Page 70 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
Instead, it was going to be an ordinary Friday night. She’d just closed up the boutique and was headed home. Mavis was in Florida visiting her sister for the summer. She’d already called to wish Belle a happy birthday. And she’d told her where to find her birthday gift. It was in the office in the filing cabinet. Belle hadn’t opened it yet. She was taking it home and opening it with Odie.
Belle was going to be in charge of the boutique for the next three months. She was to do the employee scheduling, and once she got Mavis’s approval, she was to order the winter collection. It felt like Mavis was trying out this arrangement to see if Belle could handle the responsibility. Belle wouldn’t let her down.
Perhaps Mavis would retire and let her buy the boutique. Of course, it could also be a bit of wishful thinking on Belle’s part. Mavis loved the boutique, and Belle wasn’t sure she would ever walk away from it.
Belle had been working at the boutique since she was sixteen. She’d been saving up her money for college. And then one tragic day, she’d gone from planning for college to figuring out how to survive on her own—how to keep the only home she’d ever known—how to feed herself. As soon as she graduated from high school, her part-time job changed to a fulltime position at Frills & Heels.
Her dreams stretched further than taking over the boutique. She had plans to modernize the boutique with younger fashions, and she wanted to expand the selection of accessories. In fact, when she wasn’t working and she wasn’t with Parker, she was creating a business plan.
But she wasn’t working on it tonight. She was going to order pizza and watch a romcom with Odie by her side. Parker didn’t normally work Friday nights. He’d volunteered to cover for someone. He’d apologized profusely, and she’d told him it was fine. But in all honesty, she was going to miss him. But she had Odie. He would snuggle with her and try to steal her pizza when she wasn’t looking.
When she arrived home, Odie greeted her at the door. When she picked him up, he lathered her with kisses. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips as her heart swelled with love. Who knew a little fuzzball could bring her such happiness?
Buzz.
She put Odie down and fished her phone out of her purse. When she checked the caller ID, she found it was Candi. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Candi.”
“Hi. I was wondering if you could meet me at the Kringle Cup Café.”
Belle was confused. And then she wondered if Candi knew it was her birthday. “What’s up?”
“I need some help. Merry Kringle has put me in charge of a fundraiser for a new animal shelter here in Kringle Falls. I need someone to bounce some ideas off of, and Michael isn’t much help. Even though I’m at the beginning stages, I want to have some ideas planned out to present to her on Monday. So, can you meet me there at six?”
It wasn’t like she had anything else to do. “Sure. Do I need to bring anything?”
“Nope. I just need you.”
“Then I will see you there.”
Belle walked over and settled on the couch. Odie jumped up and climbed onto her lap. As she petted him, she said, “Sorry, little guy. It looks like our movie is going to have to wait until later.”
After touching up her makeup and her hair, she drove back into town. Parking was hard to come by. As she passed in front of the café, she was surprised to find a line of people waiting to get in the door. It looked like there were a lot of tourists visiting their small town on this beautiful summer evening. She hoped Candi had arrived early, or they might have to go some other place. And she would be bummed because they served her favorite latte.
As she slowly continued down the road, she saw a young couple walking down the sidewalk hand in hand. It made her think of Parker. She missed him. Even though she saw him the prior evening, it seemed like a long time ago.
She got out and moved to the sidewalk. She started in the direction of the Kringle Cup Café. When she reached it, she took a spot at the back of the line. A minute later, she heard someone call out her name.
She looked toward the entrance and saw Candi waving at her to skip the line. She must have gotten them a table. Belle could already taste the latte.
Still, walking past the line of people she knew felt awkward. She greeted everyone and apologized as she passed each of them.
When she stepped inside the café everyone yelled, “Surprise.”
Belle gasped. What in the world? She looked around, seeing all of the colorful balloons and a banner hung behind the counter that read:Happy 30th, Belle.
Her friends, Candi, Holly, and Felicity, were grinning at her. Something told her that her friends had helped with this.
The next thing she knew, Parker was standing in front of her. With a big smile on his face, he said, “Happy birthday.”
“But I thought you had to work.”
“I might have told a little white lie so you wouldn’t figure out that I was helping to plan this party for you.” And then he kissed her.
It wasn’t a long kiss. And it wasn’t a peck either. It was something in between that let her know he loved her, and she loved him.
When she pulled back, she looked up at him with a smile. “Thank you for this. I can’t believe you did all of this.” She looked around at the colorful balloons and streamers. “How did I not know you were up to this?”
He grinned at her. “I can be stealthy when I want to be. So, you like it?”
