After a year of specialized training to become an interior designer, Kaitlin Hartley returns to her hometown of Aspen Grove, California, to the job of her dreams—and the man who hadn’t wanted her to leave, but also hadn't waited for her. During the town’s Autumn Festival, she enters her dachshund, Elvis, into the Running of the Hallowieners race. Joshua Moore enters Elvis’s sister, Priscilla. When Kaitlin gets home afterward, she realizes Elvis has left the building—with Joshua. She has the wrong dog! Can she get her dog—and the man she’s never stopped loving—back?
Included in A Timeless Romance Anthology: Autumn Collection (Aug, 2013)
The elegant cover of the anthology where I'm honored to have my story included with the novellas of five other talented authors:
Stephanie Black, Heather B. Moore, Sarah M. Eden, Annette Lyon, Annette Lyon, and Rachelle J. Christensen. |
The cover as it will be re-released as a separate novella in 2015.
I love the cover and the story! It's one of my favorite stories. |
Excerpt of A Hound Dog Named Elvis
CHAPTER ONE
The closest I ever came to getting married was just before I started singing. In fact, my first record saved my neck.
Elvis Presley
Autumn Festival, Aspen Grove, California ~ Friday, October 10th
“Could they have named this dog race anything sillier?” Kaitlin Hartley smiled at her friend as she opened the back door of her silver Jetta and unhooked her dachshund, Elvis, from the safety restraint. She attached his leash, set him on the ground, and bumped the door shut with her hip..
Kneeling, Lindsey Taylor rubbed Elvis behind his ears. Immediately, he flopped onto the ground in ecstasy and rolled over for his belly to be rubbed. She snorted. “It was my brother’s idea. He’s very proud of it.”
“Figures.” A couple of years older than Kaitlin and Lindsey, Jake was Aspen Grove’s youngest mayor ever.
“But the First Annual Running of the Hallowieners? Seriously?”
“Halloween is only three weeks away.” Lindsey gave Elvis one last pat, helped him upright, dusted him off, and stood.
“We’d better get over to the starting line. Ethan said he’d be there, too.”
Ethan Peterson was Lindsey’s on-again/off-again fiancé. Current status: Definitely on. Kaitlin used to double date with them back when she was still with . . . Oh, no. She was so not going there. Patting her dog’s head, she said, “Let’s go, Elvis.”
She walked with Lindsey toward the entrance of Morrison Motorsports Park. The owners of the car and motorcycle race track had generously offered to host this particular autumn festival race. Kaitlin had heard of dachshund races, but hadn’t seen one until looking some up on YouTube a few nights ago. She’d decided to participate because it looked like it would be good, silly fun.
And, after the last year of intensive interior-designer training in New York, and the past week, when Kaitlin passed her certification test, she could use some good, silly fun.
Moving through the track entrance booths, Kaitlin signed in at the racers’ table by the finish line. Checkered flags poked out of the top of a tall, round container—more to add comedy than realism, no doubt.
The young lady at the table, one of the teenage King twins, pointed to the row of large, bumpy plastic bags lined up behind her. “Inside is your dog’s official racing uniform plus race buttons for the two people who will be at the starting and finish lines. Anyone else will need to stand along the sides of the track. You’re assigned to lane four of the speedway.”
“Thanks.” Kaitlin handed Elvis’s leash to Lindsey and took one of the large bags. She peered inside, moved a few things around, and laughed. “A hot-dog costume? For a wiener-dog race? Are you kidding me?”
“No joke.” The King girl shrugged. “It was the mayor’s idea.”
Kaitlin glanced at Lindsey, who put up her hands in protest. “Hey, I can’t be held accountable for my brother. I’m just related to him.”
Elvis wanted to sniff everything as they made their way the hundred feet or so from the table to the starting line. Chalk lines had been added to the car race track, marking a rectangle with the start and finish lines on each end, makeshift waist-high barriers along the longer sides, and lanes drawn up the middle. It made Kaitlin smile to think about the probability of the dogs actually staying in those pretty little lanes.
