Delivering Destiny (River's End Ranch Book 23) Read online

  Delivering Destiny

  River’s End Ranch Book Twenty-Three

  by Amelia C. Adams

  My thanks to my beta readers—Amy, Erin, George, Laurie, Mary, Nancy, Renee, and Shelby.

  ©Amelia C. Adams 2017

  Cover design by Erin Dameron-Hill

  Table of Contents:

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sneak Peek

  Chapter One

  Early April

  The sound of little birdies merrily chirping in the trees filled the UPS Store as the door opened, heralding at last the arrival of spring after a long Idaho winter.

  Stupid birds.

  Abby scowled. She was supposed to have gotten over her funk by New Year’s, but now here it was, April, and nothing. No new relationship on the horizon, not enough closure from the last one, and she could only eat so many chocolate chip cookies before her uniform wouldn’t fit anymore and she’d be forced to wear a muumuu. Of course, that sounded infinitely more comfortable. She’d have to take that into consideration.

  Plus, cookies.

  She looked up to see who had come into her sanctum so she could lecture them about keeping the door closed and the birdie sounds out. But then she saw who it was, and a genuine smile covered her face. “Kaya!”

  Kaya Johnson was a romance novelist who had come to the ranch the previous year for a writers retreat and decided to stay forever. Maybe the fact that she’d fallen in love and gotten married to one of their staff had something to do with that. Whatever the reason, she was one of Abby’s favorite people, and even though she and her husband now lived down the road a little bit, she came to the ranch often.

  “Just need to mail off a bunch of packages and I’m too lazy to drive to the post office in Riston,” she said, plunking her armload on the counter.

  “I’m always glad to see you. You know that,” Abby replied. “Besides, you can cheer me up. I’m feeling very sorry for myself today.”

  “Man troubles?”

  “As always. In fact, nothing has really changed since the last time we talked, so I guess we already had this conversation. How are you? And these are all books, right?”

  “Yep. Autographed copies for fans.” Kaya leaned on the counter. “How am I? I’m confused, actually.” She watched as Abby punched numbers into the computer. “And I don’t know how you can do that and talk at the same time. But that’s not what’s confusing me.”

  “I’m really, really talented. So, what is confusing you?”

  “Well, there’s this lady online. She buys all my books, but she leaves one-star reviews on them and says they’re horrible. Why does she keep buying them if they’re so horrible? Doesn’t she have better things to do with her money?”

  “That’s weird,” Abby said. “Do you know her?”

  “I’ve never met her. And I don’t know what I did to make her so upset with me. I must have done something or she wouldn’t be following me around, leaving bad reviews.” She shook her head. “I don’t get it. If I read a book I don’t like, I just don’t buy any more from that author. To keep reading them would be a waste of time. And with so many awesome books out there I could be reading instead, I don’t have time to waste!”

  “So, it’s okay with you that she doesn’t like your books?” Abby asked. She was nearly done with the stack of packages—she’d worked here at the UPS Store for two years, and she was well practiced.

  “I know full well that not everyone’s going to like my books. I’m writing for the ones who do.” Kaya sighed again. “I feel really sorry for this lady. She seems so unhappy. If I knew who she was, I’d send her a box of books by all kinds of different writers and help her find someone she does like.”

  “You’re awesome. You know that? I’d just go toilet paper her house or something.” Abby hit the total button. “You owe me eleven thousandy dollars and forty-two cents.”

  “Thousandy?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Kaya passed her credit card over. “Rates seem to be going down. Last time, it was forty katrillion.”

  “I’m always doing my best to get you a good deal. And remember, it’s tax deductible.”

  “Absolutely.” Kaya tucked her card and her receipt in her pocket. “Thanks, Abby. You make my life easier.”

  “That’s what I’m here for.” Abby executed a perfect salute. Kaya laughed and waved as she walked out of the building, unfortunately letting in a few more snippets of bird song.

  Whatever.

  The copier was almost out of paper, so Abby grabbed a fresh ream from the shelf, slid out the paper tray, and took care of that little task. Then the door opened again and two more people stepped in. One was a man she’d never seen before, and the other was Reggie Armstrong, an employee of the ranch.

  The newcomer stepped up to the counter, and she gave him a smile. She wasn’t in much of a smiling mood, but it was part of her job, after all. “Hello, sir. How can I help you?”

  “Hi. Um, I’m moving to Wisconsin, and I’m staying here just for the night with my family on our way there, and I forgot to turn in a change of address at the post office before we left home, so I need you to do that for me.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t. This is the UPS Store, not the post office.”

  “But the sign outside says post office.”

  Oh, boy. She only had this same conversation about eighty bazillion times a week. “Yes, sir. Here in the Old West portion of the ranch, the buildings are named what they might have been called historically. The soda and ice cream shop is the saloon, for instance. This building has a sign on it that reads ‘post office,’ but under that is a sign that indicates that we’re a UPS Store. I know—it can be confusing.”

  “So . . . why can’t you do my change of address?”

