He couldn’t fault his son’s ingenuity, using Mikey’s baby wipes and diapers and disposing of the puppy’s poop in the diaper pail in the bathroom.
Strike three.
This trip wasn’t turning out at all the way Tyler had planned.
He took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I suppose the first thing I need to do is walk over to the general store and pick up some proper puppy food.” He put his hands on his hips and stared at Adam. “Son, I thought I told you you couldn’t get a puppy.”
Adam picked up the puppy and hugged him. “I know, Daddy. I’m sorry. But she told me her parents were going to take them to the shelter if they couldn’t find homes for them. They couldn’t afford to keep them all. I was afraid the other dogs would beat him up. He’s so little. This was the runt.”
Andrew and Tyler exchanged another look. Tyler knew Nevvie would probably blow a gasket over this, but even he couldn’t say no to his son despite the circumstances.
Andrew took the boys and the puppy inside while Tyler walked the three blocks to the convenience store. They carried the bare-bones basics, but Tyler wasn’t sure he wanted to start out feeding the puppy the bargain-basement adult dog food they had on their shelf.
After another inquiry, he found out there was a small animal vet two blocks in the other direction from the RV park. He set out again. Fortunately, they also sold supplies. He picked up a bag of dry puppy food, a collar, a leash, two puppy chew toys, a small bag of healthy treats, and food and water bowls to replace the plastic human dishes Adam had been using for him. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any appointments immediately available. The earliest they had was in two hours.
With a sigh, Tyler made the appointment. They would have to change plans. They could spend the morning looking around Gardiner instead of going into Yellowstone.
As he stepped out of the clinic, his cell phone rang.
He juggled his purchases, pulled out his phone, and glanced at the number. “Blast.” He answered. “Hello, love. Did he get off all right?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way back now. Everything okay?”
“Ah, unfortunately, the RV park is full. They can’t extend our reservation. I’m going to have to move the RV.”
He heard a spate of swearing on the other end. Then she said with a forced calmness he recognized, “All right, Ty. Is there someplace close by where you can pull into a parking lot or something? A large parking lot?”
“Ah, yes, actually. There is quite a bit of public parking along Park Street.”
“You mean where all the stores are? By the north Yellowstone gate?”
“Exactly.”
He heard her sigh in what he assumed was relief. “Great. I’ll call you when I get into town if I can’t find you.”
“Aces, darling. Drive safely.”
He hung up and breathed his own sigh of relief. One less thing for her to be angry about when she returned. He had permission to move the RV.
When he returned to the RV, he removed the price tags from the collar and leash and let Adam put the collar on Harley. He verified the collar’s fit and poured out a serving of food into one of the bowls and set it on the floor. The puppy eagerly buried his nose in the bowl of dry chow and started devouring it. Tyler filled the other bowl with water and set it next to him.
Adam sat cross-legged on the floor next to the puppy. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome son. Although you’re going to have to deal with your mother when she gets back. I suspect she’ll be rather cross with us both.”
“She won’t make me get rid of him, will she?”
Tyler let out a deep sigh. “No, son. We’ll keep him. But you cannot ever do something like this again. Do you understand me?”
Adam’s face was filled with wide-eyed innocence. “Yes, Daddy. I promise.”
“Very good. Now, when he’s done eating, take him outside again. Make sure to put the leash on his collar. And he cannot run loose while we’re inside the park, either. Understand? It can be quite dangerous for dogs, especially around the thermal features.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Andrew sat at the table with an amused expression on his face.
“What is it?” Tyler finally asked.
“She’ll be quite cross with you, you know.”
“Cross isn’t the word I’d use, but I’m well aware how far in the doghouse I will be. No pun intended.” He crossed his arms as he leaned against the counter and watched the little dog eat. “He is a cute bugger, isn’t he?”
“That might be the only thing that saves your hide.”
“This amuses you quite a lot, doesn’t it?”
“Very much so,” he said with a smile. “I’m just glad I’m not going to be the one on the receiving end of her wrath.”
“Well, if you’re done being amused, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on the boys for me whilst I prepare for our departure.” This was where Tyler felt a little apprehension. While in theory he knew what had to be done, Nevvie and Tom had taken care of all of the logistics during their trip. He looked for and found the checklist in the notebook on the dash.
The only item on the list that truly worried him was hitching the car hauler. He wasn’t sure if he could manage it by himself. While he’d watched Tom and Nevvie do it several times, that was a completely different thing than doing it on his own.
He started with the easy stuff first, which was securing the passenger compartment. He made sure all their dishes were washed, dried, and put away. Loose items were stowed in their traveling locations. Then he lowered the leveling jacks and stowed them. He unhooked the sewer and water connections and stowed those after filling their water tank and emptying their dump tank. The electrical and cable connections he disconnected last.
That left the trailer. Fortunately, they’d reserved a pull-through spot. A little more pricey than one of the other spots, but it meant they could hook up the trailer and he didn’t have to try to back the RV out of the space first.
As he stood there staring at it, he heard a man walk up, their neighbor from the next spot over.
“Leaving, are you?”