At the far end of the rectangle, she found lane four, Elvis’s starting position, and glanced at her watch. Ten ten. They still had twenty minutes until race time.
Elvis sat on his rump and looked up at her with soulful eyes. Unable to resist, she bent down and gave him a love. “You are the cutest dog ever.”
“He is. And it is so good to see you back in town, Kaitlin Hartley.”
Kaitlin turned and got out, “Candy!” before being swept into a hug.
Candy Kane owned Candy’s Café, the place Kaitlin loved to hang out— and so did with half the town. She reminded Kaitlin of Doris Day in her heyday, with streaked blonde hair curving gently about her face. She had to be in her mid-forties and probably weighed twenty or thirty pounds more than she had in her twenties, but she looked stylish.
“Have you seen Joshua yet?” Candy asked.
“Not yet,” Kaitlin said, forcing a smile and changing the subject. “Do you have a dog in the race?”
Candy shook her head. “I’m looking for Sonnet Cassidy. She’s the official photographer for the race.”
“I haven’t seen Sonnet in forever. I thought she was living with her parents.”
“She’s moved here and her father is not happy about it.” Candy smiled. “But your parents seemed to be happy with you being in New York for school. Even though they missed you. Are you done now?”
“Yup. Took my certification test last week.”
“And you accepted the job at Kosta Architecture?”
Kaitlin nodded. “My dream design job.”
“Be sure to bring some of your designs on over to the café, okay?”
Kaitlin said, “I will,” and turned back to Elvis.
It took a few extra minutes for both Kaitlin and Lindsey to stuff his long body into the hot dog costume because of his excited wiggling and wagging tail. Then they stood back to get a good look.
Pieces of bun ran along each flank, with Elvis’s body being the actual hot dog portion of the costume, with a ribbon of ketchup squiggled along the top, which covered the triangle-shaped white marking on the fur of his dark brown back. As if he’d had enough excitement, he sat himself down again.
Kaitlin looked down on her little dog and crooned, “You’re the cutest little hound dog ever.”
“He looks more hang dog than hound dog,” Lindsey teased and then spoke to the little hound dog. “But you look really handsome, Elvis. Really. You are definitely the manliest hot dog on this track.” Lindsey looked over at Kaitlin. “Are you sure dachshunds are really hound dogs?”
“Yes, they are.” Kaitlin nodded. “I don’t think he likes the costume. He’d probably rather be in a sequined jumpsuit.” Kaitlin scratched behind her dog’s ears; he tipped his head, and closed his eyes. “But you sure like this, don’t you, boy?”
“Maybe he needs some blue suede shoes or something,” Lindsey said, and then her voice rose. “Oh, no!”
“What?” Kaitlin looked up in surprise.
Lindsey pointed down the line. “There! Double trouble!”
Holding the end of Elvis’s leash, Kaitlin stood and searched the crowd where her friend was pointing. What she saw at the far end of the starting line sucked her breath away. After a moment of stunned silence, she whispered, “Oh, no, no no. Is that Joshua?”
“Worse—Ethan. The bum is helping Joshua! I don’t believe this. I’ll be back before the race starts. I’m going to go give him a piece of my mind. Maybe it’s time for him to choose between me and Joshua.” And Kaitlin’s emotionally volatile friend shot off toward her unsuspecting boyfriend.
Kaitlin’s heart pounded.
Joshua Moore.
The one man she didn’t want to run into in Aspen Grove. Especially not when she’d only been back in town for one week. Give it a month or two—another year—and maybe she could handle it. Maybe. But not like this, not so unexpectedly.
Frozen in place, Kaitlin watched as Lindsey rounded on Ethan. She could hear their raised voices but couldn’t make out the words through the sounds of the crowd— the same crowd who now watched the couple with interest. Kaitlin could see the angry sparks from here.
Lindsey pointed back toward Kaitlin, and both Ethan and Joshua looked her way. If Joshua’s narrowed gaze and frown were any indication, he wasn’t any happier to see her than she was to see him.
