Once she was inside and buckled in, the heat blowing directly on her hands as she held them in front of the vents, Brady got in and backed out of the spot. “Did you have a good day?” he asked.“Not really,” she admitted. “I mean… Mom brought me lunch, which was nice. But we got some new kittens, I’m worried about them.”“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, his tone conveying he truly meant that. “I spoke to the council members about the Christmas events, basically one at a time today. While there was some pushback from Bob, and I’m not sure about a couple others, I think we have the votes. We’re going to call a special session for tomorrow night.”That sounded like good news. Noelle couldn’t help but smile to hear it. “Mom will be happy to hear that.”“I think she already knows.” He l

Having dinner at the diner with Noelle was something Brady could get used to. She was so much fun to sit and chat with, and even though it was clear she had other important matters on her mind, just sitting across from her in a booth, talking about their days and their hopes for the upcoming Christmas events lightened Brady’s load, despite the fact that he was in the middle of a stressful time, what with the move, pressure to perform at his new job, and everything else weighing him down.“So… you had the inspection on the house?” Noelle asked. He’d mentioned it in passing earlier but hadn’t elaborated. “How did it go?”“Great,” he said with a nod of his head. “Everything looks good. There’s a small crack in the foundation they said will need repaired soon, and they suggested a new roof, but other than that, everything is in great shape. Apparently, the couple that

Saturday was a beautiful day. Noelle awoke to see the snow had stopped overnight, and while it was cold enough outside to keep the ground from becoming wet and sloshy, it wasn’t frigid either.She was up bright and early, headed to the shelter to take care of the animals before she went to the downtown area to help with the Christmas decorating. The kittens were thriving, Goldie was almost one hundred percent healed, and Pooch was his adorable self. She almost spent too much time playing with him, which would’ve made her late, but she was able to pull herself away from the cute pup in time to make it downtown by 10:00, the time her mother had asked everyone to arrive.In the backseat, Noelle had several boxes of Christmas decorations to donate to the cause. She’d stopped by the local hardware store the night before to buy a few boxes of lights and plastic ornaments, on top of the ones they’d generously donated, b

Getting all of the animals unloaded and in spots where they were both comfortable and warm had been a challenge, but Noelle managed with the help of Rhonda and a few of the other volunteers. Along with Pooch and Blacky, she’d brought six other dogs and four cats, animals she thought had a good chance of finding new homes. They were all bright-eyed and happy to be out of the shelter. A couple of them, including Blacky, barked at every person who came by, even on the road away from where they were set up in a parking spot next to the sidewalk on the main strip. The road was closed to cars now that the event was beginning, and the merchants had all had a couple of hours to bring in their wares--or their friends as was the case with Noelle. She was satisfied that they had a good spot for traffic, near the hot cocoa stand and the kettle corn. It smelled great, that was for sure. Now, all she needed was to find some animals a good home.“Well, they

Something was off with Noelle. It seemed as if Mrs. Davis had told her about the donations because she had been smiling when she spoke to the woman, but by the time she made it over to the tent, she wasn’t just sad; she was scowling.“No luck?” Brady asked her.“Nope. I can’t believe he’s just… gone.”He’d moved to put his arm around her, but she stepped away.“I feel just terrible,” Rhonda said, not for the first time.“I know. It’s okay,” Noelle said. “I think we can go ahead and start loading up these empty kennels,” she said. “We can leave the animals that haven’t been adopted out for a bit longer, but other vendors are starting to load up.”“I can help with that,” Brady volunteered.“No, it’s okay,” N