Jingle Bell Wolf by Terry Spear

Chapter 8

Landon went into the office, greeted Blake, who was working on ordering more supplies for the lodge, and changed in their back room. When he came out, he said to Blake, “I’m taking Gabrielle to the tavern tonight for dinner. We’ll have breakfast at our place in a few minutes, so you and Nicole are still eating with us, right?”

Blake turned off his computer. “Yeah, we are. Do you want any of us to meet you at the tavern tonight too? Will Gabrielle feel more comfortable with us there, since we’ve made friends with her already?”

“I’ll see how she feels about it. I don’t want to overwhelm her with making this look like a family affair, as though she’s already joined our family.”

“On the other hand, she might think that going out with you on a real date could be risky.” Blake smiled and pulled out his phone. “If you don’t want her to get away from here permanently, you’d better hurry and work on convincing her to think seriously about returning here for good.”

“I’m working at it.”

“You mean the kiss in the pool? That was a good start.” Blake smiled at him. “Hey, one thing, though. Rosco’s due for his vaccinations. You were going to do that after breakfast tomorrow morning. Can you still do that? One of us can instead, if you want to just see Gabrielle.”

Landon frowned. “Uh, yeah, I’ll still do it. Maybe that would be a good excuse for getting Gabrielle to come with me. She can see the clinic and stables for the large animals that Doc Mitchell takes care of.”

“Unless she’s only used to working with small animals. We didn’t think of that.”

“True.” Then Landon spied her coming. “Okay, well, we’re off to the house for breakfast.”

“I’ll come with you.” Blake texted Nicole—to remind her about breakfast, Landon suspected.

Landon headed for Gabrielle. “Blake’s coming with us. Nicole will join us.”

“Okay, good. Where’s Rosco?”

“He comes over to the lodge after breakfast,” Landon said.

They all walked outside into the light snow to make their way to the house.

Gabrielle was wearing her hot-pink ski pants and jacket, the wrists and hood trimmed in the same color faux fur. He couldn’t miss her in the snow, which he was glad for.

“I need to take Rosco in to get his vaccinations after breakfast tomorrow,” Landon said to Gabrielle. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Sure, I’ll go with you,” Gabrielle said. “I might as well check out the vet clinic while I’m here, in case I ever decide I want to leave Florida and move here. That’s not likely to happen, but if it does, at least I’ll have seen the vet clinic beforehand. And I might as well meet with Doc Mitchell.”

Landon was thrilled. From Blake’s smile and raised eyebrows, Landon could tell Blake was too. “He’s really nice, but older than some of the oldest trees in the forest. We need a vet, so he won’t quit until we have a new one.”

“Does he have a vet assistant?” she asked.

“A couple, and a billing clerk and an office clerk. They’re all younger, so they can work for you for a long time. They’re all royals, too, so you won’t have to worry about them having to leave work for a week during the full moon because they can’t control their shifting,” Blake said.

“Oh, that’s good. I hadn’t even considered that a wolf-staffed clinic could have trouble with that. Everyone’s human where I am, so no difficulty there. I guess Doc Mitchell is a royal then.”

“He is,” Blake said.

They finally reached the house and Landon unlocked the door. “We’re here,” he called out to his family.

“I’m here,” Nicole said, greeting them. “I had stopped off at the house when Blake texted me, reminding me about breakfast, which was a good thing. I can get wrapped up in my PI work otherwise. A lot of it can be done online, which means I’m home when I can be. Sometimes I’m on the road with my brother, checking into a case.”

Blake kissed her and she kissed him right back.

“I’m glad you could have breakfast with us. Where’s Rosco?” Gabrielle asked Landon. “I know you said he comes to the lodge after breakfast, but he usually greets everyone who walks into the house, doesn’t he?”

Landon figured Gabrielle’s vet training told her something was the matter.

“We were busy making breakfast,” Roxie said, Kayla agreeing with her. “He has to be around here somewhere.”

