Snickerdoodle Secrets (River's End Ranch Book 25) Read online

  Randy thought it might be better just to keep his mouth shut and see what Chad and Emma wanted to do, but somehow it just came out.

  “In my experience, four wheels are always better than three,” he said, happy that it made her smile.

  “I agree,” Emma said as she grabbed Erica’s elbow and steered her toward the door. “Oh, what about Rocky?”

  They all turned toward Rocky who not only hadn’t eaten, but was sound asleep on the hearth of the stone fireplace.

  “He had a potty break and just drank some water. He’ll be fine until we get back.”

  A thought flitted by that Rocky might not ever be fine—not really fine—but for now, he was safe and warm and looked very content, so she hopped in the back of Randy’s car and intended to enjoy an evening with family and new friends. And barbecued ribs.

  Chapter 9

  Pinching her cheeks one last time in the mirror before she headed out the door, Erica wondered why she’d even cared, why she’d begged a moment to stop by her house and change, telling the others she’d meet them at the restaurant. Randy was handsome, yes, and she had always been a sucker for a guy in a uniform—much to her chagrin—but he was leaving in two weeks. But even though he’d just gotten there, and she’d known him for an entire day, it had been extremely odd that they’d been thrown together so many times. Four times in one day! That was really weird, and when they’d asked her to join them for dinner, she’d hesitated, but had secretly been excited about it.

  She’d come home for just a second and rinsed her face, applied some makeup and reached for her favorite sweater, the one Dani said made her eyes look really green. Couldn’t hurt, even though nothing could come of this anyway.

  She threw her hair up in a ponytail and reached for her mom’s pearl earrings and necklace and then actually laughed out loud at herself. This was truly going overboard, and she shook her head, stopped herself and headed out the door.

  But the butterflies in her stomach seemed to act up again the closer she got to the restaurant. They were in full flight as she hopped up the stairs. As many times as she’d eaten at the restaurant, she never felt like it was her workplace, which was kind of odd, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Randy waiting for her.

  “Hi,” he said as he reached for the door to open it for her. “That was fast, and you look fantastic,” he said, and the butterflies took one last big spin before they started to settle down, her nerves calming at his smile. Those eyes crinkled again, and she had to look away. This was silly.

  “Thank you,” she said as she studied her feet for a moment before stepping inside.

  Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dim lighting, and just as she was about to wave at Barbi at the hostess desk, heat shot up her spine as she felt Randy’s hand on her lower back, guiding her gently to the table where Emma and Chad were waiting and sharing an appetizer.

  “You look lovely,” Chad said. He stood while Randy pulled out Erica’s chair.

  “She sure does,” Emma said as she winked at Erica.

  “Emma and I were just saying we were happy you wanted to join us. Taking you for dinner on Randy’s first night and thanking you for the fact that he’s even here—well, it’s the least we can do,” Chad said as he raised his water glass to Erica.

  Heat pricked her cheeks as the others raised their glasses to her as well. “Oh, gosh, I didn’t really do anything. It was a last minute, impulsive decision, but I’m thrilled if it helped in any way.”

  “It sure did,” Randy said as he looked down at his plate and frowned. “Besides, as I said earlier, being the best snickerdoodles I’d ever had, it was about the only thing Rocky would eat. He’d barely eaten a thing in the two weeks since Jacob died.”

  “Jacob?” Emma asked, her brow furrowed.

  “He was a good friend, and in my unit. We had each other’s backs more times than I cared to count, and we were a pretty good team. Rocky was our search and rescue service dog, and Jacob was his handler.”

  “Oh,” said Erica. “He’s not your dog?” She guessed she hadn’t really thought about it, whether Rocky was a pet or a service dog, but it made sense.

  “No, he isn’t. Jacob was his trainer and handler. They trained together for six months before Rocky could come out into the field.”

  “Wow,” Chad said. “That’s amazing. That’s a lot of time to train a dog.”

