Christmas Catch-Up VII (River's End Ranch) Read online

  Catch-Up VII

  Pamela M. Kelley

  Piping Plover Press

  Copyright © 2018 by Pamela M. Kelley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  It’s Christmas at River’s End Ranch and five couples are visited by a beautiful white dog that brings the gift of Christmas spirit to each of them. Couples featured are:

  Jingle-Bell Jam—Melanie and Bryan

  Billionaire’s Baby—Anna and Ben

  Teasing Tammy—Tammy and Clark

  Romancing Rachel—Rachel and Adiel

  Make-Believe Marriage—Cameron and Ethan

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Epilogue

  Also by Pamela M. Kelley

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Jingle-Bell Jam—Melanie and Bryan

  Melanie Baker struggled to hold back a yawn as she stood by the big gym window that overlooked the River’s End Ranch courtyard. People walked along toward the shops as it began to snow softly. It was a festive scene and Melanie sighed, wishing that she was home, sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, with a warm blanket tucked around her.

  She glanced at the giant clock on the wall. Her last class of the day was starting in ten minutes. She smiled as Annette, one of her favorite coworkers, came over to chat.

  “Cindy Lou Thompson just canceled her three o’clock personal training session because she’s worried about the snow. There’s not even a dusting out there!”

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” Melanie sympathized and then grimaced as her stomach tightened again. It had been feeling achy and off all day.

  “Are you okay? You don’t look good.”

  “I’ll be alright. I think I might be getting that bug that’s been going around. I’m done after this spin class though.”

  Annette shook her head. “Why don’t you just go home now? I can take over your class since I have nothing scheduled for the next hour.”

  Melanie hesitated. She ran the fitness center and had never been one to go home early.

  “Seriously, go. It’s not like it’s even busy here.”

  Melanie looked around the room and laughed. There was only a handful of people there. Annette was right. It was a slow day, and with the snow coming, they weren’t likely to get any busier.

  “Thank you. I’ll take you up on that offer. I owe you.”

  Ten minutes later, Melanie stepped outside and took a deep breath. The crisp, cool air was invigorating and her stomach already felt like it was calming down. She stood for a moment admiring the pretty snow as it swirled and twirled before slowly drifting down. As she turned to walk to her car, she saw a familiar face coming her way, Wade Weston, the general manager of the resort. He grinned as he saw her.

  “Will we see you and Brian this week at trivia?” he asked. There was a group of them that played most Thursday nights at the restaurant.

  “Hopefully. We should be able to make it.”

  “Great, Maddie’s looking forward to it. You heading out now?”

  Melanie nodded.

  “Drive careful, I hear it’s getting slippery out there.”

  The roads were a bit slick, but Melanie took her time and it wasn’t long before she pulled into the driveway where she and her husband Brian, lived. She still got a thrill when she saw their custom-built house. It was on the lake and was everything that she and Brian, who was a builder, had ever dreamed of. They’d just moved in a few months ago.

  The snow was coming down harder as she stepped outside and walked toward the house. She squinted as she saw something move by the front door. It was a dog. A shivering all-white dog with a bright red collar. When she reached the door, the dog lifted its head and almost seemed to smile when it saw her.

  “Well, hello there. I haven’t seen you in the neighborhood before. Why don’t you come inside for a minute and I’ll see if your collar has contact info so we can get you home?” She stepped into their mud room and held the door open so the fluffy white dog would follow. She shut the door tightly behind her and took her coat off, then grabbed a towel and used it to brush the snow off the dog.

  She wiped the snow off the pretty red collar too and the silver tag, which had the name Prancer delicately etched into it. There was no contact info though, which Melanie thought was unusual. The dog clearly belonged to someone, and the collar looked brand new.

  “Well, you might as well come in and meet Holly and Rudy. I’m going to make a few calls and see if we can figure how to get you home. It’s too cold for you to stay outside.” Prancer wagged her tail as if she understood everything Melanie was saying and followed her into the living room.

  She grabbed her cell phone and called Jess, who ran the local vet clinic with her husband Jake. While she waited for someone to answer, she watched with amusement as her two cats, Holly and Rudy, sized up the strange dog that stood quietly by her side. When the cats slowly made their way toward them, Prancer took a step closer to Melanie and she reached down and gently petted her head. Jess came on the phone as the cats stopped about a foot from Prancer and a staring contest commenced.

  Melanie quickly told Jess about the dog. “She’s beautiful, a Samoyed, I think, based on fluffy white fur and built-in smile. I’ve never seen her in the neighborhood though.”

  “The only Samoyed I know of, moved away a year ago. You could call the shelter and the police in case anyone has reported a missing dog to either of them. It’s nasty out there. Can you keep her for a night or two in case you don’t hear back right away? If not, you could bring her here.”

  “I think we can manage for a night or two. Thanks, Jess.”

  Melanie called the local shelter, and they told her that they didn’t have any reports of a missing dog yet, but told her to call back the next day. She heard the same from her brother-in-law, Jack, when she called the police and he answered the call.

