy smiled. “Yes.”

  She looked over the fence at the two deputies still working the scene. Or keeping anyone from contaminating it, at least.

  She sent a message to Wencheng: Can you follow him when he’s invisible?

  Of course.

  Good. The tiny dog nudged Max and he put a large paw on her tiny head.

  Why does he have to be such a puppy?

  Poppy moved Max’s paw, then petted the princess’s head.

  “Okay, Max,” she said quietly. “I’m going to take off your harness. I want you to use your powers of invisibility and sniffing. Slip under the fence and don't draw the attention of the two men. Sniff around until you find the scent of the person who started the fire, then follow the scent — but not too quickly because we’ll be following Wencheng, who will be tracking you.”

  The Labracadabrador barked once in acknowledgment.

  Poppy removed the harness. Max barked again — and vanished!

  Kea whistled softly. “That’s impressive.”

  Nalani said, “I’ll follow you in the minivan, if you’ll give me your keys. Just in case the trail is long.”

  “Sounds good,” Poppy said, and fished out her keys, handing them to her friend. “You have to push in a little to get the key to turn.”

  Nalani nodded and headed to the front of the house to get in the van.

  “Okay, Max,” Poppy whispered. “Do your thing, buddy.”

  Wencheng walked under the lowest rail of the fence toward the haunted house. When the first deputy spotted her, he grinned. “Well, hello, little lady.” He bent down and she let him scratch her head, even wagging her tail as though she let people pet her all the time. Which she didn’t, the little actress.

  The other man looked to see. “I think that’s the tiniest dog I’ve ever seen.”

  He looked over the fence and spotted them. “Is this your little dog?”

  “It is,” Poppy said. “She loves meeting new friends. Her name’s Wencheng.”

  The man nodded. “Hello, Wencheng.”

  Wencheng sent: This man smells like bacon. I want some bacon.

  After you do this job, I’ll buy you bacon.

  Lots of bacon.

  Yes. Lots.

  After about ten minutes, during which Poppy had tingles from sitting so close to Kea on the step, she saw Wencheng trot out onto the sidewalk. He’s got the scent.

  Poppy smiled and stood, speaking loudly enough the deputies could hear. “I think I’d like to take Wencheng for a walk. Anyone want to go with me?”

  Kea followed her to the sidewalk, where the princess stood and waited for her to attach a leash to her collar, just for show.

  Then the little dog started prancing along, and they followed.

  Poppy could hardly contain her excitement. She glanced at Kea, and he grinned at her, which sent more tingles through her.

  The little dog led them to the corner and turned left.

  When they were out of sight of the deputies, Poppy glanced around to make sure no one else was on the street to see them, then she called out, “Max, it’s safe to show yourself, buddy.”

  And suddenly he appeared, nose following the scent in the air.

  “Amazing,” Kea said, catching her eye.

  She smiled at him, warmth filling her chest at his obvious admiration.

  Nalani drove up beside them in the minivan and moved ahead, parking on the side of the road until they reached her, then following slowly behind. Each time a car came up behind her, she’d pull over and park again until they’d passed and the coast was clear.

  After another block, Wencheng asked to be picked up. Poppy obliged.

  Kea held out a hand. “May I?”

  Yes.

  Poppy nodded. “She’d like that.” She handed over the little princess, and he petted her back as they walked.

  They followed Max for another fifteen minutes, through Town Square with all of its tourists, and down more streets.

  Kea asked, “Are you sure he really has a scent? He seems to be taking us in circles.”

  “We can trust him,” Poppy said. “Max is exceptionally good at this, even for as young as he is.”

  After another ten minutes, he stopped in front of Motel 666.

  This was the second time she’d been led here. Apparently Motel 666 was a hotbed of ... well, something fishy. Why had she stopped here before? She tried to remember, but couldn’t. That was frustrating.

  “Here?” she asked Max.

  He barked and moved forward to Room 104. And sat in front of it.

  Poppy and Kea exchanged glances.

  What — or who — would they find behind the door of Room 104?

  Amazed, Kea stared at the Labrador puppy.

  Nalani parked the minivan along the outer fence, and they moved over to talk to her, Kea still holding Wencheng.

  “Knock on the door,” Nalani prompted. “See who’s in there.”

  “Well, yeah, we c
ould do that,” he said. “And hope the arsonist is still here. Maybe they’re long gone and the person inside is just a law-abiding citizen who happened to get the room after them.”

  Poppy put a hand on his arm and the spot tingled. “I’ll take Wencheng from you. Nalani, get out your phone and get ready to take a picture of whoever opens the door.”

