Chapter Twelve
It hadn’t been a restful night.
Saturday morning, Holly struggled not to yawn in front of the customers. She’d grabbed her largest insulated cup from the cabinet, and she’d filled it with coffee, milk, and sugar. She’d sipped on it throughout the morning.
Even though she’d tossed and turned much of the night, she still hadn’t come up with the reason her parents had picked this particular moment to come back to town.
She hadn’t heard from them at all that morning.
Was it wrong of her to just want them to go away?
Maybe they realized they’d made a mistake and headed off to deal with their “business.”
She pushed away the unwanted thoughts, and in their place, Colin’s image formed in her mind. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. In her mind, she visualized Colin walking through the doorway of the soap company. Her smile broadened. If only…
Her gaze shifted to Tater Tot, who was curled up in the bed Holly had made for him behind the counter. She noticed he’d dragged his blue blanket out of the bed, so she knelt down to pick it up. “You’re going to get cold.”
She petted Tater Tot before she began to tuck the blanket around the pup. Just then the door jingled.
“Arf! Arf-arf!”
“Shh… It’s okay.”
“Arf! Arf!”
“Tater, quiet.” When the dog paused, she said, “Welcome to the Kringle Soap Co. I’ll be right with you.
” She finished positioning the little blanket around Tater Tot.
She straightened. “Merry, it’s good to see you.
” But was it really? She glanced down at Tater Tot before her gaze returned to Merry. “Are you here to take Tater Tot?”
“I’m afraid not. The family I had in mind are moving for work, and it’s not a good time for them to adopt a dog.”
Holly nodded. “I can understand. Moving is hard enough without taking a new pet.”
“Then you’d be okay with him staying with you for a bit longer?”
She glanced down at Tater Tot. “I think we can manage.”
Merry hesitated. “Are you sure?”
Holly looked down at Tater Tot as he chewed on his bone. He was a lot of work, and she did have to get out of bed an hour earlier to make sure Tater was taken outside, fed, and played with before they made their way downstairs to open up the shop.
And yet she knew what it was like to be abandoned and to feel unwanted. She didn’t want that for Tater Tot. She would keep him until an appropriate and loving home was found for him.
“Yes.” Her voice was firm. “We’ve got this.” She glanced down at the pup, who looked up at her. “Huh, Tater?”
“Arf! Arf-arf!”
Merry smiled. “It sounds like he agrees.”
Holly knelt down and released the line she’d rigged to keep Tater Tot from wandering off. Before she could hook his leash, he ran off. For a little guy with short legs, he was very fast.
“Tater Tot, come back.”
He kept moving and turned the corner before she could catch him.
She moved out from behind the counter and came to a stop next to Merry.
She knew from experience that chasing after him would only make him run faster.
He thought it was a game, and there was nothing she could say that would convince him it wasn’t.
The shop was empty, so she let him nose his way around it. She knew that sooner or later, he would make his way back to her. He always did.
Merry’s gaze followed the puppy. “He seems very happy.”
Holly nodded. “It was a rough start, but we’re starting to figure each other out.”
Just then Tater Tot made his way over to her. She knelt down and picked him up. She snuggled him. In return, Tater Tot gave her a puppy smooch on the cheek.
“I’m glad to see things are going well. I need to be going.” Merry petted the pup before heading for the door. “I’ll be in contact as soon as I find the right home for him.” And then she was gone.
Holly looked at Tater. “What do you think? Should we close for lunch? I can take you outside, and then we can get something to eat.”
She stepped behind the counter to grab her phone and bag. Jingle-jingle. She looked toward the front door. In walked Billie Jean.
Holly couldn’t bring herself to call them Mom and Dad.
On the rare times that she’d mentioned them to her grandmother, she’d called them Billie Jean and Roger.
She always thought the names Mom and Dad were earned through a steady loving presence.
Her parents didn’t provide her with any of those things.
The best thing that had happened to her was ending up with her grandmother.
Compared to the old photos Holly had found amongst her grandmother’s belongings, Billie Jean had aged a lot.
There were deep lines etched around her eyes and her mouth.
Her skin was tan, but it had a leathery appearance, as though she’d spent a lot of time in the sun.
