by Terry Spear
She carried the hot chocolate pot into the shop and set it on the trivet by the scones. Then she grabbed her peppermint mocha and went to ring up more sales. “Sorry. I had to set out more hot chocolate. Did you get some?” she asked the customer.
“Oh yes, thanks. It’s great on a Christmassy cold day. And the reindeer is so cute.”
“He is, and luckily we’ve found his home.”
“Oh good. Merry Christmas,” the lady said.
“Merry Christmas.” Brooke had been so rattled from the events of the morning that she hadn’t even been wishing anyone a happy holiday.
The police detective went over to pet the reindeer, thankfully, but then returned to stand by the counter again. “Where were you last night?” he asked.
“At the shop, getting ready for the open house. Later? At home, making dinner. Then I went to bed. No, wait. I took a shower first, brushed my teeth, and then went to bed.”
The detective looked like he was fighting a smile. Then his expression turned stern again. “Does anyone else live with you who could verify your whereabouts? Or whether you closed the gate last night?”
This was too much. Brooke folded her arms. “Are you really a cop?” If he was going to hassle her, she was going to hassle him back, just a little. “You didn’t show me your ID.”
With a hint of a smirk, he handed his ID to her. “Police detective.”
She gave it a long, hard look. Teach him to badger her.
A man hurried into the shop who didn’t look like he was interested in shopping. He instantly went over to pet the reindeer and give it a hug. The owner? He looked a lot like the detective inquisitor, except that his eyes were more amber, not as dark a brown, and his hair was a lighter shade of brown and shaggier. But he had the same hard, square jaw and angular features and the same good looks. They had to be related.
After greeting the calf, the guy headed straight for her, smiling. “I’m with Wilding Reindeer Ranch. Maverick Wilding.” He offered his hand to her. He took a deep breath and smiled appreciably.
Just like she was breathing in his wolfish scent. She wondered how many red wolves lived in the area. She smiled and shook his hand. Things were looking up. When she’d realized she was going to have to take over the shop for three years, Brooke had begun hoping to join the red pack.
“I’m Brooke Cerise, owner of the shop. I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Then Maverick frowned. “You’re Ivy Cerise’s great-niece, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“My condolences. So she left you the place in her will?”
“Yes. I visited her whenever I could in the summers. I lived in Arizona.”
“We’re so glad to have you here.” Maverick smiled broadly.
She didn’t think everyone was glad to see her here.
“You’re staying here, right?”
“Uh, yes.” At least for now. She smiled again.
“I’d still like to know how Jingles got into your fenced-in yard.” The detective acted as though he still thought she was involved in the stolen reindeer caper, and he wasn’t letting her off the hook, even though Maverick, the owner of the calf, didn’t seem to believe she had anything to do with it.
“That makes two of us. You are brothers?”
“Yes, that’s Josh. My twin brother, five minutes older than me,” Maverick said. “He texted me to say you had Jingles.”
“Ohh-kay. If you’ll both excuse me, I need to bring out some more food for the customers.”
“Thanks for taking care of Jingles,” Maverick said.
“You’re welcome.” She gave Josh a disgruntled look. “At least one of you is nice enough to say so.”
Josh smiled at her. That was the first true smile he’d offered her, and despite not wanting it to happen, she felt her insides melting under his observation.
She noticed the reindeer had finished off a good amount of his water and probably needed to go outside to relieve himself. “Hey, you might want to take Jingles out back in case he needs to…”
Too late.
“Uh, do you want to do something about that?” she asked Maverick.
“You’re the one who brought him into the shop and got the publicity for it. We ought to charge you for the rental of our reindeer,” Josh said.
She ground her teeth. “Your reindeer? I thought it was his reindeer.” She motioned to Maverick.
“The reindeer ranch is family-owned and operated by the two of us. We may be brothers, but I’m the nice one. I’ll handle it,” Maverick said.
“Thanks.” She served more scones, then returned to the checkout counter. Two news reporters and the local TV station reporter suddenly walked into the shop. Ohmigod, Brooke couldn’t believe this. She was so thrilled she wanted to howl for joy.
Luckily, Maverick cleaned up the reindeer mess before the cameras got rolling.
“So how did the reindeer end up coming here?” a reporter asked Brooke as she was ringing up another customer’s purchases.
“He loved my holly berries and came right into the courtyard to nibble on a few. He’s been entertaining my customers ever since. Then the policeman and his brother showed up to take him home. I was glad to learn where the calf was from and that he’d be fine.” Except that the police detective and his brother weren’t leaving. She knew Maverick wanted to be friendly, while Josh wanted to question her some more.
Finally, Jingles curled up under the Christmas tree to sleep, and the reporters left. Maverick helped Brooke make more wassail that afternoon, while Josh dealt with crowd control. Brooke couldn’t help but be amused that he finally had to do some real police work. Even though he was a “detective.”
“What are you going to do about lunch?” Maverick asked Brooke.
Josh walked into the shop about that time and overheard Maverick’s question. “I’ll pick us up something. What do you want to eat?” he asked Brooke.
