“At least that got you up,” Randy said as he filled Rocky’s bowl with water and reached for another cookie.
As he finished that one, he picked up the letter from the Army that he didn’t even have to open to know it was asking about whether he planned to re-up. Just like he’d told his CO, he did plan to stay, but what would it hurt to take some leave—just a little. His CO had said he could, and even should, take Rocky with him, and he knew that service dogs frequently traveled back to the states and were trained to handle it. He knew Rocky was a little skittish at the moment, still not over Jacob’s passing—but as he reached for one last cookie, he decided that maybe they both needed a break. Things were quiet and in good hands at his post, and maybe it was time to see Idaho. See his brother, who he might not even recognize soon at this rate. And finally meet his sister-in-law. Big decisions—for both him and for Rocky—could wait. Just a little while.
Chapter 3
The aroma of coffee tickled Erica’s nose as she stepped into her jeans and pulled on her cowboy boots. She’d started a pot in her small cabin on the ranch before she’d hopped in the shower, and she poured herself a cup and turned toward the refrigerator.
A large container took up almost the entire top shelf and she opened it, helping herself to yet another snickerdoodle. She’d been baking batches for a week, but she still couldn’t get anybody to eat any. Hence the full container in the refrigerator, and if she kept eating them like this, she’d regret it.
All the same, she grabbed another one to eat with her coffee before setting the empty cup in the sink and reaching for her jacket. Late spring at the ranch was a little unpredictable, and since it was her first spring here and she never really knew what the day would end like, she grabbed her gloves just in case.
She closed the door to her cabin, grateful she hadn’t had to move yet. When Dani had hired her as her inventory assistant, there were winter vacancies and she’d graciously accepted Dani’s offer to take a cabin until it was needed. It had been over six months she’d had her own place—the longest time she’d been in one spot, it felt like, in many years. Still, she didn’t trust permanence in any living arrangements and aside from one picture of her family on the wall, she’d done nothing to make it her own.
Dani had texted and asked if she could pick up a breakfast sandwich from the cafe on her way in to the office, and she’d gone ahead and ordered two. Her head down, she texted Dani she’d be right in—she needed to get started on the list Mrs. Weston had slipped her last night on her way out—and she hopped up the steps to the cafe, stopping short as she almost stumbled over one of the biggest German Shepherds she’d ever seen. He didn’t move when she reached down to pet him, except to look around for his owner. His head rested on his paws and only his eyes took furtive glances at the door of the cafe.
“I’m sure your owner will be right back,” she said softly as she gave him one more pat. As an Army brat, she’d never been allowed to have a pet since they moved at least every two years when she was a kid, and she’d always had a soft spot in her heart for dogs.
As she reached for the door, it swung open and she stepped back, waiting for someone to exit. The dog had stood and begun to wag his tail, so she was pretty positive it was the dog’s owner.
She looked up into the eyes of an Army man—sergeant, by the look of the stripes on his uniform. He smiled down at her, his gray eyes crinkling around the edges.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he said as he exited quickly and held the door for her.
“Oh, I was just petting your dog. He’s very sweet,” she said as she stayed on the porch a little bit as the man smiled again and gave the dog a pat.
“He’s not my dog, exactly, but I’m looking out for him for a time. Name’s Rocky.”
She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Rocky. My name’s Erica.”
He laughed and his eyes twinkled as he held his belly. Her own fluttered for a moment, hoping he wasn’t laughing at her. In her experience, Army men were kind, but usually pretty reserved. Not many huge belly laughs...at least when their CO’s daughters were around.
“Rocky, meet Erica,” he said as he gestured to the dog sitting on the porch beside him. “He’s Rocky. I’m Randy.”
Anybody could have gotten that wrong, she thought, and she laughed with him while shaking his hand. “Oops,” she said as her cheeks flushed.
“Nice to meet you,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag, opening it to the smell of cinnamon. He took what looked like a cookie out of the bag and fed it to Rocky, who took it with a wag of his tail and laid down to savor it. “Good boy. Thanks for waiting for me.”
