Chapter Eleven #2
She paused as though to give it some thought. Then she nodded. “If I get a chance, I’ll take you up on the offer.”
Ding.
He held up a finger as he reached for the phone in his pocket. It was a text from his mother. She’d invited him to dinner. He thanked her before declining. He let her know that he’d be busy at the school, working on the set for the play…if there was still going to be a play.
After returning his phone to his pocket, he fussed over the dog. Sunny really was cute. But he hadn’t changed his mind about not getting a dog.
“She likes you.” Felicity sent him an approving smile.
He lowered his hand. “Well, I should be going.”
Just then the door opened. A gust of cold air rushed into the cozy bookshop. In walked Merry Kringle with a great big smile.
Immediately, Merry’s gaze came to rest on him. “Justin, it’s good to see you.” Her gaze moved past him to Felicity and back again. “You must be as happy as the rest of us to have Felicity home.”
His mouth grew dry. Okay. That wasn’t what he was expecting her to say. His gaze moved to the door. It isn’t that far. About fifteen steps, give or take. However, he’d have to get past Merry first.
He swallowed. “Uh, yeah. I should be going.”
Before he could take a step, Sunny jumped up on his pant leg. He glanced down to find the dog attempting to sniff his crotch, but she was too short. Immediately, heat raced to his cheeks. He bent over and scooped up the puppy, who immediately started licking his face.
Justin turned his head to the side, but it didn’t deter the pup. He tilted his chin upward, and the pup resorted to licking his neck. “Why is she licking me so much?”
“Oh, dear. She likes you,” Merry crooned.
Connie came from the back and leaned her hip against the counter. “Seems like she’s found her person. Justin, are you going to take her home?”
He couldn’t believe she’d just asked him that question with such a serious face. Justin vigorously shook his head. “Oh, no. Not me.”
“I like the idea.” Merry had a twinkle in her eyes. “Justin, would you foster Sunny until I find her forever home?”
Everyone was looking at him. How in the world did he get into this position? All he did was come into the bookshop to pick up his book, not a dog.
“I can’t,” he said firmly as he put the dog down.
“Sure, you can,” Connie said. “She’s already crazy about you.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.” When he saw that his words had no sway on them, he said, “I live in an apartment.”
“And I’m married to the landlord.” Merry smiled triumphantly, as though she’d just cured the world’s problems.
Really? He searched his mind for the next reason that this was a very bad idea. “I’m not home enough. I have to work.”
Without missing a beat, Connie said, “I’m sure Felicity could watch Sunny while you’re at work.”
“I can?” Felicity sent her boss a puzzled look. After Connie gave her a brief frown, Felicity said, “I mean, I can. I’ll bring her to work with me.”
“The customers love her.” Connie smiled.
Oh boy. This was not fair—three on one. Sunny put her front paws on his leg and barked at him. Now it was four on one. The puppy was really cute…
No! He shook his head. He wasn’t doing this.
“Please.” There was a pleading tone in Merry’s voice. “It won’t be for long. Maybe a day. Or two.”
He looked at her, trying to figure out if she was being serious or if she was just feeding him a line. He’d already heard rumors of her placing other puppies with unsuspecting people.
The puppy whined as she looked up at him. She was cute and small. She wouldn’t take up much space in his apartment.
No. No-no-no. He wasn’t doing this.
“I know it’s a big ask,” Merry said, “but Kris’s allergies are getting really bad with having the puppy in the house. He said when he dresses up like Santa that instead of saying to the kids ho-ho-ho, it’ll be sneeze-sneeze-sneeze.”
Everyone laughed…but Justin.
When he caught Felicity’s gaze, she said, “Please, Justin.”
He felt as though he were losing the battle. He looked at Sunny, who was giving him big puppy eyes. He inwardly sighed. He supposed it wouldn’t be that bad. He met Merry’s gaze. “Just for a day or two.”
She smiled and nodded. “Okay then. I have some things out in the SUV that you’ll need.”
Felicity stepped forward. “I can take care of Sunny while you get those things.”
As he followed Merry outside, he felt as though they’d orchestrated this ambush.
But it might be nice to have the puppy around for a little bit.
Although when Merry handed him a giant shopping bag filled with puppy stuff plus a dog crate, he started to worry that his offer to help out was turning into more than he’d imagined.
He headed back inside. He turned to Felicity. “Can you watch Sunny now? I need to head to the school to work on things for the Christmas play.” He cast a look at Merry. “I guess I should ask if there’s still going to be a play.”
