Cowboy’s Christmas Bridesmaid (Trinity Falls: Icicle Christmas #8)

4. Valentina

4

VALENTINA

V alentina tugged at the borrowed sweater and pushed the sleeves up around her elbows again so that she would look less like a child dressing up in her father’s clothing.

Her meeting today with Radcliffe was an important one. She couldn’t have him distracted by what she was wearing. And she didn’t want herself to be distracted by thinking about how effortlessly Tanner’s muscular frame had filled out the garment when he’d been wearing it.

“I like your sweater,” Radcliffe’s voice boomed from the back door to the offices.

She should have known he would notice immediately.

“Uh, thanks,” she said, wondering if he was being sincere.

But he wore a genuine smile, and she was reminded, yet again, that her boss sometimes teased in a friendly way, but he was never sarcastic or hurtful.

“Now if we can just get you into some comfortable shoes, I might feel like this adventure in the country has done you some good,” Radcliffe added, winking.

“These are comfortable,” she said lightly.

She honestly wasn’t sure anymore if her heels were comfortable or not. It was just that she was used to them and they made her feel professional, which was its own kind of comfort. Besides, she was on the short side to begin with, and all the men here seemed to be as big as lumberjacks. Her heels helped her feel like she was at least a little closer to their level.

“Come on in,” Radcliffe said. “Mrs. Luckett brought over some blueberry muffins this morning.”

“I had breakfast with the borough inspector already,” she said. “But thank you.”

“A productive morning,” Radcliffe said, his eyebrows lifting like he was impressed. “Don’t you ever do anything just for fun, Valentina? I hope I don’t make you feel like you can’t.”

“It was fun,” she said. “I saw photos of his granddaughter dressed up like a rutabaga.”

“That’s adorable,” Radcliffe said. “I remember when Wes played a carrot in his school play.”

“Me too,” Valentina said, smiling.

Radcliffe’s son was such a nice boy. She was glad for his sake that they had left the city. Wes really seemed to be thriving out here. And Radcliffe was marrying into a family with a lot of cousins for him to socialize with.

“So, it seems like we’re chugging along,” Radcliffe said, sitting back in his chair and steepling his fingers.

“Actually, we’ve hit a considerable snag,” Valentina told him. “The electrician I fired last week was worse than we thought. All the previous timelines he gave us are way off. It’s going to take Tanner weeks longer on every job.”

“What about the ones that are already done?” Radcliffe asked, sitting up straight, worry etching a familiar line on his forehead.

“I already looked into it,” she told him, glad she kept detailed records so that she had been able to quickly sort her database by contractor before this meeting. “None of the properties the last electrician worked on have been sold yet. He was only with us for about a month.”

“Good,” Radcliffe said, sitting back again. “Then this is a disappointing development, but not a dangerous one.”

“True,” she allowed. “None of the families you sold homes to are in any danger. But this puts the project even further in the red.”

Radcliffe nodded and then shrugged.

“You know,” she said carefully, broaching the real subject she had hoped they could discuss today, “I’ve been doing some thinking about all that land you have along the proposed highway site.”

“Is that so?” Radcliffe asked.

“That land will be a really tough sell as residential lots,” she said. “People know the project is coming right through there, and no one wants to build their dream house on top of a highway.”

“I’m willing to let that land go cheaply,” he said. “With full disclosure about the highway.”

“Can we at least think about allowing something commercial to go there?” she asked. “You could limit what kind of businesses would be allowed.”

“No,” he said simply. “Absolutely not. That’s exactly what I was trying to avoid when I came out here and started buying up land. I don’t want this town taken over by businesses.”

“I understand,” she said right away. “I just worry about anyone wanting to build at all, when you’re selling houses with new roofing, heaters, and updated electrical wiring in nice locations, all for a song.”

“It’s all part of the plan,” he said. “That land can’t be taken by eminent domain if the properties are in good condition.”

“But those prices…” she began.

“I’m trying to get the real estate market in Trinity Falls back to where it was before I started overpaying to buy everything up,” he told her. “The prices I’m selling for are fair, maybe just a little more than fair for the condition, but I’m happy if local folks can afford them.”

She nodded, knowing when she was beaten.

“I knew when I started this that it was going to hurt,” he told her with a gentle smile. “But you know I’m a billionaire, right, Valentina?”

She nodded, biting her lip.

Sebastian Radcliffe had never said the word billionaire to her before. She got the sense that in some ways the idea of his wealth made him uncomfortable. And since he had grown up modestly like she had, she understood it.

“So even if this winds up a net loss, I didn’t have to borrow to do it, and I’ve got other investments that will turn out better,” he went on. “Your job isn’t in danger. My family won’t starve, and we won’t lose our home. If the Trinity Falls project winds up deep in the red then I’ll live a little more carefully for a while, or even forever, and I’ll still be happy—so long as this town doesn’t lose itself. That’s all I ever wanted.”

It was a beautiful thing to say, and truly a wonderful thing he had done here. The more she got to know the town, the more Valentina understood why Radcliffe had been desperate to save it from commercial developers.

It was just a shame that Trinity Falls was the first major project he’d put her in charge of. She certainly wasn’t going to be able to move into a higher position in the city if her first big deal wound up costing the investor most of his fortune.

“Hey, Baz,” Emma’s voice sang out from the doorway. She always called her fiancé by the shortened version of his first name. “Hi, Valentina.”

“Hi, Emma,” Valentina said, feeling genuinely glad to see her friend. “What are you up to today?”

“I’m here to steal Baz to taste the test cake,” Emma said, eyebrows waggling. “Can I steal you too? The more testers, the merrier.”

“Oh, I’ve got a full docket today,” Valentina said. “But thank you.”

“Ugh, you’re all work and no play,” Emma teased. “But I’ll catch up with you later. Natalie’s up to something, and I know I’ll get it out of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Valentina said, smoothing down her skirt in a classic business school move that indicated the conversation was over, and didn’t let your negotiating opponent look you in the eye to see that you had something to hide. “But let’s sneak off for a coffee later, if you have time.”

“Sure,” Emma said. “Baz will be getting Wes off the bus for guy time at three-thirty .”

“Don’t say it like that,” Radcliffe said indulgently. “Guy time is important.”

Valentina wondered if there was another businessman alive as powerful as Sebastian Radcliffe who personally picked up their son from the bus every day and had a snack with him.

She was truly happy to see the two of them bonding more. Wes had gone from being taken to and from an elite private school by a chauffeur each day, to piling on and off a country school bus full of rowdy kids, and she had never seen him happier.

And the way Emma smiled up at her fiancé told Valentina she was only teasing about guy time . She clearly loved both Radcliffe men with all her heart. And Valentina couldn’t be more pleased for her boss and his son.

But for some reason she couldn’t put her finger on, all their love and happiness left her with an unexpected feeling of longing in her chest today.