His gaze locked with hers, and warmth flooded her cheeks.
He was dressed in his trademark faded blue jeans and cowboy boots, his muscles sharply defined in a long-sleeved dark blue shirt. His dark hair was a little too long— just the length she liked to run her fingers through.
A familiar physical attraction flashed through her veins.
Appalled at her reaction, she turned, her hands trembling on the leash. Stop that! She wanted nothing to do with the man.
He’d broken her heart once.
She wasn’t going to give him the chance to do it again.
The closest I ever came to getting married was just before I started singing. In fact, my first record saved my neck.
Elvis Presley
Autumn Festival, Aspen Grove, California ~ Friday, October 10th
“Could they have named this dog race anything sillier?” Kaitlin Hartley smiled at her friend as she opened the back door of her silver Jetta and unhooked her dachshund, Elvis, from the safety restraint. She attached his leash, set him on the ground, and bumped the door shut with her hip..
Kneeling, Lindsey Taylor rubbed Elvis behind his ears. Immediately, he flopped onto the ground in ecstasy and rolled over for his belly to be rubbed. She snorted. “It was my brother’s idea. He’s very proud of it.”
“Figures.” A couple of years older than Kaitlin and Lindsey, Jake was Aspen Grove’s youngest mayor ever.
“But the First Annual Running of the Hallowieners? Seriously?”
“Halloween is only three weeks away.” Lindsey gave Elvis one last pat, helped him upright, dusted him off, and stood.
“We’d better get over to the starting line. Ethan said he’d be there, too.”
Ethan Peterson was Lindsey’s on-again/off-again fiancé. Current status: Definitely on. Kaitlin used to double date with them back when she was still with . . . Oh, no. She was so not going there. Patting her dog’s head, she said, “Let’s go, Elvis.”
She walked with Lindsey toward the entrance of Morrison Motorsports Park. The owners of the car and motorcycle race track had generously offered to host this particular autumn festival race. Kaitlin had heard of dachshund races, but hadn’t seen one until looking some up on YouTube a few nights ago. She’d decided to participate because it looked like it would be good, silly fun.
And, after the last year of intensive interior-designer training in New York, and the past week, when Kaitlin passed her certification test, she could use some good, silly fun.
Moving through the track entrance booths, Kaitlin signed in at the racers’ table by the finish line. Checkered flags poked out of the top of a tall, round container—more to add comedy than realism, no doubt.
The young lady at the table, one of the teenage King twins, pointed to the row of large, bumpy plastic bags lined up behind her. “Inside is your dog’s official racing uniform plus race buttons for the two people who will be at the starting and finish lines. Anyone else will need to stand along the sides of the track. You’re assigned to lane four of the speedway.”
“Thanks.” Kaitlin handed Elvis’s leash to Lindsey and took one of the large bags. She peered inside, moved a few things around, and laughed. “A hot-dog costume? For a wiener-dog race? Are you kidding me?”
“No joke.” The King girl shrugged. “It was the mayor’s idea.”
Kaitlin glanced at Lindsey, who put up her hands in protest. “Hey, I can’t be held accountable for my brother. I’m just related to him.”
Elvis wanted to sniff everything as they made their way the hundred feet or so from the table to the starting line. Chalk lines had been added to the car race track, marking a rectangle with the start and finish lines on each end, makeshift waist-high barriers along the longer sides, and lanes drawn up the middle. It made Kaitlin smile to think about the probability of the dogs actually staying in those pretty little lanes.
At the far end of the rectangle, she found lane four, Elvis’s starting position, and glanced at her watch. Ten ten. They still had twenty minutes until race time.
Elvis sat on his rump and looked up at her with soulful eyes. Unable to resist, she bent down and gave him a love. “You are the cutest dog ever.”
“He is. And it is so good to see you back in town, Kaitlin Hartley.”
Kaitlin turned and got out, “Candy!” before being swept into a hug.
