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Chapter 26
Praying he wasn’t too late, Brady pulled into the closest parking spot next to the door of the animal shelter, ripped out his keys, and ran inside. He glanced around, looking for Noelle, looking for Pooch, but then, the parking lot only held Noelle’s SUV and another car he thought belonged to one of the volunteers, so he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t see Pooch’s owner inside.
“Can I help you?” a voice called, as she rounded the corner He recognized the woman as the one who’d been there the other day when came to take Pooch for his first walk. Her face softened as she recognized him, too. “Oh, hi there. Brady, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said, trying to calm his pounding heart. “I was looking for…. Has Pooch’s owner come yet?”
“Oh, I’m afraid you just missed her,” she said, giving him a small smile.
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All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 27
Stunned, Noelle watched Brady leave, not exactly sure what had happened. Had she said something to offend him? Was it Pooch? Brady’s reaction made no sense to her. She expected him to be happy to see Pooch. While he seemed to be at first, he left so abruptly, she just couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Could it be that he liked the dog and wanted to spend time with Pooch--but not with her? Had she done something wrong?Noelle couldn’t think of anything that she had done that may have triggered that reaction from him since they’d had dinner the night before. Naturally, she would’ve spent all afternoon dwelling on it if she would’ve been left to her own devices, but she had work to do, and these animals didn’t care if Brady had abruptly decided he didn’t like her or not. They wanted to be fed, watered, cleaned, walked, and loved.“Do you want me to take Pooch back to his cage before I g
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 28
“Well, Mr. Rogers, what is it exactly that you are looking for?” Jennifer Morris asked, releasing his hand and offering him a seat in her office.“Please, call me Brady,” he insisted, sitting down across from her as she took a seat behind her desk. “For now, I just need a place I can get into to rent right away. Beyond that, I am looking for a nice home that will be big enough for a family someday. Three or four bedrooms, two or three baths.”Jennifer took some notes on a notepad. “And is there a reason you want to rent first?”“I just want to be able to get out of my friends’ house soon. They’re getting ready to have a baby, and I feel like I’m in the way.”She nodded and jotted that down. “Do you know what sort of architecture you prefer? Do you like a more modern look or something more historical?”
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 29
The delete button on her keyboard was getting quite the workout. Every time Noelle went to make a post announcing Pooch’s availability, it just didn’t sound right, and she ended up deleting it and starting all over again. She didn’t know why; he was ready to find his forever home. All she needed to do was put up his picture, a few sentences about his temperament, and there was a good chance he’d be gone in a matter of hours.That was the problem, though. Noelle didn’t want Pooch to be gone. Not with just anyone, anyway. She wanted to know for certain that Pooch would be in the perfect home, with the perfect family.That wasn’t true either, though. She wanted Pooch to be with her. Or Brady. Or both of them. That wasn’t going to happen because she wasn’t with Brady. Not to mention, as quickly as he’d taken off out of there the evening before it was clear that something was wrong. Since
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 30
Brady pulled his truck to a stop outside of the house. The for sale sign in the yard looked new, the dirt around the bottom freshly disturbed. He took a moment to admire the home from the street. It was even more beautiful in person that it had been in the photographs. The pictures clearly didn’t do the place justice.Jennifer’s car was already parked in the driveway. She got out and waved at him, and he waved back before pulling his keys from the ignition and getting out of the vehicle. He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck and walked up the sidewalk toward the expansive front porch.“Hi, Brady!” she called, meeting him on the steps. “How are you?”“Good. And you?”“I’m great, thank you. I think you’re really going to love this.” She headed to the front door and punched in a code in a box hanging there in order to access a
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 31
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
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 32
“This is ridiculous!” Mayor Jenkins said from his seat in the middle of the panel, three council members on either side of him. “It’s too late in the season for us to begin to plan new Christmas activities for this year. If we want to look at doing something next year, that’s different. But there’s simply no way we can get everything you’re proposing done at this late date!”Brady, who was seated at a table off to the side of the council, opened his mouth to disagree, but before he could do so, Martha Davis spoke up. “With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, I disagree. It is clear that the people of Holiday Hills want these events--this Christmas. Each time they’ve been asked to donate, to participate, to do whatever the city needs to have done in order to make sure the events are a success, they have rallied behind the idea. I absolutely believe we can successfully pull off the few events on
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 33
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
All I Want for Christmas is Pooch Chapter 34
“You’re saying you want a parking garage here?”Martin Collier was a no-nonsense kind of guy. Brady had called him the day before and asked him to come to Holiday Hills from the neighboring town of Jackson to take a look at the parking lot project. If they moved forward with the parking garage, Brady wanted to make sure he got quotes from more than just Mayor Jenkins’s dad.“I know it seems odd,” he said, watching the older gentleman, dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans beneath his heavy, camel colored work coat, “but, yes, we are thinking about erecting a parking garage right here.”Martin looked around for a few moments before he said, “Well, you wouldn’t have much room for actual parking if you did that. Do you know what the measurements are on the entire lot?”“Yes. It’s sixty-seven yards by eighty-two yards.”
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