Puppy Love Holiday Collection: Puppy Love

By C. Coal

Sometimes we just need to believe in love and things working out without conflict or drama. In this quartet of contemporary romance short stories from the Puppy Love collection, that's exactly what happens. Each story involves a puppy helping their person find love. And sometimes community, too.

Includes the stories Puppy Love Thanksgiving, Puppy Love Holiday Surprise, Puppy Love Christmas Kiss, and Puppy Love Valentine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. Coal
• Release date: Nov 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215536605

Book preview

Puppy Love Holiday Collection

Puppy Love Holiday Collection

C. COAL

Also by C. Coal

Puppy Love 1-13

Puppy Love Holiday Collection

Puppy Love Valentine*

Puppy Love Rescue

Puppy Love Chance Meeting

Puppy Love Surprise Adoption

Puppy Love Winter Storm

Puppy Love Second Chance

Puppy Love Cupid's Rescue

Puppy Love Spring Flood

Puppy Love Blind Date

Puppy Love Lost Puppy

Puppy Love Holiday Surprise*

Puppy Love On the Road

Puppy Love Homecoming

Puppy Love Christmas Kiss*

Puppy Love Thanksgiving

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* - Holiday-Themed

Contents

Puppy Love Thanksgiving

Puppy Love Holiday Surprise

Puppy Love Christmas Kiss

Puppy Love Valentine

About the Author

Copyright

Puppy Love Thanksgiving

Puppy Love Thanksgiving

Katie looked at the groceries stacked on her kitchen counter. Green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and dried onions for green bean casserole? Check. Five-pound bag of potatoes, milk, butter, and cream cheese for mashed potatoes? Check. Four cans of cranberry sauce (two for her for later)? Check. Turkey thawing in the fridge? Check. Box of store-bought stuffing because cooking and chopping up gizzards was one step more than she cared to take? Check. Three jars of gravy? Check.

All she had to do now was put the refrigerated parts away until morning and then cook it all once she’d walked her pup, Ru. (No negotiating that one. Ru was walked first every morning and walked long enough to be happy to come home to an apartment, rain, wind, shine, and holidays included.)

That should still leave her five hours to get everything else ready, which should be possible. She just hoped everyone else would remember their parts or there’d be no appetizers or desserts and the drink selections would be limited to orange juice and soda. No matter what, though, they’d have the core of a Thanksgiving meal and that’s what counted.

Her phone rang and she tensed. It was after nine. She’d already talked to her mom for the day. No one should be calling. Not unless it was bad news.

Tucking her long brown bangs behind her ears, she grabbed the phone and glanced at the screen. It was her brother, John.

Hey there. How’s it going? she answered the phone, secretly wincing.

Good, good. Look, um…I don’t know how to say this, but, um…

You’re not going to make it tomorrow.

I’d love to, you know I would. But there’s this project at work and we didn’t get enough done before the holiday to make the deadline and I’m up for a promotion next month and…I’ll make it up to you, sis. I promise.

Right. Just like he had the last ten times he’d put work ahead of family. But no point getting upset about it, because it wasn’t going to make him change his mind. Her brother was a good guy, just…a workaholic who found family events emotionally stressful so tried to avoid them as much as possible.

Honestly, she kind of envied him for that.

She shook herself and said, Okay. I’m going to hold you to it. Lunch for you and me when the project’s over.

Done. Give Mom and Grandma my love.

Will do.

She hung up the phone and started to put the refrigerated items away. At least she hadn’t let him volunteer to bring the turkey this year. (She’d only made that mistake once.)

And he’d cancelled the night before not the morning of. So, you know, in the grand scheme of things, not so bad, really.

She put Taylor Swift’s latest album on and cranked the music, singing along about how it was her, me, she was the problem.

At least her mom, stepdad, grandma, sister and sister’s latest boyfriend were still going to come. In her one bedroom apartment that would be more than enough people. She set up the folding table and threw a bright blue tablecloth on top. She’d decided she really didn’t care about matching the season this year, she wanted pretty and bright for her new place. It was the first time any of her family was going to see it, after all.

The phone rang again.

Katie glared daggers at it as she paused the music. She glanced at the display. It was her sister. Hey Beth. How’s it going?

With Beth it was a coin flip on whether she was calling to cancel or calling to say she couldn’t bring dessert after all.

Beth sniffled on the other end of the phone. Ah, calling to cancel. Of course. Katie forced cheer into her voice. Beth, everything okay?

I…You know I want to be there tomorrow, Kit-Kat, I really do. But… She sniffled again and then wailed. Mike and I just had the biggest fight because we always go to my family’s for the holidays and he doesn’t think it’s fair.

They’d only been together three months, Katie wasn’t even sure which holidays he was talking about. Her birthday? Would he have rather spent that at his parents’? Halloween, maybe? Labor Day? Diwali? Yom Kippur? The man wasn’t Indian nor was he Jewish, but…what other holidays were there? And not like Beth had spent any of those with her family anyway…

But she’d learned long ago to just let Beth tell whatever story Beth wanted to tell and to never, ever criticize whatever guy was causing drama in her life or else she wouldn’t hear from her sister until the inevitable implosion.

She took a deep, calming breath. So you want to go to Mike’s parents’ tomorrow instead of come here?

The silence on the other end of the line lasted a little too long.

Or somewhere else maybe? Katie asked.

She could almost hear her sister wince. Mike wants to join his friends at the bar to see the game.

And he needs you there because…

I’m his girlfriend. We can’t spend the day apart.

Right. Okay. Well, sorry you won’t be able to make it. Enjoy the game.

She hung the phone up, cranked Taylor Swift loud enough to probably upset the neighbors, and continued to set the table.

Ru watched from her corner, head resting on her paws.

Sorry, Ru-Ru. She ruffled her mutt’s black floppy ears. You have done nothing wrong. Here. She turned the music back down to a reasonable level