Puppy Wishes & Candy Kisses (Kringle Falls #1)

7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

T he second load of laundry was in the dryer.

The dishes had been washed and put away.

And the Christmas cookies were arranged neatly on the platter.

Candi didn’t know what else to do. She checked the time. It was only a little after six. It was far too early to go to bed.

If she were at her apartment, she’d probably turn on the television and do some knitting. She was working on a blanket to give her friend Stacy for Christmas. Candi still had a ways to go before it was finished. She should have brought it with her. But then again, she didn’t think she’d have any spare time to work on it.

Michael had disappeared without a word. She wondered where he’d gone. She glanced toward the mudroom and noticed his coat and boots were missing. Maybe he’d driven into town.

She turned to the living room. Perhaps she’d check out what was on television. She grabbed the remote and plunked down onto the couch. To her surprise, he had some premium stations. She found a Christmas movie. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch, she made herself comfortable.

The pups, one by one, begged to join her. And soon the couch held her with Tank lying next to her while Odie and Tater Tot stretched out on her other side. She made an effort to fuss over each of them. They were so easy to love that she was surprised they hadn’t found their forever homes yet.

One day she planned to adopt a dog of her own. Sadly, this wasn’t that day. She always told herself that she’d pick the pup that everyone at the shelter would skip over—the pup with a big heart who wasn’t perfect.

But the more time she spent with the three musketeers, the more attached she became to them. It was going to be hard to give them up when she finally reached Maine, but it was for the best. She couldn’t keep one dog, much less three of them. No matter how cute she found them.

Midway through the movie, there was a commercial break. She had a craving for a cookie. When she stood, the dogs hopped down. They raced ahead of her toward the kitchen and sat by the back door.

“Not again.” She really didn’t want to bundle up and go out in the cold. Again.

“Bark. Bark.” Tank looked expectantly at her.

She was quite certain he just wanted to go out and play in the snow some more. But when the other two barked, she figured theirs was a genuine need.

She sighed as she put on her boots and then shrugged on her coat. She’d noticed that Michael hadn’t been using the leashes for the dogs. She supposed with all of the snow that had fallen there wasn’t anywhere they could go, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Besides it was easier to coral Tank when he was leashed.

They trudged out into the cold. Candi slouched down into her coat, trying to hide from the wind. A gust of wind picked up the top layer of snow, swirled it around, and then swept it away. By morning, there were going to be a lot of snow drifts in the area.

Once the wind died down, she noticed there were lights on in the garage. That must be where Michael had disappeared to.

When the dogs finished their business, she directed them toward the garage. Maybe Michael had cleared out of the house to give her some space. She felt bad about chasing him out of his own home. She could invite him to watch the movie with her. She would even start it over from the beginning for him.

She hesitated outside the door. Should she bother him? Then, deciding she was being silly, she knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Michael’s voice sounded from inside.

She opened the door, not sure what to expect. It certainly wasn’t to find Michael at a workbench covered with small pieces of wood. So, the plowman has a hobby? Interesting.

She approached him. “Hi. I... I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to watch a holiday movie, if you want to join me.”

“Is it the one with Bruce Willis?”

She knew exactly what movie he was referring to. “That’s not a Christmas movie.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it isn’t.”

He rolled his eyes. “Looks like we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

She was fine with that because there was nothing he could say to change her mind about the movie. Instead, she checked out the pieces of wood on the table. “What are you doing?”

“I’m cutting ornaments.”

“Really?” She didn’t know why that surprised her so much. Maybe it was because there weren’t any holiday decorations in the house.

“Don’t look so shocked.” He turned back to the round slices of a branch he’d just cut. He picked one up. “It needs to be sanded. A hole drilled in the top for the ribbon. And then it’ll be painted.”

She accepted the piece of wood and looked at it. “You do all of it, including the painting?”

Michael nodded. “My grandfather started the tradition. And then my father took over. Now that my father’s arthritis is so bad, I’ve taken over.”

She glanced around and found what looked to be dozens of them stacked on a table behind her. “Wow! That’s a lot of ornaments.”

“Yes. I still have a long way to go.”

“Could you use some help?”

