Christmas Romance (Best Christmas Romances of 2013) (7 page)

She shrugged. “I guess, what every girl wants. To be swept off her feet with a little song and dance. But, this time, it has to be more than just for show. I just don’t know if I’m ready.” She looked around. “I’ll get your wine and then ask the owner if I can get off a little early. Let me ask the cooks if they can prepare two salmon dinners. If he’ll let me off, I’ll think about having dinner with you.”

“You’ll have dinner with me for a little song and dance.”

She grinned. “Yeah, but you better make it good.” And then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Par looked across the bar and got an idea. He took a deep breath to gather his nerves and headed out across the dance floor. Lucky him, it was karaoke night.

The DJ looked up and slid his earphones on top of his head as Par approached.

“Do you happen to have;
Dog Days are Over
by Florence and the Machine?”

“Sure. You going solo, or you got someone who’s singing with you?”

“This one will have to be solo. Can you start it when I tell you?” He waited until he saw Tennyson appear at the bar and order his wine. “Okay.” He grabbed the mic. The music started and Par began to sing.

Tennyson walked to his table, set the glass down, and looked around. When she saw him on the stage, her eyes widened.

She said she wanted song and dance, and she’d get it. He fought the urge to look at the lyrics on the monitor, but convinced himself he knew the song by heart. Instead, Par looked at Tennyson and poured his heart out.

She moved toward the stage. She wasn’t smiling at first, but then broke into a huge grin. Par tried not to sigh in relief between bars of the song. When he finished, she clapped enthusiastically along with the rest of the bar.

He thanked the DJ and then stepped off the stage.

“You never told me that you could sing!” she exclaimed. “I always pegged you for more of the strait-laced exec type; never a goof who sings karaoke.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He took her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. “I was in a garage band in college. I played bass and never sang more than back-up, but we were good enough for a few free beers. We played cover songs and this was one of the songs that we sang.”

She raised an eyebrow. “The song you chose,
Dog Days are Over,
were you trying to tell me something about my life… the four-legged kind excluded?”

“I knew you’d pick up the double entendre. You wanted a guy who can sing and dance you off your feet. Here I am.”

“I didn’t mean literally.”

“You know how much guts it took to get up there and sing? I can’t do it again. I haven’t consumed nearly enough liquid courage.”

“It was a great rendition.” She looked up through lowered lashes and squeezed his hand. His heart did a funny little skip, the way it always did when Tennyson was around.

Chapter Six

After she’d worked a full eight-hour shift and then stayed out longer than she’d planned for dinner with Par, she was exhausted. Tennyson ran a quick comb through her hair, brushed her teeth and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow

She woke up to a ruckus outside her bedroom door. She rolled over to look at the digital glowing clock.

Two o’clock

She groaned and rubbed sleep from her eyes as Shelly opened her door. The light from the hall made her blink.

“Mobley ran past me, I tried to stop him but he was too fast,” Shelly said with a little hiccup. Shelly’d gone out with some girlfriends and she’d been drinking.

“You go to bed. I’ll get him.” Tennyson rolled over, fighting not to fall back asleep. Finally she got up, pulled on her robe and went to the back door. Mobley was at the bottom of the stairs. “Come on, boy.” She patted her leg for him to follow.

Mobley tried to stand but then whined and sat back down. She clapped again, but still he didn’t come up the stairs. Barefoot, she descended the stairs. That was when she saw the blood on his hind leg and noticed it stuck out at a strange angle.

Tennyson cried and flew down the last few steps. Mobley looked up at her with big brown eyes and whimpered. Quickly, she checked the rest of him. The blood seemed come from his hip. Grabbing his collar, she hooked him to the railing so he wouldn’t try to move again.

She ran back into the house, and searched for Shelly who already lay on top of her bed. Tennyson tried to wake her up, but Shelly grumbled and rolled over onto her stomach. She’d had too much to drink and shouldn’t drive. Tennyson remembered her mom and dad were gone on vacation, so there was no one. She wasn’t in any condition to drive either— she was a mass of anxious tension— but she would if she needed to.

Then she remembered there was someone. With shaking hands, Tennyson rummaged through her purse until she found the card she was looking for and punched in the number. She waited until a sleepy voice answered, “Hello?”

