Page 41 of Love By the Bay

“God damn it,” I hiss, trying several more times to get the engine to fire. My pickup is ancient so sometimes it has a problem getting started, but I have a few tried and tested tricks to get it going, none of which work this morning.

For fuck’s sake, this is just what I need. I put my coffee on the dash and pop the hood, jumping out and lifting it up so I can check out the engine. I’ve had this pickup for twenty years so I know it like the back of my hand.

I check all the obvious reasons for the engine not starting — battery, fuses, starter motor, and spark plugs. After exhausting all the possible reasons I can think of, I slam the hood down and kick the tire in frustration.

This is just what I need, getting stranded in this little town for god knows how long. I know from trying to get parts for my truck in the past, it can take a few weeks to source them due to the age of it. So I stomp back into the motel and ask the clerk if there’s an auto repair shop in town. Thankfully, he gives me the number for a place called Lou’s.

I make a quick phone call, talking to a gruff sounding guy who I assume is Lou. The man says he’ll be out to tow me to the shop in an hour. Assuming the worst, I check myself back into the motel and take my duffle to my room where I dump it on the bed, my mood getting darker and darker with every passing minute.

True to his word, the guy from the auto repair shop arrives about a half an hour later, and I head out to talk to him while he hooks my pickup onto the back of his tow truck. He’s a tall, lean guy wearing dark coveralls with the arms tied around his waist and a gray tank top, showing off his impressive arms and chest.

“Hey man, thanks for coming out so quickly,” I say, extending my hand out for him to shake.

“No worries,” he growls, wiping his greasy hand on his equally greasy coveralls before shaking my hand. “We’ll get this old girl looked at sometime today for ya.”

I quickly explain all the things I’ve already checked, and he nods along. When I’m done he pats the hood and says, “Thanks man, that saves us some time. Gonna be honest though, these old pickups get harder and harder to fix up. If it needs new parts, it could take some time.”

“Yeah, I appreciate that. You’ve got my number, so give me a call when you know more. Thanks, Lou.”

He barks out a loud laugh and shakes his head, removing his backwards cap, running his hand through floppy blond hair. “I ain’t Lou. My name’s Roman, nice to meet ya.”

I wonder why he laughed so hard at the fact that I thought he was Lou, but I decide to leave it and just introduce myself. “I’m Brandon.”

“Okay Brandon, I’ll give you a call when I know what we’re dealing with.” Roman claps me on the shoulder, jumps into his tow truck, and guns the engine, pulling out of the parking lot. I kick a small rock and watch it skip across the cement, wondering what the hell to do with the rest of my day.

Chapter 4

Julia

That does it! I can’t do this anymore,I think as I turn the hose on full-blast. The poodle who currently resides in this space has a bad case of the runs. I’m pretty tough at this point when it comes to dog shit, but when I opened the door to his kennel this morning, I’ll admit it, I gagged. Poor Pierre the poodle is currently being hosed down by Cassie, my groomer, because he’d managed to roll in it and was an absolute disaster.

I have to try and find a kennel assistant as soon as possible. It’s not that I feel above getting down and dirty with the dogs, but I have so much paperwork to get through I just don’t have the time to spare. I already get up before dawn to get all the dogs fed before taking deliveries of food and supplies and then working through the booking system to see who’s checking in and out.

That’s all before cleaning the kennels, taking the dogs out for exercise, answering the phone, dealing with emails and website enquiries, balancing the books and placing orders for more supplies.

I usually fall into bed exhausted close to midnight before it all starts again a few hours later.

Don’t get me wrong, when I inherited the farmhouse from my grandma during my last year of college, I had no idea what to do with it. My mom suggested I sell it and use the proceeds to go traveling, but the farm held so many good memories I couldn’t bear to sell it. So when I came back to Crescent Bay, I moved in and took stock of what I could do with the place. My grandma had been an animal lover, I guess that’s where I get it from, so there were already a few kennels out back along with some outbuildings and a big barn.

After some research, I decided to open the doggy day care center. Combining my business degree and my love of dogs seemed like the perfect way to honor my grandma and put her house to good use.

Even though I’ve only been in business for a few years, I’ve got most of the dogs in Crescent Bay on my books, and I’m expanding to all the surrounding towns through word of mouth recommendations and my website, which Jake helped me set up.

I’m just finishing up sweeping out Pierre’s kennel when Cassie brings him back from the spruced-up shed that doubles as her grooming parlor.

“Here he is,” she laughs, releasing him into his accommodations, where he promptly circles a few times in his clean bed and flops down, letting out a huff of breath.

“Thanks for cleaning him up, Cassie,” I reply, closing the gate and lifting up the edge of my shirt to wipe my sweaty face.

“No problem. I don’t have a client until ten so I just came in early to do inventory.” Cassie puts her hand on my shoulder and squeezes it. “You’re doing a great job, Jules.”

I snort out a laugh and try my best to smile. “It really doesn’t feel like it. I just need to find someone reliable to work here, is that too much to ask?”

“I could ask my niece again, she might be able to do weekends at least,” Cassie offers, but I know her niece is just finishing up high school and has more fun things to do than clean up doggy do for pocket money. She would quit after a week, and the last thing I need is things getting awkward between me and my groomer over a failed family hire.

“It’s okay, I hope to find my inbox bursting with people applying for the position when I finally get back to my computer today,” I laugh as Cassie helps me return the cleaning equipment to the small lock up.

“Now, I didn’t wanna mention it,” Cassie says quietly as I click the padlock into place. “But as I went past the barn, it sounded like he was ripping the place to pieces.”

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