  Randy set his napkin on his lap and took a sip of water. “A lot of time and a lot of money. By the time the dogs are service-ready, they’re worth about a hundred and fifty grand.”

  Chad choked on the water he was sipping. “What? Wow.”

  “Wow is right,” Emma said. “And I imagine that after all that time as a close team, having your partner perish would be pretty stressful.”

  “It is. Like I said, he’s still his sweet self, but the Rocky I knew while on missions is not this same guy.”

  “How sad,” Erica said, shaking her head.

  “It really was agonizing. So when the snickerdoodles came and he at least got up to get some and wagged his tail, it was a pretty bright moment. So thank you again.”

  “Is he going to get better?” Emma asked as she closed her menu and set it on the table. “I mean, is he just grieving?”

  “Hard to tell,” Randy said. “That’s why my CO asked me to take him with me on leave. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but this is lasting longer than it normally does. We won’t know for a little while if he’s just grieving or if he has PTSD.”

  “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?” Erica asked, her eyes wide. “I didn’t know dogs could get that.”

  “As we’ve seen it crop up more and more with servicemen, it’s being slowly recognized in service dogs, too. I certainly hope that’s not the case, though. He’s the best at what he does. He can sniff out a casualty or wounded when we would have never found one.”

  “That’s amazing,” Chad said as he leaned back in his chair. “And if he does have PTSD—what then?”

  Randy shook his head. “I didn’t know the answer to that either, so I did a little research on the flight. I had no idea, but before the year 2,000, service dogs were euthanized when they could no longer serve.”

  Emma gasped and her hand flew to her chest, and Emma’s eyes grew as big as saucers.

  “Are you joking?” Emma asked. “I can’t imagine that.”

  “Neither could I,” Randy said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

  “Sure is,” Chad said. “That dog is so sweet. I can’t even imagine that, even if he couldn’t do his job anymore.”

  “So what happens these days?” Erica asked. The thought of Rocky being euthanized because he couldn’t go back to work had actually made her a little nauseous.

  “Thankfully, it’s different now. The dogs can go several places. Either to stateside law enforcement if he can serve in a capacity that doesn’t require such high-level skills, or to their handler, or family members of their handler if that person is deceased.”

  “Gosh, it sounds so clinical,” Erica said.

  Randy set his hand on hers, and the warmth made her feel a little better.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just explaining the rules. Didn’t mean to sound callous.”

  She smiled at him, grateful for his awareness that she was uncomfortable. She hadn’t been around too many men lately, but her previously recollection hadn’t been of someone this kind—or sensitive.

  “In Jacob’s case, he didn’t have any family, so if Rocky can’t go back to work, I’m not exactly sure what would happen. I’m still hoping for a complete recovery, and he can come back with me and be right as rain.”

  Back with me. Erica turned the words over in her head as she looked at him, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. He reminded her quite a bit of her father, and it wasn’t a completely unwelcome comparison. She loved her dad, and was mostly still mad at him that she hadn’t seen more of him when she was growing up. Or now, either. She likely wouldn�
�t until he retired.

  And it would be the same with Randy. She’d only known him for a day and she could tell this wouldn’t go anywhere, which was fine with her. She loved River’s End Ranch and wasn’t going anywhere, either, so that was that. She’d just enjoy herself, have some ribs, get to know Emma and Chad a little better—and say a prayer for Rocky.

  They all seemed to silently agree to change the subject, and dinner came and went with Erica thoroughly enjoying herself. Chad had some great stories about Randy when they were growing up, but she did notice a bit of sadness in his tone when he talked about how Randy had joined the service when he was eighteen, even though it had been to support Chad when their parents died.

  As the two chatted and Emma beamed at her new husband, Erica cocked her head and eyed Randy with even more respect. He’d gone headlong into service for his country, earned lots of medals and saved many lives—all the while taking care of his little brother. And when he hopped out of the car when Chad and Emma dropped her off after an evening of trivia, she’d been impressed again at the sincerity in his eyes when he told her, “And by the way, if I haven’t said it enough, I really appreciate you sending those to us overseas. As it turns out, I think Rocky might have starved to death if you hadn’t.”