“I’ll check on him,” Landon said, worried about him now because Gabrielle was right. He always greeted everyone who came into the house. He hoped Rosco was all right or he hadn’t gotten out of the house again and gone searching for more avalanche victims.

Rosco was lying in his bed, looking up at Landon, but he didn’t lift his head, and he was looking guilty. He appeared to be trying to hide something. “What have you got there, Rosco?” All Landon could see were some furry orange and white and black patches, like a rabbit. But the colors weren’t right. Still, what else could it be? Rosco was known to chase rabbits and squirrels whenever he could. But when Landon tried to check out the animal, it moved and Rosco tried to keep Landon from touching the critter. “What is it, Rosco?”

“What is it?” Gabrielle asked, peering around Landon. “Oh, it’s a calico kitten.”

Landon’s jaw dropped. “Where did you get a kitten?” As if Rosco could tell him.

“He got out of the house. We forgot to lock the wolf door,” Roxie said, coming in to check on what Rosco had found. “He just came in covered in snow and went straight to his bed. We just knew that he had returned safely, and he was feeling guilty about sneaking out. We were too busy getting ready to fix breakfast to check on him further. We figured he was worn out after his wild run. We had no idea he had picked up a kitten from somewhere!”

“Let me see your baby, Rosco,” Gabrielle said in a coaxing but firm manner.

He kept putting his head over the kitten, trying to discourage Gabrielle from taking it. Landon finally had to hold his collar so Gabrielle could pull the kitten out of his bed. Rosco was up on his feet in an instant, having a fit and wanted to take the kitten back.

“I’ll give her back to you. Just wait, Rosco.” Gabrielle checked the kitten over. “She’s fine. I would say she’s about eight to nine weeks old, which means she’s perfectly weaned.”

“That’s good,” Landon said, “since Rosco might be protecting her, but he certainly can’t nurse her.”

Nicole was standing nearby smiling, taking pictures of the kitten. “He loves cats. I’ll have to investigate who might be missing a kitten.”

“She’ll need her vaccinations and such, if she hasn’t already had them. But she looks perfectly healthy otherwise.” Gabrielle was petting the kitten in her arms and then finally set her back in the bed where Rosco hurried to join her. As big as he was, he was still careful not to lie on top of her, and the kitten snuggled with Rosco as if he were her mother—a giant of a mother, nice and warm and cuddly.

“Well, if we don’t find her family, we may have a new addition to ours,” Landon said.

His sisters cheerfully agreed. Blake laughed. Nicole seemed happy about it too.

“We’re having waffles—a choice of red velvet with a cream cheese glaze, or chocolate–peppermint. We also have plain waffles and just maple syrup if you don’t want any of the fancy stuff,” Roxie said, getting back to the business of breakfast.

“Red velvet waffles for me.” Nicole took a seat at the table and then began texting someone. “You ladies make the best waffles I’ve ever had.”

“Plain waffles for me.” Blake told Gabrielle where to sit.

“Hmm, I think I’ll have red velvet waffles. That sounds really good.” Gabrielle sat down at the table while Landon got everyone coffee.

“Chocolate–peppermint for the rest of us,” Kayla said.

“I don’t know how the Silver Town Tavern meals can beat the food at your restaurant or here at your home. I love how you have all these Christmas dishes for the holiday season.” Gabrielle smiled when she saw the waffles were made in the shape of Christmas trees. “These are so cute.”

“It actually brings more of the townsfolk up here for special group parties, even if they’re not skiing.” Blake served everyone water.

Gabrielle sipped some of her water. “What with the decorations making your lodge and bar and grill a winter wonderland, and the meals, I can see it would be a real fun party place.”

“It is. We enjoy it. Oh, and we have a big snowman and snow sculpture contest going on for the residents and businesses of Silver Town, so I can show you what some have done already before we go to dinner tonight. Also, the Christmas lights are up all over town. They have a lighting contest and a gingerbread house one.” Landon helped bring the plates over with all the waffles on them.

“You’re kidding. Really?” Gabrielle asked.

