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He spied a bat and recalled the way Wren had excitedly explained that they slept upside-down even when they hibernated, because their feet never lost their grip on their perch. Instead of being a hand puppet, this one was a marionette.

“Sorry about that,” the silver-haired wolf said when he reached Logan’s side. “Sometimes it’s difficult to tear myself away from the photos folks bring in of happy pups playing with the toys they find here.”

“It’s really no trouble at all,” Logan replied. “I’m glad I had the chance to linger.”

“We’ve had to request several of those since Storytellers Night. It always serves as a wonderful reminder to folks of what they can do with their own imaginations,” the silver-haired wolf said. “Forgive my manners, I’m Oliver.”

“I’m Logan. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Between that night and the lessons our older pup has been learning in school, that’s exactly what happened just now.”

“Well, I hope you have fun with it. That’s all that matters to the little ones.”

“You’re right about that.”

“Did you still want to see what was in the display window?”

“Yes, please,” Logan said. “It was lime green, though that’s the only thing I noticed.”

“The jellyfish,” Oliver said. “That one has been as popular as the octopus my mates decided to name after me. Gotta love them. After all these years they’re just as affectionate and exasperating as the day we met.”

“Who makes all these?” Logan asked as they passed rows of colorful stuffed animals.

“Oh, it depends on the critter,” Oliver explained. “Some of them my Uncle Terrence makes, like this collection over here. They were inspired by the years he spent living above the border with the Arctic pack. He’s getting up there now, so he only makes one line of toys a year, but these over here are part of the swamp collection my sister and nephew collaborated on. It truly is a family affair. This wacky line of imaginary friends, for example, was a collaborative effort between my mate, Cypress, our grandson, Drax, and my sister, Feline. Drax came up with the idea, Feline drew all the characters, and Cypress brought them to life.”

“These are truly unique,” Logan said as he took in the bright, silly creatures.

Four eyes, three eyes, six arms, two tails, each and every one of them was different. Logan selected five, but only three fit in the basket, so he carried the other two in his arms on the walk to the window and the underwater display there.

“Here you go,” Oliver said as he passed Logan the jellyfish.

“Thank you,” Logan said, turning it over in his hands to discover it was a puppet too. “Wait, are they all puppets?”

“Even the sea star,” Oliver said.

“I think I’m going to need another basket,” Logan replied, but he couldn’t resist filling the one Oliver brought him, getting one of each of the undersea kingdom puppets too, including a lemon shark and narwhal.

“How old are your pups?” Oliver asked as he rang up the puppets and wrapped each of them in tissue paper before packing them in canvas bags for him.

“The youngest are almost a year old now. The oldest is about to turn nine,” Logan explained.

“I miss those days,” Oliver said. “We’re fortunate to have a passel of grandpups though, so I rarely go a day without getting to spend time with at least one of them.”

“After the long shift I had, I’m excited to get home to mine, especially with these,” Logan replied.

“There we go, everyone snug and ready for the ride home,” Oliver said.

A quick card swipe later and Logan waved goodbye, sunglasses back over his eyes to avoid the unpleasantness of the glare, especially after the soft lighting and warm wooden exterior of the shop. The scent of freshly baked bread prompted him to cross the street and step into the sub shop, ordering everyone’s favorites so they’d be waiting at the house when they arrived, just in case they were hungry.

With Wren and Kale at school, Charlie would have been on his own with the tiny pups had Emari not headed up to the house to lend a helping paw. Logan shot him a text and got his sub order too before loading everything in the UTV for the drive home.

Emari’s sky-blue snow mobile was parked outside when Logan pulled up and hit the app on his phone to raise the garage door. While he’d known his mates weren’t back yet, there was still a flash of disappointment at not seeing their snowmobiles parked where they usually were.

Man in the Box greeted Logan when he stepped through the door, the old Alice in Chains song coming from the kitchen, so he followed it.

“Da-Da!”

“Da da da!!!”

“Da-Da! Da-Da!”