Chapter Seven
She wasn’t sure why she’d accepted his invitation.
The following day, Holly was a nervous wreck. She’d dropped things, forgotten things, and knocked things over. Thankfully, her customers were too distracted by Tater Tot to pay her clumsiness much attention.
The pup practically glowed with all of the attention. It made her happy to see him doing well, even if she was still struggling to figure out what he needed when he would bark at her or sit there and stare at her with his head cocked to the side.
As soon as she locked the soap company’s door for the evening, Holly raced upstairs to get ready for her date…um, for her dinner with… Nope. That sounded too much like a date too. She was getting ready to eat dinner at Colin’s house. Yes. That’s it. Finally.
This was her first visit to Colin’s house.
She’d heard that he’d bought the place on the edge of town, but she didn’t head in that direction very often, so she hadn’t checked it out.
And now that she was on his street, she realized that in the daylight, he would have a spectacular view of the distant hills.
With Tater Tot curled up on the passenger seat, she turned into Colin’s driveway.
The first thing she noticed were all of the twinkle lights strung across the front of his house.
It was festive-looking but not something she would have expected from Colin.
Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought she had.
Or maybe Colin had changed a lot since they grew up.
His walks were shoveled, except for the little bit of fresh snow that had fallen that evening. On the porch was an inflatable brown dog wearing a red Santa hat and a matching red scarf. It was cute and rather fitting.
On the other side of the red front door was an inflatable Christmas tree that must have been six feet tall. Tater Tot wasn’t sure what to make of the blowups. He sat up in her arms and growled at the tree, never taking his gaze off of it.
When she knocked at the door, a chorus of barks started on the other side of the door.
Tater Tot’s growling grew louder.
“It’s okay.” She petted him. “You’re safe. And those dogs are going to be your new friends. It’s okay. You’re okay. We’re okay.”
The barking stopped, and then the front door swung open. Colin smiled at her. “I’m so glad you made it.”
“Thanks for the invite.”
She could see past him. There were two, no…make that three dogs behind him. One looked to be a brown lab. The second was a white mid-size dog. Maybe a bull terrier. She wasn’t sure. And the third one looked to be some sort of St. Bernard mix.
Colin took a moment to fuss over each of them. The tails were going like crazy. And then he made them sit. She was impressed with how well they listened.
Tater Tot stopped growling as he watched the other dogs. She petted him, hoping to calm him.
She stepped inside, not sure what to expect. Tater Tot smashed himself against her chest as he looked down at the other dogs while they stared up at him.
“It’s okay,” Colin said. “They won’t hurt him.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure? They look so big compared to him.”
“He’ll be fine. I promise.” Colin’s voice was soft and soothing, like she remembered when they were kids. “They are used to having various animals pass through the house.”
She recalled when they were kids how he had tried numerous times to get her to pet one of his stray pets.
They weren’t always dogs or cats. Oh no.
Colin didn’t discriminate when it came to loving animals.
He loved them all, including toads and snakes.
Ugh! She drew the line at snakes and spiders. Eww!
His current adoptees were cute and fuzzy, not creepy, crawly, or scaley. Still, they were awfully big. She continued to stand there with Tater Tot clutched to her chest.
“May I hold Tater?” Colin held his hands out to her.
She hesitated. She knew she was being silly. Colin was the one person she trusted above anyone else in this town. She handed over Tater Tot. Then she wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do.
“Go ahead. Pet the dogs.”
She looked at the dog closest to her. He was the biggest of the bunch. He was the one that looked as though he had a lot of St. Bernard in him. It was only then she noticed his back legs were on wheels, like a wheel chair. Aw… Poor baby.
“This is Thor. He’s in charge.” Colin’s gaze moved to the dog. “It takes a lot of work to keep those other two pups in line, huh?”
Thor barked once, as though he was in total agreement.
She couldn’t help but smile. Her pulse raced as she held out her hand. Thor sniffed her before approaching her. He moved on his wheels as though they were a part of him.
Crouching, she ran her hand over his head. The next thing she knew, he was licking her cheek. She hadn’t been expecting that.
“See.” Colin smiled. “I knew he’d like you.”
She smiled. “I like him too. Can I ask what happened to him?”
Colin nodded. “He has hip dysplasia.” When she sent him a confused look, he said, “His hip joint didn’t develop properly. So, he needs a little help getting around.”
“He seems to do well on the wheels.”
“You should see him run around in the backyard.” Colin nodded to the side. “And next to him is Spuds.” When she went to move to Spuds, Colin rushed on to say, “Wait. You need to know that he’s deaf.”
“Oh no. Poor baby. What happened to him?”
“He was born that way. So, with him you have to be careful not to startle him. You want to make sure he can see you at all times, and when you touch him that you do it gently.”
“I can do that.” She held her hand out to Spuds, and he licked it. She couldn’t help but smile. “He seems nice.”
“He’s a big baby. Even though he’s deaf, I still talk to him. He can feel the vibrations from our voices.” Colin shrugged. “I just like to think it helps him feel more connected.”
“Hello, Spuds. You’re a sweetie.” While she spoke, the dog’s tail thumped the floor.
