Puppy Love, Volumes 1 to 13 Read online

  Puppy Love: Volumes 1 to 13

  C. Coal

  Contents

  1. Puppy Love Valentine

  2. Puppy Love Rescue

  3. Puppy Love Chance Meeting

  4. Puppy Love Surprise Adoption

  5. Puppy Love Winter Storm

  6. Puppy Love Second Chance

  7. Puppy Love Cupid's Rescue

  8. Puppy Love Spring Flood

  9. Puppy Love Blind Date

  10. Puppy Love Lost Puppy

  11. Puppy Love Holiday Surprise

  12. Puppy Love On the Road

  13. Puppy Love Homecoming

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Puppy Love Valentine

  January 17th

  Julia awoke to the feel of a cold wet nose poking her in the face. She opened one eye to stare at her adorably cute eight-month-old golden retriever puppy, Maisey, who was, unfortunately, the earliest riser on the face of the planet. It seemed puppies didn't grasp the concept of sleeping in on weekends.

  She scratched Maisey's ears and was rewarded with excited little puppy kisses all over her face. She laughed and sat up. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up."

  Maisey sat in front of her, tail wagging with unrestrained excitement.

  Julia had slept on the couch again the night before. Maisey seemed to like it better and there was no reason to actually sleep in her own bed. Not like some hot hunky man was waiting for her to curl up with him. Hadn't been for way too long.

  Ah well. At least she had her pup.

  Maisey bounded after Julia as she made her way to the kitchen and poured some food into a bowl.

  "You're lucky you're so damned cute, you know." She put the bowl on the floor and glanced at the clock. Six-fifteen in the morning. Who was up at this hour on a Saturday?

  She tried letting Maisey out in the yard and sneaking in a little nap until the sun was actually up, but Maisey was having none of it. The minute Julia lay back down on the couch, Maisey jumped up and started licking her face again.

  Julia laughed. How could she be mad at a creature that was so damned cute and lovable?

  "Alright. You win. What should we do?"

  Half an hour of wrestling around on the floor and playing chase down the hallway with the ball had calmed Maisey a bit, but it was clear she wanted more.

  Julia glanced at her. "You wanta go to the dog park?"

  Maisey started barking excitedly and running around in circles, chasing her own tail.

  "I'll take that as a yes."

  Julia got ready in about five minutes. It was just the dog park, not like she had to look amazing or anything. A simple brush through the hair and change from her pajamas did the trick. The whole time Maisey sat in the bathroom doorway watching her, big brown puppy eyes following Julia's every movement, little puppy tail thumping happily back and forth.

  "Ready?" Julia asked. Maisey ran to the front door and grabbed her leash off the hook on the wall. She ran around the living room, shaking her head, tossing the leash from side to side.

  "You know we can't actually leave until I get that on you, don't you?" Julia put her hand out and Maisey dropped the leash at her feet, waiting.

  Julia shook her head. Maisey was absolutely incorrigible. And with those big brown eyes she could get away with pretty much anything she wanted.

  * * *

  The dog park was great. Completely fenced in so the dogs could run free, it had a stream running through the south end and a large grassy area for the dogs to run around together. This time of year, it was more snow than grass, but the dogs still loved it.

  Julia nodded and smiled at the handful of other hardy souls that were already there playing with their dogs. She recognized most of them from her prior visits. It was usually the same old crowd—about sixty percent single older women and forty percent men who were married or in relationships and had been assigned puppy entertainment duty. Every once in a while an actual couple would show up, but Julia had yet to meet a single guy in the four months she'd been bringing Maisey there.

  She sauntered along behind Maisey as the pup raced along the fence, chasing after a squirrel who'd been stupid enough to venture into the doggy domain. Well, maybe not so stupid. The little creature stopped and chittered at Maisey, its tail twitching as it watched her try to scale a tree with no success.

  Julia shook her head. That squirrel was having way too much fun.

  A little ball of black fur ran up to her.

  "Well, hello there. How are you?" she asked, crouching down to pet the wiggling ball of excitement. The puppy stretched, trying to lick her face, but couldn't quite reach. That didn't stop it from continuing to try as it wiggled and cried in excitement.

  Julia laughed. "Calm down, little one, it's okay." She scratched behind the puppy's ears, glancing around for its owner.

  A man stumbled his way towards her, his tennis shoes slipping and sliding on the snow. He was attractive in a middle-aged man sort of way. Not stunning but still in shape, with wrinkles on his face from smiling not frowning, and a full head of light brown hair and blue eyes.

  A man she could be interested in.

  "I'm so sorry," he said as he finally reached her. "This is the first time I've taken him to a dog park and he hasn't yet learned his manners. Frodo, down."

  "Frodo?" Julia raised an eyebrow in amusement.

  The man shrugged. "My son's choice. Frodo was his Christmas present." He bent down and scratched the pup's ears. "Of course, you can see how that worked out."

  She laughed. "Ah, yes. Never fails. Buy the pup for the kid, end up with all the responsibility for its care."

  "Yep."

