Jingle-Bell Jam (River's End Ranch Book 32)

by Pamela M. Kelley

  “Can I do anything to help?” Melanie asked as Bryan got two bowls and a container of soup out of the refrigerator.

  “Sure, if you want to pour some drinks for us. There’s bottled water and diet soda. I’ll have water. Glasses are in the cupboard by the sink.”

  Melanie poured two glasses of water and when the microwave timer dinged, Bryan brought the bowls of hot stew to the kitchen table and they sat down to eat.

  “Your mom is a good cook.” The stew was rich and flavorful, with lots of tender meat and potatoes.

  “She is. She told me that she’s worried I might get too thin.” He shook his head in amusement. “I told her I don’t think she’ll ever have to worry about that. I like food way too much.”

  Melanie smiled. “I do, too.”

  When they finished, Bryan asked if she wanted a quick tour. “I haven’t done much here, but I did finish the basement, so maybe it will give you an idea of what you can do with yours.”

  She followed him around, to the two bedrooms upstairs, which were both roomy and comfortable looking, the warm and welcoming kitchen, cozy living room and then downstairs to the basement, which was a lovely surprise.

  “It’s so nice!” Melanie exclaimed. She’d expected a dark room, but Bryan’s basement had small, high windows that let in light and the walls were a creamy ivory shade that made the room seem bigger. There was a polished wood gaming table in the corner and two large leather sofas that formed an L shape facing a big screen TV. She flopped onto one of the sofas and sank into its softness. Bryan sprawled on the other one and picked up the remote.

  “Do you have anywhere you need to be?” he asked. “I can run you home now or we could watch a movie and relax?”

  Melanie stretched and pulled a fleece throw over her. She didn’t feel like going back out into the cold just yet. Staying warm and cozy inside and watching a movie sounded good to her.

  “I’m up for a movie.”

  Bryan scrolled through the Netflix offerings until he found a comedy that neither of them had seen. They spent the next two hours laughing and neither of them noticed that the wind and snow had picked up. By the time the movie finished it was after four and darker than usual for the time of day. They went upstairs and Bryan looked concerned when he opened the front door and saw blizzard conditions outside.

  “It looks like its getting bad out there. I should get you home.” Melanie could hear the wind howling and was glad that she hadn’t been out driving in her BMW. Bryan’s truck was big and could go through almost anything. She was getting her boots on when there was a loud crack outside and a moment later the power went out.

  There was only a few inches on the ground, but the winds were furious and the snow was coming down so hard that it was almost blinding. They got into the truck and the visibility was so bad that Bryan inched his way down the driveway and then suddenly hit the brakes hard.

  “Sit tight for a minute. I’ll be right back.” He got out of the truck and walked to the end of the driveway. Through the swirling snow, Melanie could see him bend at the waist to look at something on the ground but the snow was too thick for her to see what it was. A few minutes later he climbed back in the truck and started backing it up.

  “I’m afraid we’re not going anywhere for a while. The winds took down a power line and there’s a live wire across the driveway. There’s no way to get around it. Hopefully the electric company will have guys out to fix it soon.”

  Melanie shivered, partly from the cold and also from the thought of accidentally driving over downed lines.

  “We’re lucky you happened to catch that,” she said quietly.

  Bryan turned the truck off and she followed him back inside. The cats gave them a quizzical look, surprised to see them again so soon.

  “Feel like a hot chocolate? And another movie? You might be stuck here for a while. I am sorry. I had no idea it was going to get so bad this quickly. At least the generator works so we can cook, and watch TV. And we’ll have plenty of heat from the wood stove.”

  “Hot chocolate sounds wonderful and I don’t blame you at all. I didn’t expect a storm like this. I thought we were just getting a few inches.”

  Bryan set a pot of water on the stove as his phone rang. He answered it and while he talked, Melanie guessed that it was his brother. He confirmed it was when he got off the phone.

