“Oh My God! It’s David Dawson!” my new dream girl exclaimed.
I had a fan! Sometimes Christmas does come early. Then she started laughing at me. I looked around and Devin and Sandy were trying to keep a straight face. The twits had set me up.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’m Candy, one of Devin’s stripper friends,” she told me.
Now they were all laughing at me. I was standing there with my mouth open, imagining her as a stripper.
“David, this is Caryn, my executive assistant. Even though she doesn’t act like it right now, Caryn has her MBA from Cal Berkeley. She’s a valuable member of my team,” Devin said.
I walked up to her and got close.
“When’s your next show?” I whispered.
She went red, and Sandy grabbed me and pulled me into Devin’s office.
“Hang on, I was talking to the stripper,” I protested, as Devin followed us in and closed the door.
“Did you not hear she works for Devin?” Sandy asked.
“As a stripper ...” I started, but Sandy slugged me. “Ow!”
I guess fun and games were over. The topic at hand wasn’t funny. I quickly got serious when I focused on why I was here. Devin looked nervous, but Sandy gave him a look that said he’d better carry on.
“Sandy tells me I might have crossed a line,” Devin started.
I couldn’t believe he was taking this track. Next, he would tell us it just happened or she enticed him. I reverted to my fallback position, which was to keep my mouth shut.
“I’m sorry if you think I did something wrong. It was not my intent to hurt your feelings. I think some things were misunderstood, and I wish I could have avoided them. I hope we can get past this,” Devin explained.
Nope, I wanted to go to pound town on his butt. I was proud of myself. I kept in control and even gave Devin a smile. I got up and shook his hand. Sandy was just happy I hadn’t taken a swing at him. I gave her a look and she quickly ushered me out. I think she said something about making Christmas Eve dinner. I was so out of it I didn’t even notice the sexy elf as I left. All I know is I let Sandy guide me out of the office and to the van.
“Well, that was a terrible idea,” Sandy said.
“Ya think?” I asked.
“Promise me something. Promise me you won’t do anything drastic until you and I have talked after Christmas. Just promise me that,” Sandy said.
I could tell she wanted to try to fix this. I owed Sandy Range way too much not to give her the chance.
“Okay, I’ll wait until we talk. I need to think about this and not make a knee-jerk decision. I think you have a good plan,” I agreed.
WE GOT BACK TO THE ranch and walked in on organized chaos. People were decorating the great room and turning it into Santa’s workshop. They even had a small train with smoke coming out of its smokestack circling the room ten feet off the ground.
We decided to head to the kitchen. I was hungry, so Sandy had the chef cook us lunch. He made heirloom tomato soup and a chicken Caesar salad. I needed a chef.
As we ate, one of Santa’s little helpers asked me where I had my Christmas gifts stored. Kendal had shipped them and they were in her bedroom at the bunkhouse. Sandy updated me on how Bud was doing. She said her friends were coming over Christmas afternoon. We chatted until we were told the great room was ready. I was amazed at the transformation.
Sandy then let everyone go, giving them all envelopes first. I think it was their Christmas bonuses. The chef gave me a tour of the kitchen before he left. He had me tell him my plan for the rib roast. He gave me a big smile, and I could tell my plan met with his approval. He was leaving when everyone got back.
I checked with Mom, and they hadn’t eaten yet. I got out the soup and put it on the stove to heat up. I knew Greg and Dad would want grilled cheese sandwiches to go with tomato soup. I found apple cider in the fridge and poured a gallon into a large pot to heat up with a stick of cinnamon added. I figured they’d want something to warm them up.
Bonnie and Mom came into the kitchen and started helping me. They plated the salads and took them out so everyone could get started. Nancy found me and gave me a kiss. She helped make grilled cheese sandwiches. Somehow, I was displaced and sent out of the kitchen.
Sandy had gone out to the barn to wish all their ranch hands a Merry Christmas, so it was just my family and Nancy. Greg handed Kyle to Uncle John and stood up.
“I want to share some amazing news with everyone: Angie’s pregnant.”
Angie handed Mac off to Dad, and the woman all circled around and hugged her.
“Wait, there’s more: Angie and I have started the adoption process for Mac.”
“I think that deserves a toast,” Sandy said as she reappeared. With her were two of her staff carrying glasses filled with champagne.
Greg had a big grin on his face. After the first toast, he went over by the couch. He pulled out one of the bottles of scotch I’d given him from my trip to the UK. Sandy found glasses for Greg, Dad and Uncle John. I was surprised when Nancy wanted a glass of scotch as well.
Mom, Bonnie and I went into the kitchen to get started on dinner. My rib roast would take nearly five hours to make. There were two large roasts, and I would need them both to be able to feed everyone. The chef had left out the pans I would need.
I started by making the rub that would go on the meat. It was fairly simple: salt, pepper, roasted garlic, rosemary and thyme were all finely chopped and combined. I put the roasts into pans with the bone side down. I rubbed the tops of the roast with the seasonings until they were covered. I then added red wine and beef broth to the pans.
The trick was in how you cooked the meat. Mary told me I needed to bring the meat up to temperature. I was to do it by putting the roasts into a preheated oven at 375° for one hour. Mary said to leave it in the oven with the door closed for three hours with the heat off. Before serving, I would turn the oven on and heat the meat until the meat thermometer showed an internal temperature of 145°. I was supposed to then take it out of the oven and let it rest for ten minutes before cutting it. She told me it was a foolproof recipe.
Nancy, Angie and Sandy joined us in the kitchen. Mom had us making desserts: candies, cookies and eggnog. Devin stuck his head in and said ‘hi.’
Leave it to Mom to get me talking. I found out Nancy had talked to all the women while skiing today. They wanted to know what Sandy and I had been up to.
“Sandy talked to me in the lodge to find out what was going on. She thought it was best if we went and talked to Devin about it. I got to go to their headquarters and meet the people who work there. I found out that Devin’s assistant is very cute,” I said, winking at Nancy. “She’s a stripper elf.”
“She helped one of the guys who plays Santa give out gifts in the daycare,” Sandy told them.
“Anyways, we talked to Devin. He explained that there must have been some misunderstanding,” I shared.
“Misunderstanding, my pasty-white behind,” Nancy said with a snort. “Like he wanted to get into my pants.”
It didn’t sound like she was laughing, more a nervous reaction. Mom hugged her and Nancy visibly relaxed. It was an old story: the guy would say the woman made it up in her mind, she just misunderstood. Women have been conditioned to be reluctant to accuse men of inappropriate advances for that very reason. Mom was letting Nancy know we believed her.
Sandy watched the byplay, and I could tell she was getting mad. I went over and hugged her. I led her out of the room, and we found a private place to talk.
“I don’t need to wait to tell you how I feel about this whole thing. My family has circled around and will support Nancy and me. Devin will not ruin our vacation. I trust Nancy to fend off his advances, and I’ll act like nothing has happened around Devin while we’re here. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with what he’s done.