Noelle hadn’t seen Brady anywhere. She’d spent most of the parade looking for him, walking down the sides of the street, trying to spot him amid the bundled up viewers, leaping up to try to see over the heads of men much taller than her. If Brady was there, she hadn’t seen him.
The thought that she should call him entered her mind, but she didn’t do it. What would she say? Sorry I accused you of doing something you’d never do--again? No, until she figured out how to apologize, she wasn’t going to just call him and hope the right words popped out of her mouth.
With a sigh, she took one more look around. The downtown area had basically cleared out. She did see one lone figure she recognized, though. Drawing in a deep breath, Noelle approached Mayor Jenkins who had that smug smile on his face. “Good evening, Miss Snow.”
“Is it?” she asked, trying to keep her ange
One year later….“That one’s not for you, Pooch!” Noelle said, sitting on the floor beneath the Christmas tree. “That one clearly says Goldie on it. You don’t want to steal your sister’s present do you?”Pooch panted and hopped up and down undeterred by the fact that he’d have to settle for another present. Noelle removed the wrapping and held up a new squeaky toy for Goldie who barked with glee and then took it out of Noelle’s hands to investigate more.Brady reached beneath the tree and pulled out another gift. “This one’s for you, buddy,” he said to Pooch, unwrapping a new bone. The gift had Pooch giddy with excitement. He took it and dragged it across the floor, already gnawing on the end.“What about me?” Noelle asked. “Where’s my one Christmas Eve present?&rdqu
The small tuft of black and white fur disappeared behind the leg of an unexpected passerby, only a hint of his red scarf appearing for a moment as the dog dodged behind a lamp post, disappearing entirely for a few seconds before reappearing further down the crowded sidewalk. Brady Rogers wound his way through people leisurely walking from one shop to the next, making the most of the mild, early December day when the temperature was in the high forties, instead of the low thirties, or colder, which it usually was in Connecticut this time of year.“Hey! Stop!” Brady shouted again, accidentally clipping the jacket of a dad walking alongside his wife and kids as he hurried after the little dog. “Pardon me,” he said, glad he hadn’t knocked the man off balance. So far, there hadn’t been any head on collisions or casualties, but as the crowd thickened, and the dog got further away, Brady feared he might take out one of the ol
Brady heard a voice say, “Well, look at you! Aren’t you just darling!”His eyes followed the sound of a middle-aged woman’s chirp as she continued to dote on what he quickly saw was the little thief. She was sitting with her back to him on one of the benches, a cup in one hand, her other hand stroking the fur of the little tramp.Quickly, Brady trotted over, a stitch in his side, despite his frequent exercise routine. “Thank goodness,” he murmured as he noted the scarf was no longer trapped in the dog’s teeth. It was lying next to him on the bench. Even from a few feet away, Brady could see it was soiled with mud, perhaps some oil from the road, but it wasn’t torn. That was something.“Oh, is this your dog?” The woman slipped her hand beneath the red collar around the dog’s neck, and for the first time Brady noticed the collar was the exact same shade as
The black lab bounced on the concrete floor in front of her, yanking playfully on the blue leash wrapped around Doug Gibson’s hand. The two children at his side did not look nearly as cheerful as the pup, tears in their eyes, as they stared at a spot near Noelle’s shoes. She didn’t blame them. She felt the same way on the inside, and this wasn’t even her dog.“Mr. Gibson,” she said, attempting to keep her voice even, but anger was beginning to seep in. “This is the fourth dog this year.” She took a deep breath and placed her hands on her hips. Then, realizing that might look hostile, which is how she felt, but not how she wanted to appear, she folded them, then changed her mind again and dropped them to her sides--rigid.“I know that, Noelle,” he said, shaking his head. “But my wife keeps getting ‘em off of Craigslist,” he said with a shrug. “I keep tell
The chime behind Noelle had her spinning around again. She prayed it was a family there to adopt a pet, but when she saw a stranger holding a fluffy ball of black and white fur, she assumed the worst. “Can I help you?” she asked as another volunteer, the only other one working that Saturday afternoon, Clara Lincoln, came up to her elbow.Noelle had a feeling she should just let Clara, an older woman with the patience of a saint, handle this one, but when the man spoke, he said, “Hi, I was told to ask for Noelle.”“That’s me,” she said, trying not to notice the jade green eyes and the square jaw of the man before her. “How can I help you?” She folded her arms, not caring if she suddenly looked rude. Her anger at Mr. Gibson was no longer festering. It was surfacing, and she was about to explode if this man said what she had to assume he was about to say.“Well,
The slam of the door to his Silverado seemed final in a way Brady couldn’t quite accept. He glanced at the empty seat next to him. It seemed like Pooch should still be there, despite the fact that the dog had occupied the passenger side of the vehicle for only a few moments, just the one time, on the drive from the downtown area to the dog shelter. Still, it had been nice to have a companion with him, a cute one, one that pressed his nose to the window and watched where they were going with interest but didn’t ask a lot of questions.Realizing he was being silly, Brady started his truck and backed it out. Had it been all that long since he had a companion of sorts? Not really. He’d broken up with Charlotte only a few months before he moved to Holiday Hills, so it wasn’t that long ago, in the grand scheme of things. She definitely didn’t sit there quietly, though. And while she was cute, it wasn’t in the same way as Poo
Brady had just finished taking a few notes on his smartphone when he heard a familiar voice. “Well, if it isn’t the new city planner!”Turning around, Brady saw Mayor Joe Jenkins headed his way, a smile on his face barely visible between the large gray scarf wound around his neck and the matching wool cap pulled down to the top of his dark framed glasses. It wasn’t quite cold enough out here for all that, in Brady’s opinion, but the mayor was a small-framed man, at least ten years older than Brady, so probably in his late thirties, maybe early forties, and it was possible he chilled easily.“Hi, Mayor Jenkins,” Brady said, offering a wave but then clasping the extended, mitten-clad hand of the leader of the local government. “How are you?”“I am well, Brady. Very well,” he said, overly formal. “Are you out here looking at the sight of the new parki
Most evenings, Noelle was so tired after she got home from work, she could hardly wrestle up the energy to nuke a microwave dinner. Tonight, however, she felt different for reasons she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Rather than spending a lonely Saturday night in the small apartment she lived in above her parents’ garage, she decided to actually enter the house and borrow her mother’s oven. It wasn’t as if Doris was likely to be using it. Noelle couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mother cook anything, but she had a feeling it had probably been last July, for her stepdad’s birthday. Cliff loved a good pork tenderloin, and even though Doris made a fuss anytime anyone asked her to cook anything, she had made it for him. Despite her protesting, her mother was a good cook, when she could be bothered with turning on the oven.Noelle double-checked the timer she’d set on the stove and turned around