Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses (Kringle Falls #2)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

“A rf! Arf!”

Early on a snowy Thursday morning, Belle Sinclair smiled as she sat crossed-legged on the floor of her living room. Her new puppy, Odie, chased the squeaky ball that rolled across the floor. Playing ball was his favorite activity, aside from giving her kisses.

Odie was a small dog. Only about seven pounds so far. The vet guessed when Odie was fully grown, he’d weigh about fifteen pounds.

No one was quite sure exactly what breeds were in his lineage. Belle suspected there was some poodle in him. He had the softest curly orange fur. He was long and low to the ground, and he had an outgoing personality. He greeted everyone with a wagging tail.

Little more than a week ago, Merry Kringle had introduced Odie into her life.

Belle remembered the day she’d received a mysterious call from Merry.

When the wife of the town’s mayor invited her to stop by, Belle’s curiosity had been raised.

As soon as she’d stepped into Purr ’n Woof Supplies and saw Odie, she’d fallen in love.

There had been no need for Merry to talk Belle into taking him home, because after the first snuggle, it was already a done deal.

Originally, there had been three homeless puppies who had been transported from a shelter in Ohio to Kringle Falls via her new friend, Candi Goodman.

At that point, one of the pups, Tank, had been adopted.

Belle felt bad about taking Odie and leaving Tater Tot, but Merry told her not to worry.

She’d already had the perfect home in mind for him.

Belle never regretted taking Odie home with her.

The truth of the matter was that Belle was tired of living alone.

After losing both of her parents when she was only eighteen, she’d been on her own.

Without any other close family, she made her own family within the close-knit community of Kringle Falls.

Still, there was no one to miss her when she was gone or to be happy when she returned home. And she was tired of waiting around for Mister Right to appear in her life. She was beginning to think that was never going to happen. And so, she was carving out her own life according to her own terms.

Odie ran toward her with the yellow ball in his mouth.

He dropped it at her feet. She picked it up and gave it another toss.

Only this time the ball went off course and rolled under the Christmas tree.

At full speed, Odie charged after the ball.

When he tried to stop on the hardwood floors, he ended up sliding.

He collided with the tree stand. The jingle of glass heirloom ornaments filled the room.

Belle jumped to her feet and rushed over to Odie. She got him and the ball out from under the tree. Once she rolled the ball to the other side of the living room, she inspected the ornaments. They all appeared to have survived the collision.

She stepped back and took in the sight of the pink, green, blue, and white ornaments on the tree.

They had been handed down through the family.

A couple were from her great-grandmother, others were from her grandmother, and a large portion were from her mother.

And slowly, she’d been adding some of her own to the collection.

At Christmastime, she loved getting out the decorations because it made her feel a little bit closer to the family that no longer existed. As she stepped back to the couch, she noticed one of the ornaments from the back of the tree had fallen.

She rushed over to the tree and knelt down. Of course, Odie had to see what she was doing. So, while she was on her hands and knees, he was licking her and attempting to jump on her. What a silly puppy.

At last, her fingers wrapped around the ornament. When she sat back on her heels, a quick inspection told her it was unharmed. She breathed easier.

The porcelain ornament was in the shape of a little girl holding her teddy bear. Belle ran her fingertips over the ornament with her name scrolled at the bottom. Her mother had painted the small figurine. A sense of longing and loneliness swept over her. She missed her mother a lot.

She blamed herself for her parents not being there to share the holiday with her.

She recalled how it was Christmastime eleven years ago.

Her parents had been out on the snowy roads when a deer ran in front of the car, and they went over a hillside.

Her father had died on impact, but her mother had lived a little longer…

After that, nothing had ever been the same.

The life insurance money, of which there wasn’t much, went to paying for their funerals and paying off their debts.

Not quite out of high school, Belle had to figure out how to make it on her own.

It wasn’t easy at the age of eighteen to suddenly be in the world all on her own with no safety net available to catch her if she should fall.

And she had numerous times, but each time she’d gotten back up and brushed herself off.

The puppy took a mouthful of her flannel pant leg and yanked her back to the present. She blinked away the unshed tears and turned her head to look at him. He stared up at her with those big brown eyes that had gotten him out of so much trouble because he was just sooo cute.

Odie pulled on her pants once more. He still wanted to play. He was a ball of energy, while she was still trying to wake up.

Belle placed the ornament higher on the tree before checking the time. She had a few more minutes before she had to get ready for work. She sat down next to the tree and rolled the ball a few more times.

And then it was time to get on with the day. The puppy ran back to her, dropping the slobbery yellow ball in her lap. When she didn’t immediately throw the ball, Odie climbed onto her lap and laid his head down on her thigh. Belle ran her hand down over his downy-soft back.

She lowered her head. “Hey, little boy, I need to get ready for work. I can’t be late.”

Odie stood up, placing his front paws on her chest. He lifted his head and gave her a sloppy kiss.

Her heart swelled with love. They’d only been together a little more than a week, and already she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.

They were both orphans who needed each other.

He filled a hole in her heart, and she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

Belle scooped up the puppy and gave him a hug. “I love you. You’ll never be alone again.”

Odie leaned into her chest. And for a moment, she just sat there, cuddling him. She felt bad for leaving him home alone, but she would be back at lunch time to let him out and feed him.

The alarm on her smart watch vibrated. It was set to remind her to get ready for work. It was with the biggest regret that she lifted the puppy from her chest.

She turned him so she could look into his big brown eyes. “I’m so sorry, little buddy, but I have to get ready for work.”

