Jingle Bell Wolf, page 12
“I don’t blame you.”
“I guess introductions don’t need to be made since the two of you know each other already,” Roxie said. “We’re just delighted that Maxine opened her brand-new shop here. We’ve needed some stylish clothes to buy locally. She was so excited to have come here on a hiking trip with some human friends this fall and learned it was a wolf-run town. We are so glad she decided to make this her home.”
“I am too. It’s been wonderful. I’ve been crazy busy with just starting up, but it was fun to meet Roxie, Kayla, and their sister-in-law, Nicole, who all just moved into the area at the beginning of the year. So we’re all newcomers. Everyone has been really welcoming.” Maxine hurried to pour cups of wassail for them and then offered them the snowball cookies.
Despite the fact that they were about to eat lunch just down the street at the tea shop after Gabrielle found some winter clothes, they each drank the wassail and had some of the cookies.
“Well, I had hoped to get together with you before I left Daytona Beach, but this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I mean, where else can you find so many beautiful, single male wolves?” Maxine asked.
“Yeah, I know. I agree.” Though only one sexy bachelor wolf really appealed to Gabrielle.
“I bet you’re cold, coming in from Florida,” Maxine said to Gabrielle. “I had a little time to acclimate. Are you here skiing?”
Gabrielle smiled. “Yeah. I’m not used to this cold and especially being outside in it for a fair amount of time. I’ve never skied before and I really didn’t think I’d be returning for any more ski trips, but it’s been a lot of fun.” She realized Landon had made her feel better about being in the snow so that she was not constantly reliving the nightmare when she and her parents were submerged in the frozen lake a decade ago. Being with him had been so therapeutic.
“Oh, I need to try it too. I’ve been too busy, but a couple of guys—twin brothers—dropped by, to my surprise, and offered to teach me how to ski, free of charge. Once I’ve hired a couple of assistants to work in the shop, and when I finally have a breather on the day the shop is closed, I’ll be able to take the ski instructors up on it. You have to move here. It’s just the greatest place ever. But don’t let me keep you. Take a look around, and if you need any help, I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, Maxine.” Gabrielle wiped off her hands on a Christmas napkin, disposed of it, and then began looking at the clothes on the racks.
Roxie was soon holding up a long-sleeved, black merino-wool sports shirt to show Gabrielle. “You have to have one of these, if you don’t already. It wicks away moisture, dries really fast, and keeps you nice and warm. We all wear them under our clothes as a base layer. You can also wear it alone under your ski jacket if it gets warmer out.”
“And merino-wool base pants too,” Kayla said, bringing her a pair of black ones.
“You sold me on it.” Gabrielle tried on two different styles.
“It goes perfectly with your ski clothes, and when it’s even warmer for late-season skiing, you can peel out of your jacket. Wearing just a wool sweater and sports shirt, you would still be warm enough,” Roxie said.
Gabrielle finished getting dressed and left the dressing room. “Okay, I’ll get them. Even in the winter in Florida, I can wear these with just a light jacket.”
Maxine came back to check on them.
“Have you convinced her to stay in Silver Town?” Maxine asked the sisters.
Gabrielle smiled.
“We’re working on it. Lelandi and Darien offered for her to take over the vet practice from Doc Mitchell,” Kayla said.
“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Maxine said.
Gabrielle smiled. “Wasn’t it hard for you to get used to it, Maxine? No beaches? All the snow and cold?”
Maxine sighed. “A beach shop was fun, but the problem was that in the winter, it was off-season, no sales. And of course, no wolves. But here? My shop doesn’t have an off-season. I carry hiking clothes for the summer, bathing suits for year-round. You should see all the swimsuits I sell when guests stay at the lodge and realize they forgot to pack a bathing suit. Plus did I mention all the wolves?” Maxine smiled as if she were in wolf heaven. “How could you leave all this behind?”
Gabrielle was beginning to think Maxine was right. “I know. But it’s still such a change.” Mainly because she’d never lived anywhere else in her life.
