Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Marissa loved the Paw-mas parade. It was something she looked forward to every year. Christmas and puppies. What could be better? Usually she and Pumpkin walked it, so this year was a little different with the golf cart. But she had to admit that it didn’t suck. Since she didn’t have to make sure Pumpkin didn’t get tangled in the crowd, it was easier to see everything.

The moment they rolled past the starting point, the cart was suddenly flanked by life-sized Saint Bernard nutcrackers. They marched along, in perfect formation, only peeling off to make room for poodle ballet dancers that twirled in their pink tutus.

Pumpkin sat on Danny’s lap, perfectly still and at attention as she took in the spectacle. When the bulldogs on hogs showed up twirling their candy cane batons, her tail started to wag uncontrollably, and Marissa got the impression that her little Havanese pup had a bit of a bad boy streak.

“This is incredible,” Danny said, his eyes wide. “Christmas Grove really knows how to put on a parade.”

“They really do,” she said with a nod, feeling happier and more at ease than she had in weeks. The stress of the accident and the curse seemed to fade away as she let herself just enjoy the moment.

One of the bulldogs on hogs rode up next to them. The woman driving the motorcycle grinned at Danny as Pumpkin barked her enthusiasm, clearly ready to jump aboard. Marissa wasn’t sure if she was more excited about the motorcycle or the bulldog in the side car who was making eyes at her.

“I hate to be the heavy, Pumpkin,” Marissa said. “But I seriously doubt there will be any motorcycles in your future.”

Her dog turned and gave her an evil puppy glare and then went back to wagging her tail for the bulldog.

Danny laughed as he held on to Pumpkin, making sure she didn’t run off with the leather-clad stud.

“Am I hearing what I think I’m hearing?” Danny asked as they got close to a set of bleachers on the left.

“Are you talking about the dog choir?” she asked.

“Yes! Are they barking ‘Jingle Bells’?”

“Yep.” She glanced ahead at the stands full of dogs and their humans. The mishmash of dog breeds were all wearing Santa hats and standing at attention as they barked out the song. “They’re pretty good, right? ”

“Now I’ve seen it all. A dog choir,” he said, shaking his head, clearly amused.

“Hardly.” She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

Danny placed one hand on her thigh, and Marissa just felt right. No matter what else was going on, she knew she’d made the right choice by letting Danny back into her life.

Snow started to fall over the parade just as a pack of huskies appeared, pulling Santa and his sleigh. Santa made snowballs from the falling snow and started throwing them to the pups lined up watching the parade. Their humans cackled at the way the snowballs melted, leaving the dogs confused as to where their balls had gone.

Pumpkin watched the confused dogs with a look of superiority that made Marissa chuckle. “You’re smarter than that, aren’t you, girl?”

Pumpkin glanced at her and opened her mouth in a big doggie grin.

“What is that?” Danny asked, leaning out of the cart as he looked ahead.

“What?” Marissa bent her head, trying to see past the top of the golf cart and then frowned. “Why is the snow princess wearing black?”

Every year, the parade ended up pausing at the crowned snow princess who gave out holiday treats to all the dogs. She was usually dressed in a white gown and wore a crown made of ice. This year, the princess was in a lacey black dress, black boots, and was wearing a black eye mask that made her look more like she was going to a masquerade ball. Plus, there weren’t any treats in sight. Instead, she had a silver wand with a red star at the end and was writing something in the air that Marissa couldn’t quite make out.

“What does that say?” Danny asked, squinting.

The words kept erasing and reappearing.

“I think it says No barking ,” Marissa said. The words disappeared and the queen wrote, Stay off the couch! “Who hired this grump?”

There were boos behind them from the group that was walking their golden retrievers.

Marissa turned and gave them a thumbs-up.

Just as they started to pass the Cruella queen, the words changed and all hell broke loose.

No dogs allowed!

Pumpkin started to growl, baring her teeth, and then she jerked violently from Danny’s grip and shot out of the cart, heading straight for the queen.

