by Deb Kastner
“One dog has already been found. I just got off the phone.”
“What? Well, that’s good news, too, right?”
He shook his head.
“No. It’s not. It’s my toy poodle mix, Sasha. She wasn’t with the adoptees. She must have skipped out when I was preoccupied and frantic about the other ones. The poor little thing is a senior, so the chances of adopting her out were always slim. But now...”
He groaned and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“She must be scared to death,” he finished, thinking of the poor dog cowering under Blanche’s typically sour mood.
“But you said someone found her?”
He lifted his head and groaned again.
“I just got off the phone with Blanche Stanton. Apparently, she found Sasha wandering around in her bushes.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, no is right. I told her I’d come get Sasha when I had a moment, but she’s on her way over with the dog as we speak.”
“Well, that is nice of her—I guess.”
“Not so much. She called Officer Peterson and reported me, and she intends to stay at the ranch until the officer does his duty and shuts me down for good. Hopefully it’s not an arrestable offense. I don’t really want to be dragged off in handcuffs tonight.”
He was kidding, trying to lighten the mood a little bit, but Miranda turned as white as a sheet.
“I’m joking. About being carried off in handcuffs. Not about Blanche Stanton and Officer Peterson being on their way.”
Miranda’s phone rang and she held up a finger as she listened to whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying.
“One of the groups is heading in with the first load of dogs. Four of your cattle dogs. So we only have one more cattle dog to go, right? You have four females and two males, counting Shadow?”
He nodded. At least Shadow was the only one who had puppies at present. “And four that belong to other ranchers.”
“We’ll have to keep looking, then. The group coming in says they also have a handful of other dogs,” she continued. “I’ve had text messages from all around town. Your adoptees are being found and picked up one after the other, Simon. Everybody is out looking for them. It’s going to be okay.”
For one short moment, he brightened. It was so easy to get caught up in what Miranda was saying that he almost believed everything would be okay.
But then he remembered Blanche and Officer Peterson.
Even if the dogs were all on their way back, which was unlikely, he still had to deal with the consequences. This wasn’t going to go away just because he wanted it to. The entire town knew his dogs had gotten loose. Officer Peterson surely would have heard that it was more than just Sasha. And members of the youth group would be in and out of his ranch house all evening, delivering his dogs back to him—he hoped.
How would he explain that to the officer?
“I have an idea,” Miranda said as if reading his mind. “I think I know how to work this out so that Officer Peterson has other things to think about than where your dogs are, or why you’ve got the youth group swarming around your house. But I’m going to need your help, and we’re going to have to work quickly.”
She paused dramatically. “We’re going to throw a Christmas party.”
* * *
Miranda wasn’t sure how this was going to work out in practice, but in theory, everything looked great. They’d had to improvise, since Simon didn’t have many Christmas decorations. She’d sent him outside to collect any greenery that looked even remotely Christmas-like. She hoped he would also get a good breath of fresh air while he was at it.
Owen had shown up with what was left of the ribbon they’d used on the dogs, and he and his small group set right to work making the living room look festive. She found an old disco light in Simon’s linen closet—she’d have to ask him about that sometime—and she cut out and hung up a fake mistletoe sprig made from colored copy paper in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.
It wasn’t perfect, but hopefully it would be enough.
She’d called each small group and let them in on the plan. After they had canvassed their assigned neighborhood, they were to return to Simon’s ranch for the party. Afterward, they’d all attend the midnight church service together.
Amazingly, at last count there were only two dogs missing—one cattle dog and one rescue. Miranda held out hope that both of the final two would be found.
She lowered the lamps and turned on the disco light to red and green, which threw soft outlines across the ceiling and walls. She’d just plugged in her cell phone to Simon’s surround sound so she could stream Christmas music when someone banged on the front door.
It didn’t sound like teenagers. Miranda held up a hand to Simon to let him know she’d answer it.
Blanche stood on the doorstep, Sasha cradled in one arm. Her expression was somewhere between annoyed and exasperated.
“Do you know how hard it is to drive with a puppy on your lap?” she asked, pushing past Miranda and into the house. “Are you having a party in here?”
“Yes, and you’re welcome to join us. I can take Sasha. She’s a senior, you know, and not a puppy.”
“She is?” Blanche glanced down at Sasha, but made no move to pass her into Miranda’s outstretched hand. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”
Miranda dropped her arm. If she wasn’t mistaken, Blanche had drawn Sasha nearer to her. She’d thought the toy poodle would be afraid of Blanche, but they seemed to be getting on very well.
“Why don’t you come on over and make yourself at home in this armchair?” she suggested, gesturing to the most comfortable chair in the room.
For the first time Miranda was seeing Blanche as a different person—a tired, lonely old lady in need of company. Once she’d been seated by the fire, she looked rather content watching the teenagers mingling, with Sasha curled up and sleeping on her lap.