  “That was Clark. He was calling to warn me that the driving is terrible. There are downed trees and power lines everywhere. He’s on his way to the hospital now, and said a PSA just came through on his phone from the police asking people to stay at home.”

  His phone dinged at the same time that Melanie’s did. She looked down and saw the text message asking people to stay home for twenty-four hours for safety.

  “Guess it’s going to be a movie marathon,” she said as Bryan handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate. They went back to the basement, watched another romantic comedy then took a dinner break and had more stew.

  “I was thinking, if the power is out at the ranch, my cabin would be dark and cold. I feel lucky to be here for the storm.”

  Bryan smiled. “Well, I’m lucky, too, then. I’m grateful for the company.”

  Melanie took a big bite of stew and realized getting stuck in the storm was a good opportunity to get to know Bryan better.

  “Tell me about your family. I’ve met Clark. Is he the oldest?”

  “He is. I’m in the middle, two years younger. And then Cameron is the baby. She’s a year younger than me.”

  “And she’s a nurse? Do she and your brother work together?”

  “She is. Sometimes, but not that often. She works in the ER, so she only sees my brother if he’s called in to consult on a case. It happens, though, for unusually complex breaks. My brother’s specialty is orthopedics.”

  “I’ve never broken a bone. I tried to break one once though,” she admitted.

  Bryan raised his eyebrows. “On purpose? Why?”

  Melanie laughed. “It sounds crazy now, but when I was ten several kids in my class had broken arms or legs, and I thought their casts with all the other kids signing it were so cool. I didn’t really want the pain of a broken bone. It was the cast I wanted.”

  “But you weren’t successful?”

  “No. I thought I had a great plan, too. I jumped out of a tree house and tried to land on my arm. But either I have strong bones or I wasn’t up high enough. My mother read me the riot act so I didn’t try it again.”

  Bryan laughed. “Well, I’m sorry you didn’t get your cast. You didn’t miss much, I can promise you that.”

  “You broke something?”

  “Arm and a leg. I don’t recommend either and the casts really aren’t that cool.”

  “So, your sister is a nurse and brother is a doctor. You never had any interest in going into medicine?”

  “And my dad is a retired doctor and mother was a nurse. I’m the only one in the family not in the field. But I have passed out more than once at the sight of blood. When we were kids, my brother and sister loved that game Operation. I was always happier playing with my Legos and building stuff.”

  “So, you’re doing what you’re meant to do.” Melanie noticed that Bryan’s face lit up whenever he talked about building.

  “It seems so. I can’t imagine doing anything else. What about you? Did you always know you wanted to work in fitness?”

  Melanie laughed. “No! My original plan was to be a ballerina. But as it turned out, I wasn’t that good and I didn’t want to put in the necessary time to get better. I kind of fell into it. I always used to love to go to the gym and I liked helping friends figure out what they needed to do to lose weight or get in shape. And then I realized I could get paid for doing it.”

  Bryan nodded. “Riston’s very different from Boston, I imagine? How are you liking it so far? Do you think you’ll stay here?”

  “It’s so different. I love Boston and I miss it, but I love it here, too. When I came to visit
Melissa, I had this overwhelming feeling that I could easily call this place home. When Wade mentioned he was looking to expand the fitness center and needed someone to run it for him, everything kind of fell into place.”

  “Sounds like it was meant to be. I’m glad you’re liking it here.”

  When they finished eating, they put the TV in the living room on and Bryan added some more wood to the wood stove. It threw out a lot of heat, and the kitchen and living room area was warm and cozy. Melanie knew if she’d been home in her cabin, she would likely have been shivering in the dark. She wrapped a throw blanket around her as Bryan clicked through the channels. Storm coverage was on all the major stations so they watched that for a bit. It looked ugly out there. The winds were still strong and they were encouraging people to stay home until daylight when the roads should be clear.