“Cookies?”
“Yep. Snickerdoodles, I think, but I’m not sure. One of the only things he’ll eat since...well, he really likes them.”
“Ah,” she said, envisioning the big container in her refrigerator. At least she might get someone to eat them, even if it was a very sweet dog.
“Hey, I’m looking for the Main House, and I forgot to ask in the cafe. Might you be able to steer me in the right direction?”
She looked from Rocky to—Randy, was it?—as he tugged on his hat and pulled on his gloves that looked vaguely familiar. She walked to the end of the porch and looked around the edge of it, pointing to the huge house that was the hub of River’s End Ranch.
“Right over there.”
He touched the brim of his hat and nodded as his eyes lit up. “Great, thanks. Looking for somebody I haven’t seen in way too long,” he said as he gestured to Rocky and they headed off. “Thanks again.”
She stood for a moment, watching as he disappeared in the direction of the ranch house, his uniform so familiar and memories flooding her—of Army men walking away.
She shook her head and dashed into the cafe, anxious to get breakfast and move on to work. As she stood at the cash register, she looked down the row of stools at the counter and her eyes rested on Jaclyn, leaning forward and peering down at her. Their eyes met, and Jaclyn turned toward the window, her eyebrows raised in the direction of the Army man walking toward the Main House. She wiggled her finger at Erica, calling her over.
The lovely older woman sat with Simon as she usually did at breakfast. Simon shook his head but kept eating as Jaclyn swiveled on her stool and folded her arms over her chest as she eyed Erica.
“Hello, Jaclyn, Simon,” Erica said as she pulled off her gloves and tucked them in her pocket.
“Good morning,” Simon mumbled between bites of one of Bob’s special omelets.
“Yes, good morning,” Jaclyn said. “How are you doing, my dear? Have you been making snickerdoodles?”
Erica hadn’t seen Jaclyn since the day she’d given her the recipe a while ago, so had been unable to report.
“I sure have. I burned the first batch, but I think I’ve made enough batches now and I pretty much have it down.”
Jaclyn laughed. “I burnt my first batch, too, but the fairies helped me. Now people can’t get enough of them.”
Erica shook her head. “That hasn’t been my experience, I’m afraid. I tried to give some away in the beginning, but once Dani and Mrs. Weston found out it was your recipe—well, they declined.”
Simon set his fork on his empty plate and spun his stool toward Erica. “They did?”
“Of course they did,” Jaclyn said. “They know those were for someone special.”
“They did?” Simon said again as he sipped his coffee and shook his head. “I’m always so confused about all this.”
“About all what?” Erica said, confused herself and getting pretty hungry.
“Neither one of you needs to understand a thing. I’m not sure I always understand it, either, but I do always follow the fairies’ instructions, as you would be advised to do as well.”
“They haven’t told me to do anything,” Simon interjected as he held his empty coffee cup up and received a nod from Kelsi.
Erica gave Kelsi a smile, as it was the
first time she’d seen her back since having the twins. She looked great—and greeted everyone with her usual smile.
“No, they haven’t, but they had specific instructions for this lovely young lady here, and I shared the information along with my recipe.”
“You never give that recipe to—” Simon started, his eyes wide.
“Never mind about that. There’s a first time for everything,” Jaclyn said. “They were quite specific.”
“Specific about what?” Erica had done what Jaclyn had said, made the cookies but truly hadn’t been able to give any away.
“You remember, dear. You were to make the cookies, and the fairies were very clear you’d know what to do with them.”
Erica reached for the bag of sandwiches that Kelsi held out to her and nodded her thanks.
“I haven’t been able to do a darn thing with them. That first batch, nobody would touch. I ended up throwing them in a box to a stranger, and the rest are in my refrigerator.”
“A stranger?” Jaclyn asked, her eyebrow rising.
“Well, a stranger to me. I think it was Chad’s brother or something.”
“Chad’s brother?” Simon perked up and turned around again. “The one in the Army?”