Roxie held up four pairs of heavy-duty socks. “To match the rest of your ensembles and keep your feet perfectly warm.”
“And glove liners to keep your fingers nice and warm. You can even wear them by themselves if the sun comes out and you get too hot with the outer gloves.” Kayla handed her the glove liners. “Once you pay for them, we can have lunch at Silva’s Victorian Tea Shop. It’s always outfitted with Victorian decorations, but she has a Christmas–winter theme going on right now.”
“I love tea shops like that.” Gabrielle hadn’t been to one in eons, and whenever she had a chance to go with her friends, she did.
“She has grilled sandwiches or plain sandwiches, little cakes, scones, and cookies, and a wide assortment of tea flavors,” Kayla said.
“That sounds delicious. It’s my treat because I’ve been getting free meals at the lodge all along and you made us breakfast today.”
“Thanks,” Roxie said.
“We appreciate it,” Kayla said.
Gabrielle was glad Maxine had found the perfect place to live and enjoyed the company of the wolves. Gabrielle was starting to feel the same way about being with Landon and his family. She paid for her clothes. “I’m feeling better about this already. I was so cold, but I didn’t want to stop skiing. I really love it. I’m just not used to the cold.”
“Yeah, it’s like with anything, you have to dress right for the job. It would be like us going to Florida and, in the middle of summer, wearing merino wool,” Kayla said.
“Oh, absolutely,” Maxine said, “and for me, it was easier getting used to the cold, since you can just bundle up, than if you have to get used to the hot, humid Florida heat. There’s only so much you can take off.” She smiled.
“True.” Gabrielle couldn’t imagine anything worse than wearing wool in the summer in Florida. And forget about beautiful winter wolf coats. “Thanks so much.” Gabrielle gave her a hug. “Give your cats some loving from me.”
“I sure will. They will be thrilled when I tell them who I saw today.”
Then Gabrielle, Roxie, and Kayla left the shop and dropped Gabrielle’s packages off in the trunk of Kayla’s car. From the boutique, they walked down the street to the tea shop on the snow-shoveled walks. Several of the shops had little red-and-white or green-and-white awnings. She noticed several wolf carvings at the various shops, too, that made her feel toasty and warm inside.
“I can’t believe Maxine was one of your clients back in Daytona Beach,” Roxie said. “We knew she was from Florida, but that was it. Talk about a small world.”
“Yeah, she said she was moving to Colorado and needed her cats’ shot and health records, but she never said exactly where in Colorado. And she certainly didn’t say anything about the place being loaded with wolves. I used to drop in to her beach shop on occasion. I think if she and I hadn’t been so busy, we might have run as wolves, but it never worked out.”
“Well, if you join us here, I bet you can run with her. Is she a royal?” Kayla asked.
“She is. It’s the only way she could have a shop on her own. No trouble with shifting any time of month,” Gabrielle said.
Before they went inside the tea shop, Gabrielle had to pause to enjoy all the lights and the teapots and cups on display in the window. On the outside, garland and lights trimmed the big bow window and a small, lighted four-foot Christmas tree sat on a pedestal on either side. A seven-foot Christmas tree stood inside the window, decorated with blue, red, and gold balls and big red-and-gold-plaid bows. Christmas boxes beneath the tree were in the same color scheme with big bows. A shelf stood along one wall filled with every kind of tea imaginable.
It was so quaint and Victorian that Gabrielle loved it. She, Odette, and Zelda would go to a tea shop back home when the jaguars were in town and not chasing after bad guys. The shop was all very Victorian—no beach theme even though it was near the beach. The Silver Town tea shop was fun with all its decorations, including the little pastel-blue Victorian girl and boy figurines skiing or ice skating in the window, all a beautiful winter resort theme.
“Not only is the tea delicious, but the owner, Silva, makes the best peppermint hot chocolate,” Kayla said.
“Let’s go in, shall we?” Gabrielle said. “I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Though I would love more of those snowball cookies Maxine had at her shop. They were so good.”
