Cozy Mystery - Carved Out - Dolly at the Beach

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was the same guy, almost every morning, picking up his dog's doo doo in one of those little brown bags on the beach sidewalk right in front of Dolly's celestial blue beach house. The dog was wrapping itself around the owner's legs this morning, and the owner was wearing his outdated, oversized Uggs. Most residents along the beach shore seemed to have a pair of Uggs. What was it about Uggs? Dolly surveyed the landscape from her laptop, looking over the sea from her bay window. Her goal was to watch what was happening, and act nonchalant in the process, while sipping her coffee on mornings when she wasn't running late to Puff Pastry. She had an upfront show to life on the waterfront. Every morning, she scanned the sidewalk along the oceanfront, looking for something new or interesting from inside her home. She wondered how much sand the guy with the Uggs trapped on a daily basis in his boots. Uggs personally made Dolly feel like she had really fat feet and ankles. If anything, she would rather throw on a pair of crocs and tube socks with bright colored stripes. At least her feet would feel more secure and less squishy in tube socks.

This morning Dolly's lower back ached terribly. She realized that she had been spending too much time sitting at her computer. Not bothering to take enough breaks, she planted her bottom in her chair for way too long while editing articles for a New York magazine publisher and a Miami publisher. To be able to part-time freelance in her beach house on the Cali coast, and edit other people's work while looking out her bay window at the seaway, with its fickle mood, was heaven. She was truly living her dream life, working at this location with her dog, Moose. If she could just stop snacking on crackers every day before lunchtime, she would probably be in better physical shape that she currently was, for a thirty year old. In fact, the thought occurred to her that she was in control of buying the darned crackers or not buying them. It also occurred to her that she loved the stretch yoga pants she was able to wear every day. No more constricting corporate clothing to wear was a dream.

It was Saturday, and it was a good day to not to sit at her desk. Come to think of it, her deadlines were met for the publishers, and she would not have to do any extra work on Sunday. Working as a part-time freelancer, she worried if she was going to be able to take on the extra work and co-run Puff Pastry. It was worth it. It kept one foot in the literary world that she so loved.

As the co-owner of the Puff Pastry shop, within walking distance, Dolly was always a tad worried about how she would get her bills paid and have enough money to live, but she was doing it. Working long, tedious hours was a requirement, but she loved the fact that she had no commute, and the dress code was totally worth it. Puff Pastry was the best place she had ever worked.

Full of aches and moving slowly, a cup of coffee was in order, along with 600 mg of Ibuprofen. Then it would be time to take Moose out for a walk and get some blood flowing into the muscles. Walking along the beach energized Dolly with the sea breezing against her face. Moose was elated to sniff everything his nose was allowed to come into contact with. Moose was a gorgeous black Lab, and his one true talent and passion was to smell everything. Moose's mother and father were both bred as companion dogs for the blind, and Moose turned out to be the pick of the litter. Dolly ended up with Moose due to a bad break-up between the couple training Moose. They were raising Moose to train as a guide dog, but the plan fell through. Their marriage broke up and chaos ensued. Dolly happened to be just that person with the most stability at that moment when little Moose needed a home. She was working on a story about guide dogs and the trainers who were raising Moose loved her. That was Dolly's first pet ever.

Unfortunately, most peoplewere not as thrilled with Moose's love for sniffing everyone's privates. Moosewas a scent dog. His nose is something that could have been considered a fascinating piece of equipment, the way it would pick up a scent. Dolly could throw her ball into a pile of fall leaves and Moose could sniff that ball outin a heartbeat. http://amzn.to/1MMqW0h