Puppy Wishes & Candy Kisses (Kringle Falls #1)

4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

H e wanted her to go with him?

To his place?

Candi hesitated. She looked at Michael. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for. He had friendly eyes, even if they were a bit bloodshot. And she noticed the shadows beneath his eyes. It appeared as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep lately. She wondered what kept him up at night.

She’d also noticed that he said hello to a lot of people at the hospital. If he was some sort of scary person, she doubted so many people would say hello to him. And there was the fact that he’d rescued her and the puppies. If he was going to do something bad to her, he would have done it already, before he was seen in public with her.

As he held the passenger side door open for her, he frowned. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You do realize that probably every ax murderer has said that to some victim at some point.”

“Ouch!”

“What?” She looked to see where he was hurt.

He pressed a hand to his chest. “I’m wounded. I’ve never been compared to an ax murderer before.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.” She felt flustered because she truly hadn’t meant to insult him. “I… I was just saying that I don’t know you.”

“Would it help if you spoke to my mother?” He reached for his phone.

“You can’t call her.”

His brows scrunched together. “Why not?”

“Because it’s after midnight.”

“True. What about my brother? He’s the sheriff of Kringle Falls. Will he do for a character witness?”

“Are you serious?” She searched his eyes. “You’d really call him if I wanted you to?”

“Most certainly.”

“I feel like the next thing you’re going to tell me is that your father is the mayor?”

“No. Pops would never be a politician.”

“Michael Bishop, you are a very interesting man.” With all of that in mind, she got into the passenger’s seat.

He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. He yawned as he started the engine. He’d probably be at home resting if it weren’t for her.

“I’m really sorry about all of this,” she said. “I’m sure you never expected to help a stranger with three puppies.”

“I’ve got to admit that I didn’t.”

“And I feel bad that your wife is taking care of the pups.”

There was a pause before he said, “There’s no wife.”

She noticed how his voice caught on the word wife . Interesting. “A girlfriend?”

“Don’t have one of those either.”

It was intriguing that a man his age and so handsome was unattached. Just as quickly she assured herself that none of it mattered, because she wasn’t going to be around long enough for it to matter.

He sent her a sideways glance. “Are you always so talkative?”

“I just thought we should get to know each other.”

“There’s not much to know.” As soon as he said those words, she knew there was lots to know about him. He continued. “I was born and bred in Kringle Falls. My whole family lives here. Anything else you’d like to know?”

Lots . The more she heard about him. The more she wanted to know. But as he yawned again, she realized he was exhausted. Her curiosity would have to wait for another time.

“No.” But uncomfortable with the silence, she kept nervously talking. “The poor puppies. They must be wondering what happened to me.” She felt as though she were failing left and right. And all she wanted to do was help Bob so he could rest and get better.

“I wouldn’t worry. They seemed fine after I fed them.”

Did she hear him correctly? Or was it just some wishful thinking? “You fed them?”

Michael nodded. “I used some of the food in your bags. I hope that was all right.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.” He might be a bit brusque and impatient, but he appeared to have a good heart. “When I set out this morning, I had everything planned out. By now I planned to be in Portland, Maine.”

“Portland? Kringle Falls isn’t anywhere close to it.”

She sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

“How did you end up so far off track?”

“A detour off the highway. Then my cell phone service dropped, so I didn’t have the aid of GPS. Add in this snowstorm, and I got all turned around.”

“It’s almost like fate directed you here.”

She shook her head. “I doubt it. I don’t even know where here is. I’ve never heard of Kringle Falls.”

He slowed as he approached the center of town. When he’d taken her to the hospital, she’d been distracted by the trauma of the accident. She hadn’t paid much attention to the passing scenery. This time around, she planned to take it all in.

As she stared out the window, she noticed the town was all lit up. There was a big red banner over Main Street that read: Welcome to Kringle Falls. Largest Christmas town in the world.

“What makes this a Christmas town?” she asked as she peered out the window at all of the decorations lining the street.

He sighed. “Some of the residents go overboard with this Christmas stuff. They now have decorations up year-round.”

She’d never visited a Christmas town. She was definitely intrigued. Too bad she wouldn’t have time to check it out. Maybe she’d come back another time. “It sounds like a fun place to live.”

“I wouldn’t know.” His voice held a note of irritation. “I don’t participate in all of their activities. It seems like every week they come up with another idea.”

“How big is the town?”

“Last I heard there were approximately fifteen hundred permanent residents.”

“So, a small town.”

He pulled the pickup to a stop at a red light. “With one light in the whole town. And somehow I always seem to hit it when it’s red. There isn’t even another vehicle in sight, and yet here we sit.”

She chose to ignore his frustrated tone. “Do you live here in town?”

He shook his head as the light changed to green, and he pressed on the accelerator. “No. I live just north of town. I’d go nuts if I lived in the borough because they now have rules that everyone has to decorate their houses. It’s the town’s version of an HOA.”

