Their plates were brought just then, and Mark tucked in to his orange chicken. “This is so good,” he said, pointing to his food with his fork.
“It’s even better if you use chopsticks,” Heidi replied.
Mark nodded, feeling a little sheepish. “I’m sure it is, but I’ve never learned how.”
“What? You’ve never learned how to use chopsticks? How do you get to be as old as you are without knowing how to use chopsticks?”
“I didn’t realize the two were related.”
“You know what I mean.” Heidi positioned her chopsticks in her hand and held it up so he could see her fingers. “This one remains still, and this one goes up and down. See?”
Mark unwrapped his set and tried to imitate her movements, but he couldn’t make that top stick budge. “Well, how about this?” he asked, using one of them like a skewer and impaling a piece of chicken on it. “This counts, doesn’t it?”
“No, but I’m glad you tried.” She shook her head and took another bite of her broccoli beef, her chopsticks perfectly balanced.
“You haven’t said anything about your parents or family,” Mark said, curious to know more about her.
She shrugged. “There’s really not a lot to tell. My parents live in Boise, and I’m an only child. They’re getting on in years and I head down to see them about once a month. They’re not very pleased with me for dropping out of college. I was supposed to be the fulfillment of all their lives’ dreams.”
“Because you’re the only child?”
“Yes, and because they couldn’t have children for so long. My mom was forty-five before she finally got pregnant. I guess in her mind, my birth was blessed by the fairies, and I was supposed to achieve all these wonderful things. They’ve visited the ranch, but they don’t understand the importance of what I do or why I love it here so much.”
He could tell by the way she spoke that she really did love it. “Well, just from my perspective, I’d have to say that it’s very important. You give people a place to come and relax and spend time with their loved ones and create memories. This is such a safe, friendly environment—Callie mentioned that she really appreciates how you cater to families.”
Heidi smiled. “Thank you. I hope you’ll say that on your comment card when you check out.”
“I will. I won’t forget.”
“Good. Yeah, we do get a lot of families here, but singles too, or groups of friends. We hope there’s something here for everyone.”
“And your place in all this?”
Heidi smiled, and he loved seeing the little spark that lit up in her eyes. “I get to interact with almost every guest we have. They come in looking for a souvenir or they forgot their dental floss or they need a chocolate fix, and they come in and chat about where they’re from and tell me all about their families. I sometimes get postcards from guests as they continue their travels—it means a lot to me that they remember me and feel as though I’ve touched their lives in some way. Each of them touch our lives—they become a part of the spirit of the ranch.”
“Wow. You make it sound like Oz or Narnia or something.”
“What?” She laughed. “You realize that both those lands were ruled by evil people, right? Well, the wizard was more of a dork, but there were those witches running around, making things hard on people.”
Mark chuckled too. “Okay, bad example. I was thinking about famous magical lands where nothing ever goes wrong.”
She shook her head. “Utopia, maybe?”
“Yeah, that works too. I guess I shouldn’t get into discussions like this with an English major.”
“Former English major,” she corrected him with a grin.
“Yes, that. Now, let’s eat. I can’t wait to see what my fortune cookie says—for some reason, I’m feeling very lucky right now.”
***
Heidi sang along to the radio as she drove into work the next morning. She and Mark had called it an early evening shortly after they finished eating—she was exhausted and needed some rest before opening the store again. Mark had made her promise that he’d see her at the cookie decorating Monday night, and she’d been more than happy to say yes.
As she walked up to the door of the general store with her keys in her hand, she saw Reggie standing there, stamping his feet against the cold.
“There you are,” he called out. “I thought Wade said you opened at eight thirty today.”
“Nope—nine. Are you my bagger?”
“I’m your frozen bagger.” He gave her a grin, and she could see that his teeth were chattering. “Just why did I decide to move to Idaho?”
“Because it’s the best place on earth!” Heidi unlocked the door, then stood aside so Reggie could go in and start getting warm. “Thanks for helping me out.”
