The Christmas Beau by Regina Duke

Author:Regina Duke [Duke, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary romance
Publisher: RD Books
Published: 2019-04-24T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

The week after that party was the best week of Holly’s life. Tanner was kind and funny, and they had that ridiculously wonderful link from the past, spending weekends at dog shows and having mutual crushes. Now they were making up for lost time.

The fact that neither of them had full-time jobs at the moment made courting a joy. Tanner picked her up on Monday morning so she could help him take Charlene for a walk in the park. The weather was being kind, and they only needed fleece jackets as they followed little Charlene on her leash, while she investigated one light pole after another. Everything was worth sniffing, and while she wagged for joy, Holly and Tanner indulged in the simple pleasure of holding hands and sharing personal information with each other. Holly wanted to know every detail of the Tanner’s life during the twelve years since they’d last seen each other, and the same appeared to be true for Tanner.

He asked, “So after your mother’s accident, she withdrew from showing dogs?”

“Yes. Breaking a femur is horrible. She was chasing a loose dog in the hotel parking lot. Someone had lost hold of their leash, and it was headed into traffic. Mom caught the dog just in time to keep it from being hit by a car. She had just returned it to its panicked owner, when the pickup hit her and destroyed the bone. Recovery was long and slow, and by the time she was feeling well enough to be active again, some of her friends had moved away, including her best friend, the one she used to travel to shows with. I was heading off to college and wasn’t able to ignore my studies every weekend, so she fell out of the loop.”

“Ruth was telling me stories last night about what a great group they used to have. She knew Margaret but it was one of those things where you would love to get to know someone, but if they were judging at a show, Ruth was afraid people would think she was currying favor.”

“I understand,” said Holly. She headed for a secluded bench. “Do you think Charlene would mind if we take a short break?” She wagged her eyebrows invitingly.

Tanner was already an expert at reading certain signals. Holly found she could only go an hour or so without kissing Tanner. The chemistry between them was thrilling. But she’d been badly hurt when her former fiancé abandoned her on her wedding day. She didn’t want to move too quickly.

For a while, they communicated silently on the bench. When they were forced to stop for air, Holly asked huskily, “Does this count as learning to read lips?”

Tanner smiled. Charlene barked and tugged at her leash.

Holly pretended to be irritated. “Oh fine. I should have known there was another woman in your life.”

They kept walking. Tanner said, “It’s so sad that your mother lost her last dog. I’m glad she’s doing shows again. She needs to reconnect with her friends.

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