Snickerdoodle Secrets (River's End Ranch Book 25)

by Cindy Caldwell

  But now that they were at the vet and Jess had asked her for the specific ingredients, she couldn’t remember to save her life. And there weren’t even that many! Butter, cinnamon, flour...and what else?

  “That’s okay, Erica. Don’t worry. We’ll wing it,” Jess had told her with a pat on her elbow and a pitying look. At least that’s what it felt like to Erica.

  “I’m so sorry, Randy,” she said during the fourth hour they’d sat in the waiting room. They’d grabbed a cup of coffee at the shop next door and had done little besides pace since they’d brought Rocky in. Erica tried not to eavesdrop, but she distinctly heard Randy’s voice crack when he’d called Chad to tell them where they were. What had started as what seemed like too many snickerdoodles had changed when Jess had rushed Rocky into the back and asked them to sit in the waiting room. Dogs and cats, large and small, and their owners had come and gone, and as they did, Erica’s worry grew.

  They both jumped to their feet when Jake, came out in his scrubs and gestured for them to sit back down, taking the seat beside Randy. Erica’s heart raced as she waited for him to speak.

  “How’s he doing, Doc?” Randy asked eagerly as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

  Jake ran his hand through his hair and smiled at Jess as she came into the waiting area.

  “Jess is taking great care of him for now. We pumped his stomach and right now, he’s still resting. His temperature’s a little elevated, though, and I’m a little worried about that.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Randy said, and Erica surprised herself by taking his hand in hers.

  “It actually could just be because of what I’d imagine is a whole lot more sugar than a dog should have, especially in one sitting,” Jake said. “But honestly, even with just a bunch of snickerdoodles, since his stomach is empty he should be a little more perky by now.”

  Randy squeezed Erica’s hand in return, giving her a weak smile. His eyes looked so tired to her—more than just tired, a little weary. Just yesterday he’d seemed so confident, in his uniform, but now worry radiated from him.

  “He hasn’t been perky for quite some time, Doc,” Randy started, and he shared the story of Rocky’s service, and his loss of his handler and Randy’s good friend

  “Boy, you two have been through a lot in the past few weeks,” Jess said as she sat down beside Erica. “How did he fare with the travel?”

  “It didn’t seem to faze him one way or the other,” Randy said, shaking his head. “He flies a lot, honestly, to different areas that we’re called to, so he’s kind of an old hand at that. I didn’t think it would bother him, but maybe it did?”

  Jake stood and paced in the waiting room for a minute. “No, it shouldn’t have bothered him much if he’s fairly used to it. I don’t think it’s that. Dogs can have pretty strong reactions, though, to the grief of losing their handlers.” He rubbed his chin and nodded toward Jess.

  She cleared her throat. “We’d really like to keep him for a while and see how he does in the next few hours. He should be fully awake soon and we’ll know more then. Why don’t you two go grab something to eat and we’ll call you as soon as we know a little more?”

  Erica dropped Randy’s hand to give Jess a hug. “Thank you. I sure appreciate it.”

  “He’s in great hands here,” she said, nodding at her husband. “We’ll let you know as soon as anything changes.”

  Randy shook Jake’s hand with a nod of gratitude. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  He opened the door for Erica as Jess and Jake returned to the back rooms of the clinic, and Erica drew in a deep breath of the crisp spring air. She didn’t come to downtown Riston much, and she looked up and down the street at the brick facades and colorful buildings.

  “You hungry?” she asked Randy as he stretched and looked up at the deep blue sky and puffy white clouds that lazed over the town.

  “Oh, yeah, I guess so. I hadn’t thought about it much until now, but I am.”

  “So am I,” she said, pointing to a building across the street. “How about Chinese?”

  “Perfect,” he said. “I feel a little guilty, though, with Rocky in there not feeling well. And it’s all my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, even as she felt it was hers. “He really couldn’t be in better hands, as Jess said.” She rested her hand on his arm as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “It won’t help Rocky at all if you’re not in shape to take care of him when he gets out. Even if he isn’t your dog, he needs you right now.”