“What happens if they don’t decorate their house?”

“I’ve heard they have a decorating committee that shows up and does it for them. And they get fined.”

“Wow! They really do take Christmas seriously around here.”

“Like I said, I’m glad I live outside of the town limits.”

“So, you don’t decorate?”

“Not one single strand of twinkle lights anywhere on my property.”

“But you have to admit that putting up Christmas decorations is fun.”

He chanced a glance at her with a frown on his face. His voice dropped an octave. “Don’t tell me you’re one of them.”

“One of who?”

“Those people who go around wearing Santa hats and caroling.”

She let out a laugh at the disgusted look on his face. “No. But it doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

Just then the pickup pulled to a stop. It was only then that she caught herself staring at him. When she turned her head, she realized they’d arrived at their destination. When he said he lived outside of the borough, he meant right beside it.

It was a little hard to make out the house in the dark. With the aid of the porch light, she discerned it was a log home. It looked to be a large two-story home.

When he turned off the ignition, she asked, “Do you live here alone?”

“I do.” He got out.

She opened the door. Her feet landed on compressed snow. When she walked, it crunched under her feet.

She couldn’t wait to see the puppies again. They’d really grown on her since she’d been caring for them while Bob was in the hospital. It was going to be hard giving them up, but it was for the best. Besides, her apartment building strictly forbade having pets. She was just lucky she wasn’t caught having them in her place for the past five days before they set off on their road trip.

He led her up the shoveled walk just as the snow started to fall again. She didn’t want to think about how much more snow was forecast.

When Michael unlocked the front door and pushed it open, she braced herself to scoop up the puppies. And yet none of them ran out. In fact, as she stepped inside, she didn’t see the puppies anywhere. Nor did she hear them.

She turned to Michael. “Where are the pups?”

“I thought it would be best to corral them.”

She wasn’t sure what that entailed, but she knew when those three canines got together that trouble wasn’t far behind. They didn’t come from the same litter, but that didn’t stop them from acting like brothers, and Tank was the ringleader.

He led her into the living room. She was impressed with how neat and orderly the house was. The only thing the place was missing were the personal touches—the things that make a house a home.

To the right of the living room was a closed door. “They’re in here.”

She didn’t hear them barking. Maybe the trauma of the accident had worn them out and they were sleeping. Because as much energy as they had, they did eventually run out.

Michael opened the door. “What in the world…”

She angled her head to peek around him. There was white fluff all over the floor. She followed him into the room. The three puppies were on the double bed. They opened their eyes and lifted their heads, but that was it. It was rare to see them this tired.

Michael stepped over to the bed and picked up a piece of cloth. “This used to be a pillow.” He frowned at the puppies. “Bad puppies. Bad, bad puppies.”

“Stop.” She moved to stand between him and the dogs. “They aren’t bad. They’re puppies. They don’t know any better. To them everything is a play toy.”

He frowned at her. Now that she had that straightened out, she turned to the pups, and they rushed to her, their tails swishing back and forth.

As she petted each of them, she gently admonished them. “You can’t make a mess. You ruined the pillow.” And then she realized the problem; they didn’t have any of their toys. They were back in the van along with her phone.

This mess was also her fault. Tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she refused to fall apart in front of Michael. He already had a poor opinion of her. She didn’t want to make it worse.

She knelt down and started to clean up the mess. She felt awful about this. All the while, she could feel Michael’s gaze on her back. What was he thinking? He was probably anxious to throw them out. Not that she could blame him. They certainly hadn’t been the best of guests.

When she glanced over her shoulder to apologize for the mess, he was gone. She wondered where he’d gone, but she didn’t have time to ponder it, because she had three needy puppies to look after and pillow stuffing that was scattered all over the room. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the three musketeers had been throwing the fluff at each other.

“You can put the stuff in here.” There was a grumbly tone to Michael’s voice.

When she turned, he was holding a garbage bag out to her. Her gaze met his. “Thank you. Maybe I should take them outside first so they don’t have any accidents.”

“I cleaned a spot for them just outside the kitchen door. If you want, I can take them out for you.”

“You would do that?” Her surprise had her uttering her thoughts without screening them. “I meant to say thank you. It is very thoughtful of you.”

He reached for the leashes on the dresser. Then he knelt down. “Come.”

To her utter amazement, all three of the pups ran over to him. They never did that for her. She told herself it was his deep, gravelly voice that had them listening to him. In no time, he had them hooked up, but getting them out the door and headed in the right direction wasn’t as easily accomplished.

She watched Michael and the puppies walk away. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. One moment he could be a little bit grumpy and a bit standoffish, and yet in the next moment, he was taking care of the puppies. Michael Bishop was the most intriguing man she’d ever met. Too bad she wasn’t sticking around Kringle Falls long enough to get to know him better.