Page 55 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
“As the big brother, you do have a tendency to take control of the situation and boss people around.”
“I do not.” The denial flew out of his mouth. He only did that when his younger brothers were acting careless. But had he done that with Belle? He didn’t think so.
“You still do it once in a while.”
Parker really wanted to argue the point, but he had a feeling his brother might be right. But was that the problem with Belle? Was she upset about him insisting on going with her to meet the suspect? But she hadn’t let his words stop her; she’d taken off on her own.
Trying to unravel what went wrong between them was giving him a headache. “I need to get back to work. Could you just stop over and check in on Odie? I’d really appreciate it.”
“I can do that. I was just heading out the door. I’ll head over now. Are you going to let her know I’m coming?”
He thought of how his earlier phone call had gone to voicemail. “No. It’s probably best if you just show up.”
“Uh…okay. Should I tell her that you sent me?”
“No.” The answer came out faster than he would have liked.
After the call ended, Parker stared at his phone as he debated calling her. But he kept hearing her saying the thing between them was over. Funny thing was that he’d thought their story had just been getting started. How did he convince her of that?
She’d called off work.
Belle just wasn’t ready to leave Odie. He’d been glued to her side since Parker had brought him home. He seemed really happy to be back, but he wasn’t eating much. It had her worried, and that was why she’d finally made the decision to stay home.
They needed the day to hang out together and unwind. The prior week had been so stressful for the both of them. Odie couldn’t tell her what he’d been through, but she worried that he was traumatized.
Her boss, Mavis, had been understanding and told her to get some rest. Belle planned to do exactly that. She had a bunch of holiday movies recorded. With the snow lightly falling, it was the perfect day to curl up on the couch beneath a blanket, and with Odie by her side, she’d watch some Christmas movies.
After she tried to get Odie to eat again and failed, the pup jumped onto the couch. He settled himself in the middle of the blanket. Belle smiled and shook her head. For a little fellow, he was always stealing the blankets.
She went back to the kitchen to make herself a tall mug of hot coffee with lots of milk. She was carrying it to the living room when she heard a knock at the door. It startled her. She wasn’t expecting anyone. And then she thought it might be Parker.
He’d called earlier while she was outside with Odie. He hadn’t left a message. She thought of calling him back, but she knew if it was important, he would call back. Maybe instead of calling back, he’d decided to see her in person.
Odie started barking at the top of his little lungs and charged toward the door. Belle put her coffee down and followed him to the door. She owed Parker an apology for the way she abruptly ended things. It hadn’t been her finest moment.
As Odie continued to bark, she picked him up. “Hush.”
Odie pretended not to hear her and continued to bark.
With a sigh, she opened the door. Her apology for Parker was on the tip of her tongue. When she found her visitor was Colin, she stumbled over her greeting. “Oh. Hi.” And then gathering her thoughts, she opened the door farther. “Don’t mind the yappy one. He thinks he’s a guard dog. Come on in out of the snow.”
Colin stepped inside. “Sorry to just stop by.”
“No problem.” She wondered why he was there. And then it came to her. “If you’re looking for Parker, he’s not here.”
“That’s okay. I’m not here to see him.” He held up his doctor’s bag. And then he turned to Odie, who was wagging his tail. “Hello.”
Colin cautiously held out his hand for Odie to sniff. Once Odie seemed fine with him, he reached out and pet him. Thankfully, it quieted him down.
Colin lowered his arm. “I heard about Odie, and I wanted to check in on him.”
“I didn’t know you did house calls.”
“I don’t. But this is a special circumstance.”
That was putting it mildly. Still, she thought there was more to his visit than him just going out of his way for one of his patients.
Although, he had really good timing. “I was actually going to call your office when it opened.”