The puppy let out a whine, as though he understood what she’d just said.

“Okay. You can come with me while I grab a shower and get ready. But then you have to go to your crate.” When the pup let out another whine, she said, “I know it isn’t fair, but I will be back in no time.”

Belle rushed to get ready, which could be difficult with a rambunctious puppy getting into everything. Somehow, she managed to keep him out of things.

When she stepped up to the closet, she couldn’t decide on an outfit.

Nothing seemed to fit her mood. Running out of time before she was late for work, she tossed the discarded clothes onto the bed.

At last, she settled on a blue sweater with a snowman on the front paired with a blue skirt that hit mid-calf.

She moved to her chest of drawers. On top was her jewelry box from when she was a kid. Once upon a time, it had a ballerina inside it that would turn as the music would play. She couldn’t remember the last time it had worked. Sadly, after all of these years, the jewelry box was falling apart.

She thought of the antique jewelry box she’d found an estate sale this past autumn.

The wooden box had a rose carved in the lid—her favorite flower.

It needed a bit of work so she had it stored in the garage until she had time to spiff it up.

It shouldn’t take more than some sanding and staining it.

Noticing the time, she realized she better hurry. She lifted the lid on the jewelry box and one of the hinges came loose. She sighed. She didn’t have time to do anything about it now. She grabbed a snowflake necklace. It would go perfectly with this sweater. And she had snowflake earrings to match.

She scooped up Odie and rushed downstairs. He needed one more trip outside before he went into his crate. She put his red coat on him before they rushed out to the small area she kept shoveled just for him.

However, Odie had no interest in doing his business.

Instead, he sniffed every snowflake and then proceeded to stick his head in the snow.

Belle couldn’t resist a chuckle when the puppy pulled out his snow-covered head.

He blinked and then looked at her with those two big brown eyes looking out from what looked like a big snowball on his head.

As she laughed, Odie shook himself, sending snow all over her. Oh, puppy.

By the time they returned to the house, she was running late. She put Odie into his crate with his comfy cushion and a couple of fleece blankets. He had some toys and a water bowl.

Odie whimpered and sent her a sad puppy face. It was so hard to leave him. “I really do have to go to work if you want more kibble. I love you, little guy. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

With the greatest regret, she turned away from his pleading eyes. She couldn’t be late for work. Not again.

Belle ran out of the little red house that resided on the outskirts of Kringle Falls. As soon as her foot hit the sidewalk, she slipped. Beneath the freshly fallen snow was a layer of ice. Her arms waved at her sides as she regained her balance. She slowed down the rest of the way.

She hopped into her old red Jeep. With a glance in the rearview mirror, she backed out of the gravel driveway and headed to work. Her gaze strayed to the dashboard. She had exactly nine minutes to get there. Every time she glanced at the time, she pressed a little harder on the accelerator.

Mrs. Mavis Thompson was a widow, and she had been Belle’s boss since she was in high school.

Although Mavis was very kind, she was a stickler for timeliness, and Belle had been late just the day before.

It wasn’t her fault, but Mavis didn’t want to hear any excuses.

And now that Belle was trying to convince her to sell her the business when she retired, it was imperative that she impress her.

Belle pulled to a stop at the intersection. After a few cars passed in front of her, she turned right onto Main Street. Frills & Heels Boutique was on the other side of town.

As soon as she made it into Kringle Falls proper, the first traffic light she came to was red. With a sigh, she tramped the brakes. The last thing she needed was to hit all three red lights on her way across town.

Her fingers drummed against the steering wheel. As she waited for the light to change, she glanced around. Fresh snow had fallen the night before, coating the rooftops and awnings. It made Kringle Falls look as though it had been stolen from the front of a Christmas card.

Even though it wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning, the sidewalks were busy. She’d grown up in this town and spent her whole adult life here. But in recent years, city hall had really played up the part of it being a Christmas town—a tourist’s destination.

The campaign had really taken off. Their little town was growing. Sometimes, she worried that it was growing too fast. When she was little, everyone in town knew everyone else. These days there were a number of faces she couldn’t put a name to. So, their campaign had its pluses and minuses.

Still, Belle couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

Her memories were here. Her friends were here.

And her future was here. Her main goal now was to buy the boutique when the owner retired.

Mavis didn’t have any children to leave it to, and she was anxious to be closer to her sister who lived in Florida.

Belle had been saving her money for years.

Sometimes more than other times, but her nest egg had steadily grown, and the portion that she’d invested had done really well.

Now that she had a respectable amount, she felt as though she could approach a bank for a small business loan without them laughing her out of the place.

The light changed to green. The car in front of her didn’t move. Belle tapped her horn. The car inched forward. It appeared they weren’t comfortable driving on the winter roads, even though the roads in town had been plowed and treated.

To her relief, the car turned left. She continued straight ahead. She was happy to find the roadway nothing more than wet. Christmas was just two weeks away, and the town was completely decked out in its finest holiday decorations.

As usual, she didn’t have any Christmas plans other than to work.

Without any family, the traditions from her past had slipped away.

Now she watched a lot of holiday movies and occasionally did things with her friends.

When she had a boyfriend, she would hang out with him, but after the last breakup didn’t go well, she wasn’t anxious to enter into a new relationship.

Wee-woo! Wee-woo!

Her gaze flickered to the rear-view mirror and found flashing blue lights. Seriously? She let off the accelerator, hoping they would go around her. They didn’t. She inwardly groaned. Not again.