“What’s his name?” Ivy asked as she straightened. She turned the tablet toward her to begin ringing up the order.
“He doesn’t have one. And I’mnotgiving him one. I’m not keeping him because—”
“You’re only here for a few days. Right.” As Julie fished out her credit card to pay, Ivy bagged the items and added one of her business cards. She scrawled a number on the back. “My cell. We should get together while you’re in town.”
Julie relaxed. “Actually, that would be nice.”
Ivy tapped a button on the screen and asked, “Do you want a paper receipt?”
“No, thanks.”
Without being asked, Ivy gathered up the litter and one of the bags and followed Julie out of the store to her waiting truck. Fortunately, she’d parked it on the street within eyesight of Pinecone Falls Pets. After they’d loaded up the truck with Julie’s purchases and the unwanted cat, Ivy patted the carrier and shut the passenger door.
“I think he’ll win you over,” she said cheerily.
“Don’t hold your breath.”
With mock innocence, the shorter woman—who must be freezing without a coat—said, “Aren’t you going to ask whichheI’m talking about, Nolan or the cat?”
Julie turned away without dignifying that with an answer. “I have groceries to buy. I’ll text you.”
Ivy’s laugh followed her into the truck.
Chapter 7
“Here we are,” Julie muttered under her breath as she parked the truck in front of the Cozy Holly Inn. “Home sweet home.” She shut off the engine and turned to the cat carrier. It was facing the wrong direction for her to see inside, but tufts of white fur showed through the gaps in the plastic.
Julie had about a hundred things to carry inside, but first, she let the cat free into the house. He bolted out of sight. She could just imagine what new mess he was leaving for her somewhere inside the old house. Well, the joke was on him. She hadn’t even started cleaning up yet, so it was all the same to her.
The cat litter came out next, and she even found a spot for it in the bathroom and poured a healthy amount into the pan before returning for the bags of food—both for the cat and for herself. Her feet were blocks of ice by this point in her suede boots, and she didn’t want to have to make yet another trip, so she just scooped it all into one gigantic armload.
At the door, she regretted that decision. The wind had swept a drift of snow onto the porch, so she didn’t want to set the bags of food and cleaning supplies down in the snow. She juggled them instead, the fingers of her left hand aching with the weight as she quickly reached for the doorknob with her mostly free hand.
The door creaked open. A streak of white raced into the snow. Julie swore under her breath.
“Darn it!” She shoved the bags into the inn, shut the door, and tramped down the steps. “I could let you freeze, you know.” The cat blended in with the snow so perfectly that she could barely see it in the drifts.
She heard a loud bark. Chills raced down her spine. That couldn’t be good. Despite the heels on her boots, she lunged into the snow. It came up to her knees and somehow found gaps between her jeans and boots she hadn’t realized were there. Now losing feeling in her toesandher ankles, she gritted her teeth and pushed forward.
She didn’t have far to go. A large dog, as white and fluffy as the cat, planted its paws on an evergreen tree trunk. It was nearly as tall as her while standing! She froze, for a moment afraid it was a wolf or something and would turn on her next.
Thankfully the dog was wearing a bright-red collar, meaning that someone owned it. Meaning it was tame. Probably.
She advanced on the dog and swatted the air with her hands. “Shoo. Shoo, you! You shouldn’t be here.”
The barks paused. The dog sat on its haunches and turned its head, ears perked up into wide triangles over its fluffy face as it surveyed Julie.Don’t show fear.Dogs could smell it on a person, couldn’t they?
Except… the dog looked anything but vicious. It looked kind of sweet with its wagging tail and curious eyes that darted from Julie to the tree.
Although Julie was leery of taking her eyes off the unchaperoned dog, she glanced quickly up at the branches of the tree. Yes, there was the cat. Great. One more disaster to add to her morning.
She swatted her hands toward the dog again. “Shoo. I’ll never get him down with you here.”
The dog, probably a husky of some kind despite the lack of the usual gray coloring, didn’t move an inch. It also didn’t seem to be the least bit concerned to be sitting in a giant pile of snow.
Julie mumbled under her breath as she sidled closer to the tree. The dog stood. She held out her hands. “No. Stay right there. Don’t come any closer.”
Above her, on a branch just out of reach, the cat watched with narrowed eyes. Clearly, he wasn’t inclined to be any help.
