Page 14 of Special Delivery Cowboy
A cry broke the moment.
“Puppy,” we both said at once, looking toward the stairs.
Upstairs, we found her sitting on her blanket, looking confused and scared.
"Hey, girl." I knelt, and she immediately waddled over, tail wagging. "You're okay. We're right here."
"She probably needs to go out," TJ said, scooping her up. "Been a while since that accident downstairs."
"Right. Let me grab my coat."
We bundled up and stepped onto the deck.
The storm slammed into us like a freight train. Wind tore at my coat, and snow stung my face, sharp as needles. The temperature had dropped even further—my lungs burned with each breath.
"Damn," TJ muttered, turning to shelter her against his chest. "This is worse than I thought."
The deck had already accumulated six inches, maybe more. I could barely see the railing through the white wall of falling snow.
He set the little animal down in the protected corner. She did her business quickly, then started shivering.
"Inside," I said.
We stumbled back through the door, brushing off snow.
I watched him gently dry off the tiny creature with a towel. "Does she have a name yet?"
"Not that I know of. Her new owner will name her." He glanced up. "Why?"
"It feels weird just calling her 'Puppy' all night. Would it be okay if I gave her a temporary name? Just for while you're here?"
He smiled. "Sure. What are you thinking?"
"How about... Twinkle?"
"Twinkle?" His mouth quirked.
"It's Christmas. She's got sparkly energy." She wiggled in his arms, licking his chin. "See? She likes it."
"Twinkle it is, then." He scratched behind her ears, and our fingers collided as I reached to pet her too.
We both pulled back. He cleared his throat. I pretended the puppy was suddenly the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen, watching her wag so hard her whole body shimmied like she was doing a TikTok dance.
We spent the next hour playing with Twinkle. TJ tried to teach her to sit—she was more interested in attacking his bootlaces.
"Sit, Twinkle. Come on, girl."
She jumped for the treat he offered instead, nearly falling over her paws. When she landed, she pounced on his boot.
I couldn't stop laughing. "She's not getting it."
"She will. Needs practice. And maybe to be less of a maniac."
"Pretty sure that's her default setting."
She zoomed across the rug, sliding into a chair leg, bouncing back up.
"See? Pure chaos in a fur coat."