Maybe she’d misjudged Blanche.
Time would tell.
She looked for the opportunity to pull Simon aside, but two new groups of teenagers arrived with bottles of punch and packages of Christmas cookies.
“Great idea, guys,” she told them.
She peeked outside. The dogs slated to go to adoptive homes the next day were all back in the kennels, still wearing their festive bows. A few of them were a little worse for the wear from their nighttime jaunt, but nothing a washcloth and a little soap couldn’t fix. They could deal with that in the morning.
Her phone buzzed. A rancher had found one of Simon’s cattle dogs practicing on his herd. Miranda texted back that she’d send one of the teenagers out immediately to pick up the blue heeler and bring him back to the ranch.
Miranda wanted to pump her fist. One down, and only one to go.
No—wait.
Blanche had brought in Sasha, and Miranda had forgotten to count the toy poodle.
Unbelievable. Every dog present and accounted for. She couldn’t wait to share the good news with Simon.
She found him leaning his shoulder against the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest and a despondent expression on his face as he watched the teenagers interact. The twins were wide-awake, and some of the members of the youth group had taken them from the playpen and were sitting on the floor with Hudson and Harper in their laps.
Any misapprehension she’d felt earlier when Simon had tried to kiss her dissipated. Up until tonight, she’d still questioned her ability to trust herself and her choices.
Miranda was done second-guessing herself—and Simon. She stepped in beside Simon and slid her arm around his waist, filling up the door frame. When he glanced down at her, she smiled, but he didn’t return the grin, nor did he put his arm ar
ound her as she’d hoped he’d do. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed the mistletoe hanging above them—or maybe she’d done such a poor job creating it that he couldn’t even tell it was mistletoe.
Bad or good, no matter what, they were together. If they could work through this, they could work through anything.
But this latest news?
This was beyond great. It was fantastic. God was good.
“I’ve been tallying up the dogs that have come back in. We have five of your cattle dogs back in the barn, as well as the four you were holding in training. A rancher just found number six out herding his cattle for him. I sent one of the teens for him.”
She felt the breath leave his chest.
“That’s good. Great. But we’ll have to wait and see what Officer Peterson has to say about what happened tonight. I’m responsible for that. Despite all the work I’ve done on the south fence, he still may take the dogs away. I wouldn’t blame him, really. I can’t have my dogs running around the neighborhood unsupervised. And there are still going to be disappointed children tomorrow morning if we don’t capture all the rescues.”
“There’s absolutely no reason for Kyle to go to any trouble whatsoever. As soon as he gets here, I’ll send him on his way. I came over to tell you that all of the adoptees are back in the kennels. Most of them still even look like they’ve been bathed recently, if you can believe it. You’re still going to get to be every bit as dependable as Santa Claus,” she said, remembering what he’d once told her.
Simon slid down the door frame until he was seated, clutching his knees to his chest and breathing heavily.
“Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.”
She crouched next to him, her heart warming and swelling in her chest. She loved this man so much. The intensity of her feelings surprised her.
“Thank God, indeed.”
“Where is Blanche? I saw her come in earlier.”
“She’s sitting in the armchair by the fire.”
“Do you think she’s going to give us any trouble? I’m already in enough as it is.”
Miranda smiled softly. “I think you should go look for yourself.”
Simon’s eyes widened, but he stood and walked over to the armchair. Miranda watched as he bent over the woman. She was surprised at how long they spoke. Usually their conversations were short and abrupt.
He was shaking his head when he returned to Miranda’s side.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked.
“Turns out we’re going to have sixteen adoptees ready to go home to their forever families. It appears that Blanche now has a new best friend.”
“Sasha?”
He chuckled. “Who would have guessed it, huh? Blanche being a dog person? Maybe we misjudged her.”
“I think you’re right. She’s just a lonely old lady. And the teenagers? They didn’t mean to let your dogs out. They were trying to put Christmas ribbons on all of them when they were spooked by a noise. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive them.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around getting all my dogs back. They really jumped to it. Maybe the teens really were trying to spread Christmas cheer. Which means the other pranks were probably made in good fun, as well. I wouldn’t have given them the chance to make things right.”
“Exactly. It’s not easy to forgive.”
He narrowed his eyes on her, taking in her measure.
“Why do I feel like we’re not talking about the youth group here?”
“Do you know why I left Wildhorn?” she countered.
“To become a celebrity photographer,” he answered promptly, looking at her as if she was one cookie short of a dozen.
“To get away from you.”
“What?”
“I know, right? You probably didn’t give me a second thought, did you? And yet I ran away from Wildhorn to get away from you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You aren’t the only one who’s ever been the butt end of a mean, hateful joke. I’ve never been thrown in a Dumpster, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t affected by jokes—mean pranks.”