  Kea said, “What can I hand him to look at that we can get his fingerprints on?”

  Poppy pulled out a glossy business card. “Give him this and tell him we’re missing one of the dogs. Wencheng. Ask if he or she has seen her and hand them the card, which has her picture on it. I’ll take her to the vehicle so she won’t be seen.”

  “Great idea.” Kea carefully wiped the card with a cloth, to get any fingerprints off it, and held it carefully by a corner.

  Kea strode to the door, petted Max, who sat beside him, and rapped his knuckles on the door.

  He heard sounds from within the room and waited, his wereowl senses heightened. He didn’t know what to expect — anything from an innocent citizen to a guilty arsonist.

  The door opened and a medium-height, slender blond man opened the door. He looked to be in his thirties, and his face screamed annoyed. “Yeah?”

  Kea’s gut reaction told him there was something wrong with this guy, but was it because he was an arsonist? Or just because Kea was so keyed up?

  “We’re looking for our little dog. Just wondering if you’ve seen her.” Kea kept his voice neutral and a little concerned as he held out the business card and said, “It’s the little one. The Shih Tzu. My girlfriend can’t stop crying over losing her.”

  The man seemed to relax a little. He took the picture and studied it, then shook his head. “Nah, man. Haven’t seen it.”

  He thrust the card back into Kea’s hand and shut the door.

  Kea turned back to see Nalani holding her phone and giving him a thumb’s up, so she’d gotten the picture.

  Looking at the van, he saw Poppy’s eyes widen and her mouth fall open in surprise, and that made him stop. What was wrong?

  That man looked incredibly familiar. Where had Poppy seen him before? Suddenly, she felt a little lightheaded and forgot what she was about to say.

  Kea looked pleased as he closed the distance to the van and looked in the window.

  “All right. Good work, ladies.” He studied her. “Are you all right, Poppy?”

  She drew in a breath. “Yes. I’m just trying to remember where I’ve seen that guy before.”

  Nalani whistled. “You’ve seen him?”

  “Yes.” She nodded again. Finally, she said, “Maybe he just reminds me of someone back home.”

  Kea pointed to Nalani’s phone. “You got his picture?”

  “I sure did.”

  Carefully, holding the business card by the edge, he pulled out a zip-close baggie. Poppy set Wencheng down on the passenger seat, took the baggie, and held it open while he slipped the card inside. Then he closed the zipper.

  Kea looked down at Max and grinned, reaching down to pet the little dog again. “Good boy, Max. You did an awesome job.”

  He stood and looked through the window at Wencheng. “You did, as well, princess, and I’d be glad to scratch your back, too, but you’ll have to come over to me.”

  The little dog paused, but then — oh, so slowly — she walked across the console and stood on Poppy’s lap. Kea reached in and rubbed her tiny back.

  The sight of Kea being sweet to her dogs made Poppy’s heart melt — and his hand just inches from her body made the rest of her heat up.

  She really, really wished Lizzie wasn’t in the picture.

  And that’s when her brain made the connection. It felt like a rubber band that had been stretched tight, keeping her blind, suddenly snapped and brought everything into crystal clarity. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did know that it was off, wrong somehow. Why hadn’t she been able to see it before? It was the strangest thing. She should have been able to remember this.

  Lizzie was in the picture — and so was the man they’d just tracked down. She remembered, though it immediately began to get fuzzy again. “Oh. My. Gosh. If I forget, tell me to show you the pictures in my phone. Of Lizzie.”

  The other two looked at her.

  “Lizzie?” Kea asked, shaking his head as though to clear it.

  “What?” Nalani said. “You look like you’ve seen something scary, and in this town that could be just about anything.”

  Poppy looked up at Kea. How could she tell him that his girlfriend — his fiancée — had been kissing another man?

  And how could she have forgotten that picture? That picture that was fading from her memory as the seconds passed. She’d definitely been spelled to forget, but when?

  She shook her head.

  “Poppy,” Kea said softly.

  “Get in the the van and I’ll show you what I just remembered. And I don’t know why I couldn’t remember it before. It just slipped from my mind. Foggy, like. It’s fading now.”

  They lifted in Max and Blaze and climbed in after them.

  Nalani stared at her. “That sounds awfully familiar. I wonder if you’ve been bespelled, too.”

  “I’m pretty sure I was.”

  “Who else was bespelled?” Kea asked. The two women stared at him, and he shrugged. “What?”

