in the leather seat like he belonged. He opened his mouth in a wide yawn that sounded almost like a hello.
“You are the cutest thing.” She collected everything that had fallen and put the bags in the car.
In response to the rustling bags, the puppy stepped back and barked, then pounced forward.
“Aren’t you the little guardian dog? Where is your momma?”
He cocked his head to the side, then hopped down out of the car wagging his tail so hard his hiney lifted from the ground.
She reached down and picked him up.
He kissed her face.
“No,” she reprimanded him for the assault, but really it wasn’t so bad, until he licked right up her nose. “Eww. Okay, that’s enough.”
He took a mouthful of her hair and chomped.
She grabbed it back. “That is not for puppies.”
He almost sounded like he was laughing as he panted with a “hh-hh-hh”; then he leapt from her arms and hightailed it across the gravel, his back feet kicking up like a burro’s.
She stood there smiling. Probably late for dinner.
Vanessa got in the car, keeping a careful watch for her new little friend as she left, but it seemed he was long gone. She turned up the radio on the ride back. No surprise, Anna had been listening to Christmas music on her drive. She wished she were a little more like her sometimes.
She pulled in front of the carriage house and carried everything inside. She was finishing putting away all the food and snacks that Lilene had gotten her when Anna walked out in a big fluffy robe.
“Did I die? Because seriously, this is heaven.”
“I hope not, because we’ve got a lot of time to make up for.” She hugged Anna. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You too. I forgot to ask you earlier, how was dinner last night? With your assistant’s family?”
“It was lovely.” She hesitated. “That’s not entirely true. Well, I didn’t actually stay very long.”
“Why not?”
“It turned out that one of the guests was the son of the woman I gave a retirement package to. He wasn’t appreciative. It was awkward.”
She regretted not even getting the chance to get a sip of that wine.
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. That’s got to be hard.”
“It is. Especially because I meant well. There were two outliers who have been eligible for full retirement for years. I gave them really nice incentive packages to ensure they’d get what they’d earned from Porter’s, with a nice bonus. When things change, you just never know who or how people are going to be affected. As old as they are, it’s not likely they’d get picked up for warehouse positions. I was trying to protect them.”
“No good deed goes unpunished.”
“That’s what they say.”
“Give them some time. They’ll soften to the idea. I’m sure it just came as a shock.”
“Bill took it great. He’s already planning to buy the boat of his dreams with the extra money. Edna on the other hand looked upset at first, but seemed fine when she left. It was her son who came unglued. And about half of the town on her behalf.”
“Well, look on the bright side. Today has been a much better day.”
“It has. Oh!” Vanessa jogged over to the door. “I almost forgot.” She ran outside and got the box out of the car.
“What do you have there?” Anna asked from the front door.
“I don’t know. Lilene must have left it at the warehouse door for me. Probably leftovers or something yummy.”
“This has already been the best Christmas I’ve had in years, and we’ve only been together a few hours.”
Vanessa laughed, but she honestly knew exactly how Anna felt. She placed the box on the kitchen counter, then removed the envelope and ran her finger under the edge, and slid out the card. On the front, a pair of shiny black horses pulled a red open sleigh through snowy streets with a black dog running ahead of them.
“Isn’t that a beautiful card,” Anna remarked from over her shoulder. “It almost looks like this town, doesn’t it?”
“It does. Probably is. Lilene is very in touch with every facet of the town. The woman should be the mayor.” She opened the card and her head jerked back. “Oh?”
“What is it?”
“This isn’t from Lilene.” She closed the card and tucked it back into the envelope.
“What are you hiding from me?” Anna grabbed the card and stepped out of reach. “Ohh.” She raised her eyebrows, a wide grin spreading across her face. “This is from that chicken-stew man that