  “You’re right,” he said as he nodded, grabbing her hand and looking both ways before pulling her across the street.

  They settled into a booth in the Chinese restaurant and looked at the menus, settling on their orders.

  “I haven’t been stateside in ages,” he said as he dug into his broccoli beef and she inhaled her orange chicken. “This sure beats the MRE’s I usually have.”

  “Ah, right. You’re mostly not on bases, are you?” she said between bites of the shrimp fried rice they’d decided to share.

  “Sometimes. We usually work out of a primary, but we do a lot of traveling. There’s really no way to know where our search unit will be called, so we have to be pretty nimble, ready to roll.”

  “I don’t think I ever had an MRE,” she said, frowning.

  “I don’t imagine you would have, with a colonel for a father,” he said with a laugh. “You’re not missing much.”

  She smiled and leaned back in the booth, full for now. “He wasn’t always a colonel. In fact, in the early days, he was just gone a lot. It was just me and my mom for many years. Or at least it seemed that way.”

  “When did he start to take you guys with him?” Randy said as he gave up and set his chopsticks down.

  “Just when I started middle school,” she said, and the memory still twisted her stomach. All those new schools, new kids, new foods.

  “Look on the bright side. At least it made you a pretty adventurous eater,” he said. “Would have been fun to try all those different kinds of foods.”

  “Hm, I guess you’re right. Never learned how to cook, though.”

  “How is that possible?” he said, with exaggerated surprise. “You bake such great snickerdoodles.”

  “Lethal ones, it appears,” she said, mustering up a laugh. “Probably a good thing I don’t cook anything else.”

  He laughed, and she noticed again how kind his eyes were, even though now they still held a tinge of worry.

  When the bill came, he shook his head as she reached for her wallet in her purse. “Least I can do is buy you lunch. I’ve taken most of your day up.”

  “Thank you,” she said, “but I don’t mind at all. Truly. I wouldn’t want to be waiting there all by myself, and I wouldn’t want that for you.”

  “Well, thanks. I guess they said they’d call, but I hate to go all the way back to the ranch.”

  Erica peered out the window and her eyebrows rose as her fingers tightened around the baby shower book.

  “Hey, I could get a little something done while we wait. Maybe the restaurant will hold our leftovers and we could go over to that party supply store.”

  “I bet they will. Party supply, though? You having a party?”

  Erica laughed and pulled out the book. “No—well, yes, sort of. Belinda Weston, Dani’s sister-in-law, is having a baby soon. Dani offered to throw her a baby shower and I guess it kind of got off-loaded to me. I really don’t remember much about babies or showers even though my mom used to throw them, but I’d like to help if I can. She’s so busy with planning her search and rescue training that’s next week.”

  Randy ran his hand through his hair and whistled. “I’d be much better suited to help Dani with that. I’m positive I know less than you about babies or baby showers as I’ve never held a baby or been to a shower, but I’m happy to keep you company. What do you need to do?”

  She flipped through the book one more time. “I guess
I need to get supplies for games, decorations and prizes. Oh, and party favors, I think?”

  He rubbed his chin. “Guess I’m up for a little adventure if you want the company. Won’t help Rocky if we just sit here and stew.”

  “Exactly,” she said as she took the hand he held out to her.

  Chapter 12

  The technicolor beads and pink and blue teddy bears in the party supply store all started looking the same to Randy as the basket he pushed patiently behind Erica got fuller and fuller. As they wandered the aisles, she read about party games to him—his stomach still roiled over the dirty diaper game that had melted chocolate candy in the diapers and the winner had to sniff out the correct chocolate bars—but they’d gone ahead and gotten all the supplies. If he was honest with himself, though, he was quietly thankful that he wouldn’t be attending.