“Pumpkin! No!” Marissa darted after her, running as fast as she could, but the little dog was too fast. She had no hope of catching her before she got close enough to attack the queen.

A series of loud barks sounded from behind her, and suddenly Marissa was nearly knocked over when Spruce darted past her, ornaments flying off him left and right.

“Dammit, Spruce! I warned you about this,” Zach called, now racing after the dogs, too.

While Pumpkin darted between legs and skirted around most of the parade-goers with ease, Spruce was busy knocking people over in his haste to go after Cruella. Pumpkin reached Cruella first, grabbing onto the black lace skirt and yanking with everything she had. The queen scowled at the dog, pointed her wand at her, and sent a crackle of magic that made Marissa’s heart stop.

“No!” Marissa cried just as Spruce threw himself in front of the magic, saving Pumpkin from the electric blow. Spruce let out a loud wince and then dropped right in front of Pumpkin, whimpering and twitching from the magic.

“What the actual hell?” Marissa cried as she threw herself at the queen, grabbing the wand and trying to yank it out of her hand. “How dare you attack our dogs like that. You could have killed one of them!”

The queen pulled back out of Marissa’s grasp and managed to not only keep the wand, but tore her skirt away from the furious Pumpkin, who clearly wanted to rip it to shreds.

Zach reached them and fell to his knees beside Spruce. He ran a hand down his flank, talking calmly to his dog, trying to soothe him.

“You’re blaming me?” the woman asked. Her voice was vaguely familiar. “Your dog attacked me. What was I supposed to do? Let her rip my leg off?”

Marissa reached for her snarling dog and held her close, trying to calm her. Both of them were shaking, and Marissa was beside herself. Pumpkin had never attacked anyone in her life. In her five-plus years, she hadn’t been anything but sweet to everyone she’d ever known.

“What have you done to my dog?” Zach yelled as he got to his feet, fuming at the woman. “He didn’t do anything to you. Just look at him. ”

Marissa followed his gaze and saw that poor Spruce was having trouble standing on all four paws. He’d gotten up but was holding his front left paw up, wincing when he tried to put any weight on it.

“You don’t belong here,” Marissa seethed at her. “This is a dog parade to celebrate them, not use magic to hurt them!”

“Patience!” Sophie cried as she appeared out of nowhere right next to Cruella. “You don’t belong here!” She waved a hand, removing the woman’s mask.

Marissa let out a gasp when she realized why the woman’s voice was familiar. She was Sophie’s sister, the fallen sugar plum fairy who’d cursed Danny and threatened her the night of his accident. “You! What are you doing here?”

“Wreaking havoc like she always does,” Sophie spat. “What are you trying to do? Sabotage my bid for my wings? I know you don’t care about Danny or that curse you cast sixteen years ago. If you did, you’d have tried to stick your claws into him well before now. Admit it! You’re jealous of me!”

Marissa clutched Pumpkin and took a few steps back away from the two sugar plum fairies. Magic was sparking off Sophie like a live wire, and she didn’t want either of them in the way of whatever was about to transpire. “Zach,” she whispered, “we need to move.”

Zach hauled Spruce into his arms and the pair of them turned to hurry back to the golf carts, but Marissa stopped short when she found Danny standing right behind her, leaning on his crutches .

“Danny, what are you doing?” she asked, wanting to pull him back to the golf carts.

“Protecting my girls,” he said, glaring at Patience. “She already cost me years with you. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Danny, hey man. I don’t think we want to get involved in whatever this is,” Zach said, trying to be the voice of reason.

But Danny shook him off. “You don’t understand. This evil fairy cursed me. I’m not running again. Not now. Not ever.”

Marissa felt tears sting her eyes as emotion overtook her. She turned to face the woman who’d destroyed their lives and grabbed Danny’s hand, holding on as tightly as she could while still clutching Pumpkin. “I’m not running either!” she called.

Danny met her gaze. “I didn’t think there was ever any question of that.”

She wanted to confirm that he was speaking the truth, but she couldn’t. Because ever since Patience appeared to her in the hospital after his accident, she’d been wondering if Danny had made the right choice all those years ago. Wondered if the only way to keep him safe was to keep her distance.