  Rocky might not be his dog, she thought as she closed the door and leaned against it, but this was a true man of honor, and the respect he showed for his fallen friend, and his friend’s service dog, warmed her heart.

  Chapter 10

  The last of the dishwater swirled down the drain and Erica reached for the dishtowel. She turned and looked around her small cabin, glad it was clean but noticing how bare it was, as if for the first time.

  She opened the hall closet and pulled out several boxes, setting them on the coffee table. At dinner the previous night, Randy had asked her all about the places she’d lived in, and in between trivia rounds, the four of them had had delicious ribs—and a really nice time.

  Working so hard for Dani, Erica didn’t socialize all that much and nobody ever came to her cabin, but last night when she’d gotten home she’d noticed that if anyone ever did come in, they wouldn’t know a thing about her.

  She grabbed the last box and winced as she picked it up. It was very heavy, and she remembered that it must be the entire set of World Book Encyclopedias that she’s read all volumes of over the course of her childhood, and in her mind’s eye she could see the olive green cover with the letters stamped on the spine. Maybe tonight after work, she’d get them out, although she thought she probably remembered a lot of it.

  “You’re like a walking encyclopedia,” Randy had said last night at dinner, after they’d won at Trivia. She knew she’d blushed—maybe she was still a little sensitive about being such a bookworm when she was a kid, but it had been the only way she’d known how to survive. Books had become her friends, and reading the entire encyclopedia had killed at least a couple of years if she remembered correctly.

  She started to open a box, but after a glance at the clock realized she didn’t have time. Her desk was piled with stuff and there would be boxes to unpack and inventory—and the baby shower to manage. Lily had already offered to take care of the food and decorations, so games, prizes and favors were all she needed to come up with. She reached for the baby shower planning book and shoved it back in her pocket, and thought she might have a moment to look at it over lunch.

  She grabbed her purse and swung the door open, her head down, and she walked right into the chest of Randy. She’d woken up hoping to see him again sometime before he left, but she’d had no idea it would be this soon.

  “Morning,” she said, noticing that the chest she’d just run into was solid as a rock. She smiled and looked up—he was at least a foot taller than she was, and although he wasn’t in uniform any longer as he was on leave, he was equally handsome in his faded jeans and flannel shirt.

  When she saw his face, she frowned at his look of concern. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink, and she wondered if it was just jet lag.

  “You look awful,” she said, and immediately thought it might not have been the best thing to say, but he smiled a thin smile.

  “Thanks,” he said as he ran his hand through his short hair. “I haven’t slept.”

  “You all right?” she asked as she closed the door and shrugged on her coat.

  “It’s not me, it’s Rocky,” he said as he glanced back at Chad and Emma’s cabin.

  She’d heard the full story about Rocky and his handler, Jacob, last night at dinner, and her heart ached for the German Shepherd. He was incredibly sweet, and now that she knew the story she understood completely why he was so sad.

  “Oh? Is he okay? What happened?” she asked, as she instinctively followed him when he turned toward the house.

  “I—well, last night when I got home, he still hadn’t eaten. He was whining, and I just felt so bad for him, I didn’t know what to do.”

  “I guess there’s not much you can do. I know you already tried to bribe him with all kinds of food.”

  Randy shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked. “I did. I even tried to give him a leftover rib from dinner last night. No dice.”

  “He must be in pretty bad shape if he didn’t even want a rib. That’s almost against dog rules,” she said, trying to elicit a smile, but it didn’t work.

  “Well, the only thing he’s really wanted to eat was those snickerdoodles of yours. Chad and Emma went to bed, and so I lit a fire and sat with him and decided to give him some.”

  “Oh, good. Did he like them?”