She was shocked. She wasn’t sure if he was serious, but she was taking advantage of his offer. She always had her granola bar for a quick snack for lunch if nothing else. If she had a lull in customers, she could place an order for a sandwich at the bakery across the street and run and pick it up when it was ready. That was where she had gotten her delightful bakery goods for the shop.
“I’ll have prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied carrots, and no drink. I can have tea here. Oh, and peppermint bark for dessert.” Arms folded across her chest, she smiled.
Josh’s jaw was hanging before he masked his expression, and he glanced at his brother. “You?”
Maverick was grinning. “I’ll have the same, uh, but make the peppermint bark a fudge brownie.”
Josh shook his head. “Whatever happened to hamburgers for lunch?” he said under his breath as he headed out of the shop.
Not only did the meal she asked for appeal, but she would have enough left over to have for dinner—and it would take the detective longer to get the order, so he wouldn’t be underfoot for a while.
An hour and a half later, the detective showed up, carrying a sack of food from her favorite steak restaurant. Brooke was checking out a customer, and Maverick was returning from a trip outside with Jingles. At least the courtyard had a nice-sized patch of grass, something her great-aunt had maintained when she raised dogs over the years.
“I had to take care of a matter at the bureau,” Josh told his brother, setting the food in the kitchen. “The things I do for you.”
“Hey, since you offered and she wanted something special, I figured we might as well all go for it.” Maverick smiled. “I thought you might just get a hamburger for yourself.”
His brother gave him a get-real look as Brooke joined them in the kitchen when the last customer left the shop. Sometimes it was busy during lunch hour, and she couldn’t get a bite to eat, but sometimes
, like now? Perfect. She hurried to make ice water for everyone, then took her seat and began eating.
Maverick smiled. “She was hungry.”
“If a customer comes in, I’ll have to quit eating. I have to hurry.”
“We can cover for you. We have ranch hands taking care of things back at the ranch.” Maverick smiled at her.
“Thanks. Boy, this is sure delicious. I like eating a big lunch and then a light dinner, but it rarely works out that way except on my days off when the shop is closed.”
Thankfully, they all had time to eat while Maverick talked about all the reindeer they had at the stables and Josh periodically studied her as if he was waiting for her to confess to the crime of stealing a reindeer calf. She finished half the meal and thanked him again for the food, then slipped the remainder in the fridge. As if on cue, her shop door opened, and five more women came inside to see the reindeer. Two of them purchased gift items for their families.
By the time it was six o’clock and Brooke could close the store, she was exhausted. The brothers still hadn’t left. Though Josh had disappeared for a time, maybe doing some detective work.
She thought Maverick had wanted to keep the calf here to help her business. At the same time, he was handing out business cards, telling customers about the reindeer ranch and tours they conducted any time of the year. So it benefited them mutually.
“Do you want to have dinner with me?” Maverick asked, looking hopeful.
“Thanks, but I’ve got the other half of the meal I had at lunch. I’ll have that tonight for dinner. I’ve got a ton of things to do before tomorrow gets here.” Like restock the empty shelves. It looked like she’d had a going-out-of-business sale, because so many of the shelves were practically empty. Which was great.
“Be sure and lock your gate from now on,” Josh said, giving her a stern look. “You’ve got a lot of merchandise in your courtyard that someone might want to steal.”
“Thank you, Detective. I’ll do that.” She didn’t need his advice. Though she thought she ought to thank him again for the great lunch. “Thanks for the prime rib lunch. That was great.” Too bad her lunch companion had made her feel like squirming under his scrutiny. She suspected he didn’t often eat meals—or pay for them out of his own pocket—with suspects on his most-wanted list. “It sure beat having a granola bar.”
He inclined his head and left the shop.
She supposed she needed to make a to-do list for closing so she wouldn’t forget to do any of the important stuff. Like locking her gate! Though it had worked out for the best, because the calf had ended up in her yard and he’d been safe.
Maverick began to take the reindeer out front. He’d periodically taken him out for bathroom breaks in the courtyard throughout the day, and luckily, they hadn’t had any more accidents. He’d put straw down for Jingles and even cleaned up after him.
Brooke walked outside with Maverick as he took the reindeer calf out to his truck and placed him in a trailer, all the customers now gone. She noticed Josh was on his phone talking to someone. “Do you rent the reindeer calves for promotional purposes?”
Maverick locked the gate to the enclosed trailer. “Usually not the calves, but the adult ones, sure.”
“Oh.”
He smiled. “Everyone loves to see them for Christmas. We show them off at the ranch. Jingles seemed to enjoy all the attention he was getting here. It all worked out in the end.”
“I was thinking about doing this again next year. I hadn’t expected to have that much business, and having Jingles here really helped sales. I could rent one of the adults and have photo ops for anyone who came to the shop. The reindeer would be out in the courtyard, and I’d be better prepared the next time, make a big deal of it and promote it.” Though it had worked out well this year, with all the press she’d received.
“We can do that. One of us is always here with the reindeer for the event, so that wouldn’t be a problem at all,” Maverick said. “I sure can arrange it.”
“Thanks, and do you belong to the red wolf pack in the area?” she asked.
