Puppy Wishes & Candy Kisses (Kringle Falls #1)

8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“B ark. Bark.”

Candi opened her eyes. Both Odie and Tater Tot stood on the bed, staring at her. She’d had a hard time going to sleep the night before. She looked at the window and saw it was still dark out. She didn’t need a clock to tell her it was far too early to get out of bed.

She was just about to roll over and go back to sleep when she realized there were only two pups bugging her to get up. The leader of the pack was quiet. Her spidey senses kicked in. What exactly is Tank up to?

She opened her eyes and bolted upright. She squinted into the darkness. She didn’t see Tank anywhere on the bed. This is not good.

She rolled over and turned on the bedside light. Odie and Tater Tot started dancing in excitement on the bed. This was one of their signals when they had to go outside, and then they’d want their breakfast. It was their favorite meal of the day. Well, that wasn’t quite true. When she was working at the shelter, she frequently took them out for strolls. A few times they’d stopped at the nearby ice cream shop where she’d gotten them pup cones. They went crazy over them.

She jumped out of bed. The hardwood floor was cold against her bare feet. She ignored the goosebumps that cascaded over her body. She had to find the ringleader.

She rushed around the bed. She made sure to keep her voice low as she didn’t want to wake Michael. “Tank, where are you?”

As she turned around, she noticed the bedroom door was cracked open. Oh no. She grabbed a throw blanket from the bottom of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. With it still being dark out, she tried to remember her way around the house without running into any furniture.

She only went a few steps when she noticed light coming from the kitchen. Is Michael up? Already? She hesitated to go in that direction because then she would have to explain why she was awake at that early hour. And yet, she had to find Tank. She didn’t even want to imagine what mischief he might get into on his own.

When she stepped into the kitchen, she inhaled the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. She resisted the draw to the coffeemaker. She glanced around the kitchen. There was no sign of Tank or Michael. Where were they?

“Tank, come.” Michael’s voice came from the direction of the stairs.

Candi didn’t think Tank would listen to Michael. That dog had a mind of his own. Unless Michael had a leash on Tank, he would have to pick up the furbaby and carry him downstairs.

She took a couple steps backward and glanced up the steps in time to see Tank following Michael. Candi’s mouth gaped.

Her gaze met Michael’s. “How did you do that?”

Michael’s brows drew together. “Do what?”

“Get Tank to listen to you.”

Michael shrugged. “I just told him to come, and he did.”

While Tank ran into the living room with the other two dogs, she said, “He certainly seems happy.”

“He should be. He slept in my bed last night.” There was a definite grumble in his voice.

Oh no . This was definitely not good. “I’m so sorry. I must not have gotten the bedroom door closed the whole way.”

He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I should have told you the door is a little warped and, in the winter, it takes a bit of a push to get the latch to work.”

“Oh.” It was too late to help her now because today she would get the van back, and soon she’d be on her way to Maine. Still, she worried about the frown on Michael’s face. “I hope he didn’t keep you up all night.”

Michael shook his head. “He didn’t keep me up at all. But when my phone went off this morning, he thought it was time to get up and play. He licked my face.”

The more Michael frowned, the harder it was to hold back her smile. “He was just giving you a kiss.”

“I could do without those types of kisses.”

The next thing she knew, she was staring at Michael’s lips and wondering what sort of kisser he might be. Would his kisses be sweet and tender? Or would they be heated and sweeping?

She couldn’t make up her mind on which it would be. It was then she noticed how close he was standing. If she lifted up on her tiptoes and leaned forward, their lips would meet.

Michael cleared his throat.

Immediately, she stepped back as heat rushed to her face. She’d been busted staring at him. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t there to start anything with Michael. Not at all. So, what was she supposed to say to him now?

When Odie and Tater Tot started to fuss at the back door, Michael said, “I’ll take them out.”

For once, she decided not to argue with him. It was just too early to deal with going out in the cold. “Thank you. I’ll get them breakfast, but I really need to go to the store to get them more food.”

“Don’t worry. We have a pet store in town. You can stop there after you get your van back.”

“Is there news about it?”

He nodded. “I just had a call this morning. In fact, I’m leaving to go meet Stan to recover the van.”

This was the best news she’d heard in a long time. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll go with you.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure? It’s really cold out.”

Suddenly, she realized he didn’t want her to go with him. It probably had something to do with him catching her staring at him. He wasn’t interested in her and didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. She could understand that. Why had she picked that moment to let her imagination get the best of her?

“It’s okay,” she said. “I totally understand.”

When she turned her back to him, she heard some movement, and then the back door opened, and cold air rushed in before it closed once more. She grabbed the dog bowls from a spot on the counter and filled each with puppy food.

She bent over and put them in their places. Then a thought struck her. In such a short amount of time, they’d already started having routines, such as the placement of the dog bowls. At this rate, she couldn’t get the van back soon enough.

And that was why she made a decision. She was going with Michael to get the van whether he liked it or not. She couldn’t waste any more time in Kringle Falls. It was time to move on to Maine.