“Not kidding. Everyone likes to have fun at these celebrations. Since Blake and I were just here getting the lodge and restaurant open last Christmas, and our sisters were back in Vermont still trying to sell our old lodge, my brother and I didn’t get involved in any of that. We put up lights, but that was it.” Landon sat down next to Gabrielle and patted her thigh.

“But this year? Your lighting and decorations should be a winner.”

Landon smiled and drank some of his coffee. “We hope so, but you’ll have to see the others too. Everyone goes all out to decorate because it’s a fun thing to do.”

Kayla brought over a plate of sausages. Everyone else took their seats at the long wooden table after that.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Roxie said. “It’s very different from when we were in Vermont without a pack. There’s so much friendly competition that we’re having a blast.”

“I bet. I would love to see what everyone has done with their decorations.” Gabrielle took a bite of her waffle. “This is delicious.”

“Thanks,” Roxie and Kayla said.

“They have a group who go Christmas caroling too,” Blake said.

“We are having them come to the lodge on Friday night to sing for our guests. We’ll provide free Christmas cupcakes, cheese, crackers, and punch,” Landon said.

“Are you going to sing Christmas carols?” Gabrielle asked Landon.

“Not me.”

“We’re just providing the food,” Roxie said, “but next year, we might sing.”

“Not me,” Landon said again.

Gabrielle laughed.

“So what are we going to name the kitten if she ends up being ours?” Kayla asked, getting back to the business with the kitten.

“Princess Buttercup,” Roxie said.

“But if you name her and she belongs to a family, you’re going to feel bad when you have to give her up,” Landon warned.

Blake shook his head and poured maple syrup on his plain waffles. “They have already fallen in love with the kitten whether they name it or not.”

“Princess Buttercup then,” Kayla said, agreeing with Roxie.

Nicole and Gabrielle thought the name suited her.

“I can’t believe Rosco adopted a kitten,” Landon said.

Blake laughed. “And our sisters and my mate too.”

“I’ve had clients come in with the unlikeliest of pet pals,” Gabrielle said, “from a parrot that tells the dog to shut up when he’s barking, a Labrador and a duckling that sleep together, and another Lab and a wild fox, to a wild boar piglet found starving in a field and a Jack Russell terrier that befriended it and brought it home.”

“Aww, how cute,” Roxie said. “Do you have any pictures?”

“Yeah, on our website.” Gabrielle found the page on her phone and passed it around.

Everyone smiled and chuckled to see the unlikely friends playing or sleeping together. A Saint Bernard and a kitten did look cute together, Landon had to admit.

Once they were finished with their breakfast, they all looked at Rosco, sleeping with the kitten.

“I don’t think he’s going to come with us to the lodge today.” Landon helped clear the dishes.

Blake helped with the rest of them. “I’ll come and take him for a walk later. I might have to put Princess Buttercup in my pocket so Rosco will go with me.”

Everyone laughed.

“I’ve already texted our pack leaders, and we’ll get the word out via the alert roster to learn where the kitten belongs,” Nicole said.

“We can bring her with us when we take Rosco in to have his vaccinations,” Gabrielle told Landon. “We can have Doc Mitchell check her out.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that.”

Before they dressed in their coats, Gabrielle took some pictures of Rosco sleeping with the kitten. “I have to send this to my friends. They’ll get a kick out of it.”

Once the kitchen was clean, everyone dressed in their warm outer clothes and headed to the lodge together.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to make a gingerbread house, would you?” Roxie asked Gabrielle.

Everyone glanced at her to see if she had a foolproof way to make one so they would stand a chance at winning the gingerbread house competition.

“Every year I make one. It’s a doghouse, though.”

The guys laughed.

Roxie sighed. “I guess that leaves us still figuring out what to do.” She smiled. “But you can build us a doghouse to go along with whatever we decide on if you’re here long enough and have time.”

“That would be fun.”

