Vets in Training: Refusing to Love (Book 1)

Chapter 8

A month had passed and nobody had claimed the dog. I worried about it until Christmas break. When Christmas Day rolled around, I invited the club over to my house.  They agreed and brought their parents with them.  That day, we ate and talked. When night fell, we opened our gifts. I gave the girls their own sweaters in their favorite color and animal. I got a pretty red sweater dress from Mom and some red high heels from Dad.  I got a stuffed husky  and a letter from Sue by mail service. She had recently moved to Louisiana last week. Bella was now leader and I had become coleader. From the rest of the group I got a fifty dollar gift card for Books-A-Million.  As we were eating dessert,  a knock on the door scared all of us.  Mom bravely went up to and opened it.   There right in front of her was Eric Matthew Roberts.

"Mr. Roberts! What a pleasure to see you!", Mom said. 

"Is Laurel here?", he asked. 

The girls looked at me and giggled.

"Yes! Come in! Make yourself at home! Laurel has told me a lot about you", she said with a smile.

When he saw me, he blushed.  I had just tried on my dress and heels. My brown hair was up in a high bun with a red bow in it.  I looked at the ground.  Why did he have to come?  I thought to myself.  

"You look nice", he said. 

I looked up and he gave me a gift box with holes in it. 

  Why did he have to come?   I thought to myself.

I tore the ribbon off and I opened the box. I gasped when I picked up the white fur ball.  It was the husky puppy! 

"Is this-", I stopped.

Matt nodded and my heart felt so happy.

"That's not all of your presents", he said. 

A small gift bag was given to me and inside was an expensive red necklace.  When he put it on for me, I shivered at his touch. He smiled and I looked away with narrowed eyes.  He shrugged and sat back down.  I grabbed another thing out of the bag and my eyes widened.  It was a blue collar with a name tag that said Snowflake on it.  I smiled and put it around the dog's neck. 

"The shelter and I named her", Matt said. 

The last time I fished into the bag, I grabbed a card.  I looked up at him and he nodded.  It said:

Dear Laurel,

Merry Christmas! I know we're just friends, but I can still give gifts. I don't want to bore you with mushy stuff.  so, I'll cut to the chase.  I know that you want to just be friends, but I have something to tell you. I want to be more than just friends. Please give me a chance!

                                                                                                                                   Sincerly,

                                                                                                                                         Matt 

After I read the letter, I looked up at Matt. A feeling came over me like a wave and I did something I thought that I would never do.  I hugged him and whispered,  " Yes."  

As if he understood, Matt nodded and a smile slowly spread across his face.