  She could tell that the man wasn’t trying to be ornery, so she’d refrain from giving him the Abby Glare of Death. “The UPS Store isn’t run by the United States Postal Service. They are two separate entities. UPS is a private company, and the U.S. Postal Service is a government agency. All their buildings are owned by the government—the whole shebang. The Westons own and run this franchise of the UPS Store as part of River’s End Ranch.”

  The man motioned over his shoulder. “But you have a mailbox outside.”

  “We do, and the mailman, who is a government employee, comes by every day and collects that mail. The UPS packages are collected by a UPS truck that also comes every day. Two separate vehicles, two separate entities.”

  Over the man’s shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Reggie, who looked very amused by the whole exchange. She wished she could see the humor in the situation.

  “Well, who owns the mailbox out front?” the man asked, now starting to sound a little ornery and like he was trying to prove a point.

  “The U.S. government,” Abby replied. “It’s placed here on the ranch by special arrangement.”

  “And you sell stamps,” he said, pointing to a sign.

  “That’s right. Just like your grocery store can sell stamps, so can we. Then you drop your letters in the mailbox outside—unless you’re sending things through the United Parcel Service system. That’s me.”

  He shook his h
ead. Yeah, that’s how she felt too.

  “Now, there is one thing I can help you with. See that computer over there?” She motioned to a cubicle in the corner. “That’s here to be used by our ranch guests. Go online to the United States Post Office, and for a one-dollar fee, you can change your address directly with them.”

  “So I can do it here,” the man said, sounding exasperated.

  “You can, but not with me,” Abby responded. “You’d be going online.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll just do it on my laptop in my room. Thanks for . . . whatever.”

  As soon as he left, Reggie chuckled. “That was fun.”

  “You think that was fun? Try having that conversation over and over again twelve zillion times a day. You’d think that people would understand that we don’t have government buildings on private ranch property, but no. It’s too hard for them to understand. I think I’ll ask Wade if we can change the name to the Pony Express or something else, but I don’t know—people still wouldn’t get it.”

  “I don’t think they’re trying to be clueless,” Reggie said. “It’s just a difficult concept.”

  “By the time I’m done explaining it, it shouldn’t be difficult.” She shook her head. There was something about Reggie that naturally annoyed her, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. All she knew was that whenever he was around, she felt uptight and fidgety. Oh, that’s right—it was his insistence on always seeing the positive in things even when she was completely sure it was time to be depressed and moody. That was so annoying.

  “Let me guess. You’re enjoying the birds outside the building, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Sure. Aren’t you? It’s been a long winter, and I’m finally off snow-shoveling duty and can start guiding hikes again.”

  “Uh-huh. So, what am I mailing for you today?”

  He lifted a box onto the counter, and she began to sort through the smaller boxes that had been stacked inside. “Are these going ground?” she asked.

  “First class, please.”

  “But aren’t they books? They feel like books. You could go into the post office and use media mail.” She paused. “And why are you shipping books, anyway? Kaya was in here earlier to send off a bunch, but she’s an author. Are you an author too? Writing books on the sly?”

  His cheeks turned a little pink. “No, not me. I don’t write. And yes, first class, please.”

  So. He wasn’t going to answer her question about the contents of his packages. That was very mysterious. As an employee of the UPS Store, she wasn’t allowed to pry, but as a human being, she definitely wanted to know more.

  It was hard to be a human being sometimes.

  ***

  Reggie shoved his receipt in his pocket as he walked away from the UPS Store. He had no idea what had gotten under Abby’s skin where he was concerned, but it was like she couldn’t stand the very sight of him. He’d seen her be pleasant with other people, so he knew it was possible. He just had no idea how to get her to loosen up around him. And he’d like that—very much.

  He stopped in at the reservation desk to get a list of the upcoming activities on the ranch. He had a hike scheduled for that afternoon—the first of the season, and he could hardly wait. He loved the mountains with a fierceness he couldn’t even describe, and that’s how he’d known he belonged on River’s End Ranch. When he’d come here to interview for the job and meet Wes Weston, the member of the family he’d be working with, Wes had talked about the land with the same kind of love Reggie felt, and he’d been happy here ever since.

  Even if he was shoveling snow part of the time.

  He grinned as he walked into the diner and took a seat at the counter. Lindy was taking orders, and Kelsi was sitting at one of the nearby tables, a baby strapped to her chest. A quick glance around showed Reggie that the other baby was asleep in a stroller next to the table. The customers kept glancing their way with goofy looks on their faces. With so many guests, plus all the members of the ranch staff to keep an eye on things, these would be the two most loved, protected, adored babies on the planet.

  “Hey, Reggie,” Lindy said as she handed him a menu. “I understand the trails opened up this week.”

  “Yeah, Wes went up and checked them out. There’s still some snow here and there, but what’s a little snow in these parts, right?”

