Page 4 of The Snuggle is Real
“I can take some too,” Milo offered.
“Thanks, guys. You’re the best.” He handed Milo a couple of fliers, then set a stack on my table. “But I’ll be in touch about that dog. You’ve got that big old house, and you’re all alone. You need a new friend for the holidays.”
“I thought you discouraged pets as holiday gifts.”
“Oh, I do,” Elias said. “This dog won’t be a gift. He or she will be your Christmas Falls family.”
The househadfelt empty, especially as the holiday season approached and I knew my own family would remain out of reach.
“Fine,” I said, “but only to foster over the holidays, okay? Not permanently.”
He chuckled. “Oh, that’s how it starts. Soon, you’ll be begging to keep your little fur baby.”
I rolled my eyes. “I doubt that. But hey, maybe you can get Milo to adopt one.”
Elias turned to ask Milo, but he’d wandered off sometime while we were talking.
“Damn, he got away,” Elias muttered.
I laughed. “Find me after the event wraps up and we’ll grab a beer. You need to relax.”
“It’s good advice,” Marlene said. “You boys are too wound up. Things always work out in Christmas Falls. It’s a magical season.”
We exchanged a dubious look. The season always seemed magical to people, but they didn’t see what went on behind the scenes at agencies like ours.
We didn’t just magic up donations and services. It took dedication and hard work.
That’s why the foundation had hired me to be their first full-time director. It’s why they wanted to strengthen their mission and fundraising.
People needed hope, and we had to find a way to deliver it.
I thought of Ford, who’d so quickly dismissed himself as worthy of aid. I thought of the stack of applications back in my office, some of which we might not be able to fulfill.
If only we could help everyone. That would be arealmiracle.
CHAPTER 2
Ford
“Sit down,Dottie. I’ll get it.”
Dottie, who was all of five-foot-two, was straining to reach the tin of cocoa on the second shelf of her cupboard.
“I swear I’m shrinking,” she grumbled as she shuffled to the side so I could grab it for her. “It’s too darn early for hot chocolate too, but I’m always so cold. Why did I decide to live in this awful place?”
I chuckled at her grousing. Dottie was a grump, but that was half the reason we got along so well. If I wanted cheery, there were half a dozen holiday-frenzied do-gooders running around.
People like that guy at the treelighting festival who ran some sort of charity and tried to offer me help.
He’d looked at that celeb with stars in his eyes, but he’d taken one look at me and seen a charity case.
That rankled. I’d been taking care of myself since I was sixteen years old. Taking care of my mom and sister too.
Until you lost them both.
You lost everyone. Even your wife. Even Charlie.
My sister’s sudden death had been the domino that set everything in motion, and once the pieces began to fall, I didn’t know how to stop them.
