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

6. Tanner

6

TANNER

A few days later Tanner pulled up his truck past the Whispering Ridge sign and into Radcliffe’s gravel lot, his stomach already twisting in knots.

He’d been really looking forward to this meeting with Valentina, and he’d done a ton of prep for it. The only thing he hadn’t done was make sure that Zeke would be in school. Unfortunately, today was one of the seemingly random teacher in-service days that always managed to take him by surprise.

“Okay, Zeke,” he said as brightly as he could. “You know the drill, right?”

“I’ll sit quietly and work on my homework,” Zeke said right away. “I won’t interrupt, and I won’t touch anything.”

“Exactly,” Tanner said, relieved. “When we’re done, if you were good, we’ll go wherever you want for the afternoon. ”

“Okay,” Zeke said. “But how long will it take?”

It wasn’t the first time he had asked, and it was making Tanner nervous. He didn’t expect his son to have to cope with the adult world very often. Normally, he got a sitter if anything he had to do interfered with time when Zeke wasn’t at school. Today had just snuck up on him somehow. They waited alone on the corner for a bus that never came, and he finally checked the school calendar on the fridge only to realize his mistake.

He probably should have brought toys and games for Zeke. The boy was used to having his dad by his side, at least for moral support, while he did his math. And of course Tanner hadn’t even told Valentina that he was bringing his son.

This won’t be a disaster, he tried to tell himself as they got out of the car. Zeke is charming. She’ll love him.

But try as he might, he couldn’t exactly picture Valentina giggling at Zeke’s lighthearted proclamations and joking around with him like the other young women in town. She seemed so serious, and so devoted to her work.

What if she thinks a single dad is the wrong person for the job?

He had other work. Tanner always managed to stay busy and keep a roof over their heads. But this big project for Baz was a real blessing, and a chance to get ahead.

If she doesn’t fire me for showing up with my son…

“Wow, horses,” Zeke said happily, pointing to the big field beyond the farmhouse.

Sure enough, there were horses out there between the house and the wooded ridge. A breeze kicked up, and the murmuring sound of the wind through those trees reminded Tanner how Whispering Ridge got its name.

“Hi there,” Valentina called out from the front porch of the big house.

“Hi,” Zeke yelled before Tanner had a chance to respond. “I like your earrings. They look like fireworks.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “I’m Valentina.”

“I’m Zeke,” he said politely.

He sprinted up the steps a little faster than Tanner would have liked and stuck his hand out.

Tanner held his breath.

But Valentina merely smiled and shook Zeke’s hand, like having a meeting with a second grader was an everyday occurrence.

“Hi, Miss Jimenez,” Tanner said, jogging up the steps to join them.

“Valentina,” she corrected him. A half-smile seemed to lurk somewhere in her eyes.

“Valentina,” he echoed, inwardly begging himself to tear his gaze from hers so he could remember what he came here for. “I forgot the school had an in-service today. Zeke brought some homework with him, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I have a nice big table in my office, and I might have something more fun to do than homework. Do you like mazes, Zeke?”

Zeke ran up to follow her into the house, the two of them calmly discussing what kind of maze she meant. She spoke to Zeke like he was a tiny adult, and he was clearly delighted to rise to the occasion.

“I meant a paper maze,” she was saying as they entered her office. “But a corn maze does sound like fun.”

“They have one at Cassidy Farm,” Zeke told her. “I can solve it.”

“That sounds really neat,” she said. “But I would probably be worried about getting lost in a cornfield myself.”

“You should go through with someone else the first time,” Zeke told her sensibly, repeating exactly what Tanner had told him on their first visit to the maze. “I can take you through, if you want.”

“Thank you for that offer, Zeke,” she said, pulling a book out of her desk drawer along with a box of crayons. “This is a maze book you might like. Some of the mazes are already done, but most of them are still waiting for someone clever enough to solve them.”

Zeke grabbed the book and crayons right out of her hands and hustled over to the table, curling himself over the book immediately, then popping his head up.

“Thank you,” he said, before Tanner had to remind him.

“You’re very welcome,” she replied.

It was funny how Zeke reacted to Valentina’s calm, respectful way with him. Tanner had never really seen his son match someone else’s mood the way he was doing right now.

“Shall we get started?” she asked, turning to Tanner.

“Yes, sure,” he said, scrambling over to take a seat across from her at the desk. “I’ve got time estimates worked out on my tablet. Baz let me know that materials aren’t an issue as far as budget. Is that right? ”

“We don’t cut corners,” Valentina agreed, with an expression that spoke of her total agreement with her boss.

Baz might have been the one who said, Money is no object, just do it right. But it was clearly Valentina who was on the ground day to day making sure that philosophy was put into action.

Tanner opened up the program he used for time estimates and started with the first house.

“There are seven houses in the valley,” Valentina said, frowning. “Is this the correct order you’re proposing?”

“I know it’s sort of in the middle of the others,” Tanner said. “But I talked with some of the crews, and I think this one is probably the closest to being done, other than electrical. I can work in any order you want, but I thought it might be good to try and get the first few of these up and running a little faster.”

“You already spoke with the other crews?” she asked.