“That’s what’s fun too about Silver Town. All the business owners try to have different items to offer to their customers so that we’re not selling the same stuff or offering the same treats. It’s an enticement to get people to drop in. That way, shoppers are encouraged to check out all our places,” Kayla said. “It’s a great marketing plan, and everyone is eager to abide by it because it works!”
“Oh, I agree.” Gabrielle opened the door to the tea shop and heard a little jingle.
A woman wearing her dark hair swept up in a bun, a green velvet mini-dress trimmed in red fur with a black belt at the waist, high-heeled red boots with curled toes, and a green Santa hat trimmed in red fur hurried to greet them. “Welcome, ladies! I’m so glad to see you.”
“Your shop is beautiful,” Gabrielle said. “And I love your outfit.”
“Thanks so much,” the woman said.
“Silva, meet Gabrielle Lowell. Gabrielle, meet Silva. She is mated to Sam, the gray wolf who runs the Silver Town Tavern,” Roxie said.
“Oh, we’ll all be there tonight, won’t we?” Gabrielle asked the sisters.
“Yeah, we sure will,” Kayla said.
“I’ll see you there, then. My shop closes before dinner and then I head over there to help Sam out.” Silva directed them to a table for four and gave them menus. “You’re the veterinarian Lelandi told us about.”
Gabrielle smiled, not believing Lelandi would have told everyone in the pack about her.
“She is,” Kayla said. “We are attempting to convince her she wants to be our vet.”
“Is it working?” Silva asked.
Gabrielle chuckled.
“What can I do to help?” Silva asked.
Smiling, Gabrielle shook her head. “For now, we’re just starving.”
“We can certainly take care of that. I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menus.”
They started to look over them, and Gabrielle said, “This looks good. Cranberry pecan chicken salad. And gingerbread linzer cookie with cinnamon apple butter. The Christmas tea looks good with Ceylon black tea, cinnamon, orange peel, and cloves.”
“Hmm, I’m going to have a pumpkin bread and ham sandwich,” Roxie said. “And the same with the cookie for me. I’ll have the white tea.”
Kayla pointed to the pumpkin bread and turkey. “That’s the one for me. And the linzer cookie is my favorite dessert too. I’m going to have the eggnog tea.”
Silva came back to take their orders and then brought their tea.
This was so much fun. Gabrielle had never expected to have a Christmas tea party during her stay. She would have to bring her friends here for more of the same. “Oh, Silva, do you know of anyone who had calico kittens and might be missing one?”
“No, but we got the alert from the pack leaders. Nicole sent a picture of Rosco protecting the kitten,” Silva said.
“Yeah, he’s not going to want to give her up.” Gabrielle had seen it before. Fated fast friends.
“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know. If you don’t need anything else…” Silva said.
“We’re good,” Kayla said, and Silva went to wait on other customers.
“Rosco adores Jake Silver’s cat, Mittens. I just hadn’t expected him to get so territorial over a new kitten, as if he was protecting her because he knew she was so little and needed taking care of. Oh! That reminds me. We need to shop for cat supplies,” Roxie said. “We don’t have a litter box or anything.”
“But what if she has a home and we have to give her up?” Kayla asked.
“Right, but in the meantime, she still needs a litter box.”
“Okay, a litter box and litter and food, but no toys, collars, or sweaters for her, not until we learn if we can keep her,” Kayla warned.
Gabrielle smiled.
Silva delivered their meals and then welcomed some new customers.
“We’ve never owned a cat before,” Roxie said.
“I’ve had them. Dogs too. I adore all of them.” Gabrielle didn’t have any now, but over the years she’d had several dogs and cats. She began eating her sandwich. “This is delicious.”
“Oh, mine is too,” Kayla said.
Roxie loved hers also. “Then you can help us shop for the right things for Princess Buttercup, Gabrielle. Isn’t it great having a vet along, Kayla?”
Kayla nodded.
Gabrielle smiled. They didn’t need a vet to figure out what the kitten needed to have.
After they had their delightful lunch at the tea shop, they thanked Silva and then walked to the car and took a short drive to the grocery store to purchase the items for Princess Buttercup.