“Are you kidding? You got me out of snow-shoveling duty. I’m more than happy to help.” Reggie hung up his coat on one of the hooks in the corner behind the register, then rubbed his hands together. “Got any cocoa?”
“No, but …” Heidi glanced at the clock. “We’ve got ten minutes until we open. If you’ll call the café and order two cocoas and two muffins to go, I’ll pick them up.”
“On it.” He picked up the phone and started dialing, and Heidi left the store on her errand, noticing how her breath looked like fog in this chilly winter air. She loved it, but she felt bad for Reggie, waiting all that time. He was one of the summer crew and much preferred taking people on hikes than standing around in the cold.
Kelsi was waiting by the register when Heidi walked in, putting two cocoas in a cup holder next to a small bag. “Here you go,” she said. “Why only two? Isn’t Alicia there this morning?”
“She comes in at eleven,” Heidi replied. “How are you and little . . . um, what’s her name today?”
Kelsi grinned. She loved it when people asked her about her yet-to-be-born daughter. “I got a phone order last night from a lady named Charity, and I started thinking—it would be fun to name my baby after a character trait, to give her something to live up to. I tossed around a bunch of ideas while I was falling asleep, and then when I woke up this morning, it hit me—Prudence. Prudence Clapper.”
Heidi nodded, unsure how else to react. “Oh? And what does the sheriff think about that one?”
“We all know that daddies don’t get any real say. Mommies do all the work—they should get the naming rights.”
“What about cooks?” Bob bellowed from the kitchen. “I vote no!”
“Cooks definitely don’t count! It’s Prudence until I hear something I like better!” Kelsi hollered back. “Men just don’t understand how important names are,” she said to Heidi.
“Thanks for the food,” Heidi said, handing over some cash and picking up the order. “I’ll see you tonight at the cookie decorating, right?”
“Of course! Little Prudence can’t miss one of the most essential parts of her very first Christmas!”
Heidi laughed as she walked out of the café, shaking her head. One thing was for sure—no matter what her name was, that baby wouldn’t have a dull life with Kelsi as her mother.
She got back to the store just in time to get the cash register up and running before the clock struck nine. Reggie had stopped shivering, so he was ready to learn what she needed him to do. Since there weren’t any customers yet, she asked him to sweep the back of the store while she straightened merchandise on the shelves, and things looked pretty nice by the time the rush began. It was so nice having someone there to bag the merchandise while she rang it up—maybe she’d survive this holiday season after all.
Chapter Five
“Heidi! Heidi! Look what I made!”
Heidi looked over at Maisie’s plate. There was frosting everywhere and very little on the cookie, and she couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be, but the girl looked so pleased with herself, Heidi couldn’t say anything to disappoint her. “It’s beautiful!”
“That’s because it’s you! Except there�
�s not any yellow frosting, so I used green for your hair instead, and I’m not good at making eyes.”
Heidi studied the cookie more carefully. Even knowing what it was, she still couldn’t see the resemblance, but she was touched anyway. “Thank you, Maisie. That means a lot to me.”
“And now I have to give this cookie to Uncle Mark so he’ll fall in love with you.” Maisie pushed the plate across the table to Mark, who looked absolutely mortified. Callie had a hand pressed over her mouth, and Todd was staring down at the table—both of them obviously enjoying this awkward moment.
“Oh? Will eating a cookie that looks like me make him fall in love with me?” Heidi asked, deciding to find out just what Maisie was thinking.
“Yes! Mommy says that when you love someone, they live here.” Maisie pointed to her chest.
“I meant that they live in your heart, not in your stomach,” Callie said, still trying to hide her grin.
“But I will take the cookie,” Mark spoke up. “I’m not going to pass up something so delicious-looking.” He picked it up and tasted it. “Oh, that’s really good.”
“You ate Heidi’s head!” Connor pointed at him with one frosting-covered finger.