“Yeah, Leidolf and Cassie Wildhaven’s red wolf pack. They live on a ranch with over thirty thousand acres of land. We all go down there when we want to run as wolves. There are other places, too, but with that much acreage, there’s so much to see and explore that we never get tired of it. Best of all, it’s safe. Though we also have four thousand acres on the reindeer ranch, and you’re free to run there as a wolf anytime.” Maverick gave her the pack leaders’ phone numbers and his own. “Just call them. They’d love to meet you. If you’d ever like to have dinner, just call or text me.”
“Thanks. As soon as I have time, I will.” She might. Just not right away.
Josh said into his phone, “I’m on my way.” He hurried off without saying goodbye, which suited her fine.
“Don’t mind my brother. He’s concerned the calf was stolen from our ranch. Then, for whatever reason, Jingles was dumped off at your place, or maybe some distance from here, and found his way into your courtyard and had his holly-berry breakfast. Josh doesn’t really believe you took the calf.”
“Thanks.” Though Brooke didn’t believe Josh had absolved her of the crime yet. She’d freely admitted she had benefited from the reindeer calf being here. Though if she’d been that devious, she would have planned things a little better. “Did you want me to pay for Jingles being here all day?”
“Absolutely not. We’re just glad he was safely here with you. I need to get him home to the herd. We’ll talk later.”
“Thanks again.” She returned to the shop and closed and locked the door. And smiled. Man, was that the best open house ever. Even better? She’d met two members of the wolf pack she wanted to be part of once she got a little more settled in. Maverick was super nice. Josh was…the one she couldn’t quit thinking about. Arrogant, annoying, antagonistic!
Brooke hoped Josh could learn the truth about how the reindeer had ended up in her courtyard. She was ready to be off his suspect list.
Chapter 3
Josh knew as soon as he joined his brother for dinner that night that Maverick would give him hell for even thinking the little red wolf had stolen their reindeer. But he was a police detective, and that was what he did. The person in possession of the stolen item was usually the one who stole it.
It seemed reasonable to him to believe she did it to get publicity for her open house. That certainly could be a motive. If someone had stolen the calf to keep or sell it, why leave it in her courtyard? Sounded suspect to him. Though she was a wolf, new to their territory, and probably interested in joining the pack. That made it seem unlikely she would want to do anything illegal, particularly when she could rent reindeer from them for special occasions. Except that she couldn’t rent the calves.
When Josh arrived at the reindeer ranch, he parked his car and headed inside the sprawling ranch house to have pizza and beer with his brother.
“What was that all about?” Maverick frowned at him as he brought the pizza out of the oven.
Josh pulled a couple of beers out of the fridge, and they sat at the table to enjoy their cheese, pepperoni, hamburger, and sausage deep-dish pizza. “If you mean questioning the she-wolf at her shop for being in possession of Jingles, I was doing my job.”
“She’s a red wolf.”
“I noticed.” Josh pulled off a slice of pizza and took a bite.
“She wouldn’t have done it.”
“She had motive.”
Maverick shook his head. “You know, when you’re like this, it’s because you’re interested in the woman but you don’t want to show that you are. How many years are going to go by before you give another she-wolf a chance?”
Josh frowned at him. “It’s only been six months.”
“I know. But it could be years the way you were so upset over Joy’s death. Listen, y
ou couldn’t have done anything more for her. Joy was a rookie cop. She was too impulsive, too roguish. She wouldn’t listen to you and was too ready to disobey your orders to prove she had what it took to be a good cop. And then she died. It wasn’t your fault. She wouldn’t have been the right one for you, even if she hadn’t been secretly mated.” Maverick shook his head. “You need to get on with your life. You didn’t think of her every minute of the day. You were glad to have time away from her so you could breathe.” He pointed a slice of pizza at Josh. “We have two new she-wolves who have joined the pack down at Leidolf and Cassie’s ranch. I keep telling you we need to make time to see them.”
“What about Miss Cerise?” Josh asked, surprised Maverick would mention seeing the other ladies when Brooke lived even closer by.
“Sure, but she already turned me down for dinner, so there might not be anything there. I was definitely my charming self. You certainly didn’t interest her—you annoyed her the whole time you were there.”
Josh finished his second slice of pizza. “She’s a suspect until I learn otherwise. Man, does this pizza hit the spot.” He knew his brother was right about Joy, but he didn’t want to get involved with another woman anytime soon. He was glad his brother didn’t mention how, because of Joy’s impulsiveness, Josh had been shot three times. He’d heard it enough for a lifetime.
“Thanks. We haven’t had a pizza in a while, so I thought it was about time. So you checked our security videos and didn’t find anything suspicious?”
“About that. The video was looped.” Josh pulled loose another piece of pizza.
“Ah, hell. I didn’t notice when I checked it out. Someone took the time to cover their tracks then. Someone who works for us?” Maverick shook his head before Josh answered him. “Everyone who works here is a wolf, and why would they do it?”
“It was an unknown wolf—and maybe a human male—who did it.”
“I smelled the scents too.” Maverick took another swig of beer. “It can’t be Brooke. This was someone who knew what they were doing and probably had an accomplice or two.”