Santa Puppy

by Lynn Cahoon

  “Of course.” He stared at something over my shoulder, then pointed. “Isn’t that the Santa you saw in the restaurant?”

  I spun around in my seat, but there was no one there. When I turned back around, Greg had already left the truck and was walking toward the trees. I climbed out of the truck and opened the door so Emma could jump out. “Why do I think I’m going to be baking eight dozen cookies by myself?”

  Emma barked as if to say, Don’t worry Jill, I’ll be there. Or more likely, Let’s hurry up and catch Greg. I love Greg.

  My dog was a traitor, through and through.

  We caught up with Greg a few minutes later, and he took Emma’s leash and put an arm around my shoulder.

  “If we weren’t in short sleeves and sandals, this would almost feel like Christmas.” He kissed me on the top of the head.

  “Oh, no. Don’t think you’re getting out of cookie baking that easily, buddy. Distracting me only works for so long. I would have thought you’d learned that about me by now.” I reached out and ran my hand over a tree’s needles. They were soft, and the smell that covered my hand was Christmas in a bottle. “This was a really good idea.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  I stared at him. “I’m the one who suggested a live tree, not you.”

  “Yeah, but I knew where the lot was. You only had a vague idea of a tree. I had a workable plan.” He pointed to one down the row. “What height were you thinking about?”

  “I don’t know, lower than the ceiling so I can put an angel on top?”

  An older woman pushed through a row of trees and stood next to us on the path. “You’re probably going to want a six-footer, then. If you’re in a normal house. But if you have vaulted ceilings, the sky’s the limit.”

  I studied the woman. She had a red-checked apron on with a picture of Mrs. Claus as well as what must be the name of the lot: Lumberjack Phil’s Christmas Pines. “Do you work here?”

  “Yes and no.” She grinned. “I’m Beth, I own the place. So at least I don’t have to pay myself an hourly wage to wander through the trees and pretend to get lost in the forest. What about you two? This your first Christmas together?”

  “Second,” Greg said.

  “We’re not together,” I blurted out. Greg stared at me.

  “What?” He stepped back and held up his arms. “Did I miss a memo?”

  “No, I mean, yes, we’re together, but we’re not married or living together or anything like that.” I could feel the hole I was digging getting deeper. I was definitely baking all by myself on Tuesday. “We’re dating.”

  Amusement twinkled on Beth’s face. “Well, you look like the perfect couple. Especially with that dog. I had a beau once. He…well, you’re not here to learn about me. Let’s get you a tree. Or are you getting two? One for each place?”

  “Just one. I’m over at the house more than I’m at my place anyway.” Greg nodded toward a large tree in the center of the lot. “Although I may come back and get that one for the station.”

  She turned back and considered him. “You could be a fireman.”

  “Police. I run the guys over at South Cove’s station. My dispatcher usually comes and gets our tree from your lot.” He held out a hand. “Greg King. And this is my girlfriend, whether she admits it or not, Jill Gardner.”

  As we shook hands, I added, “I own Coffee, Books, and More. It’s a…”

  “Coffee shop and bookstore, I got it.” Beth looked out in the direction of the ocean, though you couldn’t see the actual water from where they were. “I don’t leave Bakerstown much anymore. I used to love to travel, but oddly enough, this place doesn’t support the high life. I do good to pay my bills and have a bit left over for food and the essentials.”

  “Where did you like to travel?” I was always curious about where the locals went to get away from the paradise we lived in. Why go to another beach, just to see the beach? Amy did that, but she liked to ride the waves, and apparently—based on some things she keeps telling me and I always ignore—waves are different.

  “I used to get in my car and just drive. When I saw somewhere that looked fun, I’d stop for a few days, then take off again.” Beth shook her head. “I’m not sure what it is about you two, but you sure get me jawing about myself. I don’t think I’ve talked this much with one customer for years. Let’s go find a tree before I tell you about my childhood. Are you sure one of you isn’t a shrink?”

  Greg walked behind her and Emma trotted next to him. The rows were narrow so only one person could go at a time. Or one person and a dog. Finally, we stopped in a clearing and Beth pointed to a tree. “What about that one?”

  I gawked at the tree. It was perfect. Well rounded, just the right height, and exactly the vision I’d had when I decided I wanted a live tree. “How did you do that? This is perfect.”

  “My job is to put people with the right tree. Something about you two made me come here. I’ve been saving this tree for someone special, and I guess that’s the two of you.” Beth grinned. “Is that going to be cash or charge?”

  As we drove home with the tree in the back, Greg turned down the music. “I don’t know what her overhead is, but it has to be huge if she’s charging that much for trees and she can barely make her rent. I guess Esmeralda must have negotiated a price. I’m sure we didn’t pay this much last year.”

  “Don’t you think that’s some of the spin? You want to buy a tree from her because she needs the money. She’s not looking for a handout, just a sale.” I squeezed his arm. “You didn’t have to pay for the tree. I would have bought it.”

  “Give me this. After you saying we weren’t together, I felt like I needed to show my manliness by buying you an overpriced pine.” He turned onto the exit for South Cove. And slowed as he passed Esmeralda’s house. She had a Hummer sitting in her driveway. “Esmeralda told me when she left work on Friday that she was booked solid this weekend. Christmas must be a good time for reaching the other side.”

