Excerpt: Lost and Found

I smashed its nose face first into mine and squealed. How freaking adorable! She was perfect! She even had little black hooves and a lion’s tail, ears and everything. I wiggled my nose against hers in a series of Eskimo kisses, squealing as I did it. Okay, so this was the best date ever.

“If I had a vinyl nose would you kiss me too?” Connor asked and I let out another screech, caught him around the neck and hugged him. Right before I squished the buffalo straight into his face.

“Buffalo kisses!” My voice was shrill with excitement and Connor turned bright red as I smooched the buffalo a second time and then shoved it at him for another kiss. “They actually had it,” I told him, nearly shivering with excitement. I slammed it against my nose again with a squeal, feeling the soft plush mold until I stared back into two adorable eyes.

I could have swooned for all the excitement bubbling up inside me.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this?”

Connor shook his head. “He’s just like the rest of your toys… Matt mentioned they were uh, something special?”

“She.” I told him and cuddled it close to my chest as I surfed the rest of the shelves. “Webkinz. The best freaking things on the planet. They’re better than chocolate. You can play with them.”

“Your dog Josie likes them too,” he said, shrugging as he picked up a Raccoon.

“That one’s retired,” I told him. “Mine’s name is Binny.”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“Cause raccoons raid the trash bins.”

He snorted and I could see him fighting the urge not to laugh.

“Where’s the pink and white dog?” I asked, unable to hide the broken sound to my voice. I wanted her just as bad as the buffalo. I frowned.

“The what?”

I grabbed the Pink and White cat, “Like this just cuter and a dog. Bigger nose too.”

I’d seen pictures. She was supposed to be adorable. I dug through another shelf.
“She’s almost as cute as the Love Puppy.” Oh and what I wouldn’t give to find one of those lying on the shelf! “But you can’t find the LP anywhere. They retired them before Matt got me my first one—”

“So he started you on this?”

I could almost hear the laughter in his voice. I glared up at him. “You can’t find her anywhere. She’s worth over a hundred bucks on eBay.”

“For a stuffed toy?”

I tossed an elephant at him and kept digging. “She’s my favorite. If I could find her or if Matt would let me spend the money…” I shook my head. “But the pink and white dog is almost as cute. I really wanted her.”

“She’s retired,” one of the store clerks said as she dropped over, stuffing a few more Webkinz on the shelves.

“What?” They couldn’t retire her! It was only the fourth of the month; she’d only been out four days!

“I know. Then everyone’s been on a buying spree for her. We can’t even get more of her in.”

Crap. “You’re kidding me?”

I could have cried. Talk about crushing a girl’s hopes and dreams in one fell swoop. I cuddled the buffalo closer. “That sucks,” I said, probably much more vehemently than any kid ever had and slumped back against Connor. It wasn’t that I was pouting; I was jut really, really depressed.

“Is there another one you wanted?” Connor said, picking up the porcupine and rubbing him lightly against my nose.

“Porcupine kisses would hurt,” I told him.

I felt the laugh coming. It shook his shoulders before he caught me around the waist and let out a muffled roar. “I dare you to kiss a real buffalo. Those things are downright mean at the best of times. Besides, the toy’s soft enough.”

He tickled it under my nose and I broke. “I could call him Spikey.”

“Or Pink Cheeks,” he said referencing the two blush spots on the toy’s cheeks.

“Spikey Pink Cheeks,” I said with a grin. I suddenly felt much better and that made me pause. “You’re a miracle worker there buster.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve just had the worst let down of a lifetime and you already have me smiling.”

He just winked at me, then calmly reached and took the buffalo out of my hands and headed for the front counter. I followed close behind, trying not to dance with the wiggles of excitement. I was getting the Buffalo. One out of my goal of two wasn’t that bad.

“Thirty bucks?” He sounded surprised.

“They’re worth it.”

“Thirty bucks for two stuffed toys?” He eyed them both, one in each hand. “They’re not even that big.”

I didn’t bother to mention that I’d been expecting the buffalo to be smaller. “I’ll buy my own.”

Connor swatted my hand away. “I wasn’t complaining… I just… dang,” he muttered and passed the lady his debit card.

I was getting them both! I grabbed his bicep, squeezed and let out another squeal as I jumped up and down. Really, there was logic behind jumping for joy. “Thank you,” I screeched in his ear and planted a quick kiss on his cheeks before taking both toys and pressing one nose against each cheek and twisted them with a drawn out, “Smmmooooch!”

The lady behind the counter looked horrified. Connor just grinned and shook his head. “Thanks,” he told her and ushered me out, a bit faster than his normal pace. The tops of his ears were a little pink.

“Embarrassed?” I asked while nudging the buffalo against his nose.

“You’re like a kid, you know that right?”

For a moment I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to say, but he caught me under the chin and suddenly I was staring into eyes that were darker than I’d remembered, like the deep end of a lake at noon, sunlight shimmering off the surface but there was still a sense that were something more out there, way beneath the surface.

“You don’t care at all what anybody thinks of you…”

“A little!”

He shook his head and this time when he leaned his head closer, it was purposeful, gentle, and he touched his nose against mine. “Whatever. Don’t change. You’re you.”

I bit my lip and watched as his gaze dropped. His grin seemed to wilt a little at the edges, but then I heard him swallow. He was going to kiss me and this time I wasn’t going to chicken out. I closed my eyes.

“Josie?”

My eyes flew open.

“You dropped your toys,” he said, trying not to laugh.

“Oh…” But I didn’t move to get them and he took that as an invitation. It was just a light sweep of his lips over mine, but it made my toes curl and my fingers tingle. Then the tingling spread and I recognized the sensation right before a shape-change. I was going to go dog in the middle of the mall. “I have to go to the bathroom.”