Candy Kane owned Candy’s Café, the place Kaitlin loved to hang out— and so did with half the town. She reminded Kaitlin of Doris Day in her heyday, with streaked blonde hair curving gently about her face. She had to be in her mid-forties and probably weighed twenty or thirty pounds more than she had in her twenties, but she looked stylish.
“Have you seen Joshua yet?” Candy asked.
“Not yet,” Kaitlin said, forcing a smile and changing the subject. “Do you have a dog in the race?”
Candy shook her head. “I’m looking for Sonnet Cassidy. She’s the official photographer for the race.”
“I haven’t seen Sonnet in forever. I thought she was living with her parents.”
“She’s moved here and her father is not happy about it.” Candy smiled. “But your parents seemed to be happy with you being in New York for school. Even though they missed you. Are you done now?”
“Yup. Took my certification test last week.”
“And you accepted the job at Kosta Architecture?”
Kaitlin nodded. “My dream design job.”
“Be sure to bring some of your designs on over to the café, okay?”
Kaitlin said, “I will,” and turned back to Elvis.
It took a few extra minutes for both Kaitlin and Lindsey to stuff his long body into the hot dog costume because of his excited wiggling and wagging tail. Then they stood back to get a good look.
Pieces of bun ran along each flank, with Elvis’s body being the actual hot dog portion of the costume, with a ribbon of ketchup squiggled along the top, which covered the triangle-shaped white marking on the fur of his dark brown back. As if he’d had enough excitement, he sat himself down again.
Kaitlin looked down on her little dog and crooned, “You’re the cutest little hound dog ever.”
“He looks more hang dog than hound dog,” Lindsey teased and then spoke to the little hound dog. “But you look really handsome, Elvis. Really. You are definitely the manliest hot dog on this track.” Lindsey looked over at Kaitlin. “Are you sure dachshunds are really hound dogs?”
“Yes, they are.” Kaitlin nodded. “I don’t think he likes the costume. He’d probably rather be in a sequined jumpsuit.” Kaitlin scratched behind her dog’s ears; he tipped his head, and closed his eyes. “But you sure like this, don’t you, boy?”
“Maybe he needs some blue suede shoes or something,” Lindsey said, and then her voice rose. “Oh, no!”
“What?” Kaitlin looked up in surprise.
Lindsey pointed down the line. “There! Double trouble!”
Holding the end of Elvis’s leash, Kaitlin stood and searched the crowd where her friend was pointing. What she saw at the far end of the starting line sucked her breath away. After a moment of stunned silence, she whispered, “Oh, no, no no. Is that Joshua?”
“Worse—Ethan. The bum is helping Joshua! I don’t believe this. I’ll be back before the race starts. I’m going to go give him a piece of my mind. Maybe it’s time for him to choose between me and Joshua.” And Kaitlin’s emotionally volatile friend shot off toward her unsuspecting boyfriend.
Kaitlin’s heart pounded.
Joshua Moore.
The one man she didn’t want to run into in Aspen Grove. Especially not when she’d only been back in town for one week. Give it a month or two—another year—and maybe she could handle it. Maybe. But not like this, not so unexpectedly.
Frozen in place, Kaitlin watched as Lindsey rounded on Ethan. She could hear their raised voices but couldn’t make out the words through the sounds of the crowd— the same crowd who now watched the couple with interest. Kaitlin could see the angry sparks from here.
Lindsey pointed back toward Kaitlin, and both Ethan and Joshua looked her way. If Joshua’s narrowed gaze and frown were any indication, he wasn’t any happier to see her than she was to see him.
His gaze locked with hers, and warmth flooded her cheeks.
He was dressed in his trademark faded blue jeans and cowboy boots, his muscles sharply defined in a long-sleeved dark blue shirt. His dark hair was a little too long— just the length she liked to run her fingers through.
A familiar physical attraction flashed through her veins.
Appalled at her reaction, she turned, her hands trembling on the leash. Stop that! She wanted nothing to do with the man.
He’d broken her heart once.
She wasn’t going to give him the chance to do it again.