  “I can’t wait to get Willow and Tori up on the mountain,” Kelsi said. “This place is in their blood, you know? Shane says I should wait until they’re just a little older, and I guess he’s right, but still. It’s the whole heritage thing that I love.”

  She stood up and walked over to the counter. Reggie caught sight of a soft, fuzzy dark head sticking over the top of the baby sling and reminded himself that dark hair meant Tori, and blonde meant Willow. “Plus, I need to get the girls started on their Bigfoot hunting lessons. Babies are very impressionable, and if they begin now, they’ll have the skills their entire lives.”

  “Well, I’m going up on a hike this afternoon, and if I see any evidence, I’ll let you know,” Reggie told her, trying to look serious. Everyone on the ranch knew about Kelsi’s obsession with Bigfoot, and they all humored her to various degrees. It was just part of what made her who she was.

  “You will? Thank you so much!” She grinned. “Shane thinks I should be concentrating less on Bigfoot now that the girls are here, but I can totally do both. Bringing them along with me makes it a family activity, right? All that bonding?”

  “Definitely bonding,” Reggie said with a grin.

  “Oh, I’m sorry! I’m supposed to be letting you order. I’m sure you’ve got other things to do.” She sat back down. “He’s all yours, Lindy.”

  Lindy chuckled. “What’ll it be, Reggie?”

  Reggie glanced at the daily specials written on the board. Today’s special happened to be what he’d ordered last time he was in, so he’d go for something different. He liked variety, and he could never go wrong here. “How about the meatloaf and mashed potatoes?”

  Lindy glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen. “You sure about that? Bob’s been muttering at the potatoes all morning.”

  “I have not!” Bob thundered, and Reggie laughed.

  “Yes, that’s what I’d like.”

  “All right, I’ll have that out for you in a minute.”

  Lindy relayed the order to Bob, and Reggie watched as Kelsi bundled both girls into the stroller and tucked them under a nice, plush blanket. “When are you coming back to work, Kelsi?”

  She shrugged. “Oh, in about six weeks, I guess. I haven’t settled on a firm date. I don’t want to rush it—babies are only new once.” She gave everyone a wave and headed out, the door closing with a jingle behind her.

  “There’s nothing like a baby to bring a little peace and contentment into the world.” An older gentleman who had been sitting at one of the back booths came up to the counter just then and leaned on it. “And two babies bring twice the joy.” He reached out and slapped Reggie on the back. “I understand you’re a member of the outdoors staff.”

  “Yes, sir. Can I help you with something?”

  “You already have been. For a while now.” The man seemed familiar, but Reggie couldn’t place him. “I’m Wilbur Weston. This is my ranch.”

  Reggie came to his feet. “Yes, sir. I believe I started here shortly after you left.” He’d heard that the Weston parents were back in town, but he hadn’t run into them yet, and he’d been starting to wonder if they were just as mystical as Kelsi’s Bigfoot.

  “Just wanted to let you know that we’ve been pleased with your work. I took a hike with Wes this morning, and he pointed out some things that you specifically had done, including the safety rails along that northwest section of trail where the dirt’s crumbling away. Good craftsmanship.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Reggie said. “I’ve always enjoyed building things.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that because I have a few more little tasks for you. I made
a list and left it with Wes. Are you up for the challenge?”

  “Of course, sir.” It occurred to him that he should probably see the list before answering so enthusiastically. He’d heard about the parents asking for some unusual upgrades to the ranch—maybe he’d just agreed to reconstruct the whole thing out of Legos. But it was too late now—and plus, he liked Legos.

  “Very good. Here comes your food—I’ll let you eat. Good to meet you, Reggie.” Mr. Weston clapped him on the back again and left the diner, and Reggie turned to his plate. He didn’t know what Bob’s deal was—the potatoes were perfect. And when he was done eating, he’d go over to the office and check out the list. Hopefully they’d have all the supplies on hand and he wouldn’t have to order anything in.

  Chapter Two

  The sound of a truck pulling up out front made Abby’s stomach clench. This was the worst time of the day—the absolute worst. Unfortunately, it was also the most important time of the day—a shipping company needs to ship stuff. She moved to the back and grabbed the large wheeled bin that held all the packages that needed to go out, pushing it toward the front. Then she waited.

  Finally, the door opened, and a tall, dark, drop-dead-gorgeous amazing hunk of manliness walked in, an electronic clipboard in one hand. “Hey, Abby,” he said. “How’s it going?”

  “Hi, Derrick. Just fine.”

  “Good. Let me take these, and I’ll be back in a second with your packages.” He grasped the side of the white cart and pushed it outside. She kept a smile plastered on her face until he was out of sight, and then she collapsed against the counter.

  She could do this. She totally could. It was completely ridiculous for her to get so weirded out when he was around—they were both mature adults. Well, she was a mature adult. It was his immaturity, leading to his flirting with and eventually dating other girls, that caused their breakup. And because she was an adult and he was not, she should be able to handle this a lot better than he could.

  So why did he look as cool as a cucumber while she felt like a roasted yam?