Kringle got up and followed me.
“You ready to go?”
I headed to the convention center.
The dog sat back down. I headed back toward the art trail entrance the way we had come.
Kringle jumped up, tail wagging.
“You understand that if we go back the way we came it’s going to take much longer than just finishing the trail?” I fumed at the dog.
He barked happily and took a few jumping steps in the direction we had just come.
I stared up at the sky.
Why did I agree to take this dog? Why did I agree to be in the bake-off? And how could I be stuck with Merrie? She was disorganized, and she baked all the time, and she didn’t even respect me. All she did was argue, and she seemed to think I was an idiot.
“I’m not the idiot,” I said aloud into the cold night. “I’m not the one banking on winning a bake-off to pay off my debt.”
You are the one losing a bake-off, though.
I stewed on the walk back. I hated to admit it, but Merrie had been right. I hated to lose.
There is no point for you to win the bake-off. You need to be voted off. You don’t want to spend the rest of the month with that lunatic. For fuck’s sake, she’s sleeping in her shop. She used up all her savings to buy Christmas ornaments. She is the exact opposite of the type of woman you should even consider getting in a relationship.
The fuck?
I’m not getting in a relationship with her.
Where had that come from?
Probably all that winter sangria. God knows what Ida put in that concoction.
The snow had startedto fall when we were back on Main Street heading home. The hour was late. The Christmas market had closed, and the stalls had been shuttered. A few people were still lingering over drinks.
Without all the chaos and all the lights and decorations, the town did look magical.
I was so busy staring at them I almost tripped over Kringle, who had sat down in the middle of the sidewalk.
“No,” I hissed at him. “No. Stand up, or I’m calling Eli, and he’s coming to bring a wheelbarrow. It will be very embarrassing for both of us.”
The dog gave a soft whine. The smell of cookies was in the air. I looked over.
Merrie’s shop.
“Absolutely not.”
He stuck his nose in the letter box and inhaled.
I looked around.
I wonder if she’s sleeping in there.
I didn’t have a key.
You shouldn’t just break into your tenant’s shop.
I tested the handle, jiggling it slightly.