  While the news was on, Melanie took a good look around and liked what she saw. Bryan’s house was friendly and warm, just like him. There were colorful watercolors, and photographs of the mountains and outdoors on the walls. The colors were rich and masculine, shades of green, blue and gray. While she was gazing around the room, she felt something soft brush against the back of her neck and jumped a little.

  “That’s Rudy coming to say hello,” Bryan said. Melanie noticed that Holly was pacing around on the sofa behind Bryan’s head, with her tail twitching back and forth. After a minute, she hopped down and started to knead his thigh while he scratched the back of her head. Rudy purred as he rubbed his head against her knee and then flopped on the sofa on his back, legs in the air. He looked up at her, his eyes pleading her to pet him, so she did. They were both very sweet. Melanie sighed. She was having a lovely night, relaxing with Bryan and his cats. She wouldn’t mind doing this again soon. She shot a look at Bryan, admiring the line of his jaw with its hint of stubble. Being a Saturday, he looked as though he hadn’t bothered to shave and it was a look she’d always found attractive.

  He looked her way suddenly and smiled, surprising her. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes! I was just thinking how nice and comfortable this is. I’m so glad you have a generator and that I’m not home freezing in my cabin.”

  Bryan laughed. “I’m glad you’re here too and it is nice having a generator. That was a good investment.”

  “Do you have a busy week ahead of you?” Melanie wondered what else he did in his spare time and when she’d see him again. Hopefully for trivia on Thursday.

  “Nothing too crazy, I don’t think. Though Wednesday night I’m venturing out to play men’s ice hockey with Wade and Jack and a few others. They’ve been trying to get me to go for a while. I used to play a lot in high school.”

  “Oh, that sounds fun! And it’s great exercise, too.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I haven’t played in a long time, though—I’m not in the best shape, compared to some of the others.”

  “You might be surprised, actually. You’ve been doing weights for two weeks now. I was shocked one year when I only did weights in the winter, no cardio at all, yet when I went running it was like I’d never stopped. The weights help your muscles to loosen up and build strength. I bet you’ll do great.”

  Bryan looked encouraged. “That would be nice. I’m a little nervous, but I really am looking forward to it.”

  They watched a suspense movie. It was good but when it was almost over, Melanie couldn’t stop yawning. Bryan looked over and saw her trying to hide it and yawned himself.

  “I’m pretty beat. Do you want to stay up a while or are you ready to head up?”

  “I’m ready.” Melanie followed Bryan upstairs to his guest bedroom. It had a king-sized bed and a puffy yellow comforter. It was a cheery, comfortable room. Melanie turned to say good-night and almost bumped into Bryan. They were so close that she could feel that curious charge of electricity between them again. His eyes met hers and she found herself leaning toward him and closed her eyes. She opened them quickly when she sensed him move away and he cleared his throat. He was standing there holding an extra blanket.

  “I grabbed this for you in case you get cold.”

  “Thanks.” She took it from him and stepped into her room, shutting the door behind her. How silly of her. Clearly, they were not on the same wavelength. A moment later, there was a soft knock at the door. She opened it and Bryan held out a soft t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

  “I thought you might want something to sleep in. My sister left these here over the summer and you are about the same size.”

  “Oh, great. Thank you. Good night, Bryan.”

  “See you in the morning.”

  Chapter 8

  Bryan was up early the next morning. After feeding the cats, he took a walk outside to investigate and see if the power lines were still down. He was very glad to see that the lines were back up and power had been restored. He was sure Melanie would be eager to get home once she was up and had some coffee.

  He made a pot of coffee, and while it was brewing he pulled out a carton of eggs, some butter, bread, raspberry jam and bacon. He still had a half a package of bacon from before he decided to eat healthier and he didn’t want it to go to waste. A little bacon on a lazy Sunday seemed like a good idea. And he was excited to make his favorite French toast with raspberry jam for Melanie.

  Ten minutes later, he turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Melanie walked into the kitchen, looking sleepy and disoriented and very cute.