She rushed to her room, grabbed her clothes, and then took the fastest shower of her life. She made sure not to get her hair wet. There was no time to dry it, and out in that cold, wet hair would freeze. The last thing she wanted to do was walk around with icicles hanging from her head.

She threw on the clothes she’d washed the day before. She rushed to the mudroom to put on her boots when she realized she needed to take the pups with her, especially Tank, who appeared to be an escape artist. She didn’t need the three musketeers tearing apart any other pillows.

She called them, and for once they all came to her. She attached their leashes, and out the door they went. She saw the white puff of exhaust coming from Michael’s truck. She walked faster.

She rushed up the side of the pickup and pulled open the door. Her gaze briefly met Michael’s surprised look. She turned away to pick up the puppies and place them in the truck.

“What are you doing?” Agitation laced Michael’s voice.

“What does it look like? We’re going with you.”

“That’s not a good idea. The back roads are still in bad condition.”

“We’ll be fine.” After situating the three puppies between them on the bench seat, she put on her seatbelt. When she could still feel Michael frowning at her, she said, “Shouldn’t we get going?”

She stared straight ahead as Tater Tot settled on her lap. She petted him while keeping her focus on the snowy scene before them.

After a few moments, Michael put the truck in gear and they set off down the road. She couldn’t wait for the van to be back on the road. It was time for her to get on with her journey to Maine. Kringle Falls had been an interesting detour, but it was time to get on with her life.

This was the moment they’d been waiting for.

Michael stood at the edge of the road and stared down over the snowy embankment. There were four men and two tow trucks working to haul the van up to the roadway. Two men were working the controls on the two winches. The other two men were down the embankment, standing on either side of the van.

To get the van up to the roadway, they had to maneuver it between a handful of trees and lots of overgrown bushes. Candi made sure to stress how important it was for the van not be further damaged during the recovery because she didn’t own it. Of course, her plea had been sprinkled with charm and a bit of begging. How could any man deny her anything when she flashed those emerald green eyes at them?

The pups had been left inside his pickup. No one wanted them getting loose and getting hurt. Of course, Tank wasn’t happy about the decision and made his displeasure known with his incessant barking. Eventually, he settled down and curled up on Michael’s seat.

Michael left the engine running to keep the pups warm. Candi insisted on standing out in the cold with him. She wanted to watch them recover the van. He glanced over at her. She had her gloved hands stuffed into her pockets. The tip of her nose was red as were her cheeks.

He recalled how he’d caught her staring at him back at the house. It caught him off guard. Had she been staring at his mouth? It’d all happened so fast. As soon as she noticed that he’d caught her staring, she’d glanced away. Had she been thinking about kissing him?

The part that bothered him the most was that he wouldn’t have minded if she had kissed him. What did that say about him? He hadn’t thought about kissing anyone since his wife. He’d never let his thoughts go in that direction. Starting a new relationship was never something he’d considered. He’d loved once; it was enough for him.

And then Candi stumbled into his life. She was full of life and so different from Evelyn, who was quiet and reserved. He always knew where he stood with Evelyn. But with Candi, he felt a little off kilter.

Candi glanced over at him, as though she could tell the direction of his thoughts. He quickly looked away. He was venturing into dangerous territory.

He had to stay focused on getting Candi’s vehicle back on the road, and then she would be on her way. Then his life would return to the way it had been before Candi and the three pups had him thinking about all of the things he was missing in his life.

“Hold!” Michael was acting as a spotter. “Move it a foot to the left to miss a tree.”

The two lines they had attached to the van allowed them to maneuver the vehicle left and right as needed. The fact that Candi had barreled down over the embankment without hitting any of the trees or large rocks was nothing short of a miracle. He didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if the van had gone a little to the left or veered to the right.

When Candi ventured closer to the tow truck to have a better look, Michael said, “Candi, you need to step over here by me. If one of those lines snaps, it’s going to be bad.”

Her gaze moved from him to the cables, which were under great force. She didn’t argue as she moved closer to the pickup. After checking on the pups, she stood quietly beside him as she wrung her hands.

He forced his attention back to the van. It was nearing the top. The recovery had gone smoothly so far. The winches both whined as they spooled up the cables attached to the van. Just a little more, and they’d have it up on the road.

There was a pause as the one tow truck was repositioned for the last pull. It was during this moment that Candi stepped up to him. “What do you think?”

“Candi, don’t get too excited about the van being drivable.”

“It’ll be fine. Just wait and see. Soon we’ll be back on the road.” Her voice held a positive note.

She certainly seemed anxious enough to get away from him. The thought stung. For the first time since he’d become a widower, his house once more felt like a home. There were sounds of life from the clanging of pots and pans in the kitchen to the lilt of Candi’s singing as she folded the laundry. It reminded him that he didn’t have to be alone.

And that was why he wasn’t ready for her to leave. It had nothing to do with how much he’d come to enjoy her company. And it certainly had nothing to do with her merry trio of troublemakers.