  Poppy turned on the van and let the air conditioner cool the air. “Should we stay here for awhile and see what happens? Or take what we have to the sheriff?”

  “Let’s stay here for now,” Kea said. “Quit stalling.”

  “Stalling about what?” Poppy asked, confused. There was something she was forgetting.

  Nalani touched her hand and said, in a commanding voice, “Poppy, show us the pictures in your phone.”

  “Why?”

  “The pictures of Lizzie,” Nalani said.

  The pictures! It all came flooding back. Before it could fade again, she rushed out with, “Okay, okay. This isn't easy to say. I mean, have you ever wanted to tell someone something but it involved someone they cared about? It makes it really hard.”

  They both looked at her expectantly. Nalani put out her hands in a still-waiting gesture, then rolled her fingers, telling Poppy to get on with it.

  She sighed. “Okay, but remember I didn’t want to show you this, Kea.”

  He tipped his head.

  She pulled out her phone. As she clicked on her photos, she said, “The other night, when I went out to get Werther’s caramel popcorn for Nalani, I saw two people kissing and took a picture of them. That man in Room 104 is one of them. I considered sending it to you, but didn’t want to mess up a good thing, though I started thinking it might not be such a good thing, after all. And then I got arrested and I totally forgot all about the picture until … well, until now, which is still extremely weird, given the circumstances... which is why I think I’ve been under a spell.”

  She stopped babbling and Kea looked at her strangely. He was going to hate her in a minute.

  She handed the phone to Nalani first. Her friend gasped and looked at Poppy — and then at Kea. Nalani shook her head in disbelief as she scrolled through the pictures. “She bespelled you, too. She must have. But when?”

  “I don’t know,” Poppy said. “She sprayed some perfume on herself and some of it hit me, but surely that couldn’t have done it.”

  “Let me see the pictures, please.” Kea put out his big hand, and his sister set the phone carefully in his palm, like it was a bomb about to go off.

  He looked at the picture. “That is the same man, though it’s a coincidence that you would have taken this and then your dog followed him here.”

  Did he not see Lizzie in the picture?

  Nalani said, “Look at the woman, Kea.”

  Poppy could tell the instant he recognized his fiancée. He blinked twice. “Lizzie was kissing this guy?”

  Poppy nodded.

  “But she’s engaged to me.”

  Both wome
n nodded.

  Kea was silent for several moments, then shook his head. “This is going to sound really … messed up, but I can’t remember why I asked her to marry me. Isn’t that weird? When I’m with her, I remember, but when she’s not around, I can’t.”

  “We — me, Mom, and Aloha — think she’s a succubus or put a spell on you or something. And apparently not just on you.”

  Kea raised confused eyes, as if whatever spell was on him didn’t allow him to fully absorb what he was seeing in the photo.

  They sat, quietly, and Poppy reached out for her phone. Kea closed his fingers around her wrist, then let go just as quickly.

  Then his lips tightened and he pulled out his own phone. “I’m calling the sheriff.”

  And the coldness in his tone told her that he wouldn’t forgive her any time soon for taking the photo that blew up his engagement.

  Here They Went Again

  KEA MADE THE CALL AND, as he hung up, another car pulled into the motel’s parking lot — and right in front of Room 104.

  Kea shook his head, but said, “It’s her car. She really is involved with him.”

  He moved to open the door, but Poppy grabbed him. “Wait. We have to see what they do and wait for the deputies.”

  With a grunt, he settled back in his seat, but on the edge, every muscle tense. A deep emotion hit him. Was it betrayal? Not really, but sort of. He didn’t know. His emotions were already so confused about his fiancée.

  Lizzie climbed out of the car, fluffed her blonde hair, and shut the door. Her car beeped and she strode to the door.

  Raising her hand to knock, she looked around, and they all slid down in their seats. She didn’t seem to register that she’d seen that particular van before, though, as she turned back to the door.

  When the blond man opened it, he smiled and pulled her into his arms —and closed the door.

  Kea growled. “I’m not waiting for the deputies.”

  But just then, a Sheriff’s Department car pulled in next to them.

  Sheriff Samuel Winston and the lady deputy walked around and opened the door, then climbed in with them. “Tell us what’s going on here.”

  Poppy told them about taking the picture, and then forgetting it because he arrested her, and then remembering it again tonight when she saw the man and he looked familiar. No one needed to know that she’d remembered it because she had wished Lizzie was out of the picture. “I think Lizzie hit me with a Forget-me-Aught spell. When she sprayed me with perfume. Or maybe something else.”