  As they finished up and moved through some of the remaining aisles, he grabbed a pirate hate and a black eyepatch while she wasn’t looking.

  “Arrrrrrr,” he said as he tugged on her ponytail. She turned around and jumped before dissolving into a ball of laughter that lifted his heart. If he couldn’t help Rocky right now, he sure was enjoying himself with Erica, and laughing felt good.

  He hadn’t really remembered much laughing at all recently. He hadn’t quite recovered from Jacob’s death himself, and he was grateful that his CO had insisted he take some of his reserved leave. He was enjoying time with Emma and Chad, and now this new girl, with the sparkling eyes and quick laugh. Well, it just made it all easier, even if the nagging voice in the back of his head told him to back off.

  They checked out and picked up the bags—full of yarn and suckers and all kinds of things—and just as they got out the door, Erica’s phone rang. He didn’t have a personal cell phone, so they’d given the vets her number, and he held his breath to see if it was them calling.

  “Oh, I see. Okay,” Erica said as she nodded in his direction, and he took that to mean it was the vet’s office.

  He walked closer to her, and he listened in while she held the phone out a bit so they could listen together as he rested his head on hers.

  “He’s not completely fine, and Jake and I would feel a lot better if he stayed a few more hours,” he heard, and Erica looked up at him questioningly.

  “What do you think it is, Jess?” Erica said.

  “Well, this is going to sound kind of weird, but we think he might have sand colic. I can go into detail if you want, but basically we need to evacuate him.”

  Randy’s heart thudded in his chest. “Evacuate him? To where?”

  Jess laughed. “It’s a medical term, not the kind of evacuation you think. We need to, um, clear out his bowels.”

  Randy’s stomach roiled again, just like when he’d heard about the dirty diaper game. Better her than him, he thought, and he said, “Okay, do whatever you need to do. Will it be awful for him?”

  Erica frowned as they both listened.

  “No, we’ll put him out. And when you take him home, he’s going to need a very, very bland diet. No snickerdoodles.”

  Randy and Erica exchanged a quick glance, and he was sure she felt as bad as he did about the snickerdoodles.

  “Isn’t sand colic something that usually horses get?” Erica asked as she looked back up at Randy. “I’ve never heard of it in a dog.”

  “Good question. I did a little research and it’s not common, particularly, but it has been seen in service dogs that are in a very sandy environment. And since you two have been serving in the middle east, it’s something we thought we should check out.”

  “So maybe he hasn’t been feeling well for quite a while, not just because of Jacob?” Randy asked.

  “Right. Not completely the snickerdoodles. At least we don’t think so.”

  They both let out a sigh, and as Erica ended the call, the relief washed over him so suddenly that he grabbed Erica in a hug.

  She hugged him right back and they stood for a moment on the sidewalk before he realized that his eyes had welled up. He brushed at them quickly before he stepped back, hoping he hadn’t offended her.

  He smiled when she didn’t seem offended at all, and looked as relieved as he felt.

  “That’s sure good news, I think. Sounds like something they can take care of, anyway,” she said as she picked up the bags and smiled.

  “Yep, sure does. Guess I’ll have to come back later and pick him up, but for now, it’s all good.” He felt lighter than he had all day, and maybe even had a spring in his step as they headed to his car.

  He checked his watch as they headed back to the ranch.

  “Wow, I’ve ruined your whole work day. Sorry you had to take a day off.” He hadn’t realized they’d been gone all day, but he sure was glad for the company. “I really do appreciate it.”

  “My pleasure,” Erica said as they loaded the party supplies in the back of his car. “Maybe we should stop by the grocery store and pick up some bland dog food. Or maybe we could make some. You know, like rice and boiled chicken.”

  He smiled at her suggestion. “You don’t cook and neither do I.”

  “Well, I hope I could figure out how to boil a chicken,” she said with a laugh. “Besides, I wouldn’t mind learning a little bit more about cooking.”

