Read Online To Catch a Treat by Linda O. Johnston - Free Book Online

to greet them, too.
    â€œHi,” I said. “Welcome to Barkery and Biscuits. Is it okay to give Go a sample treat?”
    â€œDefinitely. I’m planning on buying him some treats. Spoiling him all over again.” Janelle smiled hugely. She wore jeans and the same purple athletic shoes I’d seen her in before. Her T-shirt was also purple and said Knobcone Heights , clearly a souvenir of her visit here. But what really looked different about her was how real that smile on her pretty face appeared. It was wide and relaxed and suggested she was ready to break into laughter if anyone around her said something that even hinted of a joke.
    Apparently, finding Go had been a really good thing for her. I could understand that.
    Her light brown hair wafted about her face as if she’d been in a breeze. Or maybe Go and she had run here.
    â€œI assume you’d like a treat, too,” I told her after retrieving a carob and peanut butter biscuit for Go from inside the refrigerated case. “How about an apple scone next door?”
    â€œI’d love that,” she said.
    I was glad to see her and wondered if I could get her talking. Last night, after driving Go and Janelle to their hotel, Neal had come back to our place rather dejected. He was delighted that Janelle had found her dog and was clearly feeling better, but he was also worried that now that she was no longer depressed, she might decide there was no reason to stay in Knobcone Heights.
    No reason to get to know him better.
    Could I help? I doubted it. I didn’t fully trust Janelle or the situation, and yet I really liked how happy she was to be apparently reunited with her dog—and wanting to spoil him. Plus, I’d hated to see my brother’s dismay when his prior relationship hadn’t seemed to lead anywhere. Might this one?
    Certainly only if they could see each other frequently. That meant staying in the same town. And if Janelle was here for a while, maybe I could figure out what had really happened with Go.
    Now I moved back out from behind the counter and handed Go most of the biscuit. The large black Lab scarfed it down, then looked up at me with big, dark eyes that seemed to plead for more. I just laughed and patted his head, but then I walked over to give my Biscuit the rest of that biscuit so she wouldn’t feel jealous.
    â€œThis place is every bit as charming as I thought it would be,” Janelle said, her eyes moving from the glass-fronted case containing multiple kinds of fresh dog treats, to the wall shelves behind it where filled dog-cookie jars were stored, to Biscuit’s enclosure area. Then she scanned the few tables and chairs on the decorative blue-tile floor.
    I just smiled with pride. “Before we go into Icing on the Cake, we can hook Go’s leash to Biscuit’s enclosure. Dogs are more than welcome here in the Barkery, but not in the human bakery.”
    â€œSounds great.”
    I took the end of Go’s leash and looped it around the hook at the outside of Biscuit’s crate, then led Janelle into Icing.
    Dinah was there, scrubbing down the wall shelves that contained jars of human cookies. The layout of Icing was a mirror image of the Barkery. When Dinah turned around, I introduced her to Janelle.
    â€œDinah’s been around here longer than I have,” I said. “She worked here in Icing when it was the whole shop, and now she’s my full-time helper.”
    â€œThat sounds wonderful.” Something in Janelle’s tone grabbed my attention. She was looking around Icing the same way as she had the Barkery, appearing not only interested but wistful. Her next words confirmed what I’d been sensing. “I’d love to work someplace like this.”
    Really? I’d thought she was a photographer.
    But did that pay enough to support her and a medium-sized dog? Plus, even though she’d apparently only been in town a short while, could she keep up with