Page 62 of Mistletoe Mischief

Ryler chuckled. “Alright, I’ll let you deal with that. See you in a bit.”

“See you.”

Pike put the puppy in the crate while he picked up the bath mat and took it out to the laundry room, ignoring the pitiful howl and the neighbors hollering as he threw it into the washer and hit start. Pike went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, and when he got his hair and beard the way he wanted, he took the puppy out of her crate and carried her out to the kitchen where her supplies were.

Pike found the doggy harness his sister had included and put it on the puppy. “I’m gonna have to call you something other than Dog. Who is a female with red hair. Julia? Nah. Wynonna? Hmmm. Oh, I got it! Jolene.”

Pike started humming the song under his breath as he took the leash and tried leading her, but she refused to walk, dragging her back end.

“Alright, dude, none of that.” He picked her up and took one of his kayaking bags and started filling it up, including a small bowl, two food pouches, and a couple bottles of water. He put the roll of poop bags in the bag and zipped it up. “We have our puppy bag. What do you say we show a couple flatlanders around?”

She tried to lick him, and he put his hand out to block it. “Yeah, we’re definitely going to have to work on that.”

It took Pike less than five minutes to get to Kiss My Donut, but when he arrived, he didn’t see either rental car. But he did see Ryler out front, holding two coffee cups and a pastry bag.

“Hey, where is everyone?”

“They wanted to check out a historical site twenty minutes away, and I said we’d catch up.”

“Okay, hop in.”

Ryler climbed into his red Dodge Charger and passed him the coffee. “There you are.”

“Thanks,” he said, setting it in the cup holder.

Jolene whined from the back seat, and Ryler turned around, her face melting into a smile. “Well, hello, sweetheart,” she said, setting the pastry bag down on the floorboard and her coffee in the other cup holder before reaching for her. Ryler pulled her into the front seat on her lap, snuggling her and dodging Jolene’s frantic tongue.

“Jo, stop being a licky dog!” Pike said firmly.

Ryler laughed, rubbing the puppy’s ears and kissing her on top of the head. “She is darling.”

“She certainly thinks so,” he said mildly, watching Ryler love on the dog for several moments before he cleared his throat. “Which historical site did they head to?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounded boring, so I passed. It was where some massacre took place.”

“Ah, I know where they are. We’ll probably end up passing Anthony on our way to them. Want to text Alia and let her know we’re coming to them?”

“Sure.” As she furiously tapped on the screen, Jo pawed at her fingers, making her giggle. “You are just a silly puppy, aren’t you?”

Pike pulled out onto the road and made a left at the next street, circling back to take the highway out of Mistletoe.

Her phone beeped, and she set it in her lap. “They are going to wait for us by the sign.”

“Perfect.” Pike took a drink of his coffee and hummed. “So good. Want to try?”

“That’s okay, I actually got the same thing as you.”

“Well, good, because I really didn’t want to share,” he teased, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She went to take a drink of her coffee, but Jo tried to jump for it. “You can put her back there so you can enjoy your coffee in peace.”

“Just until we finish eating, baby.” Ryler lifted the dog into the back seat once more and pulled sanitizer out of her purse, cleansing her hands.

“I also got us the same breakfast,” she said, grabbing the pastry bag and reaching inside, handing him a ham and cheese croissant.

Pike took a bite and groaned. “I actually think these are better than the donuts.”

“I hope so because I saw a cream-filled one that was calling my name,” she said. He caught the look on her face out of the corner of his eye as she took a bite of the croissant. “Hmmm, that is good.”

“I told you.”