“You may not be ready to admit it, but you’re crazy about her, and she seemed pretty into you, too. You should ask her out, on a real date.”
“I’d love to,” Bryan admitted. “But I can’t.”
“Why not”
“Well, it wouldn’t be proper with her being a client and all. She’s paying me to design a house for her.”
“That’s it? You could make that work somehow.”
“It’s not just that. I ran into Amy on my way into the gym. She happened to mention that Melanie’s not allowed to date any members of the gym. There’s a rule forbidding it.”
Clark looked skeptical. “Amy told you this? I’d take anything she said with a grain of salt. See if there’s any truth to it.”
“I don’t think I’m her type, anyway. She’s cute and in great shape. Honestly, I picture her with someone more like you or Troy.”
“I think maybe you should give her more credit than that. I didn’t talk to her long but she seemed smart and certainly nicer than Amy. I still say you should ask her out.”
Bryan brightened. “Well, we are sort of going to the Jingle-Bell Jam event together.”
“That fancy cocktail thing that I went to in your place last year?”
“That’s the one.”
“Well, isn’t that interesting. It may not be an official date, but you could make it an unofficial one. Put on a sharp suit and spin her around the dance floor a few times. Put those ballroom dancing lessons we suffered through to good use.”
Bryan laughed. “You know, that has come in handy over the years.”
“Sure has. I hated it at the time, but the ladies do appreciate a good dancer.”
“All right. I’ll just go and have fun and pretend it’s a real date.”
“Don’t pretend. Make it real. Have a fantastic time.”
The gym was quieter than usual on Monday. Everyone that came in talked about the big storm and how it had affected them. Melanie realized that some people had been without power for several days and for many, going to the gym was not high on their list of priorities at the moment. Natalie loved telling everyone that came in how excited she was that their new generator worked like a charm.
“I told Luke a year ago that I wanted a generator. He said it wasn’t necessary but he finally gave in and was he ever happy when it kicked on electricity for us and he got to watch his college football shows.”
Wade emailed to let her know he and Bernie would be by after lunch for their weekly meeting. Usually it was just Wade, but once a month, Bernie came, too. As Wade’s right-hand assistant, it helped her to have a feel for all the different areas that he oversaw.
Melanie checked her schedule and remembered that she’d booked a massage with Maddie at the end of the day. She tried to get in to see her once a month as a nice treat, but also because it helped to keep her muscles loose. Maddie was great at breaking up and smoothing away any little knots of tension that built up during the month.
The morning flew and while she was eating a salad at her desk for lunch, she thought to check the MyTown site to see if there was anything new there, good or bad. Unfortunately, there were two new reviews, both one-stars—one saying the fitness center was dirty and the other saying it was crazy expensive for what you got. Melanie sighed. She was going to have to show these reviews to Wade. She printed out the bad reviews and made two copies, one for Wade and one for Bernie. Maybe they would have an idea for what, if anything, they might be about to do about it.
At one thirty sharp, Wade and Bernie arrived and they took seats in Melanie’s office across from her desk. Wade led the meeting and started things off by focusing on the positive.
“Good news. Our weekly and monthly numbers are up. People seem to know about the fitness center now. I’m hearing lots of good buzz and the feedback from the resort guests is positive, too.”
“I overheard someone at the supermarket the other day talking about gyms and they said ours is much nicer than the big gym downtown,” Bernie added
Wade frowned. “Idaho Fitness is one of the biggest chains in the state. Their monthly membership fees are less than half what we charge and I just heard them advertising on the radio this weekend that they are doing a two-for-one end of the year special. When two friends sign up together, they both get the first month free. It’s a clever deal.”
“About Idaho Fitness.” Melanie handed each of them the printout with the bad reviews on it. “I’m not sure if you check the MyTown site very often but we’ve been hit with a bunch of negative reviews. It’s unusual enough that it made me wonder if they might be fake.”
“You mean like Fake News?” Bernie asked as she glanced at the reviews.
“Sort of. It’s not unusual for retailers to sometimes trash competitors in reviews like that.”
“You mean put up a fake negative review to try to damage the competition?” Wade’s tone was incredulous and had an edge of anger to it.
“Yes, exactly that. It’s easy enough to do. People either do it themselves by signing up for fake accounts or hire someone off Fiverr or other similar site to to do dirty work.”
“Is there anything we can do about it? Other than sink to their level, which of course we won’t do,” Wade said.
“There’s not much. The sites won’t take anything down unless you can prove that it was done maliciously.”
“We’ll have to think on this and come up with something. But in the meantime, let’s focus on what we know we can do, which is just an amazing job for our customers.”
“I have an idea,” Bernie began. “What if we send out an email thanking our members for choosing us and asking for their feedback. We could also suggest that they leave us a review as it helps new members when they are looking to find out about a gym.”
“I like that idea a lot. People like to be thanked, and they like to help. Melanie can you put something together for that?”
“Sure thing. I think that’s a great idea, too.”
“Maybe we can add enough new good reviews that it will bury the bad ones.”