As both children giggled, Heidi glanced around the event barn. Miranda had done a great job of putting this together.
“I think it’s time we got you kids in the bath,” Callie said, standing up. “Todd, can you carry the cookies?”
“Sure. I don’t know if they’ll all make it back to the cabin, though—they look mighty tasty,” Todd said, pretending to take a big bite of one of Connor’s.
“No, Daddy! No!” Connor giggled, and Todd chased him out of the barn talking like Cookie Monster.
“Goodnight,” Callie said, smiling at Mark and Heidi before Maisie dragged her away.
As soon as they left, Mark slumped over to the side and let out a groan. “I’m so full,” he said. “I shouldn’t have eaten so many cookies.”
Heidi laughed. “The point was to make enough to take home with you, not to eat them all here.”
“But the kids kept sharing! What was I supposed to do?”
“That is a tough call.” Heidi gathered up their dirty napkins and brushed cookie crumbs into her hand, trying to make their little work area look tidy for the next people. “Would you like to go for a walk with me?”
“Yes, please. If I don’t work off some of these cookies, I won’t even be able to fit in the back of my ambulance, let alone the front.” He held up the cookie that was supposed to resemble her. “I’m sorry—I was only able to eat your head.”
“I guess that means you’ll just love me for my brain,” she replied, then wanted to kick herself. She didn’t want him to think she was implying anything.
He didn’t seem to notice her embarrassment. “I definitely love your brain, but there’s a lot more to you than that. See, you’ve got these green spots on your arm—I’ve always found that very admirable in a person.” He pointed to the cookie. “And this red smear here indicates that you’re a lot of fun to be around.”
“I never knew you could learn so much about someone from a cookie,” Heidi said.
“It’s a complete science.” Mark picked up one of the clean napkins, wrapped up the rest of the cookie, and slid it into his breast pocket. “Shall we go?”
As they strolled along the path, Heidi could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the various buildings and cabins. Such happy sounds. The stars looked particularly bright like they always did on clear winter nights. If it wasn’t so cold, she’d be in heaven.
“So, I have to ask a question,” she said once she was sure no one could overhear them. “Callie mentioned something about three girls who are chasing you back home.”
“She did? Oh, no.” Mark laughed and shook his head. “She’s not real big on the whole personal space thing. I’ll tell you the whole story, all right?”
“There’s a whole story? What—are there really four girls and not three?”
He laughed again. “Sort of. Um, about a year ago, I was dating this girl named Katrina. She was amazing—or at least, I thought she was. Beautiful, smart, going places . . . but she liked playing mind games. Something would happen, and it was my fault even if it wasn’t a big deal. If we were at the movies and they ran out of Junior Mints, she’d get something else, but before the night was over, she would make some little comment about how I wouldn’t get her the kind of candy she wanted.”
“Sounds like bad news,” Heidi said. Maybe she shouldn’t be offering an opinion this early, but it just sort of slipped out. She didn’t like girls who played mind games—they made life miserable for everyone.
“Yeah, she was. And when I tried to talk to her about it, all heck broke loose. What? Why are you smiling?”
“Nothing. It’s just that I don’t often hear people say ‘heck.’”
Mark grinned. “My mother hates swearing. She only tolerates ‘heck’ because it’s not as bad as some other things. My dad’s favorite is ‘fiddlesticks.’”
“I love that! I’m going to try it the next time I want to swear at the credit card machine.” Heidi took a step to the side to avoid a low-hanging branch over the path. “So, back to this girl.”
“Yeah. So, all heck broke loose, and she blamed everything on me again, and I told her that we had to be done. I couldn’t be in a relationship with someone who twisted everything to their own advantage. I mean, it’s one thing if I really do mess up and need to make it right, but this was crazy.”
“I’ve known a few people like that. Have you heard of narcissistic personality disorder? It’s a real thing.”
“It sounds hard to say,” he teased.