  “You are such a skeptic.” Emma started whining when we pulled into the driveway. “Hold on, girl, I’ll let you into the backyard.”

  As soon as I opened the door, she ran to the side of the driveway and did her business. Then she followed me into the backyard where I shut the gate on her. Going through the back of the house, I came out the front door. “The path is clear.”

  He put down the tailgate and waved me away as he pulled the tree out of the back. “I can do this. Manly, remember?”

  “You’re going to pull a muscle.” But I stepped back and let him carry the tree into the house through the front door. He lifted it up into the tree stand I’d already set up in front of the window.

  “Hold it steady for a minute while I tighten the tree down.” Greg’s voice came from behind the tree.

  I reached into the tree and grabbed the trunk. A guy in a red-checked shirt had sawed off the end of the trunk before he lifted the tree on one shoulder and walked it to the truck. Beth had told us it was so the tree would drink water while it was in the stand. Now, I just had to remember to actually water it. As giddy as I felt about having it in the house, I didn’t think that would be a problem. “It fits perfectly. I have the small twinkle lights in different colors, or I could do all white. What do you think?”

  “Colors, definitely. I like the way they bounce from one color to the next. You can let go now.” He scooted out from under the tree. And then stood behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Hey, about what I said back there, about us. I didn’t mean we weren’t together. I just never know what to say about our relationship.”

  “Someday you’re going to accept the fact that maybe we don’t need a label.” He squeezed me tight. “I’m perfectly happy just the way we are.”

  “You are poetic today.” But I agreed with him. I just needed to find a way to stop caring about what other peopl
e thought. “Too bad you have to leave. This is feeling kind of cozy.”

  “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”

  “Earworm,” I complained, but I leaned back into him and smiled stupidly at the tree. It was beginning to look like Christmas.

  CHAPTER 4

  The shop was open on Mondays for a short shift. We closed at four, which meant Aunt Jackie’s weekly evening shifts didn’t start until Tuesday, giving her a full two-day weekend. As I dragged myself out of bed to go make coffee for my morning commuters, I was beginning to think my aunt had made the schedule change just so she had a full weekend. On the other hand, she deserved some downtime. I decided the shower would wash away my grumpiness.

  Once I was at the shop, customers kept me busy until way after eight. When I saw one of my regulars in yoga pants and a sweatshirt instead of her typical power suit, I realized my aunt wasn’t the only one with the day off.

  “Hey, Candice. You off today?” I paused before making her regular. A lot of times on a day off, people wanted something special. Something with calories, like my favorite, a mocha with whipped cream.

  “What gave me away?” She held out her arms, showing off the clothes. “Actually, I’m off until after New Year’s. Please make me a double-shot mocha, and I’m going to find a ton of books to take with me on our trip. Robert keeps telling me I can bring my e-reader and save space in my suitcase, but I like the feel of a book. Especially when I’m relaxing.”

  “Who am I to argue?” I held up a ceramic cup. “You planning on staying a while, or do you want the drink to go?”

  “Let’s make it to go. I’ve got a bunch of errands to run before I go home and pack. I’m sorry I’m not going to be here for the party Saturday.” Candice set her purse on the counter and pulled out her wallet.

  “I’ll ring everything up together. I trust you.” I started making her drink and then stopped, wide-eyed, as she dropped a hundred-dollar bill in the donation jar we had set up for the animal shelter.

  “Oh, I’m not paying you yet.” She grinned as I handed her the drink. “I just want to do my part for those poor animals. If I didn’t work all the time, we’d consider adopting. But I’d hate to have the dog alone so much.”

  I waited for her to move toward the racks, then slipped out the bill and put it into the envelope we had in the cash register. Aunt Jackie had made a rule to not leave more than twenty dollars out in cash either in our tip jar or the donation jar. She said it kept people from getting ideas. We’d been lucky so far. Well, South Cove had been lucky. I don’t think we’ve had a robbery for all the time I’d been here. But like my aunt always said, “That’s no reason to act stupid.”

  When Candice came back to the counter, she had ten books, and she handed me a list of ten more. “Could you be a dear and order these for me?”

  “Sure. I might have these in next week, but with the holiday, it could delay shipping a few days.” I wrote her name on the sheet and tucked it into the book I’d been reading when she came in. “I’ll get them ordered this morning.”

  “I appreciate it.” She handed me her credit card and a diamond sparkled on her left hand.

  I leaned forward to take in the new ring. It had to be over a carat. “Wow, so is this a celebration trip?”

  “Totally. Robert proposed last night. I guess he was planning on doing it once we got to Europe, but he couldn’t wait. He was so cute.”

  “Congratulations.” I ran her card and held out the receipt for her to sign. “The ring is lovely.”

  “It is, isn’t it.” She signed the slip, then held the card for a minute while she considered the ring. “I’d almost given up on him asking. We’ve been together for years, but he wanted to focus on his career before he committed to me. It’s silly what men think is important. I would have married him if he sold hot dogs at the beach. I’m crazy in love with the guy.”