At a quarter to five Melanie locked her office, said goodnight to Natalie and walked down the hallway to the spa for her session with Maddie. She loved going to the spa for treatments. It was a relaxing, tranquil place and it was nice to be pampered, and let all her worries and cares float away for the hour or so that she was there.
She helped herself to a cool cup of cucumber water while she waited in the tranquility room for Maddie to come get her. It was a beautiful room, with chaise lounges covered in white towels and pillows, and a fountain in the middle of the room that doubled as a foot soaking area. Melanie took her last refreshing sip of water as Maddie stepped into the room and walked over to her.
“Hi, Melanie. So good to see you again. Are you ready to come in?” Maddie looked as pretty as always, but Melanie thought she looked more tired than usual and wondered if she’d been sick or if it was just from being pregnant.
Melanie followed her into one of the treatment rooms. A gas fireplace glowed merrily in the corner while soft jazz music played in the background. Maddie stepped outside for a moment so Melanie could undress and slip under the covers on the massage bed. She laid down face first and settled her face into the soft, donut-shaped cradle that was just above the head of the table. The bed was heated and the warmth radiated through Melanie as she lay there. Maddie tapped lightly on the door and then came back into the room.
She kneaded the muscles on Melanie’s back first. That was always her tightest area and Melanie felt them relax as she worked on them.
“How are you feeling? Wade said you weren’t feeling so great last week,” Melanie asked.
“I’m okay. I thought it was a bug last week, but it may have been the pregnancy. I’ve been pretty sick this time. Fine one day and then miserable the next. It was different with Vivian. Of course, that was over nine years ago.”
“I don’t know much about being pregnant, but I think I remember reading
somewhere that it’s usually worst in the first three months. So maybe it should be getting better?”
Maddie laughed. “You would think so, but I don’t think this baby got the memo.”
She placed her fingers on Melanie’s temples and made small circles, releasing tension as she went along. She worked her way down to her neck and spent time kneading where her neck met her shoulders. Melanie knew from her clients that both neck and back issues were common with people who sat at a desk, working on a computer all day.
“It’s really not so bad,” Maddie said softly. “Wade is so excited. He doesn’t even want to know what we’re having until he or she is born. He thinks it will ruin the surprise.”
“That sounds like Wade,” Melanie agreed. “I’d want to know immediately, myself. I figure it will be a surprise until that moment and then I’d get to go shopping!”
Maddie laughed. “I was the same way. Which is why I don’t care so much this time around. It’s fun seeing this happen through Wade’s eyes.”
“How does Vivian feel about it? Is she excited?” Melanie knew that sometimes children were not as excited as their parents, especially only children like Vivian.
“She is. I think she’s old enough that she doesn’t feel threatened like a younger child might. She likes the idea of being a big sister. Vivian’s always been an easy child. She’s happiest curled up with a book.”
“That sounds like my sister, Melissa,” Melanie said. “And now she writes stories and owns a book store. It’s perfect for her.”
“Everyone seems to find their place her at the ranch,” Maddie said. Melanie thought about what she knew of Maddie’s history, how she’d lost her husband unexpectedly and had been a single mother, struggling to make ends meet for a while until she built a new career for herself running the spa. And then, of course, she and Wade fell in love.
“Wade tells me that you’re very active at the local food pantry. How did you come to be involved there?”
“Well, I was a client first. Vivian and I went through a rough patch there for a while after my husband died. He was so young that we didn’t have the best insurance. We didn’t plan for him dying so young and there wasn’t much money set aside for anything. Especially after the funeral bills were paid. It was because of Vivian that I pushed my pride aside and showed up at the food pantry one week to get some emergency staples. It helped me to get by until I could catch up. As soon as things turned around for me, I started to volunteer there as a way to pay it forward and give back.”
“That’s wonderful. I was thinking about getting involved with some charity work now that I’m more settled and have some free time. Do you need any more volunteers there?”
Maddie laughed. “We’d love to have you. And we always need volunteers. There is a small team of us that runs the pantry. We divide the work up so it’s manageable. It’s just a few hours a month. There’s a delivery that comes in and everyone works one shift a month handing out food. And then of course there are the holiday food bags.”
“Is that what the turkeys are for?” Melanie thought of Bryan and how the turkeys brought him into the gym.
“Yes, we put together bags for each family with a turkey and all the fixings. We do it at the church parish hall on Saturday morning. The bags are blessed at the Sunday service and then we hand them out that Monday and Tuesday night, the week before Christmas.”
“What can I help with? I can do anything in the evening or weekends.”
“The pantry is open Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday morning. We could give you a Saturday shift and we’d love your help assembling the baskets or giving them out, whatever you can do.”
“I’ll gladly do both. Just tell me where and when.”
“Oh, great. It’s really a fun time, putting all the baskets together. We have the church youth help and order a bunch of pizzas. They look forward to it every year.”
Melanie was looking forward to it, too. When she lived in Boston, she’d often volunteered on Thanksgiving, handing out meals at a local shelter, and she’d been hoping to find a way to get involved in Riston, too, once she met people and learned what options were available to help.
