Feliz Naughty Dog - Roxanne St. Claire Page 0,29
as her blue eyes filled with tears and what Pru recognized as a rare display of shame. “I’m just hungry. Can we get some food and take a break from all this…arguin’?”
“Amen to that,” Pru said, putting her hands on both the grannies’ backs and leading them toward the food court. “Let’s regroup, remind each other that it’s Christmas, and figure out how I can possibly salvage this afternoon with some RACK points.”
They reluctantly followed as she leaned in to whisper to both of them, “A boyfriend, Yiayia? Seriously?”
“I see sparks between you,” she said on a bittersweet laugh. “Don’t I?”
Sparks? Was that what was flying between Pru and Lucas? “Well, he’s not awful like I thought,” Pru said. “But that’s all I’ll commit to.”
The two older ladies shared a look, conspiratorial enough that Pru relaxed a little. She didn’t want to be one of the victims of their matchmaking, but she sure didn’t want them at odds, so she just let it go.
A few minutes later, they were settled at another table with a view of another Santa—this one was much younger—with some food and drinks and still no sign of Lucas and Tor.
Pru pushed down the tendril of disappointment that came with that thought. “Maybe he and Tor took an Uber and bailed,” she said a little glumly. “Can’t say I’d blame him.”
“He’s not going anywhere,” Yiayia said, her gaze scanning the area. “I can tell by the way he looks at you.”
“At me?” Pru let out a nervous laugh.
“Can’t argue with her, lass,” Gramma Finnie said.
“Good, because I can take anything but you two fighting. Now tell me everything that happened while you were in Penney’s.”
She listened while they took turns filling her in on the man you’d think was at the top of the FBI’s most-wanted list to hear them describe it.
“Are you guys sure it’s really the FBI, and this is a sting?” Pru sipped her soda, fighting a smile. “Because it’s a little…far-fetched.”
“I wish we were wrong,” Yiayia said. “I wish I hadn’t heard him say there are ‘FBI all over the place.’”
“And then he said,” Gramma leaned in to whisper, “‘Ever since they saw the corpse, there’s no getting rid of those guys.’ And that he was going to kill someone!” Her eyes widened. “Does that sound like we’re imagining things?”
“No, but you are both in your eighties,” she reminded them gently. “And maybe you didn’t hear exactly what was said.”
“Then why did he run from them?” Yiayia asked, gesturing toward the stairs. “And why…oh, here’s your boyfriend. I knew he’d come back, Pru.”
“He’s not my…” She turned to see Lucas and Tor coming toward them, his long hair brushed back from how quickly he was walking, his jacket in one hand, the leash in the other. Tor looked particularly repentant, and Lucas looked particularly…hot.
He spotted her and jutted his chin in a distant greeting, the hint of a smile lifting his lips and a spark—just like the ones Yiayia claimed to see—in his brown eyes.
Boyfriend.
Wow. If she ever got one, he’d look like that in a black T-shirt.
“Ladies.” He reached the table, flipped a plastic chair around, and straddled it to face them. “We have a problem.”
“Not another one,” all three answered in unison, making him laugh softly, and suddenly it was like all was right in Pru’s world. The one that felt a little tilted and dizzy when she looked at him.
“But I actually think Tor is going to fix this one instead of cause it,” he told them, inching in closer. “The missing puppy?”
“What missing puppy?” Gramma Finnie demanded.
Pru reached over to the next table and grabbed a flyer. “This one. Buttercup.”
“A sweet basset,” Finnie crooned, sharing it with Yiayia. “Look, Agnes. This little angel somehow escaped from the pet store.”
“Somehow,” Pru and Lucas both said on a groan, sharing a secret look.
“How can Tor fix this problem?” Yiayia asked. “Assuming that’s the problem you mean.”
“Tor’s on this puppy’s trail,” he said. “That’s why he jumped into the boxes. Someone saw him there. And then when he ran? Well, the puppy got away and was spotted in the play area.”
“Why doesn’t someone just get him and take him back to the pet store?” Pru asked.
“He’s a wily little thing, and most people must think he belongs to someone else. By the time they figure out he’s loose and lost, he’s gone. But he’s out there, and Tor’s gonna find him. He has to.”
“Why?” Pru asked, sensing an undercurrent of desperation