  “No missing dog reports yet. If anyone calls though, we’ll get in touch.”

  “Thanks, Jack.” Melanie ended the call and smiled as she saw the animals checking each other out. Holly was sprawled out in front of Prancer while Rudy tentatively reached out a paw and tapped it against the dog’s foot. Prancer responded by sticking out her tongue and licking Rudy’s paw. And just like that, they were all friends.

  Melanie went and made herself a cup of hot tea and then settled in her favorite soft chair by the huge window that overlooked the lake. The sun was starting to set now, so all she could see was a swirl of white, but it was still soothing to watch as she sipped her tea. Her stomach tightened up again as a mild cramp came and went. It eased up though as she sipped her ginger tea.

  She pulled her favorite soft blanket over her and opened the book she’d started the day before. It was the latest Danielle Steel novel, and she was eager to see what was going to happen next. Before she dived back into the story, she reached down and gave Prancer a pat. She was curled up at Melanie’s feet and had a motherly paw over Holly as she slept snuggled up to her. Rudy was sound asleep a few feet away. Melanie thought it was cute how well they all were getting along.

  Her nose suddenly itched followed immediately by a sneeze and got up to go to the bathroom for a tissue. There weren’t any left, so she rummaged around in the bathroom closet until she found a new box. As she was opening it, she heard the front door open.
Bryan was home early. When she turned, she saw that Prancer had followed her to the bathroom.

  “Come on Prancer, you have one more person to meet.”

  She went to greet Bryan, whose cheeks were bright red and icy cold as he gave her a kiss hello.

  “I’m glad you’re home. It’s nasty out there.” He looked up in surprise as Prancer came toward them holding a small white bag in her mouth. It looked like it had a box of toothpaste or something in it.

  “Who is that?”

  “Prancer.” She told him how she’d been waiting outside when she got home.

  “She’s a sweet girl. She must have gotten lost, could be new to the area. Holly and Rudy like her.”

  “Do you want to keep her?” Brian laughed.

  “I wouldn’t mind, but I’m pretty sure she belongs to someone. She has a gorgeous collar, and she’s well groomed.”

  “What’s in her mouth?”

  “She must have grabbed something from the bathroom. I was just in there. Come here, Prancer.”

  She came over and Melanie took the bag out of her mouth. “I’ll be right back.” She took the bag back to the bathroom. It was too light to be toothpaste. She looked inside and sighed when she saw what it was. A pregnancy test. Something she hadn’t needed for a while. She’d bought the test months ago when they were trying. They’d finally given up and had decided to start going through the IVF process after the holidays and were going to not worry about it until then.

  As Melanie threw the bag away and put the box back on the shelf, a thought occurred to her. She did some quick calculations and was shocked to realize she was almost two weeks late. She’d been so preoccupied at work and relieved that they didn’t have to think about trying again for a while, that she hadn’t noticed that the weeks were flying by. Maybe she didn’t have a bug after all.

  Her hands shook as she picked up the box again and slowly opened it and followed the instructions.

  Exactly three minutes later, she walked back to the living room, where Bryan was sitting comfortably by the fire. Prancer was curled up by his feet. The dog jumped up as Melanie approached and then sat and looked up with big, expectant eyes.

  “You know what was in that bag that Prancer was holding?”

  Bryan chuckled. “What?”

  Melanie handed him a plastic stick.

  He jumped up and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t believe it!”

  Melanie felt overcome with emotion as it sunk in. “We’re having a baby, finally.”

  The next morning was sunny and clear. The snow had stopped sometime during the night and only a few inches had accumulated. Melanie was up early and was making coffee when Bryan walked into the kitchen. He glanced toward the door where Prancer sat wagging her tail.

  “I’m going to take her outside for a minute. Be right back.”

  “Okay. Coffee should be ready when you get back.” Melanie gave Prancer a hug and a scratch behind her ears. “I’m so glad you decided to visit us,” she whispered to the dog, as Bryan opened the door.

  Five minutes later, Bryan was back, by himself.

  “Where’s Prancer?” Melanie handed him a mug of hot coffee.

  “I don’t know. She was there one minute and gone the next. Maybe in the light of day, she knew where to go.”

  “Well, I hope so. Maybe she’ll come back. I could get used to having her around.”

  Bryan leaned over and kissed her gently. “I could too, but I have a feeling she’s gone home. She was like our Christmas Angel.”

  Melanie leaned over and brushed her lips against Bryan’s before saying softly, “She really was. She delivered the best Christmas present ever.”

  Chapter 2

  Billionaire’s Baby—Anna and Ben

  Anna stuck her head into her husband Ben’s office, where he was busy working. He’d been at it hard since breakfast and hadn’t stopped once, not even to break for lunch. It was nearly three and Anna was feeling a little stir-crazy. She was on Christmas break from law school and classes wouldn’t be starting up again until mid-January.

  “Taylor and I are going to take a walk, want to join us? It’s sunny and not too cold out there.”