She talked to him as her hand ran down over his short white fur. In the background, she could hear Tater Tot whining. Was it possible he was jealous? Surely not. They hadn’t been together long enough to form that sort of bond. It was more likely he just wanted some attention too.
She turned her attention to the chocolate lab. “And who are you?”
“This is Harley. He’s very playful.”
As the dog sat before her, she gave him a quick onceover. He looked healthy. “Do I need to be aware of anything with him?”
“Harley? No, he doesn’t let his handicap hold him back. He’s an overgrown puppy.”
She gave Harley a closer look, noticing he was missing a leg. The poor baby. “He looks healthy to me.”
“He is very healthy. But he got tangled up with a car and lost one of his back legs. He doesn’t let that stop him. He runs and wrestles as well as his four-legged counterparts. Sometimes, I think he’s even more agile.”
She knelt down and introduced herself to Harley as she held out her hand for him to sniff. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The next thing she knew, Harley lathered her face with puppy smooches. She was caught off-guard and there was something else. It took her a moment to figure it out. And then it came to her—she was touched by the dog’s sweetness.
“I forgot to warn you that Harley is a bit of a lover.” Colin stood off to the side, still holding Tater Tot. When she stood, he asked, “Do you trust these guys with Tater?”
Her immediate answer was still no. Tater was so small next to them. They could trample him without even knowing it. She knew that she was being overprotective. And this acknowledgment shocked her.
She’d never been overprotective in her life. There never had been an occasion for her to be overprotective of another person or animal. Wait. Did that mean she was forming an attachment to Tater Tot?
No. That couldn’t be it. Because he wasn’t staying. Merry was finding him a home, and then what would happen to her? She couldn’t lose anyone else she cared about.
Nope. She wasn’t going to let the silly little pup into her heart. It wasn’t going to happen.
And so she deferred the question to Colin. “You’re the expert. What do you think?”
He arched a brow. “You want me to make this decision?”
Her heart beat a little faster because she knew what Colin’s decision would be, and it made her nervous. Still, she couldn’t let herself get attached. “Yes. You decide.”
“Okay. I think Tater Tot will be fine with the other dogs. After all, he came from a shelter where he was around a lot of other dogs bigger and smaller than him. And then he traveled here with Tank and Odie. I think he’ll do fine.” He paused, as though waiting for her input.
She bit back all of her worries, and she was surprised by how many she had. Instead of speaking and giving those worries a chance to escape, she merely nodded her head.
Colin knelt down and placed Tater Tot on the ground next to him. Keeping the leash short, he let Tater Tot decide what he wanted to do. For a second, the pup stood still as he stared at the other dogs.
Then Tater Tot ambled over to Harley. They attempted to sniff each other. When Harley moved to sniff Tater’s butt, Tater scampered away and ran head first into a wall of fur, otherwise known as Thor. Tater Tot bounced back from the big dog and landed on his butt.
Tater lifted his head. A confused look appeared on his little face as he tried to figure out who he’d run into. Then he barked at Thor. Tater barked some more.
Holly grew concerned. “Why is he barking?”
Colin smiled at her. “It’s okay. He wants Thor to play with him.”
“Really? But Thor is huge compared to him.”
“Apparently, Tater disagrees.”
When Thor wouldn’t play, Tater moved on to Spuds. They immediately hit it off. They raced into the living room. It was the first time she paid attention to the details of the room.
It was a spacious room with big windows and a fireplace at the end of the room. There were two large couches and an armchair. In the corner stood a tall pine tree. It was trimmed in red and white decorations.
Her gaze moved from the tree to Colin and back again. “Did you decorate the tree all by yourself?”
“Uh, yes.” He cast a worried look at the tree. “Why? Is it that bad?”
She shook her head. “It’s that good.”
Just then Tater and Spuds stopped in the middle of the room. They were fighting. Oh no!
Holly’s chest tightened. “Hey, stop!”
When she went to rush to his aid, Colin held out an arm, stopping her. “He’s okay. This is how they play.”
“Play?” That sure didn’t look like playing to her.
Poor Tater Tot was on the ground, belly-up, and it looked like Spuds was biting him. That wasn’t playing.
Colin lowered his arm. “I promise they’re fine.”
She glared at him. “I thought you knew all about dogs.”
“I do.” He nodded toward the dogs. “Look now.”
When she turned her head, she found Tater was standing, and it was Spuds on the floor with his feet in the air while Tater stood over him. It still didn’t look like playing to her.
“Trust me. They’ll let us know when the playing gets too rough. One of them will let out a squeal of pain.”
“I think that’s enough play for now.” She scooped up Tater Tot, who complained about being picked up. She ignored his protests as she held him safely in her arms.
She took a moment to take in the living room.
It was very comfy. She could easily imagine curling up on one of the couches with the fireplace warming the room as she watched a Christmas movie on the large-screen television.
And then Colin’s image appeared, and he was seated on the couch next to her.
She gave herself a mental shake. Where had that come from? Her crush on him had ended years ago—back when he left for college. He was yet another person whom she’d cared about and who had left her.
But she didn’t want to think about any of that right now. Colin was being her friend. He was trying to help her and Tater Tot. Their friendship deserved a second chance.