“Par?” Her voice broke with emotion. “Mobley got outside… I think he’s been hit by a car.”

“Oh my, God. Is he still alive?”

“Yes… he’s alive… but… there’s a lot of blood. What should I do?”

“I’ll be right there.”

Tennyson dropped her phone into her pocket and ran back out to Mobley. He was breathing heavy, but wagged his tail when he saw her. That made her cry harder. Unconditional love, even when he was in pain.

Par’s truck pulled up in less than five minutes. He jumped out and jogged toward them. “How’s he doing?” Worry was evident on his face.

“I don’t know.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “He was only outside a few minutes. If I’d gotten up when Shelly told me to, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It was an accident.” Par put an arm around her and gave her a hug. He knelt and took a quick survey of Mobley. “It’s his hind leg. We’d better go.”

“It’s two-o’clock in the morning. What place will be open?”

“There’s a twenty-four hour vet hospital about fifteen minutes away.” He wrapped the blanket around Mobley that she’d brought out. “Can you open the side door of my truck?” Gently he lifted the dog and placed him on the back seat. When he turned, Par looked down at her bare legs underneath her pajama shorts. “Why don’t you run in and put on some jeans? You’ll freeze out here. I’ll call ahead and tell them what we know about the injury so they will be prepared.”

She nodded and dashed back up the stairs. After she threw on a sweatshirt and pants, she scribbled a note to Shelly to tell her what happened. It wasn’t Shelly’s fault; Mobley always tried to run out. He needed to be somewhere with a fenced yard and not in an apartment next to a busy road.

Tennyson opened the back door and slid in next to Mobley. He put his head in her lap and looked up at her with his big brown eyes.

Par swiveled and put a hand on her knee.

“He’s my responsibility. He’s all I have,” she said trying not to cry again.

“Not all, but I know how important he is. He’s a great dog. He’ll be okay.” He turned the truck around and headed back out on the road.

When they arrived at the vet’s office, the staff waited outside with a dog size gurney. They took Mobley back into the emergency room and left Par and Tennyson in the waiting area. After watching her pace for a few minutes, he took her hand. “Let’s sit down. They’ll be out as soon as there’s any news.”

He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her under his arm. Par buried his head in her hair and whispered, “Don’t cry. He’ll be okay. They’ll take care of him.”

About an hour later, the vet came out and pulled off his blue mask. “Well there’s good news and bad news. There are no internal injuries, but we’re going to have to do surgery to wire Mobley’s hip back into place. The injury was severe enough that the ball joint won’t pop back in. His hip will need more than that, so we’ll do the surgery in the morning.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Tennyson said, her voice small.

Par stood behind Tennyson while she filled out the paperwork. After Par convinced her to let him take her home and not sleep in the waiting room, before they left, she told Mobley one more time that she would be back tomorrow. They rode in silence until they reached her apartment.

Her eyes were red from crying. He wished he could take away the pain.

“Thanks for being there tonight. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“To rebut what you said earlier, I hope that you know you have someone in your life other than Mobley. You can call me anytime, day or night and I’ll be here for you.”

“Yes… I’m beginning to believe that.” Tennyson watched him for a long moment. “It’s taking time but the walls are coming down. Thanks for all you’ve done.”

He cupped her cheek. “I’ll pick you up in the morning. You can see Mobley before and then after he gets out of surgery.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“What if I want to?”

She sniffed. “You’re a nice guy, do you know that?”

“I’ll be here by nine. The doctor said the surgery is at ten, so we can pick up coffee on the way and it will give you time to kiss his nose and get a sloppy dog kiss.”

Par played with Boci and Duke a few minutes and then went in to work early. He’d slept little during the night. It was decision-making time and that was never easy, but he wouldn’t let any more of his life slip by.

Even though it was only a little past seven, Par knew his dad would already be at work. He rapped his knuckles on his office door.

As he finished his conversation, his father waved him in. After he’d set the phone back on the desk he said, “Parkash, you are never here this early.”

“Yeah, I am Dad… every morning. On most days I’m here by six.”

“Well that’s good. Hard work will bring you happiness.”

Par dropped into a chair and leaned forward. “I need some time off.”

“Time off?” his father’s voice rose up on the last word. “How much
time off
?”