  Ben hit send on his email, then looked up and smiled. “Sure. I could use a break to stretch my legs.”

  They gathered their coats, and Anna got Taylor’s stroller. She was almost two and a good walker, but if she got tired, Anna could push her part of the way.

  The air was cool but clear as they made their way down the driveway toward the main road where there was a bike path that was perfect for walking.

  “Was your day productive? You don’t usually work through lunch,” Anna asked.

  “It was crazy busy today. I am a little hungry now that you mention it. Did Mrs. Johnson make something good for us or do you feel like going out to dinner?”

  “I’d like to go to trivia on Thursday, so let’s stay in tonight. She made a big pot of beef stew. I had a taste of it at lunch and it’s delicious.”

  “That sounds good. So, about today, we got some great news. The show at the ranch has been extended. Ratings are better than anyone imagined.”

  “Oh, that’s fantastic.” Ben was one of the investor’s in the TV show that was filming at River’s End Ranch. His best friend, Adiel was the main writer, so they saw him and his wife Rachel often. Rachel was one of the stars of the show. Anna was glad to hear that it wasn’t in any danger of ending any time soon as that mean Adiel and Rachel would be staying in Riston.

  “And I found another film I’m going to invest in. Adiel wrote the screenplay and I think it’s fantastic. It could be his huge breakout project.”

  “Oh, that’s exciting. Rachel mentioned a while ago that he was working on a top secret project. That must be it.”

  “Probably, and there’s a part for Rachel in it, a big part. She’ll be the female star, so it will be a huge opportunity for her too.”

  “What kind of story is it? Similar to the show?”

  Ben chuckled. “No, completely different. It’s a suspense thriller. The only similarity is that it’s set in a small town. And the good news is we should be able to film here in Riston too, which will keep expenses down.”

  “And since it’s Adiel and Rachel, they can work it around the filming for the TV show.”

  “Exactly. They’ll do it while the show is on hiatus,” Ben confirmed.

  “Doggy!” Taylor cried as she ran ahead and they saw a rabbit dart out of the bushes and then back in again. She turned back and looked ready to burst into tears.

  “That was a bunny, honey. A rabbit. Not a doggy.”

  “I want a doggy. Can we get one?”

  Anna looked at Ben. Taylor had been asking almost daily if they could get a dog. Ben thought they should wait a year or two until Taylor was older. But Anna wasn’t so sure. She thought it might be good company for the little girl.

  “Maybe someday, honey,” Ben told her.

  “Is someday tomorrow?” Taylor asked hopefully.

  Ben chuckled. “Probably not tomorrow honey.”

  They turned around and made their way back to the house. Taylor looked exhausted and climbed into the stroller for the walk back. But when they came around the corner and saw the house ahead, she suddenly screamed and Anna stopped walking. “Doggy!!!!” Taylor bolted out of the stroller and ran toward the front step where a beautiful fluffy white dog with a red collar, sat almost as if she was waiting for them.

  “Have you ever seen that dog around here before?” Anna asked.

  “No, never. It must belong to someone nearby though.”

  When they caught up to Taylor, the little girl was sitting next to the dog and tentatively reached a small hand to pet it. Anna was nervous for a moment but the dog almost seemed to be smiling as it leaned closer to Taylor and let her pet her. Anna saw that the silver name tag on her collar said Prancer.

  “What are you doing here, girl?” She asked her softly and reached out to stroke her fur. Th
e dog seemed to smile up at her. Suddenly she stood and took a few steps away then circled back and looked at them expectantly.

  “I think she wants us to follow her,” Ben said.

  “She wants to play!” Taylor said.

  “Sure, let’s see where she wants us to go,” Anna said. They had been walking for about twenty minutes or so, a few more minutes would be fine.

  Prancer bounced ahead of them, circling back every few minutes to make sure they were following her. When they reached the main road, she turned right, the opposite direction they’d just walked.

  “Okay, we should probably head back now,” Ben said.

  “No!” Taylor screamed.

  “Let’s go on a little longer. It’s a nice day to walk,” Anna said.

  “Okay, a few more minutes.”

  Prancer took them about a hundred more years and then ran to a small cardboard box at the base of a tree. When she reached the box, she sat and waited for everyone to catch up. Anna noticed that she seemed excited and was wagging her tail furiously.

  And in a moment, they could see why. In the box were two golden retriever puppies, their fur baby soft and blonde. They looked dazed and confused as if they’d just woken up. They were nestled in the box with a soft blanket. But it was obvious that someone had just dumped them at the side of the road. Anna immediately felt furious, then protective and grateful to the pretty white dog that showed them the way.

  “Puppies! Can we keep them? Please?!!” Taylor jumped up and down with excitement.

  Ben smiled and took Anna’s hand. “Yes, I think we have to. Someone has to take care of them.”

  “It’s meant to be,” Anna said, watching as Taylor patted both puppies using both her hands.

  Ben reached down and scooped up the box while Anna petted Prancer and thanked her for leading them to the puppies.