Chapter Six
How had he let their friendship lapse?
The next day, Colin couldn’t help but smile every time he recalled his evening with Holly.
He wondered how she was making out with the puppy.
Throughout the day, he’d given thought to calling her, but before he could turn thought into action, he was called away for a consultation or emergency at the animal clinic.
Now, with his workday over, his thoughts drifted back to Holly.
It was no wonder she didn’t have any holiday decorations up, since it looked like she was still in the midst of moving in.
It was almost like she wasn’t planning to stay, but he knew that wasn’t right.
After all, where would Holly go? She’d been born and bred in Kringle Falls. She wouldn’t leave. Would she?
After broaching the subject of her parents, it was obvious she wouldn’t be going to see them. What had he been thinking to bring up the subject of her parents? It was a well-known fact that her parents had abandoned her as a baby.
He never saw her parents. They could walk right up to him, and he wouldn’t recognize them. Sadly, he wondered if it was the same way for Holly.
And worst of all, Holly had lost the one person who was solidly in her corner.
Guilt assailed him. Sure, he might have gone to her grandmother’s funeral along with most of the town, but afterward, he should have been a better friend to Holly.
He should have been there to give her a shoulder to lean on while she’d gone through those monumental changes in her life.
He was a pro at procrastination. He would tell himself he was too busy building up his clinic. He also would assure himself that he’d stop by and check on her another day. The only problem was that “another day” never came. He was done with all of the excuses and justifications.
The clinic closed at five o’clock, and he tended to a few walk-in emergency appointments before he walked out the door.
He went straight home to check on his own furbabies.
Everyone was happy to see him and even happier to get their dinner.
And then he thought of calling Holly, but he decided that seeing her in person would be better. So, he went over to her place.
It wasn’t until he was ringing her buzzer that he felt as though he shouldn’t have shown up empty-handed. A moment later, the door swung open. Holly stood there with her hair in a messy bun, an old T-shirt and gray sweatpants on.
Her eyes momentarily widened. “Colin, what are you doing here?” She ran a hand over her hair before tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I mean, hi. Do you want to come in?”
He nodded. When she moved back, he stepped into the entryway. He closed the door against the winter air and followed her up the stairs.
As he climbed the stairs, he couldn’t help but think she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. Once they were in the kitchen, she turned to him. Her face was flawless, except for a bit of flour on her cheek. His fingers tingled with the need to reach out to her, but he resisted the urge.
But when he took a second glance, he noticed the shadows beneath her eyes. She was tired. Maybe he shouldn’t have stopped over.
“If you’re busy,” he said, “I can go.”
“No, silly. You’re already here. So, stay.”
He wasn’t going to argue with her. “I hadn’t heard from you today, and I was wondering how things were going.”
Ding. Ding. Ding.
“That’s my timer. I have something in the oven.”
While she took care of the oven, he slipped off his coat and hung it over the back of a kitchen chair. The apartment was warm and cozy. There was a hint of a buttery sweet scent in the air. Whatever she had in the oven, he definitely approved of.
He also noticed there appeared to be fewer boxes in the other room. He took that as a good sign. If she had time to do a bit of unpacking, things with the puppy must be going all right.
Before he could find out what she was baking, Tater Tot ran over to the gate separating the kitchen and living room.
He was barking with his tail wagging so much that his whole backside was swaying side to side.
He had a good heart and would make someone a great companion.
He just wondered if Tater Tot’s sweetness would melt through Holly’s resistance to keeping him.
Colin moved next to the gate and bent down. “Hey, boy.” He reached out and petted the dog. “Are you being a good boy?”
“As long as you don’t count him having accidents in the house.” Holly sighed as she came to stand next to him.
“I’m sorry. Once he gets comfortable here, he’ll do better.”
“But he’s not supposed to stay long. I thought Merry would come for him today, but when I called her, she said the family she had in mind didn’t work out. Do you know how hard it is to run a shop and take care of a dog?”
His brows rose. “You took him to work with you?”
“Well, yeah. I couldn’t just leave him home alone.” Then she sent him a worried look. “Why? Wasn’t I supposed to do that?”
“It’s fine. I was just surprised. You, uh…” He wasn’t sure how to phrase this without upsetting her. “You just seemed so unsure about having him around.”
“I took his bed and attached his lead to the counter. So, he was out of the way. When he was asleep, the customers didn’t even know he was there.”
Colin was afraid to ask the question, but he just had to know. “And what happened when he was awake?”
“He yapped until I got him. The customers all scooped up soap to purchase so they could come up to the counter and meet him. All they could do was fuss over him. I tried to find someone to adopt him, but none of them were interested. They all had one excuse or another. But I sold a lot of soap. A whole lot.”
Colin smiled. “See there. You have a new sales associate.”
“Is that what you call him?” She looked at Tater Tot and shook her head. “Even so, I think it’ll be better for him to find his ‘fur-ever’ home sooner rather than later.”
“And so, you’re helping the process?”
She shrugged. “I’m doing what I can. I told everyone to spread the word that he’s available for adoption, and they offered to help. Some even took a picture of him.”