Jaclyn smiled and leaned forward again, looking out the window toward the main house.
“Yes, I suppose so. Sergeant Stanton or something. I really didn’t pay much attention except that it was an Army man, and I thought he and his buddies might like them.”
“Ah. I see they were right, as usual,” Erica heard Jaclyn say as she waved at both of them and headed to work, wondering what on earth she could be referring to. What was the big deal? After all, snickerdoodles were just...snickerdoodles.
Chapter 4
A spring in his step, Randy made his way over toward the Main House of River’s End Ranch, but not without stopping at least twice to take in a deep breath of the mountain air and turn in awe. He looked up at the mountains soaring around the serene lake and reveled in the cool, crisp air. It couldn’t have been more foreign to what he’d lived in the last few years, and he’d sometimes wondered if his lungs would be permanently filled with sand. This was quite a nice change.
He’d thought of messaging Chad that he was coming, but decided a surprise might be better. Chad had sent a picture of his wedding—and of course he’d gotten a couple of care packages from his new sister-in-law and was looking forward to meeting her. But it had been so long since they’d spoken, he’d not been quite sure what to say, so when transport popped up available the next day, he’d just packed a few belongings—and Rocky—and jumped aboard.
Here he was now, and as he looked out over the lake and saw the golf course extending alongside it, he hoped that his brother was truly as happy as he’d appeared in the wedding photo that he kept in his wallet. When he’d left all those years ago, Chad had been in college, and he’d followed his stellar golf pro career as best he could and had always been proud of him. And he was again now. Proud and happy.
He’d taken a red-eye in and rented a Jeep in Spokane, but it was still early in the morning when he walked up the steps to the Main House.
He looked down at Rocky and sighed. He must be tired, too.
Down to his last snickerdoodle, Randy said, “Just stay here, boy. I’ll be right back.”
He pulled open the heavy door and walked into what looked like a mountain lodge right out of a magazine, huge stone fireplace and all. As his eyes adjusted to the lowered light inside, he took his hat off and placed it under his arm. He was still in uniform from his travels, and actually had very few civilian clothes, anyway, as he rarely took leave.
A petite woman with short, cropped hair poked her head out of a room down a corridor and headed toward him. She walked quickly with a little bit of a military swagger, he thought, as she stopped and nodded. “Morning, Sergeant. I’m Dani Weston. We’re not open yet, just our business offices.”
He smiled. Maybe she wasn’t military, but she sure was familiar with it.
“Morning, ma’am. Sergeant Randy Stanton. I really didn’t think you’d be open at all, but I thought I’d take a chance here rather than going to the guest desk.”
“Oh,” she said as she placed her pencil behind her ear. “Will you be needing a room?”
He twisted his hat in his hand. He hadn’t thought that far in advance. Would he? He’d kind of assumed he’d stay with Chad and Emma, but maybe not.
“Not sure. I’m here to see my brother, Chad Stanton. Oh, and his wife, Emma.”
Dani’s smile spread as she looked him up and down. “Chad’s brother, Randy. Well, I’ll be,” she said as she reached out her hand and shook his. “It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. From Chad.”
His eyebrows rose a little bit, and he smiled. “You have?”
“Sure have. I’ve seen all your medals, too. Quite a career you’re having.”
Randy cleared his throat. He didn’t think he’d actually say he was having a career, just following orders and doing what he knew how to do.
“Thank you, ma’am. Just serving as best as I can.”
“Well, we all appreciate it,” she said as she crossed over to what looked like a hostess podium for the restaurant that was behind her and returned with a sheet of paper.
“Here’s a map. I’m sure Chad and Emma and probably Simon by this time are at the pro shop. We’re gearing up for the bulk of our guests after Memorial Day and they’ve got a lot to do, as well as search and rescue training and a wedding.”
“A wedding?” he asked, surprised that it was the last thing she mentioned if it was her own.
“Yeah, mine.” She shrugged, grabbed her pencil and marked the small road that would take him to his brother.
“Right here,” she said as she marked the pro shop with an X. “He didn’t mention you were visiting. Are you staying with them?”