He arched a brow. “You want to paint ornaments?”

“Sure. It’s not like I have anything to do. By the way, what do you do with them?”

“Every Christmas Eve my parents dress up like Santa and Mrs. Claus and they visit the local hospital. They hand them out to the patients.”

“Aw... That’s so touching. It’s a wonderful family tradition. My family never did anything like that.”

Luckily, the workshop was heated by a wood-burning stove. Michael made a spot for the dogs near the stove, and then he helped her get situated at the work table. And for the next few hours, she painted while he sanded the little wooden discs and drilled a hole for the red satin ribbon.

She loved that she was getting to see these different sides of Michael. The more she got to know about him, the more she wanted to know.

Beep-beep-beep.

Michael groaned. It was his day off.

Beep-beep-beep.

And he’d forgotten to turn off the alarm on his phone.

He reached over to the end table, and at last his fingers connected with his phone. He kept pressing on the phone’s face until silence settled over the room once more.

He rolled over and snuggled down under the duvet. He loved that it was cool in the room, but it was cozy under the covers. He was just about to drift off again, when there was something wet against his cheek.

His eyes flew open. Right in his face was Tank. He closed his eyes again. This wasn’t happening. It was a dream. Had to be.

The pup sighed. Michael inhaled the strong scent of dog breath. Ugh!

With a groan, he rolled over in the other direction. That’s when he felt four little feet stomp over his ribs. The dog was not light. There was another lick to his other cheek.

Michael opened his eyes again. “How did you get up here?”

“Bark. Bark.”

“Shh... We don’t want to wake everyone up. You do realize it’s still dark out, and I was really hoping to sleep until sun up.”

Tank whined.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Tank didn’t have to be told twice. He bounded off the bed and headed for the door. Michael wasn’t that fast. He had to throw on his jeans and a sweatshirt.

A few minutes later, Tank had taken care of business, and for once the little guy wasn’t interested in playing in the snow. That was fine with Michael. He had plans to go back to sleep, even if it was only for an hour.

When he opened the kitchen door, Tank rushed inside. By the time Michael got his coat off, the dog had disappeared. Michael didn’t even have a chance to dry him off. Oh, well.

Michael quietly climbed the stairs, not wanting to wake Candi or the other dogs. When at last he was ready to crawl back into his comfy bed, he found Tank was in his spot. Michael once more groaned. Tank chose to ignore him as he was all curled up on the sheets with his head on Michael’s pillow. This wasn’t happening. Michael gave a gentle push to Tank’s back, but the stubborn dog wouldn’t move. Seriously?

With a huff, Michael walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. This side wasn’t as comfortable. The pillows weren’t the same. The lumps in the mattress weren’t in the right places.

He flipped and flopped around, trying to get comfortable. It didn’t bother Tank. The dog was out to the world and to top it off, Tank snored. Unbelievable.

At last, Michael got as comfortable as he was going to get. His breathing evened out, and he was in that place between reality and dreamland.

Buzz. Buzz.

His phone startled him out of his slumber. It was a conspiracy to keep him from sleeping. He wasn’t answering it. If it was work, they could deal with the problem just this once. He rolled over and pulled up the covers.

Thunk!

His still-ringing phone had vibrated itself off the edge of the nightstand and landed on the floor. Michael gave up. That was it. He was done. There would be no more sleep.

He threw back the covers and got out of bed. He picked up the phone on what must have been the last ring before it switched to voicemail.

He didn’t even look at the caller ID before pressing it to his ear. “What?”

“Michael, is that you?” a male voice asked.

“Yeah. Who is this?”

“It’s Stan at the garage. I have some time if you want to see if we can retrieve that van.”

He might as well. He glanced over at the dog, who was hogging the bed. It wasn’t like he was going to get back to sleep.

“Give me forty-five minutes, and I’ll meet you at the garage.”

“Sounds good.”

They disconnected, and Michael gave Tank one final frown. “Must be nice.”

Then Michael headed for the shower. The sooner they retrieved the van, the sooner he would get his house and bed back. Not so long ago that would have sounded good to him, but now he would have to get used to the loneliness once more.