“If you want to come in this Saturday, we could have you train with someone. Then you could stay and have some pizza and help us fill the baskets if you like.”
“I’d love to. That sounds perfect.”
Maddie finished up with her feet, and it was always Melanie’s favorite part. Her feet often ached from standing, sometimes for hours if she had back to back sessions, and it felt wonderful to have someone knead and release the tension. When Maddie was done and left the room so Melanie could change, she felt like she could easily close her eyes and drift off to sleep. She had to force herself to get up and get dressed. She knew she’d be in bed early. A cup of soup when she got home, and then she would climb into her pajamas and curl up and watch TV in bed. She was looking forward to it.
Chapter 9
After his session on Tuesday, Bryan gave Melanie a lift downtown to the dealership. It was a clear, sunny day though the air was cold and more snow was predicted. Melanie was eager to pick up her new car. She’d already put her convertible into storage for the winter. Melissa and Jack had an extra garage that they weren’t using so it worked out perfectly. And Melissa had approved of the car she’d selected, which was the exact same as hers, just a different color. Melissa’s was white.
Bryan was in an unusually good mood, Melissa noticed. He seemed to have more energy than usual and easily handled the extra weights she added to his routine this week.
“I’m down three more pounds, and sleeping better,” he said as they drove into town. He was clean-shaven this morning and she could see the difference in his face already. He looked great.
“That explains why you’re in such a good mood. Congrats!”
As they pulled into the dealership lot, Melanie noticed a familiar figure with a blonde ponytail walking toward the big gym, Idaho Fitness, that was next door to the dealership.
“Isn’t that your ex, Amy? She just recently joined our gym. Wonder why she’d be going to this one, too.”
“That is odd. Who knows why Amy does anything?” Bryan shook his head and didn’t seem remotely interested as he parked and they got out of the car.
He left once Melanie was all set and the salesman handed her the key to her new car.
“I’ll see you at trivia maybe later this week or at our session on Friday,” he said as they walked outside together.
Melanie smiled. “If you go to Trivia, I’ll be there. Thanks for the ride.”
She watched him drive off and a few minutes later, after familiarizing herself with all the car controls, she took her time driving out of the lot and heading back to the ranch. She loved the new car smell and it handled beautifully. She almost looked forward to the snow so she could try out the all-wheel drive. Almost.
Melanie still didn’t plan to go far in snow conditions. She was terrified of hitting black ice and losing control. That had happened once before and even though she’d been driving slowly, she’d joined the fifteen or so cars ahead of her on the highway and slid all over the road until she came to a stop after sliding into a brand new Saab. It was an experience she wasn’t eager to ever have again. But the all-wheel drive would be handy to get around town when she needed to.
When she got back into the office, Natalie let her know that the client for her next session had called to reschedule so she had some time to catch up on administrative tasks. Once those were done, she thought again about Amy and how odd it was for her to be going to another fitness center. She had never know anyone who belonged to two gyms before.
She pulled up Amy’s membership to see when she joined. It turned out she was a very new member, and was there on a one-month special offer Wade had advertised. It let new members join for a discount and try the gym out for a month. She’d only been in twice since she joined which was interesting, because one of those visit
s had been a personal training session with Melanie. She’d only been in one other time since, yet she had struck Melanie as someone who worked out often.
She looked her up on Facebook and then it made sense. Amy’s fiancé, Troy, was a manager at the Idaho Fitness Center! Amy had likely joined as a spy to report back to him. Technically, of course, there was nothing wrong with checking out the competition. But, it wouldn’t surprise Melanie one bit to learn that Amy was behind the recent negative reviews on the MyTown site. At least some of them. The reviews were anonymous, but Melanie pulled the site up again and took a closer look at the profiles of the reviewers that gave the one-star reviews.
She wasn’t surprised one bit to see that all of them gave five-star reviews to the Idaho Fitness Center and several also gave rave reviews to the upscale boutique on Main Street that Amy owned and ran. Now that Melanie knew this, was there anything she could do about it? That was the question. She guessed that it wasn’t likely. The good news was that the number of positive reviews now more than outweighed the negative ones and new rave reviews were going up every day. But still, it bothered Melanie because it wasn’t fair.
She was still trying to come up with a solution when her phone rang. It was Natalie, saying there was a new member that wanted a session now and since Melanie was free, could she do it?
“Sure, I’ll be right out. Who is it?”
“She says you know her. Jaclyn.”
Melanie was thrilled. Jaclyn had mentioned she might come twice now, but she hadn’t been sure if she was serious. She loved working with some of their older clients. She put them on light weight-lifting routines that helped a lot with their flexibility and overall strength.
“I told you I’d come in,” Jaclyn said when Melanie walked out to greet her. Jaclyn was wearing purple velour sweatpants and a matching jacket, and had her hair pulled into a white bun with wispy tendrils escaping on both sides.
“You did. I’m so glad you made it in. Let’s get started.” Melanie gave her the usual tour and then showed her how to use some of the resistance machines and light free weights. They finished up with stretches.
Jingle-Bell Jam (River's End Ranch Book 32) Page 7