  That did get Randy to smile, if only for a moment before his frown returned.

  “Yes, he did. Loved them. I did, too.”

  “Great,” Erica said, as they approached the door to Chad and Emma’s. “That makes me happy.”

  Randy cleared his throat. “It made him happy, too. For awhile.”

  They stopped in front of Chad and Emma’s and Erica noticed their car was gone, but they would have been at the pro shop really early. She turned to look up at Randy and his face was flushed. He looked a little—well, she didn’t know him all that well, but the word she was searching for finally struck her. Sheepish. He looked sheepish.

  “Randy, what...” she said as he opened the door and she followed him in. Rocky was still lying on the hearth, but he was panting up a storm, his tongue lolling out to one side. She gasped when she saw the empty container of snickerdoodles sitting right beside him.

  “All of them? You gave him all of them?”

  “No, no, no,” he said as he held up his palms and took a step back. “I didn’t. I even had a thought that although I’d like to, that might be death by snickerdoodle. I’m not that lame.”

  She knelt over Rocky and stroked his fur. His heart was pounding and he didn’t even open his eyes.

  “What happened, then?”

  He started pacing, his hands on his hip as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I should have known better. I didn’t want to make too much noise and wake up Chad and Emma, so I just kind of sat down beside him. I’m pretty sure I put the lid back on the container, but I guess I didn’t close it tight enough. The fire was awesome, and the last thing I remember was looking at the flames and thinking how much I like it here. Even though I took a nap, I guess I was really tired and I—”

  “Fell asleep.”

  “Yeah. I guess so. I woke up when Emma started to make coffee, and the lid was on the ground and the container was empty.”

  She stood and looked up at Randy, and her heart tugged. He looked terrible, and she knew he felt terrible, too. She glanced down at Rocky and felt pretty terrible herself. After all, she was the one who made the snickerdoodles in the first place.

  “Maybe his tummy is just upset. You know, like when we ate too many cookies when we were little? Maybe he just needs some Pepto Bismol or something,” Randy said, kneeling down beside Rocky, his eyes moist.

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to give a
dog people medicine, but I don’t really know. I’ve never had a dog. I haven’t even ever babysat for anyone. This is out of my league,” Erica said.

  Randy started to pace again.

  “He might be all right if you can get him to drink some water,” Erica said hopefully.

  “I tried. He won’t,” Randy said as he folded his arms over his chest.

  “Okay, let me call the vet. Can’t hurt. Dani’s cousin Jess and her husband are veterinarians in town. I’m sure they can tell us what to do.”

  Randy was pacing again. “Can we just take him in? I don’t want to take any chances. He—he just lost his best friend, and even though he’s not my dog, I took responsibility for him. It’s the least I can do for Jacob, and I just—like I said, I don’t want to take any chances.”

  Erica completely understood, and knew that Dani would, too. She’d just get her work done later, even if she had to stay late or work a few nights. River’s End Ranch was a big family, and Dani loved animals, too, which was confirmed when she dialed her number.

  “Of course. Do whatever you need to do. I’m just going through the order for the search and rescue training anyway, and we didn’t get a lot of deliveries today. Good luck, and let me know how Rocky is,” Dani said, and Erica sighed in gratitude.

  “Okay, we’re set,” she said as she dropped her phone back in her pocket.

  “Thank you, Erica. I’m really sorry to keep you from work, but I have no idea where I’m going.”

  “No problem,” she said as they lifted the limp German Shepherd onto a blanket Randy had fetched and carried him out to Randy’s car. Erica was glad she could help. It was the least she could do. It was half her fault, after all, and she wanted to see this through and make sure Rocky was okay.

  Chapter 11

  It had taken Erica almost half an hour to give up on the snickerdoodle recipe, which really bothered her. She had an almost photographic memory, which helped tremendously in her job, and even when she’d made the last batch of snickerdoodles, she hadn’t even had to look at the recipe. Not once.