Page 59 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
“Parker, is that you?” a female voice asked.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s Merry Kringle.”
“Hello, Mrs. Kringle. What can I do for you?”
“We have a problem, and we need your help.”
He stopped cleaning up his mess. Suddenly, he slipped into his sheriff persona. He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear. “Did you call nine-one-one?”
“Uh, no. It’s not that serious.”
He sighed in relief. “But you need me?”
“Yes. Please.”
He couldn’t imagine what she wanted his assistance for if it had nothing to do with his sheriff duties. “Could you tell me what this pertains to?”
“Uh…” It sounded like someone was speaking to her in the background, but the voices were muffled, as though the phone was covered. “Parker, I have to go. If you could come to the community center right away, I would greatly appreciate it.” And then the phone went dead.
He lowered his phone. The community center? It took him a moment to remember, but there was a Christmas event taking place there that evening. What in the world had gone wrong that they would need him?
With a sigh, he unplugged the glue gun. He only had a few more pieces of glass to attach to the last ornament. He would work on it when he got back. He still had to add the glitter glue and then seal them. He would have to keep at it since Christmas was just a couple days away.
Just in and out.
That was Belle’s plan when she arrived at the community center. Sure, she’d signed up for the gingerbread house competition, but that had been before the dognapping and before she’d ruined things between herself and Parker. Now, she just wasn’t in the Christmas spirit. There was this hollow spot in her chest and nothing seemed to fill it.
She just wanted to go home and curl up on the couch with Odie. Instead of Christmas movies, maybe she’d watch some romcoms. Then again maybe she’d watch a crime drama. Yes, that sounded much better.
As she approached the door of the community center, it opened before she reached it, and two teenagers barreled past her. They didn’t seem to notice her. She grabbed the door handle before the door could close.
When she stepped inside, she was surprised to see so many people. Christmas music playing in the background got lost in the murmur of voices. People were festively dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters, reindeer antlers, and a couple had on Rudolph noses. She felt underdressed in her snowflake sweater. She reminded herself she wasn’t staying, so it didn’t matter.
With the bags of pretzels in each of her hands, she headed for the kitchen area. As she worked her way through the room, numerous people stopped her and asked about Odie. She was so grateful to be able to tell them he was doing well. Each day he was a little more like himself.
When she made it to the busy kitchen, she held up the bags. “I have the pretzels.”
Merry smiled at her. “Thank you so much for picking those up. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. But I should be going.”
“Going? But you signed up for the contest.” Merry held up a clipboard and pointed. “I have your name right here.”
Belle inwardly groaned as she pasted on a smile. “I forgot about that. But I’m sure nobody will notice if I skip out.”
“Oh. But you’re wrong. Your partner will notice.”
“Partner?”
Merry nodded. “We decided to switch things up this year. We’re having two-person teams to work on each house.”
There had to be a way out of this. Belle grasped for the first excuse she could come up with. “But I don’t have a partner.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry. We matched people. In fact, your partner is at…” She glanced at the clipboard. “You can find him at table thirty-four.” And then Merry checked her gold wristwatch. “You better get to your seat. The competition starts in five minutes.” When Belle didn’t immediately move, Merry said, “Go ahead. I can’t wait to see what you create this year.”
Before she could respond, Merry moved away to speak to her husband. Belle’s gaze moved to the counter closest to her. There were bowls of colorful gumdrops, peppermints in both red and green, and so many other candies. She had to admit that she could decorate a mighty fine gingerbread house with all of that. In fact, last year she won this very contest.