  “Hm,” he said as they got in the car and headed toward the grocery store at the end of Riston’s main street. “I don’t know. The snickerdoodles landed Rocky in the hospital. Sounds like a pretty big risk.”

  “Stop that,” she said as she punched his shoulder. “We have to try something.”

  They loaded up a grocery cart—opting for a rotisserie chicken with no seasonings rather than one they’d have to boil, and they laughed about it as they checked out. They’d read the directions on the bag of rice and between the two of them decided they could probably handle that.

  “See? We can do this,” she said as she got in the passenger seat next to him. The sun was setting and Randy stifled a yawn. He hadn’t had much sleep in the last—gosh, was it four days? It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d boarded the transport in the Middle East. Things had changed more than he could have even imagined.

  “Well, we’ll give it the old Army try,” he said as he pulled up to the vet clinic and grabbed the blanket from the back. “Thanks again, Erica. I—”

  “Stop,” she said, interrupting him. “We’re in this together.”

  He watched as she threw a smile over her shoulder and walked into the clinic. A memory of his mother’s smiling face suddenly flashed through his mind as the door swung shut behind her. He realized he was standing stock still on the sidewalk, almost as if frozen in time.

  His parents had died when he was eighteen, and Chad was a freshman in high school. He’d done what he had to do to help support Chad, even though he’d had to leave him living with a distant cousin while he finished high school. And it suddenly dawned on him that he’d felt very alone. Even when Chad had been on the pro golf circuit, after college, and was a grown man and able to take care of himself, Randy had chosen to re-up every time and stay—alone.

  After the last couple of days, he’d realized that maybe being alone wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Getting to know Emma, and seeing Chad so happily married had sunk in even in these few days, and he wondered for the first time ever what it might be like to have a relationship like that. Someone there for you, someone to share things with and to take care of.

  He shook the feeling off as fast as he could, though. He’d be leaving in less than two weeks, and although Erica was getting to him—her kindness, her caring for Rocky and the fun he’d had—he still knew it would never work.

  His fingers tightened around the letter he’d been carrying in his pocket. The Army wanted to know if he was staying or going, and he had to decide soon.

  He pushed the thought out of his mind and pulled open the door to the vet clinic. For now, right this very minute, there were more important things to do—like make sure he honored Jaco
b’s memory and kept Rocky safe. Although he said a small thank you that he didn’t have to do it alone.

  Chapter 13

  Things were moving so fast in Erica’s world that she sometimes thought her head wouldn’t stop spinning. Since the day she and Randy brought Rocky home, things were almost a blur.

  Rocky was groggy after his day-long stint at the vet but he was able to walk, and he gingerly got into the car. It was late when they got back to River’s End Ranch, and Randy didn’t want to wake up Chad and Emma as they had to be at work early the next morning, but he filled them in over the phone. He asked her if she might help him make the rice and chicken for Rocky and even though he wasn’t much of a cook, she didn’t have the heart to turn him down.

  She filled Dani in as well, and when they went back to her house, she set about heating up chicken and following the directions on the bag of rice—it was only a little brown on the bottom of the pan when it was done—and when Randy fell asleep in mid-sentence while sitting on her couch with Rocky’s head in his lap, she only smiled, got a blanket and covered them both up.

  Randy was all apologies when he woke up to the aroma of coffee the next morning.

  “Oh, wow, I’m so sorry. Still jet lag, maybe?” he asked as he gratefully accepted the cup of coffee she held out to him.

  “Jet lag, worry, lots of stuff,” she said with a smile. “I already took Rocky out for a little walk and things seem to be moving along nicely.”

  Randy groaned and apologized again. “Sheesh. We’ve only just met, and we’ve already talked about dirty diapers, bowel evacuation and it isn’t even Saturday yet. There’s still another week to go.”

  She laughed when he’d wiggled his eyebrows even while he looked a little sheepish.

  “Welcome to the real world, I guess,” she said.

  And that seemed like ages ago, now.