Tyler nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately, Tom had to fly home to Florida. One of our friends had emergency surgery, and they’re the ones taking care of our house. There’s a tropical storm on the way and he has to board up both our house and theirs. Nevvie drove him to the airport in Bozeman.” He sighed. “We can’t stay because the campground is full. I have never done this by myself before.”
The man slapped him on the shoulder. “Nothing to it. I’ll help you.”
Before Tyler could respond, the man had grabbed the tongue of the trailer and started maneuvering it toward the hitch. Tyler grabbed it and helped him.
“Where’s the key?” the man asked.
“Beg pardon?”
He set the tongue down on the ground and pointed to a lock on the trailer. “The key to the hitch lock.”
Tyler swallowed hard. “Um, I’m not sure. Let me go look.” He scurried into the RV and grabbed the three sets of key rings off the counter. He hoped Nevvie didn’t have the key to the lock with her. He took them back outside. “I don’t know which one it is.”
The man looked at the key rings, picked a small key, and inserted it in the lock. It turned. “Haha! Lucky guess,” the man said before returning the keys to Tyler.
He pulled the lock off the trailer, lifted the tongue and set it into place on the hitch ball, pushed the latch into place, then stepped up onto the tongue and bounced on it. “Making sure it’s seated,” the man explained before reattaching the lock. He hooked the two trailer chains to metal rings welded to the hitch, then connected the electrical pigtail.
He stood back. “There you go. All set.”
“Thank you so much!” Tyler gratefully shook his hand. “I don’t know what I would have done without your help. You’re truly a lifesaver.”
“You getting ready to pull out now?”
“Yes. Why?”
The man smiled. “You might want to roll your awning up.” He pointed.
Tyler’s face reddened. “Oh, of course.” He started toward it, then stopped and turned. “I’m afraid I don’t know how.”
The man chuckled and followed him again. “You might want to have them give you a lesson in all this when they get back.”
“I believe you’re right.”
* * * *
The man made one final walk around the RV with Tyler to double-check he was really ready to pull out. Ten minutes later, the boys were strapped into their car seats, Harley was safely locked in the bathroom, and Andrew stood sentinel outside to make sure Tyler didn’t hit anything while pulling out of their spot. Tyler would never admit how nervous he felt. Nevvie would never let him behind the wheel again if he did any damage.
He shifted into drive and slowly pulled forward, keeping a sharp eye on Andrew in the mirror. Once he was clear of the space and in the wide drive, he breathed a sigh of relief and stopped so Andrew could get in.
“Good job, son,” Andrew said as he settled into the passenger seat.
“Thank you.” He pulled forward again, carefully taking wide turns so the trailer cleared. Five minutes later, he was pulling into the public parking area along the main street, which overlooked the north gate.
When he shifted into park, he sat back with a sigh of relief. There weren’t many cars parked in that area yet, and with it being unpaved and gravel, there were no marked spaces. As long as no one parked directly in front of him and blocked his exit, he shouldn’t have any problems. And, hopefully, they’d have room to load the Honda onto the trailer.
Andrew patted him on the shoulder. “Well done.”
“One less thing Nevvie can be cross about.” He looked at the time. The appointment was in twenty minutes, and he would have to walk back to the vet’s office. “I’m going to take Harley to his appointment,” he said. “Dad, would you please stay here with the boys?”
Andrew waved him off. “Go.”
“I’ll put on the generator so you can run the air-conditioner and TV.” Tyler went up front to the electrical panel, consulted the manual, then switched the generator on. Once he heard it kick in, he shut off the engine.
The lights in the RV’s cabin stayed on.
Tyler breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Harley’s leash.
“Daddy, can I go?” Adam asked.
“No, you stay here with Grandpa and wait for Mommy.” He glanced at the time again and made a rough calculation in his head. “She might return before I do.” He grabbed the puppy and hooked the leash to his collar. Harley wagged his tail and squirmed in Tyler’s arms and tried to lick him.
Tyler grabbed a couple of plastic grocery bags for waste and headed out with the puppy. He found it faster to walk and carry the puppy than to wait for him to try to sniff every inch of pavement. When he reached the vet’s office ten minutes later, he was relieved to find the waiting room empty.
The receptionist gave him a clipboard with a form to fill out. “Ah, we’re actually here on vacation,” Tyler told her. “We’re from Florida. My son adopted the puppy without our knowledge in South Dakota and kept him hidden.”
The woman laughed. “Smart kid, huh?”
“Too smart, I’m afraid. Will we need any special forms? We’re driving to Seattle first before we head back to Florida.”
“Dr. Keene will go over all that with you,” she assured him.
He sat down to fill out the paperwork when his cell rang again. Nevvie.
“Hey, Tyler. You all right?”
“Oh, hi, love.” Harley barked and he had to shush him. “I’m fine.”
“Was that a dog?”
“Uh, yes.” He needed to distract her. “We got the RV moved. You’ll see us parked along the fence in the public parking area.”
“Any trouble?”
“No, none whatsoever. A very nice man helped me hook up the trailer.”