  He stood back up and Julia found herself drawn to his kind smile. She shook it off. He had a son. Which meant a wife somewhere, too, most likely. "What kind is he?" she asked, falling back on her litany of standard dog park questions.

  "A labradoodle."

  Yes, the man definitely had a wife. Single straight men rarely chose designer dogs for themselves. She glanced over at Maisey who had settled into a staring contest with the squirrel.

  "Well, he's absolutely adorable." Julia pet the little creature's belly as he rolled on his back in glee.

  The man winced. "Yes, although prone to rolling in the mud as you can see."

  "At least he doesn't try to climb trees at every chance," Julia said, nodding towards Maisey.

  "A golden?"

  "Yeah. Eight months old."

  "She's adorable."

  "Thanks. I wish she'd sleep in on weekends, but otherwise I can't complain."

  He laughed. "I'm with you there. This one's still up a couple times a night."

  "Oh, I remember those days. Pretty sure I cried once or twice from sheer exhaustion."

  They exchanged a smile and then fell into an awkward silence. Frodo tried to climb Julia's legs and the man scooped him up. "Sorry. We're still working on manners."

  "Oh no worries. It's hard, isn't it? My trainer said to turn your back on them when they jump up, but who wants to turn their back on a cute puppy, right?"

  "Exactly."

  They stared at each other for a long moment until Julia shrugged and looked away. "Well, I best get going or Maisey's going to freeze to the ground over there." She gave Frodo one last scratch behind the ears before walking away.

  "See ya around." The man flashed her a picture perfect smile.

  Julia sighed as she walked away. Why were all the good ones already taken?

  * * *

  January 24th

  The next Saturday morning when Julia and Maisey arrived at the dog park, they were barely through the gate when Frodo came racing over, barreling into Julia's legs.

  "Well, hello a
gain," Julia said, leaning down to scratch behind his ears. He sat down, leaning against her legs and let her pet his belly while Maisey sniffed at him with mild curiosity.

  "Seems someone likes you a lot." Julia glanced up to see the man from the weekend before making his way towards her. This time he had on sturdy hiking boots and jeans. He was learning.

  "I guess so." She turned her attention back to Frodo who'd yipped at her when she slowed down her petting.

  "He has great taste. I'd like to say I trained him to approach all the beautiful women, but it's all him."

  Julia didn't know what to say, so she just laughed. Maybe he really was single? Most of the men she'd met at the dog park were very upfront about being in a relationship, using we-speak as soon as they could and not trying to flirt.

  She glanced at his hand, but he was wearing gloves so she couldn't check for a ring.

  Maisey had found a tennis ball somewhere and dropped it at the man's feet, sitting back to wait for him to throw it.

  "Is it okay?" he asked, picking up the ball.

  "Absolutely."

  He threw the ball and Maisey went tearing away after it.

  "By the way, I'm Julia."

  "I'm Pete."

  They shook hands, neither one letting go for a long moment until Frodo started climbing Julia's legs, begging for more attention.

  Julia bent down to rub his belly. "Nice to meet you, Pete. So, you live around here?"

  He shrugged. "About twenty minutes away. A friend of mine said this was the best dog park in the area, so I try to bring Frodo on the weekends at least. You?"

  "Same. I have a few parks closer to me, but none can compare to this one."

  They continued to talk for a few more minutes as Pete threw the tennis ball for Maisey and Julia pet Frodo.

  "He doesn't seem to care much about playing with the other dogs," she said as Frodo ignored yet another dog that came sniffing at him.

  "Not when you're around at least. Before you guys arrived he was running all over the place sniffing every single dog he could find. But the minute he saw you in the parking lot, he took off."

  "Really?"

  Pete shrugged. "Yeah. You must be a dog whisperer or something."

  Julia laughed. "I guess so."

  Pete's phone went off and he glanced down at the screen. "I better take this."

  He stepped a few feet away, but she still heard his end of the conversation.

  "Hey," he answered.

  "Yeah, I can do that. What do I need to get? Two dozen oranges? Okay. I'll leave now."

  "See you soon."

  He hung up and turned back to her. "Well, I better get going. My son has a soccer game at nine and it seems we're responsible for bringing the oranges today, so I have to run by the store."

  "Okay. See you around."

  Pete scooped Frodo up and walked towards the gate. The puppy squirmed in his grip, trying to break free, but Pete managed to keep hold of him.

  "I told you, he has a thing for you," Pete called with one final wave.

  Julia laughed. "So it seems."

  She turned away, bummed. That had to be the wife on the phone. Sure, there'd been no love yous or any of that, but there'd been none of the tension she'd expect between a separated or divorced couple either.

  So, he was just another bored married man chatting up the hottie at the dog park out of boredom.

  Oh well. Not like it mattered. She had Maisey. That was enough for her.

  She grabbed the tennis ball and threw it, laughing as Maisey stumbled after it, her paws still a little too big for her body.

  * * *

  The whole week Julia kept thinking about Pete and Frodo. Pete was exactly the type of guy she'd want. But she just knew he had to be in a relationship.

  She could just ask him, but how mortifying would that be if he was married? He'd see right through the question and know she'd been interested in him and then she'd never want to go back to the park again because it would always be a little awkward and strained between them after that.

