Page 41 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
The first part of the plan sounded good. The second part had her hesitating. “I’m not a good singer.”
Tricia waved off her concerns. “You don’t have to be.”
“I don’t?” She was confused. Wasn’t the point of caroling to sing to people?
Tricia shook her head. “I’ll tell you a secret. My husband can’t sing, so he lip-syncs.”
“Really?” After her surprised reaction slipped past her lips, Belle clamped them together.
Tricia was unfazed as she nodded. “Not many people know. And he never tells anyone that he’s faking it the whole time. But no one has to be a professional singer. It’s all for fun. So, you should use your voice, well, if you’re comfortable doing it.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.” And then a thought came to her. “What about Parker? Does he sing?”
Tricia nodded. “He has a beautiful voice, but he rarely uses it. I can’t remember the last time I got him to go caroling. That’s why I’m hoping you can get him to go this evening.”
“Me?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t think I’m the person to get him to go.”
“Sure, you are. If you were to ask him, I’m sure he would do it.” Tricia stopped from hanging up one of Belle’s blouses and looked directly at her. “My son can be stubborn, and sometimes he can’t see what’s right in front of his face. Just give him some time. He’ll come around.”
The heat returned to Belle’s cheeks. If she didn’t know better, she would think his mother was trying to set them up. But she wouldn’t do that, would she?
Tricia hung the top in the closet. “Is there anything else you need done up here?”
Belle shook her head. “Thank you so much. I never would have gotten this done today without your help.”
“I’m just sorry that someone broke in here and did all of this damage. They obviously don’t have any Christmas spirit in their heart.” Tricia moved to the bedroom doorway and paused. “I’ll just go get the guys to haul out the trash.”
After Parker’s mother headed downstairs, Belle took a moment to look around. Her bedroom was back to normal. Then again, a “new normal” would be a better description.
The lamp that had been next to her bed since she was a little girl was now gone—the brass base and hundreds of tiny glass pieces was all that remained. The remnants would be hauled out to the garbage along with numerous other knickknacks, picture frames, and there was even a wooden chair that had been smashed to pieces. The amount of destruction made her sick to her stomach to think about. She had to believe the culprit was going to be caught, and she’d be reunited with Odie. It was her only Christmas wish this year.
She heard the rumble of Parker’s voice just outside the bedroom. He was certainly turning out to be different than she’d pictured him all of these years. She was sorry she’d taken so long to get to know him better.
Chapter Fourteen
Whatwasshedoing?
Parker couldn’t believe his mother was blatantly playing matchmaker. She knew he didn’t go caroling, and yet she’d gone around him and included Belle. He couldn’t let Belle go walking around town without protection.
Even though he didn’t know who had broken into her house, he knew the person was becoming unhinged. The level of anger needed to do the damage inside her house was off the charts.
The suspect was taking chances. It wouldn’t be out of bounds to think they might try to grab Belle as a way of getting her to reveal the whereabouts of whatever it was they were searching for.
The good news was that they had the suspect’s DNA from the blood on the broken glass and his fingerprints. When they caught the person, they would have a solid link between the suspect and the crime. And it didn’t hurt that he’d assaulted a law enforcement officer.
Since Parker had a responsibility to keep Belle safe, he was now seated at his mother’s dining room table along with Michael, Candi, his parents and Belle. They’d just finished having soup and fresh-baked bread. It’d been a while since he’d had his mother’s home-baked bread, so he’d had an extra slice.
“I love all of your decorations,” Belle said to his mother.
“Thank you. I’ve been collecting them for years. Sometimes, I think I have too many. And then I find a new decoration, and I can’t resist it.”
The family groaned, including him. His mother had a problem with Christmas decorations. There wasn’t a room in the house that hadn’t been decorated, including both of the bathrooms. His parents’ Victorian-style home had electric candles in each of the windows. Even a pine tree in the yard had twinkle lights. And there was a giant snowman in the front yard.
“It’s time to go meet the group at Kringle Park for the caroling.” His mother beamed.
Everyone stood and filled their hands with dishes to carry to the kitchen. There wasn’t much talk as everyone rushed to clean up before they left.
At one point, he leaned over to Belle. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
