Candy Cane Callie: A Yellow Lab Of Texas Romance, #3

By Mattie Fern Worrix

If Tori Tynsdale hears the Twelve Days of Christmas one.more.time, she's gonna freakin' lose it. Seriously. That's a problem because it's not a good look for her as the owner of Candy Cane Callie's, a year-round Christmas store in Twinkle, Texas.

 

But when handsome doggie daycare owner, Zeke Conway, shows up wearing those silly reindeer antlers, Tori suddenly can't stop smiling and humming--and thinking way too much about kissing under the mistletoe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mattie Fern Worrix
• Release date: Jan 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215216460

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Copyright Notice

Copyright 2023 Mattie Fern Worrix

All Rights Reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

202301191940

Dogs think that every day is Christmas.

~ Ray Bradbury

Chapter 1 - Tori

Callie and I cuddled on the corduroy brown sofa as I admired the twinkling pink Christmas lights on the white tabletop tree. Right next to the fake holiday tree was Mom’s old western saddle sitting on the sawhorse.

I know I should donate it to some horse rescue or maybe even give it to some kid just starting out in 4-H. Although it really doesn’t look that out of place in my tiny living room. The white stucco walls with the teal blue and tan rug, plus Mom’s saddle, gives off a nice southwestern vibe.

I reached out and picked up my hot cocoa mug from the end table--the black one decorated with white splotches and a large red circle--plus the words, Rudolph in a snowstorm--and took a big drink.

Callie, my yellow Labrador Retriever, started to lick her toes again and I cringed. She is driving me freakin’ crazy.

Stop, I scolded, as I plopped the mug back on the table with a clank, and reached out to pull her big old head away from her feet.

The vet, Dr. Amy, says Callie does that most likely because she’s stressed. We’ve tried absolutely everything. Different food, different shampoo, different laundry soap and so on. I may take her to a pet psychologist--or even a pet psychic--next.

Dr. Amy thinks we should try something equivalent to doggie prozac.

Yep. doggie drugs.

That’s just great. I’m the lucky owner whose dog needs a dog psychologist. And it’s got me so frustrated I admit I’m starting to feel a little itchy too.

The last time I was in the vet clinic with Callie after the last toe sucking incident that made Callie’s feet break out in raw red hives, Dr. Amy mentioned some famous shrink in Dallas who treats both owners and pets. Together.

Which tells me what I fear is true: the vet probably thinks I’m the reason my dog needs drugs and therapy.

I chugged another gulp of hot cocoa which wasn’t even the slightest bit hot anymore. I’ve been sitting here, in the dark, staring at the Christmas tree lights, longer than I realized.

I crunched on the end of the peppermint candy cane I’d used as a stir stick and the pungent scent of peppermint wafted up into my nose.

Okay, I admit, some therapy probably wouldn’t hurt. Christmas sure hasn’t been the same since my mom died.

Callie started slurping on her toes again.

I let out a big sigh. Earlier I noticed the webbing between her toes was looking awfully inflamed again.

And it probably is my fault. I’ve been extra stressed myself with all the Christmas rush here at the shop. Customers coming into Candy Cane Callie’s have been extra demanding because they are stressed as well.

Might need to give Callie a Benadryl tonight if she doesn’t knock it off. Of course, the good news is, if I give her half of one of those little pink pills she’ll probably sleep soundly and not wake me in the middle of the night sucking on her toes--or wanting to go out for a potty break.

At least the building we live in, which includes the Christmas store in the front, has a nice backyard. Unfortunately though, I can’t let Callie out there by herself, even though it’s fenced, because skunks like to hang out back there.

I reached out and tried scratching her behind the ears.

We don’t want another skunk incident, do we? I whispered to her. Let’s just say it involves huge cans of tomato juice and an emergency visit to the local pet grooming shop. Callie is known for having to use the shop’s 911 Skunk services on more than one occasion.

She continued to nibble on her toes.

Jeeze. Looks like I’m stressing the dog out again. What else is new? Might as well drop another chunk of change I really don’t have on another vet visit--or maybe check out that shrink in Dallas. I bet that guy charges at least $100 dollars an hour.

The thing is, though, stress is never going to go away. Besides, with it being just a few weeks until Christmas, then most of the world is probably stressed.

Me too.

I confess I stay majorly tweaked from just after Halloween until Christmas Eve. Owning the town’s year-round Christmas store, Candy Cane Callie’s, makes me wanna break out the brown sugar bourbon. I bet the liquor store in downtown Twinkle stays extra busy this time of year.

Which reminds me. A nip of brown sugar bourbon sounds pretty darn good right now.

Because, frankly, this year with all the stress I have come to the conclusion that Christmas just sucks.

Chapter 2 - Zeke

I grabbed the phone on my desk on the third ring with my free hand since I still held Zelda, the tiny tan deer-headed Chi up against my chest.

The Dogfather Doggie Daycare, Zeke speaking, I said. How may I help you?

The customer on the other end of the line wanted to know if we have holiday gift certificates available. The business has only been open since the day after Thanksgiving, but I made sure the gift cards were all ready to go with Christmas so close. We’ve been selling a lot of them lately and I can’t help but grin like a loon whenever we do.

Absolutely, I said, grinning yet again. You can choose how many hours of doggie daycare you want, and it comes in a lovely reloadable gift card with the greeting ‘Merry Woofmas and Yappy New Year' sprawled across the top.

Zelda nibbled the stubble