He glanced down at his boots and ran his hand through his hair. “Not sure. They’re not expecting me and I haven’t talked to Chad in—well, quite a long time. Got unexpected leave, so I thought I’d—”
Dani laughed and shook her head. “Surprise him, huh? That I’d like to see, but I’ve got a stack of work to do here before training next week. Hang on a minute.”
Randy stood and shifted from foot to foot as he surveyed the room and waited for Dani. The ceiling soared, and stained glass windows surrounded the top, just above huge beams that crossed the entire room. This particular room looked like a restaurant, and he assumed offices must be in the back where Dani had disappeared.
“Thanks for waiting,” she said as she put the box she was carrying under one arm and reached into the pocket of her jeans. “Would you mind taking this to Chad? He’s been ordering supplies like crazy and we’ve been delivering out there—well, like crazy,” she said with a laugh. She pulled a key out of her pocket and held it out to him.
“You can take my four-wheel-drive cart out there. This time of the year, there’re still a few mud patches. I’m stuck here for the day so if you don’t mind helping, the cart would be your best bet.”
He took the key and the box and nodded. “Sure. Thanks. I do have my dog, though,” he said. “Well, not mine. Is that all right?” he asked as he headed toward the door, map in hand. He stepped out onto the porch and bent down as Rocky wagged his tail in greeting. “This is Rocky.”
“Oh, wow, he’s beautiful,” Dani said as she knelt and patted Rocky’s shiny coat. “Service dog?”
“Yeah. The best ever,” he said, reaching into his pocket for the last snickerdoodle. He offered it to Rocky, who took it gently and settled back on the porch.
“No problem with him in the cart. I’m in search and rescue, too. Looks like he might even enjoy the ride. Snickerdoodles?” Dani asked as she smiled down at Rocky.
“I guess. I got some in the mail from Emma and it’s just about all he really likes. He’ll eat regular food, but not much. Likes these better, but I’m out.”
&nb
sp; “We might be able to scare up some more. And it’d be great to compare notes on search and rescue while you’re here, if you’re game. I’m having a big volunteer training next week and it’s making me pull my hair out.”
Randy laughed. “Sure. That would be great.” He tossed the empty bag into the trash can on the porch just as that pretty woman he’d met outside the cafe hopped up the stairs, her arms full of boxes and a bag. The sun glinted off her auburn hair, and her green eyes sparkled. He’d actually hoped he might see her again during his stay, an unfamiliar wish as he’d been head-down overseas and rarely thought about women that way, but she’d been so sweet to Rocky and she’d made him laugh—a true belly laugh which didn’t happen that often, either.
He reached out and took the packages from her, enough anyway that she wasn’t peering over the top of them.
“Thanks,” she said as she rearranged what she had left to carry.
“Randy, this is Erica, my go-to girl in inventory. Erica, Randy,” Dani said as she took a couple more of the packages and studied the return addresses.
“Oh, we met,” Erica said as she wiped her hand on her jeans and shook his again.
Randy studied her a bit as they shook hands, and their eyes met. Yes, sparkling, kind eyes was what she had.
“He’s headed out to the golf course, and going to deliver a couple of boxes for us. Looks like there’ll be more when we go through these. Mind setting them over next to the wall?”
“Sure,” Randy said as did as requested. “Nice to meet you both,”
He hopped into the cart Dani had pointed to when they’d gotten outside. Rocky jumped in beside him and laid on the passenger seat, his eyes trained on Randy.
He realized his knuckles were white on the wheel of the cart as he followed the map out to the golf course. He wouldn’t exactly use the word nervous to describe what he was feeling—he faced emergency situations every day of the week in his search and rescue assignment—but it was definitely maybe a little trepidation. Maybe doing this as a surprise wasn’t such a good idea after all, and Chad and Emma wouldn’t be happy to see him. He glanced over at Rocky, who’d rested his head in his lap—and hoped for the best.
Snickerdoodle Secrets (River's End Ranch Book 25) Page 2