When they entered the lodge, everyone went about their business while Gabrielle and Landon put on their ski boots. Then with skis and poles in hand, they headed outside to the lift for the easy and intermediate slopes. “Do you think you’ll win any of the competitions?”

“I think we have a good chance at winning on the decorations this year. It didn’t really matter to Blake and me last year, but our sisters are much more competitive. The Victorian Silver Town Inn usually wins with the snow sculptures—wolves,” Landon said. “They’re beautiful. Silver Town has begun to have two different categories for the competitions—the sculptures and the snowmen—because the snow wolves were winning all the competitions.”

“Oh, wow, I would love to see them.”

“It’s right across the street from the Silver Town Tavern. We’ll see them tonight.”

“You haven’t started any?”

“We planned to do it tomorrow. A couple of people take photos of the snowmen and snow sculptures, but the judges normally come by to see them first thing once they are made.”

“So what will you be doing? Snowmen or snow sculptures?” she asked.

“None of us have a talent for creating snow sculptures, and our snowmen are just for fun, but I’m sure we’ll do the snowman or a snow family.”

“That sounds like fun. I’ve never made one.”

“That will have to be remedied.”

“What about the gingerbread house?”

“We’ve never done that before, so Roxie and Kayla are trying to come up with a design.” Maybe that was a way to get Gabrielle involved in the family business in a fun way and make her feel like part of the family. “So about this gingerbread doghouse you created—”

“It was made of ingredients a dog could safely eat, and we gave it away the day before Christmas to one lucky winner last year. I made one this year too. We set it up on the front desk of the vet clinic. I even made a little dog for it.”

“I’d love to see it.”

She pulled it up on her phone and showed it to him.

“That really is great.”

“People with pets coming into the clinic were taking pictures of it. I don’t bake that often because it’s only me, but every year I make one just for the clinic for some Christmas cheer.” She sighed. “I thought about doing all this stuff—making snow angels, creating a snowman, and seeing the Christmas lights—with my friends, but I don’t want to miss out on all this if they arrive too late to do any of it. Or don’t show up at all.”

“You can do it with us.”

“But I’m not a member of the family.”

Gabrielle and Landon finally reached the lift line.

“You can help us. No problem at all. You just aren’t supposed to work on several different snowmen or gingerbread houses for the competition for different families. But you can work on one.”

“And I imagine you’re supposed to be a resident.”

He smiled at her. “Believe me, everyone would be thrilled you participated.”

“Especially if it makes me want to return here, become the local vet, and stay for good.”

“Exactly. Besides, I thought you didn’t mind breaking the rules.”

“Ha! When it could hurt your chances at winning any of the competitions you’re entering? No way. Oh, and I have to tell you, I have a secret, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

He was all ears and smiled down at her, but then they finally had to catch a chair, so they paused the conversation so she could concentrate on what she was doing. For him, it was second nature, as much as he’d ridden ski lifts up mountains since he was young. Gabrielle was having to watch that she didn’t lose her ski poles or tangle up her skis, or even lose one. He’d seen everything with new skiers. Well, he’d been one at one time! And he’d experienced some of the same issues.

Once they were sitting next to each other on the chair and headed up the mountain, the wind in their faces and snowflakes whipping off the nearby trees, she continued, “I’m a mermaid.”

He chuckled.

“Seriously. I have to swim two times a day most days, unless I’m sick or work just gets in the way. But I love to swim.”

“So that’s why you had to swim at our pool even if it was closed.”

“You bet.” She smiled at him, then pulled her dickey over her face to keep warm and nodded. “I had arrived too late to swim, but before the restaurant closed, I wanted to swim and then go eat.”

“Do you have a pool where you live?”

“Yeah, my home has a pool.”

“See, if you lived here, you could swim anytime you like, and there’s no upkeep. We take care of it, and it’s indoors so you can swim all year round. Unlike even your pool back home, I imagine.”

“It’s heated and I do swim in it year-round. Wait, you mean to tell me Doc Mitchell’s home doesn’t have a pool?”

