Page 79 of A Christmas Bargain

“Then I wanted a pool over there!” Naomi said, stretching her hands out wide to indicate a big space.

“That’s a big pool!” Stacy joked. “Maybe start with a hot tub.”

“Oh, that’d feel so good right with all this cold snow,” I said in agreement.

“And a chicken coop over there,” Nicky said, joining the daydreaming.

“Chicken coop?” Derek and Naomi said in unison.

“Who’s going to clean that up?” Derek teased.

“What’s going on in the barn?” I asked when it was obvious that was where we were headed.

“Not sure yet,” Derek asked.

Stacy grinned. “Our grandpa used to store things in it, but lots of that was sold off years ago.”

What are you two hiding?

At last, Derek opened the big doors. The first sound of a puppy bark reached my ears.

“One more Christmas gift,” he said, winking at me.

I gasped as Naomi ran forward to the cage with all four beagle puppies.

“You got them all?” I asked, laughing as I dropped to my knees to hold one.

“Well, I couldn’t take just three,” he said.

Hugging one close, I stood to kiss him.

“You sure about moving in still?” Stacy teased.

“Oh, my God. Yes!” I said.

We’d have our hands full, but I couldn’t wait. For a half hour, we stayed out in the barn and we all cuddled the puppies. Stacy and Nicky were instrumental in getting the puppies from the shelter. This morning, when they brought them over and hid them in the barn for us to find, Stacy was asking if Naomi had been told about the surprise yet. It was my fault to misinterpret that as her asking if she knew that Derek and I were dating.

“We can all have veto power in deciding the names,” Naomi said as we walked the puppies back to the house.

“Just so they are easy to use in disciplining them. No.” Derek darted to stop two of them from climbing under the Christmas tree and drinking the water.

“Hey, wait.” I darted after another, laughing as it pulled the used wrapping paper out of a bag.

“Well, it’s official now,” Naomi declared, letting the fourth and tamest puppy snuggle on her lap. She petted its head as she hugged the stuffed animal I gave her in her arms.

“What?” Nicky asked as he brought one of the puppies with him to sit next to her. “You’re going to have to build a huge dog house out there too?”

She gasped. “They’ll sleep in my bed with me.”

“All of them?” I asked as I sat on the floor and cuddled the one that was almost all black.

“You’d never sleep,” Derek said with the last puppy cradled in his arms.

“I have a feeling none of you are going to be sleeping anytime soon with these puppies here,” Stacy teased.

“No.” Naomi shook her head, looking at Derek. “You’re going to have to marry Claire now.”

He grinned back at me and winked. “Well… we’ll get to that step once the snow melts so we can have a wedding out here.”

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