“I hate to admit it, but all I vaguely remember about you is that you were my best friend’s kid sister. It wasn’t until much later that I...well...continue with your story.”
“You don’t remember setting me up, leading me to believe that you had asked me to your senior prom? That you and Mason wrote a note to me asking me to be your date?”
She took a deep breath. Even though she knew in her heart that Simon was a different man now, it was still hard to talk about her impressionable past.
“I was so excited that you’d finally noticed me, and I was just foolish enough not to confirm that date directly with you. Maybe if I had, you wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
“Oh, boy,” he said, shoving his hand into his hair. “I think I see where this is going, and it isn’t good.”
“Right. I spent all of my savings on the prettiest dress I could afford. I got my hair done at a salon, and even splurged on my very first mani-pedi. I wanted to look absolutely perfect for you.”
“I was such a jerk.” His gaze flooded with sympathy.
“Of course, I wanted to make a grand entrance. I wanted you to look at me and see only me, just like in the movies. I waited at the top of the stairs for an hour until I heard you arrive. And then—”
“Then you saw me walk in with my real date to the prom.”
“Yes. I was halfway down the stairs before I realized you and Mason had set me up. I’d never been more mortified in my life. As I was running up the stairs in distress, you and Mason broke out into loud laughter that cut me to the quick. By that point, I’d been crushing on you for two years, you know.”
“You were? You did?” His mouth kicked up into a heart-stopping half smile.
“Don’t look so smug.” She swatted at his arm.
“That was seriously the reason you left town? Because of me? You had two years of high school left. Surely you moved on from one stupid prank.”
“You still came to my house to hang out with Mason. I couldn’t avoid you, and it took me a long time to put the incident in my past.”
“But you aren’t like me. You don’t hold grudges.”
“It’s a learned art, one that I mastered over time, because I realized that keeping those feelings close was hurting me, not you.”
“Did you ever confront Mason about this?”
“Eventually. It was easier to forgive my brother than the boy who broke my heart.”
“Wow. Just—wow. I am so, so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m over it. But I hope you won’t be too hard on the teenagers. They really meant well, no matter how it looked to us earlier. There was no malice intended.”
He cringed. “Not like me, you mean.”
She squeezed his hand. “I forgive you. I forgave you long ago.”
She would have said more, but at that moment someone knocked on the door. The teenagers had just been letting themselves in without knocking, and the final cattle dog had been reported as returned to the barn—with the door double-checked as tightly closed—so Miranda had a pretty good notion of who was pounding so firmly.
She started toward the door but Simon stopped her.
“I’ve got this one.”
He let Officer Peterson in and shook hands with him.
“I’ve been expecting you.”
“Oddly, I had a number of encounters on my way to your ranch. I had the distinct impression your neighbors were trying to slow me down.”
Miranda tensed, holding her breath and praying for Simon.
“They were,” Simon confirmed. “They were trying to give me time to get my dogs back after th
ey got loose. I’m sure you’ve heard. It was pretty much chaos tonight.”
Miranda was surprised that Simon was so open and honest about what had happened, but she supposed she shouldn’t have been. He’d always been the type of man to own up to what he considered his mistakes.
“And did you?” Kyle asked. “Get all of your dogs back?”
“I did. Would you believe, with the youth group’s help, that we found every last one of them?”
“I’m happy to hear that. I know you’ve worked hard to build up your business and the rescue shelter. How did they get out, anyway?”
Miranda’s gaze shifted back to Simon. She didn’t know what he was going to say, but she trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t purposefully get the teenagers in trouble.
He merely shrugged. “The gate got left open.”
That was all he said. Not how. Not who. Just that it had been left open. And that was the truth.
“Well, all’s well that ends well, I guess. Except I haven’t yet spoken to—”
“Officer Peterson.” Blanche stepped forward, Sasha tucked up against her chest. “I’m the one that called in with the complaint.”
He nodded and pulled out his pad to take notes.
“I know, Mrs. Stanton. Please go ahead with your complaint. I’m sorry, Simon, but I do have to formally report this,” the officer said.
“No worries,” Simon responded.
“Put that notepad away,” Blanche barked, waving her free hand at the officer. “I’m rescinding my complaint.”
Officer Peterson’s eyes grew large.
“You are? But—”
“But nothing, young man. Now, can’t you see we’re having a party here?”
“And you’re welcome to join us, Kyle,” Miranda said, stepping into the fray. She couldn’t hide her smile at the way Blanche had turned everything around as easily as she’d stirred things up. “Although we’ll soon be leaving for church for the midnight service.”
“I’ll be there. But I’d rather change into a suit. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”
As the officer walked away, Simon swept Miranda into his arms and hugged her so hard her feet left the floor.