“Marissa?” he asked with concern etched in the lines around his eyes.

“She came to me. After your accident. Told me she’d never leave us alone,” she blurted. “I kept wondering if maybe we should end this before we get in any deeper. ”

“Is that what you want?” he asked and then looked as if he were holding his breath.

“No. It isn’t. But I finally understood why you left. After seeing you hurt like that…” She shook her head, trying to dislodge the emotion from her throat. “I don’t ever want to see you hurting again. I thought… I don’t know. If it was the only way to keep you safe, I’d go. I’d keep my distance. Even leave this town if that’s what it took. I love you too much to put you in danger.”

Tears were rolling down her cheeks unchecked.

Danny reached over and brushed them away. “But I was wrong to leave. I should have stayed and fought for you. I’m prepared to do that now. I pray that you are willing to do the same.”

It seemed as if everyone around them was holding their breath, waiting to see how their drama played out.

Marissa looked around at the expectant faces and then up at Patience, who was scowling at them.

The evil fairy said, “I’ll never be far away. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, waiting to see what I have in store for you both. Leave him now. It’s the only way to save yourself.”

The words sparked a fire in Marissa, and she knew then that she’d never stop fighting for Danny. He was her soulmate. The one she’d loved since she was barely a teenager. The one she’d never stopped loving. And the one she’d die waiting for if she didn’t make this choice right at that moment. “Nothing you say or do will ever come between us. Danny is mine. And I’m his.” She turned back to him. “I love you. She can’t do anything to change that. If you’re in this with me, then I’m in, too. All in. Forever.”

Relief shone in his green eyes as he clutched her and Pumpkin to him. “I’m yours, Marissa Cane. Never again will I let anyone get between us.”

Magic sparked around them, swirling in a shimmering light. It tickled Marissa’s arms, filled her up, and made her feel invincible. She laughed up at Danny as he smiled down at her, and then suddenly all that magic shot upward, gathered into the shape of a broken heart, and then burst like fireworks on the 4 th of July.

“No!” Patience cried right at the same moment that Sophie let out an excited squeal as she twirled around, showing off her new wings.

The translucent wings were almost twice her size, and when she fluttered them, she lifted right off the ground.

“Whoa,” Zach said.

“This is the best Paw-mas parade this town has ever had!” someone shouted from behind them.

People started chattering, and the music started up again as if nothing had ever happened. Zach took Spruce back to his golf cart where they waited for the parade to start up again.

But Marissa didn’t move. She was too transfixed. Four other fairies appeared out of nowhere, each of them with wings just like Sophie’s. Together, the five of them circled Patience, grabbing her by her tacky black lace dress and carrying her away from the parade.

“What do you think they’ll do with her?” Danny asked.

“I have no idea. Maybe Sophie will come back some time to give us an update.” She leaned into him, grateful for his solid presence. “Do you feel any different?”

“I feel lighter. Like a weight or fog has been lifted. I don’t know, it’s like I’ve been carrying a physical burden for so many years I was just used to it. But now I feel like I’m on top of the world. What about you?”

She gave him a sweet smile and said, “I feel like a piece of myself was just returned to me. And I don’t care about being on top of the world, just as long as I have you.”

“You have me. Always.” Then he dipped his head and kissed her.

A loud chorus of horns honking overpowered the music and general din of the crowd.

Marissa pulled away from Danny and glanced over to see a dozen golf carts all pulled up behind the one they’d abandoned. She chuckled. “I think it’s time to rejoin the parade.”

Together, the three of them made their way back to the golf cart and then took off, eager to rejoin the festivities.

“Do you think we’ll meet Santa?” Danny asked.

“I’m hoping for Frosty,” Marissa said.

They passed the sleigh that was being pulled by the huskies, and Pumpkin let out a series of barks.

Marissa eyed her pup. “I think that means she wants to meet Rudolph.”

Danny threw his head back and laughed, and Marissa knew then and there that they’d finally found their happily-ever-after.