Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,57
great. I want to thank the three of you for doing all this for me,” Brooke said.
“It’s been fun. I don’t know if Josh told you, but we do stuff like this with the reindeer all the time around Christmas. The gigs help to pay for the reindeer’s upkeep. And they love all the attention,” Maverick said.
“But I’ve had the reindeer here for two days and haven’t paid for them. I bet they’re only at these other locations for a short while, not all day either.”
“We have twenty reindeer, so no problem. These little guys wouldn’t have been out anyway. Just the adults. They’ve had fun. And we’ve had a lot of new requests for reindeer visits. It’s all because of the publicity with the news station and publications that carried the story about us being here. Their stay here has made more than enough money to make up for you not paying anything,” Maverick said. “I bet the owners of the other two reindeer ranches are wishing they’d thought of it.”
Brooke chuckled. “Now the truth comes out. You all staged the theft of the reindeer and left him here so I could ensure he had lots of publicity.” She gave Maverick a hug. “Thanks so much to you both. The calves are adorable.”
Maverick winked at Josh. “I’m off.”
“I’ll go help him out with the reindeer and the food and all,” Josh said.
“Okay. We’ll be closing in about fifteen minutes.” She looked out the window. “No customers. I’ll get some stuff together to work on at the house tonight.”
“I’ll help you carry it all over there,” Josh said.
The brothers went out to the truck and loaded the reindeer and supplies into the trailer while Brooke moved some of the boxes to the back door. Josh soon rejoined her, and they began carrying the boxes into the house and setting them up in the living room.
“Hey, let me help with that.” Adam headed to the shop to carry more boxes over. “That was the last of the boxes by the door. Did you need anything else?”
“No, thanks. I’ll just go lock up. Nobody else is out there, and it’s time. Did you want to have dinner with us?” Brooke said.
“I’ve got a…um, date.” Adam smiled at her.
Smiling, she raised her brows.
“One of the new ladies in the pack.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
“First date, and she’s a live wire. No telling what will happen.”
Brooke laughed. “I can’t wait to meet her. Will she be at the Christmas party?”
“Yes. But she warned me she’s dating everyone in the pack who asks her.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “That’s not a bad idea.”
Josh smiled.
Adam laughed. “What about having someone watch the shop tonight?”
“I have a security alarm I need to set. And now with the security cameras, we should be good,” Brooke said.
“Josh, you’re hanging around, right?”
“I’ll be here with Brooke.”
“I guess I’ll see you at the Christmas party too.”
“Thanks, Adam. Josh is picking me up. And good luck on your date.”
“Thanks. I’m hoping it goes well.” Adam said goodbye and left the house.
“Let’s set that security alarm at the shop,” Josh said to Brooke, “and we can leave more lights on if you’d like.”
“Hopefully, all this will be a deterrent this time.” Most of all, she hoped they could catch the would-be thieves, learn what they were after, and keep whatever it was from falling into their hands.
Chapter 14
“What do you need me to do first tonight? Help with the cooking? Work on the boxes?” Josh asked.
Brooke turned on the Christmas tree lights. The outdoor lights came on and shut off automatically. “If you don’t mind, go ahead and start laying some of the merchandise out on the table.” Brooke began broiling the steaks and frying the potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
Josh started to unload one of the boxes. “You have a lot of items listed online. What if it was something you have listed on your website that someone wants to steal? Maybe something that has a higher value than you have it listed for, but they don’t want to pay your price anyway, and then they’ll resell it. That’s why they know you have the item.”
“They were looking for some boxes though.” She turned the potatoes and Brussels sprout halves over in the frying pan.
“True. It must be something that’s valuable to a particular person.”
“Like a document they need to keep secret. Or a murder weapon. Or a will that, if revealed, would mean they wouldn’t inherit.” Brooke filled up glasses of water.