  No. Best to just let it go.

  * * *

  January 31st

  The next Saturday, Julia found herself eagerly looking around the dog park to see Pete and Frodo, but they never showed. Maisey had fun, though. It was an abnormally warm day for January and she spent most of the time playing in the stream with a newfie about twice her size. The two had similar sweetheart temperaments, so they had a great time splashing and running around.

  * * *

  That week Julia went on a blind date with a man her mother had found her.

  It was a disaster.

  He wasn't bad looking, but everything else about the date was a complete turn-off for her.

  He suggested they meet at an Olive Garden because he was, as he put it, "an Italian food aficionado." Last time she'd checked there were about five little Italian restaurants in the area that served better Italian food than Olive Garden, but she didn't say anything.

  He showed up in sweat pants and a ratty t-shirt. That was bad enough, but when Julia said, "Well, it's certainly cold out there tonight," to give them something to talk about, he replied with, "Yeah. Cold enough to make your nipples hard, huh?" and glanced down at her chest.

  Not that he could see anything—she still had her jacket on.

  She almost left right then, but she knew her mother would never let her hear the end of it if she did.

  So she suffered through two hours of him eating with his mouth open and turning everything she said or did into something sexual. Even the waitress hated him after he made a suggestive comment about her handling of the pepper grinder.

  Julia just wanted to sink into the booth and disappear.

  And, of course, when the check came he just let it sit there waiting for her to move first. Eventually she just threw her credit card down expecting him to throw his down, too, so they could split the bill.

  That would've been bad enough, but he actually let Julia pay for it.

  She thought about demanding he pay his half, but decided it just wasn't worth it. Forty bucks was a fair price to pay to get the hell out of there.

  Unfortunately, he insisted on walking her to her car and tried to pull her in for a kiss. She managed to dodge a kiss on the lips, but ended up with a slobbery something on her cheek.

  She shuddered as she started her car and drove away. She tried not to think too hard about it, because she was pretty sure he'd actually licked her.

  Ew.

  As she drove over to pick up Maisey from date-night daycare, she realized she'd rather spend her time with Maisey than on another worthless date like that one.

  She was done with trying to find Mr. Right. Who cared if Valentine's was right around the corner? She didn't need a date. She'd order in a pizza, curl up on the couch, and watch a movie with her pup.

  * * *

  February 7th

  Of course, it wasn't that easy. The next day her mother called her while she was at the dog park.

  "So, honey, how'd it go?" her mother asked.

  "Seriously, Mom? What were you thinking?"

  "I was thinking that John is a very nice man. Every time I'm at the store he compliments me on my outfit and offers to help me take my groceries to the car. He's an absolute gentleman. You're too particular, Julia."

  She watched Maisey playing with a black lab about her age. They rolled around on the ground, getting covered in mud, and Julia had to laugh. Keeping Maisey clean was impossible.

  "Mom, I am not too particular. You should've heard some of the disgusting comments he made to me. And he made me pay. That is not a gentleman in my book."

  Julia stumbled sideways as a little ball of black fur barreled into her legs.

  "Hey there, buddy." She reached down and scratched Frodo's ears as he wiggled in enjoyment. She saw Pete standing just a few feet away.

  Her mother said, "Julia, you're thirty-five. Your options are limited. Maybe you need to reconsider your standards. I
f you keep insisting on finding the perfect man, you will die old and alone."

  Julia rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Mom, that's really comforting. Look, I have to go, okay?"

  "Okay. Just think about it, honey."

  "Will do."

  Julia hung up the phone and bent down to rub Frodo's belly.

  "Your mom?" Pete asked, stepping closer.

  "Yes. She was telling me how I'm going to die old and alone unless I learn to lower my standards and date men who make inappropriate comments about the cold weather and my nipples and who stick me with the check. Always a font of encouragement, my mother."

  "Ouch, I'm sorry." He bent down next to her, rubbing Frodo's belly himself so that their hands were almost touching. "Maisey seems to be tearing it up with that lab."

  "Oh yeah. That's one of her best friends. They'll run together for hours if you let them." She glanced at him. "I missed you guys last week."

  He grimaced. "Yeah. Something came up."

  He didn't elaborate and she felt awkward asking more about it, so Julia changed the subject. "You said your son plays soccer? How old is he?"

  "Nine."

  "Nine? Wow." She had a few friends with kids that old, but it was still a shock to think people close to her age could have kids that were older than, say, five.

  "Yeah, I can barely believe it myself." He smiled at her. "I bet he'd love you, too."

  Julia laughed. "Well, kids and puppies, you know. I'm pretty good with them. It's the adults I have a problem with."

  It was Pete's turn to laugh. "You and me both."

  They hung around for another half an hour, chatting about nothing while the puppies played. Julia was dying to ask if he was married, but she never found a good way to do it.

  Eventually Frodo fell asleep with his head pillowed on Julia's foot and shortly after Maisey also fell asleep with her head pillowed on Frodo's side.

  "How frickin' cute is that?" Julia said, looking down.