  “Morning,” he said. “Coffee?”

  “I’d love some. Thank you.”

  He poured her a mug and while she was adding sugar and milk, he pulled the bacon out of the oven.

  “I thought I smelled bacon. It looks amazing.”

  “Are you hungry? I just made breakfast.”

  “Sure. Can I help with anything?”

  “No. Just have a seat. Everything is done.” He plated up the French toast for both of them, dusted it with powdered sugar and a thin layer of jam and brought everything to the kitchen table. Rudy and Holly were hot on his heels, so he cut a few small bites for them too and set their plates on the floor.

  Melanie looked impressed and a little surprised after she took a bite, “This is delicious.”

  He grinned. “I’m not much of a cook, but I can make French toast. Did you sleep okay?”

  “I did, thanks.” She glanced out the window. It was starting to snow again, just light flurries and it wasn’t supposed to amount to much. But they didn’t think it was going to do much yesterday, either. He was sure she was eager to get home.

  “We can head out to the ranch after we eat if you like. We’re back on regular power now, and the lines have been repaired.”

  “Oh, that’s good. I am curious to see how they fared at the ranch. Hopefully the power is back there if it went out, too.”

  When they finished eating and both had a second cup of coffee, they headed out into the cold. Bryan would have been happy to hang out with Melanie all day. He’d been surprised by how much he’d enjoyed her company the day and night before. But he was sure she had plenty of other things she’d rather do than spend more time with him on a Sunday.

  The roads weren’t too bad. The plows must have worked through the night clearing snow away and though they saw the occasional downed tree, there were no downed lines anywhere that they could see.

  Bryan pulled up to Melanie’s cabin and was relieved to see that her outside light was glowing. If her power had gone out, at least it was back up now.

  “Thanks so much, for everything,” Melanie said. She grabbed hold of the door and then surprised him by asking, “Do you think you might go to trivia on Thursday?”

  “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it yet. Are you going to go?”

  “I probably will. I had fun this week and I want to start getting out more and doing things in town. Now that I have some more time to myself.”

  “Well, maybe I’ll see you there, then. I should be able to go. If you like, I can g
ive you a ride to the dealership on Tuesday, after our morning session. I’ll be going right by on my way to the office.”

  “Oh, could you? I figured I’d probably just take a cab or see if Melissa is around but it’s hard for her to leave the shop.”

  “I’d be happy to. I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

  Bryan waited until Melanie was inside and then smiled to himself as he drove away. He was in a good mood and wasn’t ready to go home yet. He called Clark to see what he was up to and he told him to swing by on his way home. Ten minutes later, he pulled into the condo complex where his brother lived and parked in the visitor spot just outside his townhouse. Unlike Bryan, Clark wasn’t eager to be a homeowner. He worked long hours at the hospital and liked the convenience of condo living. He also lived closer to downtown and less than ten minutes from the hospital. It suited his needs perfectly.

  Bryan knocked on the front door and Clark hollered for him to come in. Bryan stepped inside and smiled at the sight of his brother sitting at the kitchen table, the newspaper spread out in front of him, coffee by his side and his feet up on the chair next to him.

  “You look comfortable.”

  “I am. Help yourself to some coffee.”

  “I’ve already had two cups, might as well have one more.” Bryan poured a cup and joined his brother at the table.

  “So, you had company last night? How did that go?”

  “We had a nice time. Good thing Mom sent me home with all that beef stew.”

  “Are you going to see her again?”

  Bryan could tell his brother had the wrong idea. “It’s not like that. We’re just friends. I’m giving her a lift to the dealership on Tuesday and I’ll probably see her at trivia this week. You should go, too, and talk to her more this time.” Though Bryan had to admit, he hadn’t been too disappointed when Melanie and Clark didn’t seem to have a connection.

  “She’s a great girl, but she’s not for me. That became obvious pretty quickly.” Clark sounded amused.

  “What do you mean?”