And there were little lines framing her mouth, as though she’d spent a lifetime smoking.
When her mother’s gaze met hers, Billie Jean smiled. The action didn’t look as though it came natural to her. Was it that her mother didn’t smile often? Or was this whole appearance in Kringle Falls some sort of show? Or was it a little of both?
“Hello, dear.” Again, the endearment sounded hollow coming from her mother. Billie Jean’s gaze moved to the dog in Holly’s arms. “What are you doing with that, um…”
“Puppy.” Roger stepped forward. The smile on his face didn’t quite reach his eyes. He reached out to pet Tater Tot.
The pup started to growl. His little body went stiff in her arms. Holly took a step back.
The smile fell from Roger’s face. His hand lowered. “Not a very friendly thing, is he?”
Tater Tot continued to stare at Holly’s parents as a low growl rumbled from him. Holly didn’t even know he knew how to growl. He’d only ever been sweet and loving toward her.
She needed to get this meeting over with as quickly as possible. It was impossible to deal with them on a familial level, so she went with something natural for her.
“How may I help you?” She noticed how her words made Billie Jean’s eyes momentarily widen.
Roger cleared his throat. “We came to take you to lunch.”
“I, uh…” She hadn’t been expecting that. The thought of sitting at a table with them for what? A half hour? Maybe an hour? And having to conjure up things to talk about sounded like a special kind of torture.
There was a part of her that had been waiting her entire life for a moment like this. As a child, she’d wished for this every Christmas. She’d wished for it upon a falling star. She’d even tried to make a deal with God, but she didn’t think he’d been listening.
After years of yearning, was she ready to just turn her back on them? Now, they were actually making an attempt to have some sort of relationship with her. It had to mean something, right?
Still, the protective wall she kept around her heart prompted her to say, “I can’t. The shop…I have the shop to run.”
Her mother stepped up next to her father. “But you have to eat, right?”
“I, uh…” Her mind searched for another excuse and failed.
“Come on,” Roger said. “You can close for lunch. We’ll be back in no time.”
“I, uh…” She realized she was having trouble stringing together words in order to form actual sentences. “I need to take care of Tater Tot.”
“It won’t take long, will it?” Billie Jean asked.
“It’s okay. Do what you need to do,” Roger said. “We have time.”
“I’ll be back.” Holly put the sign on the door that read: Out to lunch.
She rushed over to the apartment. She put on Tater Tot’s little boots followed by his coat. She took him out, and as though sensing something was amiss, he was unusually fast at doing his business. She fed him lunch and then put him into his crate.
When he looked at her with his big, sad puppy eyes, she said, “I’m sorry. I won’t be gone long.”
And then she put on her coat. She wondered if she was making the right decision.
After all, these were the people who missed her entire childhood.
They didn’t make it to her kindergarten graduation.
They were nowhere to be seen for her sixth grade or high school graduation.
They didn’t even send flowers when her grandmother died. So, why was she doing this?
She supposed there was still that little girl inside of her who was hoping for a happy ending—who wanted to believe her parents were sorry and regretted missing out on her childhood. Was this her long ago Christmas wish coming true?
He was worried about her.
Colin’s last thought the night before had been of Holly. And she’d once again filled his thoughts when he’d awakened. They’d had such fun tree shopping. He’d finally gotten her to unwind. And then they’d returned to her place, only for her to be blindsided by her parents.
He took an instant dislike to them, which was unusual for him.
Usually, he was good about giving people space and time to show their true colors.
He didn’t know if it was that they’d abandoned their daughter.
Or maybe it was hearing Holly as a kid wondering what was wrong with her that her own parents didn’t want her.
Then again, it could have been the way they’d barged into Holly’s life. What were they doing in her apartment? Were they hunting for something in particular?
And then for them to expect Holly to be grateful to see them. If it were up to him, he would have told them to go back where they came from. But none of this was up to him.
With it being the weekend, the clinic was closed. He’d planned to swing by the soap company to see how Holly was doing, but before he made it out the door, his phone had rung. There had been an accident. It happened in the winter with the ice on the roads.
This time it was a dog struck by a car. He’d hit the ground running. He’d called his vet tech and met the very upset dog parents at the office. Since there wasn’t an animal hospital close by, he was always on call.