Knowing she was teasing him, Landon smiled at her. “You probably wouldn’t want the upkeep here because of the snow we have for months, but I bet you anything the pack leaders would put one in for you for free if you asked them.”

She laughed. “So that means for them to get my valuable services, I can ask for more stuff?”

“Yeah, you’re at a premium. Now the rest of us, no way, but you? Sure.”

“Well, that’s never happened to me before.”

Landon hoped it would make a difference in her decision to return to Florida.

They came to the end of the ride and Gabrielle got off without a hitch. He was glad. If she moved here, he could just imagine taking breaks to ski with her, and if she could manage the long hours, he would swim with her anytime she came in before work or after the pool and her vet clinic were closed.

“How do you feel about snow skiing now since you’ve had a night to think about it?” Landon asked her.

“Oh, I love it. I thought I would take one trip down the green slope first thing to get my ski legs. I’ll spend the rest of the day on the blues, unless I get tired and start to fall too much. Then it’s back to the easy slopes for me. But I am loving it. I really hadn’t thought I would.”

“Okay, I’m glad for that, and it sounds like a good plan.”

Then they moved to the green slope and she started down the hill, doing great. He followed her all the way down, making sure she didn’t fall. She was still a little unsure of herself, wobbling a bit, but she would get better, given practice.

She was doing super on the blue slopes after that and he couldn’t have been prouder of her. He noticed she seemed to get tired about the same time they’d taken a break yesterday, and she was shivering some when they were riding up the chairlift again. “It’s time for some hot chocolate, don’t you think?” he asked. They had much more frigid temperatures today, and she definitely appeared to be feeling the colder weather.

She nodded, her face covered in the balaclava, her beautiful green eyes hidden by the mirrored ski glasses.

He had to remind himself he was from Vermont, so he was used to the cold. Her cold in Florida wasn’t the same, and even when it was cold, it didn’t last as long as theirs. She wouldn’t be acclimated to it like he was. Plus she wasn’t used to skiing and her muscles would weary the longer she was up on the slopes. His family all got some skiing in on a daily basis, usually with others in the pack at some time during the day.

When Landon and Gabrielle reached the outdoor patio of the bar and grill, they put up their poles and skis on one of the racks and headed inside. Gabrielle pulled off her balaclava and glasses and hat, her blond hair tumbling over her shoulders. He realized she did look like a mermaid—in hot-pink ski clothes.

“About tonight…I want this to totally be your decision,” Landon said, after ordering their hot chocolates. “Do you want it to be just the two of us when we go to the tavern for dinner, or would you rather have the whole family there?”

She smiled, her expression radiant. “Okay, so—” She paused when the waitress brought their hot chocolate.

“Enjoy.”

“We will. Thanks, Minx.” Landon took hold of his hot chocolate and drank a sip. “It’s hot.”

“Thanks. If I go alone with you, everyone will think I’m dating you. If we go with the family, everyone will think I’m dating you.” She smiled at Landon again and took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Hmm, this is so good.”

“Okay, so your choice? What will it be?” He would be happy either way as long as she was with him.

“Either is fine with me, but since I’m not used to being around groups of wolves, and if your family would really like to go out to the tavern tonight, I’m all for it.”

“Great. I’ll let everyone know. They’ll be thrilled. I think they believe you will like me better if they are around to help work things out between us.”

Gabrielle laughed. “What are sisters and a brother and his mate for?”

Landon smiled, glad she wanted the family there because he knew they would want to be there—to act as a unified pack within the pack—saying “Paws off the she-wolf” because Landon was the one seeing her—for now, anyway.

He immediately got on his phone and texted Roxie first: Plan to have dinner at six at the Silver Town Tavern.

Roxie texted back: All of us?

Yes.

Roxie texted: Did you make reservations?

No.

Roxie texted: I’ll do it. And I’ll let the rest of the family know we have a dinner engagement tonight. They were all waiting for the word and they’ll be thrilled.

Thanks!