“It is! Almost like Mississippi. Hard to spell, too. So, what about these three other girls?”
“Oh, they’re not really chasing me. I work with two of them, and the third serves coffee at the shop where I go. They’ve each expressed interest in dating me, but from what I’ve seen of them, I don’t think they’re quite what I’m looking for, and I don’t think I’m right for them.”
“You’re going to judge someone that quickly? Maybe they’re nervous around you and so they aren’t really showing you their true selves. I think you ought to give them a chance.”
He turned to face her. “So, you’re on a date with me right now, but you’re encouraging me to go home and date other women? Are you not having a good time? Do I need to ramp up the fun factor here?”
She held up both hands. “I didn’t mean it that way. Of course I’m having a good time. I just feel bad for those other girls—not getting to experience this wonderfulness that is you.”
“Oh? Because we can totally be having more fun than we are.” He bent down, gathered up a handful of snow, and sprinkled it on top of her head. “Look! I can control the weather. It’s snowing.”
“Wow! That’s so magical!” She held up both hands and spun around. “It’s like a December twentieth miracle!”
“Isn’t it, though?”
When she stopped spinning, she looked up into his eyes to see that he was watching her intently. “The snowstorm is over that fast? Wasn’t much of a storm, was it?”
“I figured you already had enough accumulation for one holiday.” He reached out and took her hand, tugging her a little closer.
“I’m sure Reggie will thank you for that,” she said, wondering if the moon was extra bright or if they were standing near one of the ranch’s streetlights, but she didn’t want to turn to look. Mark was holding her with his gaze as well as with his fingers.
“Reggie?”
“Snow removal.”
“Hmm.” Mark took a step closer of his own. “I don’t think I want to talk about Reggie. I mean, I’m sure he’s a good guy and all, but I don’t think he’s a very romantic topic.”
“And you’d like a romantic topic?” She could hardly breathe all of a sudden. That was okay, though, because Mark was a paramedic.
He ran a finger along h
er jawline. “I think it would be a good idea.” Then he tilted her chin up a little and kissed her, just a short kiss that caught her off guard in the very nicest way.
“What constitutes a romantic topic?” she asked after she got her bearings.
“Snowmobile races,” he replied, not taking his eyes from her.
“What?” She blinked. “How’s that romantic?”
“If we go together, it would be very romantic.” He took her hand in his and turned her around. “You have an early morning again. Let’s send you on your way so you aren’t driving home in your sleep.”
She wanted to protest. Actually, what she really wanted was to kiss him again. But she couldn’t argue with his logic, and she really couldn’t argue with the fact that he was trying to take care of her. She appreciated that more than she could say.
He walked her to her car, waited until he saw that it started up without a problem, then waved to her as she drove off the ranch. She glanced at him several times in her rearview mirror. Even though she knew it was impossible, she imagined that she could still feel his kiss on her lips.
Chapter Six
“Come on, Todd. You should sign up.” Mark tossed a glove at his brother, and it hit him squarely in the chest. “You used to love to go snowmobiling.”
“That was years ago, before I was an old married man with kids,” Todd replied, throwing the glove right back.
“What are you going to do instead? Stay here and count your gray hairs?”
“No, we thought we’d make some paper snowflakes and watch a Christmas movie,” Todd replied. “Have a low-stress night.” He flicked his eyes over at Callie.
Mark gave a slight nod. Callie did look a little tired. She and the kids had spent some time visiting an older lady on the ranch, and while the kids had come home happy, talking about rabbits and fairies, Callie looked exhausted. She’d said she’d just done too much walking, but Mark wasn’t sure that’s all it was.
“I’ll stay here,” he said, starting to take off his coat. “You need me.”
Todd held up a hand. “No. You should go have fun. You work hard, and going on vacation with us isn’t really much of a vacation for you. You’ve got your phone, right?”
Santa's Shopkeeper (River's End Ranch Book 18) Page 4