“We don’t have a pet shop in Silver Town,” Kayla explained, “so the grocery store carries a little of everything.”
At the store, they found an enclosed litter box and cat litter, and despite what Kayla said about not buying the kitten any toys or anything, she picked out a pink rhinestone collar, and Roxie found a mouse-on-a-string toy, a scratch pad, and a string-on-a-wand toy. Each time, they asked Gabrielle if the items were safe for the kitten, amusing her, but she was glad they thought she could help.
Then with their packages in the trunk, they headed back to the ski lodge so Gabrielle could go to the slopes with Landon.
He smiled brightly at her when she reached the lobby with her packages. “Did you have a good time?” he asked as he glanced at his sisters with all the cat stuff.
“Princess Buttercup needs these things until we can find her home,” Kayla said, defending their purchases. “I’ll run these over to the house, Roxie.”
“Okay,” her sister said.
Gabrielle already missed Rosco. He would have hurried to greet her at the lodge, and she would have stopped and petted him. He was a big Saint Bernard and commanded attention when he wanted it, and Gabrielle couldn’t deny him head pats and a hug. She thought it was cute that he had taken charge of the kitten and wanted to take care of her.
Roxie belatedly said to Landon, “We had a great time.”
“The best,” Gabrielle said. “The tea shop was a delight.”
“And Gabrielle is a friend of Maxine Fox, the owner of the new boutique shop we were telling you about,” Kayla told Landon. “Maxine is a former client of Gabrielle’s, and she wants her to stay and be the vet for her two cats.”
Landon smiled.
“Imagine my surprise to learn Maxine had ended up here, of all places,” Gabrielle said.
“No better place to be for us wolves,” Kayla said.
Roxie patted her shoulder. “Gabrielle will be nice and toasty warm on the slopes now, but if she gets cold anyway, do your best to keep her warm.” Then she headed into the office.
“We’ll see you later. Thanks for giving her up to us for lunch. That was fun.” Kayla was about to leave the lodge with all the cat packages, but Blake saw her and grabbed hold of the litter box to help her out.
“What is all this stuff?” Blake asked, frowning.
“For our new family member, for as long as she is with us,” Kayla said.
Gabrielle sure hoped they could keep the kitten. “I’m going to take my clothes up to my room and get changed, and I’ll meet you down here, Landon.” She’d had the best time ever. She was really glad she’d gone shopping with Landon’s sisters.
“Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
When she got to her room, she saw the Secret Santa present. What if it was for one of her friends? They would tell her to open it for them. She removed the Christmas wrapping and tore open the box. Inside was a cute stuffed jaguar.
Okay, so it had to be for her friends, she suspected. She texted them: The Secret Santa gift must be for you two. It’s an adorable stuffed jaguar.
She took a picture and sent it to them.
Odette texted: No way.
Zelda texted: Uh-uh.
Gabrielle texted the two of them: Maybe one of you has a jaguar friend who’s interested in you and you just didn’t realize it. I’ve got to run. Talk to you later.
She set the jaguar on the table between the two beds where the sisters would be sleeping, but she realized that she didn’t smell any sign that a jaguar had handled the box, card, or stuffed jaguar. She set the box, wrapping paper, and card on the table, too, so her friends could sort it out. They were JAG special agents after all. She was just a vet. What did she know?
* * *
Landon went into the office to see Roxie, glad that she and Kayla had had a great time with Gabrielle and she’d had just as much fun. The cherry on top? Maxine had asked her to stay and be her vet. They couldn’t have planned that better, even though they’d had nothing to do with it.
“We convinced her to buy several warm articles of clothing,” Roxie said. “So we did our part. If she doesn’t feel the cold, that will help. And we had a really nice time. We’ll have a good time tonight at dinner too. We’ll make sure she has fun. Oh, and she’s a wolf with royal lineage. But she didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that we aren’t. We told her Nicole could run with her. In fact, that would be one good thing about ending up with another she-wolf in the family who is a royal. Not that Nicole doesn’t like to run with her brother and parents, too, but you know what I mean.”
