Chapter Five #2
She shrugged as she reached for another piece of pizza.
“It’s just that everything happened so fast with Gran.
One moment she was fine, the next she was in the hospital.
And then… Well, you know. And after I lost her, there were so many things I had to take care of for the estate.
Now, well, I’m just trying to sort out things for myself. ”
“What about your parents? Have they been around to help you?”
She stared down at her uneaten piece of pizza.
“They were too busy to make the funeral. They had some business meeting. Can you believe that? They didn’t want to reschedule.
They said it was too important—more important than Gran’s funeral.
Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. They were too busy to raise their own daughter. ”
Sympathy shone in Colin’s warm-brown eyes. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You made it to the funeral home. And you’re helping me now. It’s so much more than my parents ever did for me.”
She pressed her lips together to silence her mouth. She couldn’t believe she was talking about her parents. They were not something she talked about with anyone—including her grandmother.
“When I was young, Gran tried to cover for them to explain away their absence,” Holly said.
“As I grew up, I figured out Gran was making excuses for them to make me feel better. It didn’t work.
So, we agreed not to discuss them. Ever.
What was the point? They were never coming back. And that was fine with me.”
Maybe it hadn’t been fine with her younger self—the child in her that longed for a mother to take her shopping for a dress to wear to the school dance, for a father to take her to the father-daughter dance.
“I’m sorry, Holly. They missed out on getting to know a very special person.”
She blinked as she remembered when she was a kid and Christmas would roll around, and she would write letter after letter asking Santa to bring her parents back to her.
Each Christmas morning her heart would be filled with hope that they would be sitting in the living room next to the Christmas tree.
And each Christmas morning, she would be disappointed. She didn’t understand what was so wrong with her that her own parents didn’t want her. Gran always said there was nothing wrong with her—it was her parents that had something wrong with them.
But all of that had been a long time ago. As a kid, Holly had figured out that going forward, all she needed was Gran. But now her grandmother was gone too. So, Holly figured the only person she could count on going forward was herself.
Something cold touched her arm, jarring her out of the past. She glanced to the side and saw Tater Tot sitting there, staring up at her. He was so cute, and she could use a hug right then.
She leaned over and picked him up. As soon as he was in her arms, he turned and licked her face. She wasn’t expecting that. His tongue was smooth against her skin and left a wet trail up her cheek.
“Those are puppy smooches. Get used to it,” Colin said. “I have a feeling he’s going to be giving you a lot more.”
Puppy smooches? It was a cute term.
When she put the pup down on the floor, she resisted the urge to wipe away the wetness from her cheek; she didn’t want Colin to think that she didn’t like the puppy.
The truth of the matter was that she had no intention of liking or disliking Tater Tot.
Liking the puppy meant she’d care about him, and if she cared about him, she’d want to keep him, and that was not happening. Nope. Not her. She was fine on her own.
“What’s wrong?” Colin’s voice drew her from her thoughts.
“Uh, nothing. Why?”
He shrugged. “You just had this look on your face. I couldn’t tell if you were… Never mind.”
Holly glanced over at the puppy and gasped. “Stop!”
“What’s wrong?” Colin struggled to turn around.
“The puppy is peeing. Correction: he just peed on the floor.”
A dimpled smile came over Colin’s handsome face. When she frowned at him, he burst out laughing.
“This isn’t funny,” she said in her most indignant tone.
“If you could see the look on your face, you wouldn’t say that.” He laughed some more.
She continued to frown at him.
When he sobered up, he said, “I’m sorry. I forget that you aren’t used to being around animals. Why is it that Merry asked you to take care of Tater Tot?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I mean, almost anyone else in Kringle Falls would be a better choice than me.”
“I don’t know about that. You have a big, generous heart. That’s all Tater Tot needs.”
Holly focused on the puddle in the middle of her kitchen. “I thought Merry said he was potty trained.”
“I think you mean house broken. And I believe he is.”
“Then why did he do that?” She pointed to the mess.
“Because sometimes when dogs are stressed or not feeling well, they can revert in their training. You just have to get him back on track.”
“I do?” Her voice rose an octave. “But I don’t know the first thing about housebreaking a dog.” She sighed. “I’m thinking I should call Merry and tell her that I made a big mistake by agreeing to take him.”
“Nonsense.” Colin got to his feet. He glanced around. “Where’s the bag of puppy supplies?”
She pointed toward the outer room with all the boxes. “I didn’t want the puppy to get into it.”
Colin nodded in understanding before he headed out of the room. A few seconds later, she heard a bit of rummaging around.
He reappeared with a white bottle in his hands. He held it up so she could see the label. “Use this when the puppy has an accident.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Together, they cleaned up after the puppy. Colin let her know that she might want to set a timer and take the puppy out every hour until they settled into a routine. Holly insisted they wouldn’t be together long enough to form a routine.
Colin slipped on his coat. “And now I have to go. I have my own furries that need me to look after them.” He paused and looked at her. “Do you want me to take Tater Tot with me?”
Yes. Definitely. But when she opened her mouth, something quite different crossed her lips. “No. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?”
No. Not at all. She nodded. “Yes.” It was then that Holly realized she had taken up his entire evening. “Thank you for everything. I feel a little more confident about this venture.”
“Don’t worry. You’re going to do great. Also, I noticed Merry left you lots of helpful notes. And she included a puppy guide book. It should help you with the basic questions.
“Oh. Okay. I’ll look at that tonight.”
“Can I see your phone?” He held his hand out to her.
She didn’t know what he was up to, but she trusted him. She retrieved it from her back pocket and handed it over. He ran his fingers over the screen and then handed it back to her.
“There. You can call me any time.”
“Even if it’s a silly question like what time does he go to bed?”
“There are no silly questions when caring for an animal. And the answer would be when he falls asleep. Puppies his age have high energy and have to recharge. So, probably around eight or nine o’clock his energy will run out.
Make sure you wake him up for one more trip outside before you crate him for the evening. ”
She looked down at her phone and checked the time. She had a bit before she could put him to bed. And then she remembered she was supposed to set a timer to remind herself to take him outside. “How long did you say to set the timer for his next potty break?”
“Well, Tater Tot is a few months old so he can hold it a little longer. You could start with an hour.”
“I can do that.”
After Colin disappeared into the snowy night, Holly turned around to Tater Tot. “Looks like it’s just you and me. Maybe I should look in that bag of supplies and see what other goodies Merry sent home with us. And then I’ll set up your bed next to mine. Okay?”
The puppy gave her a wary look.
Holly hoped this arrangement went better than she’d imagined. Maybe she should have taken Colin up on his offer to take the puppy with him. Because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.