“I’m not sure. A few weeks?” He pulled in a breath. “When I come back, I want you to find a replacement for me so I can work at the foundation and food bank full-time.”

His father waved his hand. “Don’t be silly. That is not the job for you.”

“It
is
the job for me. That is what I want.”

“No, here is where you will work.”

“Then, I’m handing in my resignation. You promised me if I put in the hours and did everything you asked, that I could be put in charge of the foundation and the food bank. If you’re rescinding that offer, then I’ll have to leave.”

His father watched him through narrowed eyes. “You can have the time off, if that is what you want.”

Par shook his head. “Thanks, I’ll take it, but the rest still stands. Father, I owe everything to you, you’re a great man. You’ve sacrificed so much for your family and worked hard in your life at jobs I can never imagine doing. For that I admire you. But, I need to create my own destiny with what I feel passionate about.”

“Is this about the woman your mother told me that you are seeing?”

“No…” then he paused. “Yes. But this decision isn’t hers, its mine. Her dog was accidently hit last night and I want to be there for her. I don’t know if she can take time off, but I can.”

“This is over a dog?”

“This is over caring for something and someone. You love mother and us boys. I want to have the time in my life to find that kind of relationship. Working twelve to fifteen hour days makes it difficult to do little more. I don’t want the money, but I want the love and the life. Can you understand that?”

His father paused before he nodded. “Yes, Parkash. I want that for you too. I know how hard you work, and as you know I’m a man of my word. You take the time you need off and then when you get back we will move you into the acting head of the foundation.”

Par leapt up and hugged his dad. “Thanks!”

Chapter Seven

“Mobley’s back haunch is healing better than expected,” Doctor Carlson said.

“I’m so happy that I can take him home today.” Tennyson scratched him under the collar. “He looks a bit like Frankenstein’s dog being shaved and with all the stitches on his hip, but I’m so happy he’s alive.”

“Just watch him,” the doctor cautioned, “and make sure he doesn’t go up and down any stairs.”

“I live in a small apartment that has a dozen stairs,” Tennyson said.

The doctor looked down at Mobley and then shook his head. “That won’t work. He needs to be on one level for at least two weeks. If the surgery area is damaged, then he might have to go in for another operation and neither of us wants that.”

“He can stay at my house,” Par offered. “I’ll keep him in the laundry room for a few days and follow him out with the other two dogs to make sure he takes it easy.”

“That should work,” the doctor said. “Well, I wish Mobley all the best. He’s been a favorite patient of mine.”

When the girl at the front desk slid the white paper bill over the desk, Tennyson took her credit card out of her leather wallet and frowned.

“Is everything okay?” Par asked, concern on his face.

“It’s a lot more than I thought it would be,” she whispered.

After a minute the girl came back and held the credit card between two fingers. “I’m sorry, the card was declined.”

Tennyson’s mind spun trying to think of an option. “I can borrow some money when my parents are back from Hawaii. They don’t have a phone right now, but they’ll be back by Friday.”

“I’m sorry,” the girl said apologetically. “We need payment before we can release your pet.”

Par took out a card and handed it to the girl. “Here, use mine.”

“I can’t let you do this,” Tennyson said reaching for his wrist.

“Look…” he took her arm and led her to the other side of the waiting room and out of ear shot of the receptionist. “I care about Mobley and I care about you. This money doesn’t come with a catch or any promises you aren’t ready for. We need to resolve this and get Mobley home. I have the money on my card and you can pay me back if that’s what you want.”

“It will take me five years to pay back that much.”

“It will take the same amount of time if you put it on a charge card, and I won’t charge you interest. I’ll tell you what. I need a reliable produce checker at the food bank. The gal we’re paying now is worthless. If you can work there, say four hours a week, you can pay me back as you put in the hours. I really could use the help. But right now, Mobley wants to get out of here. What do you say?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

There was a moment of hurt in the depth of his eyes. “Maybe someday… you will.”

Christmas Eve arrived cold and damp. The temperature dropped and the dark gray clouds threatened snow. Tennyson thought if she was snowed in for a few days with Par… it could definitely be worse. Mobley’s hip was healing well and he was back to playing and running with the other two dogs.

Tennyson sat cross-legged on the couch next to Par. “It doesn’t look as though Duke’s owners will ever come back. What should we do?”