There was a part of him that was hoping Holly would adopt Tater Tot. Colin couldn’t help but feel with her grandmother gone, Holly needed someone in her life. And as he knew from experience, a dog can make a great companion. Maybe what she needed was a bit more time.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Merry had been doing a bit of matchmaking when she paired Holly with Tater Tot. A little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It seemed to be working out, whether Holly wanted to admit it or not.
“What are you smiling about?” She arched a brow.
He didn’t know that his thoughts had translated to his face. He glanced around the kitchen. “It looks like you’ve started a bakery.” He arched a brow. “Did you go and change the soap company to a bakery?”
“No, silly. This is for the Kringles’ Christmas party this weekend.”
His gaze scanned the kitchen. “She asked you to bake all of this?”
He knew Merry was concerned about Holly with this being her first holiday alone, but asking her to not only care for Tater Tot but also to bake, what? Six different types of cookies seemed like a lot.
“She didn’t ask me to do it. I volunteered.”
He was still taking in the dozens and dozens of cookies. “But why?”
“My grandmother did all of this for Merry’s party each year. I thought I would keep up the tradition. It’s what Gran would have wanted.”
He wondered if her grandmother would want her granddaughter taking on more responsibility. She had more than enough going on in her life with moving into a new place while keeping the soap business operating.
Colin opened the gate to let the puppy in the kitchen. Tater Tot ran over and jumped up on him. Colin leaned down and petted his head. “Hey, boy.”
“Tater, get down.” Holly’s voice had a firm tone to it. When the pup got down, she said, “Good boy.”
Colin was impressed. “Looks like you’ve been working on your training.”
“It was in the book Merry put with the supplies. I read it last night.”
“As in you read the whole book last night?”
She nodded. “I needed to know what I’m doing.”
He was impressed. Maybe the pup was the best medicine for her. But with all of this baking, he worried that she was overdoing it. He might have to have a word with Merry.
His gaze moved to the sink and the surrounding counter. There was a pile of mixing bowls, spatulas, and baking sheets. He might not know much about baking, but he could definitely help load the dishwasher.
The timer went off. While Holly got two trays of cookies from the oven, he rolled up his sleeves. He moved toward the sink.
Holly straightened and looked at him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to work on that stack of dishes.”
Her gaze moved from him to the overflowing sink and then returned to him. “Oh, no. I’ve got it.”
He was pretty certain that after working all day and then baking all of this, not to mention taking care of the puppy, that she was exhausted. “I don’t mind pitching in. I’ll have this cleaned up in no time.”
Once he had the dishwasher filled with the first load, he’d see what Holly wanted to eat for dinner. He glanced around. It was then he realized there was a hitch in his plan.
There was no dishwasher. Oh no. He’d just volunteered to handwash all of this stuff. He inwardly groaned.
“Is there a problem?” Holly’s voice jarred him out of his shock.
“Uh. No.” Yes. Definitely yes. How is it that she doesn’t have a dishwasher?
“The dish soap is under the sink. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. I never realized until now how busy my grandmother was in order to run a business, raise me, and still participate in community events. She was impressive.”
“So are you.” He located the soap and a dishrag. Holly had a drying rack, so he supposed that was something. Then again, with all these dirty dishes, there was no way they’d all fit in that drying rack. He hoped she had a lot of dish towels.
He got to work. He found himself continually glancing over his shoulder to see what Holly was up to. They chatted about the snow, the holidays, and his family.
When he glanced over at her and noticed a piping bag in her hand, he lowered the dish rag. “What are you making with the piping bag?”
“The butter cookies. I pipe out the dough in order to make all of the ridges. When they come out of the oven, I’ll take half of the cookies and dip half of each one in white chocolate.
The other cookies, I’ll dip in milk chocolate.
Then I’ll add red, white, and green nonpareils.
” When he sent her a puzzled look, she clarified. “Round sprinkles.”
“Oh.” He nodded and gave it some thought. “I remember those cookies because I always thought they looked like they would take a lot of work to make.”
Holly continued piping the cookies. “They take a fair amount of time, but they are totally worth it.”
“I’m looking forward to having one, if you’re willing to share.”
“I suppose that’s the least I can do for the help.” When she smiled at him, he got a funny feeling in his chest.
He briefly smiled back before returning to washing more dishes. There were two large mixing bowls in the sink and one on the counter with frosting. He wanted to ask how many mixing bowls she owned, but he didn’t.
They continued to work. She dirtied the dishes, and he cleaned them. He’d swear that she dirtied them faster than he could wash them. By the end of the evening, he knew his way around her kitchen.
He wanted to stay and have dinner with her, but he couldn’t do it, because he had his own furbabies waiting at home for him. And then he had an idea.
“Would you like to come to my place for dinner tomorrow?” he asked.
Holly hesitated as her gaze moved around the kitchen where almost every flat surface was covered with cookies.
Before she could turn him down, he said, “Come on. You know that you need to eat. And Tater Tot can meet my dogs. The socialization will do him good. I’m sure he’s missing the other puppies he traveled here with.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” She looked at Tater Tot, who was now lying next to her feet. “Okay. If you’re sure it’s not an imposition.”
“It won’t be.” And then they made arrangements for the following evening.
When he left, he told himself it wasn’t a date. They were just two old friends helping a stray dog. Nothing more.