Page 54 of Here Comes Santa Paws

Elias had become someone whose opinion I trusted and cared about, but it wasn’t the time or place to talk about it. The interview might not lead anywhere, so why rock the boat?

“Seriously, are you okay?” His voice was quiet.

I kissed the top of his head. “Yeah. I was thinking about that photo contest.”

“Are you going to enter?” His tone was hopeful.

“Considering it.”

Elias straightened and turned toward me, the festive dressings on the homes quickly forgotten. “Do you have any photos in mind? What about taking some of the houses tonight? I bet you could get something of the reindeer and Mrs. Claus.”

Mrs. Claus turned back to us. “Always happy to pose for photos, dears.”

I chuckled and breathed easier now that I’d diverted Elias to a safer topic.

It was hard to ignore his eagerness about the photo contest. I had no idea what I’d even submit because I wasn’t out attending festival events and snapping photos with my DSLR camera, though cell phone cameras were damn good these days. As we passed a giant inflatable gingerbread house, I thought it might not hurt to snap a few pictures. Especially if it kept Elias smiling at me like that.

Chapter 23

Elias

“I might need a drink for this,”I mumbled as I reread the numbers in my spreadsheet. Budget management was far from my favorite part of the job, but it was important.

A sleeping Tinsel kicked her paws in jerky movements as her lip curled. When one of her kicks made contact with Nutcracker, also snoozing next to me on the couch, Nutcracker kicked Tinsel with his hind legs.

“Easy,” I warned as I placed my hand between them and used my pinky to scratch one and my thumb to scratch the other. They both fell back asleep in moments.

Smiling, I shook my head and tried to refocus on the spreadsheet. I wouldn’t mind taking a couch nap along with them. Even Krampus was taking a break from her evening neighborhood watch shift to snooze.

I opened a new document and began drafting several financial scenarios. Since getting the contractor’s bid a few days ago, I’d been working through the stages of grief. I was finally at the acceptance stage and needed to do my due diligence and move the scenarios bumping around my mind to paper.

Of course the bid was expensive—there were pipes to replace, walls to rebuild, water damage to fix, and who the hell knewwhat else once they got in there—but the bid had been an eye-opener. The guy had even offered to do some of it at cost since it was for the shelter, but that had only lowered the price slightly.

“Let’s start with the good news.” I popped over to the donation page and saw several hundred more dollars had come in. Christmas Falls was really coming together to help us out. Every dollar made a difference, but it would take some serious cash to keep us comfortably in the black. As comfortable as a small animal shelter could be.

I can’t let the shelter fail under my watch. The place had been important to me since I started volunteering there in high school to strengthen my college and scholarship applications. I hadn’t expected to fall in love with it and certainly hadn’t planned to apply to be its director.

“Time for a break.” I stretched my arms high and rolled my shoulders.

I hadn’t seen Roman since the Holiday House Lights Tour a few days ago. One evening, I had beers with local friends Mason and Taylor and dinner with Gramps the other. I wondered what Roman was up to. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach at the thought of him. Maybe he’d be game to hang out and watch TV together. Possibly some bonus making out. I wanted to finish what we’d started before.

A knock at the door woke the dogs in a flurry of rolling bodies and barking. I dodged the eager beasties and opened the door. Roman stood there with a disgruntled Carol hiding behind his legs. She looked adorable in her booties and a fancy red rain jacket.

“That’s festive.” I smiled down at her.

“It was the only color they had,” he grumbled. “The vet said walks were still important at this stage in her pregnancy, but I didn’t want her getting too cold.”

I tugged my lips between my teeth to hold back a teasing remark. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. What’s up?”

He tugged the zipper on his coat closer to his neck. There was a hesitant eagerness about his demeanor. “Want to join us for a walk?”

I blinked at him. I probably would’ve been less surprised if I saw Santa mooning us from his sleigh flying overhead. It took my brain a moment to process the question, but as soon as it did, I reached for my coat before I got a “yes” out.

I glanced at my dogs trying to squeeze past me to greet our visitors. “Mind if I bring one of them? I’ve wanted to socialize Carol with them now that she’s settled in your space. I should probably start with one so as not to overwhelm her. Trying it in neutral territory would be a good place to start.”

Roman stared down at the dog like he expected her to say no, but after a long silence, he sighed and nodded. He stared dubiously past me at my eager pups.

“Be right out.” I smiled at Roman, which earned me a small smile in return, and then I closed the door before I risked the dogs escaping.

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