She sounded relieved. “Okay. I just got off I-90 at Livingston. Do I need to stop at any of the stores here for supplies?”
“Ah, no, I believe we’re all right, love.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
“Aces. Drive safely.”
“Love you.”
Harley barked again. “Love you, too.” He hung up fast and looked at the puppy. “Are you trying to get us in trouble?”
Harley barked and wagged his tail.
* * * *
Nevvie hung up the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. No doubt this was beautiful country. She slowed down and took her time so she could appreciate the picturesque valley Highway 89 ran through. Mountains gently sloped up and away from the valley floor on either side, the topmost portions of them still covered with snow. While she’d traveled with Tyler for work, and both men for fun, she’d never been to this part of the country before. And she’d never had time to herself like this before.
And since Tyler hadn’t managed to get himself killed or arrested while moving the RV, she supposed she could relax and take a few minutes to herself. Normally at home, she had Tyler and Tom to give her respites from the kids—and from them. Whether to go get her hair or nails done, or to just run errands alone.
Being cooped up with her family was taking its toll on her nerves.
She pulled over at a scenic rest area overlooking the Yellowstone River. She used the bathroom and then walked out to look at the river. Definitely not what she was used to. In Florida, rivers ran calm and slow. This river, apparently on the tail end of the spring melt, rushed past, even in the wider sections, with a never-ending, low roar that could have easily substituted as a heartbeat for the area.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath of the cool air underlain with the sharp smell of the rushing river, and let out a deep, relaxed breath.
I feel better already.
She would need to talk to Tyler about getting some alone time while in the park. No doubt he might want some, too, and she’d gladly give it to him. But this was just what she needed. Already, the events in Mitchell were fading from her mind. It was an accident, and she wouldn’t hold a grudge against Tyler for it.
An unexpected chuckle escaped her. Maybe he can use it in a book. That brought an outright fit of laughter. While not the trip from hell by any stretch of the imagination, this certainly hadn’t been the smoothest vacation ever.
After twenty minutes, she reluctantly returned to the car. I wonder what they had in that gallery back there. She’d seen the signs a couple of miles ago for a little shop. If Tyler needs me, he’ll call me.
Back inside the car, she checked her phone. No calls.
Smiling, she started the car and pointed it back to the north. A little bit of mommy time is in order.
* * * *
Tyler nervously sat in the exam room with Harley in his lap. The puppy’s tail wagged nonstop. Every minute that passed meant one minute closer to his doom when Nevvie returned and exploded.
Not that he would blame her for that, because, admittedly, acquiring a puppy was a pretty large deal.
He stared into Harley’s brown eyes.
Adorable brown eyes.
“You, my little one, have caused me untold aggravation. Do you realize that?”
Harley’s tail continued wagging.
Tyler looked up when a woman entered the room. From her white jacket, he assumed she was the vet. “Mr. Paulson?” she said. “I’m Dr. Keene.”
He stood, the puppy in his arms, and shook hands with her. “Yes. And this little one is Harley.” He placed him on the exam table.
“Harley, huh?” She let the puppy sniff her hand before she took over. She checked his teeth for starters. “Is someone a biker?”
“My son named him. He, eh, adopted him in Sturgis, South Dakota.”
She smiled. “Adopted him, huh?”
“Yes. Very clever little guy. Kept him hidden for two days in our RV without us knowing. W
e discovered him this morning.”
“Where are you from again?”
“Florida. I know, the accent tends to throw people.”
She looked up, as if seeing him for the first time. “Tyler Paulson? The writer?”
He felt his face heat. “Ah, yes. That’s me.”
She smiled. “I thought the name sounded familiar. I love your books.” She called a technician into the room. “Please draw blood work and do a fecal. We also need to get him started on his first round of puppy shots.”
“We’re heading to Seattle now. Is there some sort of health certificate I need?”
“Sure, I’ll prepare one for you. Let’s get his tests done first.”
“Right.”
“How old is he, do you know?”
“The little girl said he was nine weeks old, and the runt of the litter.”
“That’s about right. Are you crate training him?”
He gave her what he knew to be a blank look. “Crate training?”
She laughed. “We have a new puppy kit, including a DVD, that we’ll give you.”
“Do you sell crates? I was here earlier and bought puppy food and the leash and collar and things.”
“No, we don’t. The feed store here in town might have them. Otherwise, any of the big discount stores along I-90 will probably have them, unless you hit a pet store first.”
“Oh. All right.”
Twenty minutes later, Harley had his first round of shots, a dewormer, a microchip, a health certificate, flea and tick protection, heartworm prevention medication, and a cookie.
“He’s in great shape, Mr. Paulson,” Dr. Keene said. “I do strongly suggest getting a crate for him, though. It’ll make your life a lot easier. Especially in an RV.”
“Thank you.” He tucked the puppy under his arm, the paperwork, medications, and other items in a bag, and headed back toward the RV.
He hadn’t heard from Nevvie lately. He would call her to see where she was, but didn’t want to jinx his luck thus far.
When he returned to the RV, Adam jumped up from where he was reading at the table and ran to the door to greet Tyler.