He was glad that his family would do this for him. They would have fun. And Gabrielle would feel insulated somewhat from the rest of the pack, particularly if a number of bachelor males were there and they made her feel uncomfortable.

“You know, if you get too chilled, we’ll come in. It wouldn’t do for you to get sick. I know we heal faster than the general population, but there’s no sense in pushing yourself if you’re feeling too cold. If you need anything warmer to wear, some of the shops in town have winter ski clothes.”

“Thanks. I might have to go shopping. Did you see me shivering?” She sipped some more of her hot chocolate.

“I felt you shivering when we were on the chairlift. You’re doing great on the slopes, by the way.”

“Thanks. You’re a great instructor, and I’m really catching on a lot faster than I thought I would.”

He drank some more of his chocolate and nodded toward a couple of ski instructors who waved at them as they came in to get something hot to drink on a break. “Well, you are the one who doesn’t quit and that’s the reason you’re doing so well. It only gets better with practice.”

“My friends will be amazed. I really am enjoying myself, when I didn’t think I would. I envisioned spending a lot of time in the pool while they skied, and meeting them for hot chocolate breaks and meals, and maybe one or two trips down the slopes a day.”

“You’re doing a lot better than that. But truly, if you get tired of it, we can do some other things. I can run you into town and see if there’s anything you want to buy so you’ll be warmer.”

“Let’s run into town now. If I had a wool sweater, I’d feel much better. I should have gotten one off the internet before I left home, but I didn’t think I would ever get any use out of one in Florida. I really hadn’t thought I would return to a ski resort. I just wanted to do this the one time to prove to my friends this wasn’t for me.”

Landon smiled. “So you’ve changed your mind. That’s good. All right, let’s do that.” He was glad she wanted to get some more winter clothes to go skiing further. She would feel better and so would he. Even more than that, it might mean she would return to Silver Town to ski again when she could get away from her job in Daytona Beach. And maybe they would have another chance to convince her to live here.

Once they finished their hot chocolate, he wondered if she would like to go with one of his sisters instead. He knew one of them would love to go shopping! Of course, he didn’t want to give her up for even an hour or so, but he thought it would be a good move to ask. “Just an idea, but would you like to go with one of my sisters to shop?”

Gabrielle’s kissable lips parted. Then she smiled brightly. “You don’t like to shop.”

He chuckled. “It’s not that. Believe me, spending more time in your company, no matter what we’re doing, is fun for me. I just thought you might like to go with Roxie or Kayla.”

“Sure. I would love to.”

It didn’t hurt for his whole family to help win her over. Landon texted Kayla, the one he thought would want to go shopping with Gabrielle the most.

Kayla texted back: Yes! Roxie and I will both take her. We didn’t think you would give her up to us for anything.

He smiled and texted: Only with reluctance. She needs more winter clothes so she’s warm enough on the slopes. We are on our way to the office, and I’ll let her know you both want to go.

Kayla texted: We’ll get ready to go now.

At least his sisters were very good at switching gears. He turned to Gabrielle. “Both my sisters want to go shopping with you. They’re thrilled.”

“Oh good. We’ll have fun.”

“I’ll take over from my sisters while you enjoy yourselves. Why don’t you have lunch out at the tea shop in town, if the three of you would like.”

“Sure, that would be great. I love tea shops.”

Landon’s sisters met them in the lobby. Kayla paused to give Landon a list of things she’d been working on, and then Roxie did the same with him. He gave them a look to get real. No way could he do all these jobs by himself in the amount of time they would be gone.

His sisters laughed. “We will be sure to have her back after lunch so you can go skiing with her again,” Roxie said.

“Okay, good. Make sure she gets some warm clothes so she’ll feel great on the slopes,” he reminded them. Shopping for gifts to take home was one thing. He wanted to make sure she was nice and warm on the slopes too.

“We will,” Kayla assured him, and then they took off with Gabrielle, looking excited to get away from the lodge for some shopping and lunch with their new she-wolf friend.

He hoped they would enjoy themselves but wouldn’t keep her too long.