  As she walked out, I thought about couples and love and what makes people hold off being happy. Of course, just because someone gets married doesn’t ensure they’ll be happy. I have empirical proof on that theory since my own marriage didn’t work. There were all kinds of reasons we broke up, but I think the main one was we just didn’t love each other enough.

  I opened my laptop and ordered the books, smiling when I saw that The Complete Wedding Planner was one of the books on her list. Candice was going into the next part of this adventure prepared.

  By the time Sasha came in to start her shift, I’d been able to curl up and finish one of the young-adult advance reader copies she’d asked me to read. Sasha ran our teen groups as well as a preschool book club every Thursday. The good news is the kids were buying more books and the clubs kept the shop from being empty when the tourist trade was slow. My aunt wanted me to start an early bird book club for women of a certain age. I told her she’d be more effective as the facilitator. So far, that’s as far as the idea had gotten.

  It’s not that I minded running the group, I just didn’t want it to take over my reading time.

  “It’s been pretty slow.” I grabbed my jacket. I almost always walked back and forth from the shop to my house. Unless there was a hurricane. And if that happens, I’m not opening the store anyway. So walking works for me. “Call me if you need to. I’m stopping at Diamond Lille’s for lunch before I go home.”

  “Is Greg meeting you?” Sasha started stocking the front coffee bar. Something I could have done if I’d finished the book a few minutes early. I shook off the tiny shred of guilt.

  “No. He’s got end-of-year inventory to plow through the next two weeks. Esmeralda took this week off for vacation so they’re taking turns manning the phones. Even the mayor has had to take a turn.”

  “I bet that just burned his biscuits.” Sasha waved me out of the shop. “Go on. You’re off the clock. I’m sure you have a ton of things to get done before Christmas. I brought in my Christmas cards to address, just in case it’s slow.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have lots of time to get those done.”

  Sasha grinned like a kid. “Then you don’t mind?”

  “I’ve told you, if we’re not busy, you’re in charge of your time. As long as the work gets done and the customers are happy, we’re golden.” I said my goodbyes and headed out of the shop. Josh Thomas was out sweeping the sidewalk. “Morning, Josh.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” His response was quick and hard, like a snakebite.

  I paused, even though the last thing I wanted was to pick a fight with my neighbor and the only antique dealer in town. Why was he so touchy? The world may never know. “It’s a term of greeting. Used between people who know each other or with total strangers who want to be friendly. Do you need me to define the word friendly as well?”

  “You don’t have to be snarky. You don’t talk to me much nowadays. Especially since your aunt and I broke up.” His eyes misted with tears for a hot second. Then they were gone, as if the emotion had never been there.

  “You’re right. But honestly, Josh, I was just saying good morning.” I looked at the bench that the city had put outside his shop. It had been bare wood, but Kyle, Josh’s assistant, had painted the bench a shiny black with green vines and flowers sprinkled over it. The piece was amazing. “Kyle does really good work. You should have him do some things like this for the store.”

  “I hardly think that craft items would have a place in my antique store.” He studied the bench. “Although it is beautifully painted.”

  “You could sell them as decorative pieces to go along with the antiques. Have Kyle make up some samples for you to look at.” I knew Kyle was dying to talk to Josh about this because we’d chatted one day when he was painting the bench. “I’m buying some wooden chairs and a table for the kids’ section of the bookstore and he’s going to do something around a fairy-tale theme.”

  “I’ll have to talk with him.” Josh stared
into the window of his shop, probably visualizing how a few decorative pieces would change the look. “People do like that kind of thing.”

  “They do.” I glanced at my watch like I had a real appointment rather than just being starved for lunch. “Oops, I’ve got to run. Hope to see you at the Christmas party on Saturday.”

  “I’ve got my own shop to run, Miss Gardner.” He nodded and turned back to his sweeping.

  My phone rang as I was walking into Lille’s. “Hey, Greg, what’s going on?”

  “I was hoping to catch you at the shop. Where are you? At home?”

  I stepped back outside and sat on one of the benches. “Actually, no. I stopped at Lille’s for lunch. Want to join me?”

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up.

  I tucked my phone back in my purse and decided to wait outside for him. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was no wind. If I didn’t know Christmas was coming up next week, I would have said it was fall or spring. That’s the thing about California, the weather was typically decent. At least I didn’t have to worry about scraping my windows or shoveling snow.

  “But snow is the best part of Christmas.” The voice came from my left, and I turned toward a man dressed in an old-fashioned suit with a red shirt.

  It was the guy from the shelter. Had I said that last part aloud? I guess so. “I love the California Christmas. Snow is overrated. Do you live around here?”

  “I have a place north of here, but I’m down on a work trip.” He nodded to the diner. “Is the food good here?”

  “It’s the best. Tiny, the cook, he’s got a magical way with ingredients.” Lille should pay me for the recommendation.

  “Magical, you say. Well, I guess I need to check this out.” He nodded toward me. “Have a nice day, Jill.”

  Now, I know I didn’t tell him my name. I reached up to see if I had worn the necklace that had my name on it, but no, it wasn’t that. I stood and was about to follow him into the restaurant when I heard my name being called.