Merry sent him a reassuring smile. “Yes. We found someone to fill in with the costumes.”
“That’s good.” He turned back to Felicity. “Are you okay to take care of the pup?”
“Actually, I’m going to the school too.”
Wait. What? Why would she be going there?
“Felicity is filling in for the head of wardrobe,” Merry said. “I was just coming over here to let her know about rehearsal this evening. It all happened so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to give her the schedule.”
“No problem,” Felicity said. “I can go after I get done working.”
He was still trying to get everything straight in his head. “But what about the puppy?”
“I can take care of her,” Connie said. “Since business picked up, I’m planning to order pizza and stay open late tonight.”
“You are?” Felicity’s voice held a note of surprise.
Connie nodded. “I am. Sunny and I will be fine.”
Felicity hesitated. “Are you sure?”
Connie smiled and nodded. “Positive. Sometimes I get stuck in a routine. It’s good to mix things up now and then.”
Merry turned to him. “Justin, would you mind giving her a ride?”
“Merry, no.” Color rushed to Felicity’s cheeks. “I’ll find my own way there.”
Merry shook her head. “We aren’t going to let you walk in the snow. And we don’t want you falling again.”
“What?” Felicity was slack jawed. “You know about that?”
Merry smiled. “Oh, yes. You made quite the return to Kringle Falls.”
The color in Felicity’s cheeks increased. “Oh.”
Justin knew where this was headed so he just cut to the chase. He turned to Felicity. “Are you ready to go?”
“Are you sure? I mean, will your wife care?”
Wife? What was she talking about? Wait. Was it possible she hadn’t heard that his wedding had been called off?
If so, that was strange. Everyone in town knew about Nadia walking out on him. The whole debacle had fueled the rumor mill for weeks. At least she’d ended things before they were married. He supposed that would have somehow been worse.
“Honey,” Connie said, “Justin isn’t married.”
“He isn’t?” Felicity’s forehead scrunched up. She turned to him. “You aren’t?”
He shook his head. He wasn’t about to get into that story.
“Now, get going,” Merry said. “You don’t want to be late. There’s lots to do before the big day.”
“Uh…” She walked over and handed Sunny’s leash to Connie. Felicity turned back to Justin. “I just need to grab my stuff.” She rushed to the back of the bookshop.
He stood there as the two older women smiled at him. They seemed mighty pleased with themselves. But he didn’t smile back. They had played him like a fine violin, and he wasn’t too happy about it.
Thankfully, a few minutes later, Felicity came rushing to the front of the store with her coat on. “I’m ready.”
“Good. We don’t want to be late.” He glanced over at Merry, who was in charge of the play and could have given Felicity a ride. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, yes. But I have something important I need to discuss with Connie first. Go on. I’ll see you two there.” She looked much too pleased with herself.
Without another word, he opened the door for Felicity. When she passed by him, he got the faintest whiff of vanilla and a spice. Was it cinnamon? He breathed in deeper. Vanilla had never smelled that good before.
A second passed before he followed her out the door. He took rapid steps to catch up with her. For having short legs, she certainly walked fast.
She stopped suddenly and turned to him. “You don’t have to do this.”
He nearly bumped into her and had to take a step back. “Do what?”
“Give me a ride.” She glanced down at the snow-covered sidewalk.
Then just as quickly, her gaze lifted and met his.
“They mean well, but they shouldn’t have put you in such an awkward position.
I know you wanted to say no, but you didn’t want to upset them.
So, we’ll just part ways here, and they’ll never know. ”
She was giving him an easy out. All he had to do was say goodbye and drive away. However, when he opened his mouth, he said, “Get in. It’s snowing.”
When she hesitated, he arched a brow. She wordlessly closed her mouth and nodded.
As he unlocked the pickup door for her, he couldn’t help but think that he never should have bought book eleven in the series he was reading.
The price for it was going to be much too dear.
Not only was he dog sitting, but he was now spending time with the only woman who had ever truly broken his heart.
It was Connie and Merry’s fault. They had ganged up on him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they’d had it all planned. Wait. Did they?
It was hard to tell with those two women. Merry had a reputation for being a bit of a matchmaker. If that was what she had in mind, he wasn’t falling for it.
He was giving Felicity a ride, but that was it. They didn’t have to talk. They didn’t have to catch up with each other. Because if he wasn’t careful, he was going to find himself falling for Felicity all over again. And that couldn’t happen.