“I mean, I know a lot of the HVAC guys anyway,” he said, worrying that maybe he had overstepped. “They call me all the time on their other jobs to upgrade service panels and put in subs when people retrofit for Central Air, so I just swung over there…”

“I think it’s great,” she told him, placing her hand on the edge of his tablet, as if to stop him from making excuses. “I really appreciate you taking the initiative like that.”

“I was glad to,” he told her. “I respect that you’re the boss though, Miss—I mean, Valentina.”

“Thank you,” she said.

This time, the smile hiding in her eyes made its way to her face and he was stunned to see that his very serious boss had dimples .

“So,” she went on. “What else is on here?”

They turned their attention back to his tablet. He was glad he had taken the time to put together a sort of presentation that was easier for her to follow than his usual chicken scratch on a clipboard.

Valentina took notes, stopping him to ask a question here or there. But he relaxed after a few minutes when it became clear that she wasn’t looking for reasons to pick his plan apart.

“What’s this?” she asked, looking at an afternoon block he had scheduled back at a previous job.

“If the paint crew is done with the patches and touch-up after the knob and tube, I’ll come back to install the hardwired smoke alarms then,” he told her. “That way they won’t get paint on them. They make plastic caps, but I’d rather not risk it.”

“Wow,” she said, looking both pleased and relieved.

“So, I think we can get caught up in about six weeks, if we stick to this plan,” he told her. “But unexpected things always come up, and we want everything done right. So maybe you’d better tell Baz eight weeks, and we can surprise him for the best if it all goes smoothly.”

“That’s why he said you’d take your time,” she said softly.

“Who said that?” Tanner asked, feeling a little prickled that Baz would say it when they’d never worked together.

“Randy,” she said, looking a little embarrassed. “I’m not sure if he meant for me to repeat it. I thought he meant you were a slow worker, which honestly had me a little worried. But now I can see he meant you would take the time you needed to get the job done right.”

“Huh,” Tanner said, leaning back and nodding. “I mean, I guess he would be the one who knows how long everyone takes on these things, since he opens the permits and closes them out afterward.”

“I think you should take it as a compliment,” she said. “Mr. Radcliffe will certainly see it that way. I’ll make sure he knows how much work you’ve put into this plan.”

“Thank you,” Tanner said, suddenly remembering this was an important work meeting. For a few minutes there, it had felt like a fun way to show off something he had grown good at over many years of practice to someone who was actually in a position to appreciate it.

“Oh,” she said. “Speaking of Randy, he did me a huge favor.”

“Yeah?” Tanner asked, leaning in again.

“He said if I want to text him photos of some of the work, he can look over them before the inspection dates,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “That way if he’s going to want a change, we can get it done before he comes out. It could save a ton of time scheduling re-inspections.”

“It sure could,” Tanner said, amazed. “How on earth did you get him to agree to that?”

“I didn’t even ask,” Valentina said. “He offered after I brought over breakfast.”

“You made him breakfast?” Tanner asked, delighted at how brilliant that was. Randy seemed to work from sunrise to sunset on the days he was on duty. It was only natural for him to be pleased with a nice meal.

“I can’t really take credit,” she said, waving her hand. “I just picked up his favorite at Jolly Beans.”

“I’m hungry,” Zeke said suddenly, his first addition to the conversation, most likely inspired by the mere mention of food.

“Well, that’s perfect,” Valentina said. “Because I did actually bake these myself.”

She opened another desk drawer and pulled out a small, plastic-wrap covered plate of pastries.

“Empanadas,” she told them, placing the little plate on the table with a flourish. “They’re my grandmother’s recipe.”

“Wow,” Zeke said happily, half climbing over the table to grab one. “Thank you.”

“You’re ready for anything,” Tanner said to her, impressed.

“Spoken like a man who understands the value of preparation,” she said, arching a brow at the plan open on his tablet. “Eat up. I’m just going to send Mr. Radcliffe a quick reminder.”

“These are good ,” Zeke said with his mouth full. “They’re full of stew.”

“Finish chewing,” Tanner told him before taking a bite himself.

The flaky empanada melted in his mouth like butter, and the savory flavor of chicken burst on his tongue.

“Oh, wow,” he said with his own mouth full.

Valentina smiled again, though she kept her eyes on her computer monitor as she typed out a message.

And once again, Tanner couldn’t help noticing her dimples. She had another pair of long, dangly earrings on today, and the late morning sun coming in the window by her desk lit them up, sending diamonds of light dancing on the walls when she moved her head.

Magical, a little voice in the back of his head whispered, and he realized that he might be falling for her, just a little bit.

But he couldn’t afford to think like that. He was already overwhelmed with work and fatherhood. And besides, he was reporting to her on the biggest project he’d ever undertaken.

If I start something with her and things go wrong, I don’t want my chances here to be ? —

“Finished,” Zeke yelled.

“That was a good empanada, huh?” Tanner asked, shaking off his worries.

“Yes,” Zeke said. “But I already ate that. I finished my maze.”

“No way,” Valentina said, looking up at him.

“Yes,” Zeke said, practically dancing in his chair. “See.”

He held up the book, but Valentina got up and came over, pulling out the chair beside him.

“Wow,” she said, seating herself. “You really did. And you know what’s even more impressive?”

“What?” Zeke asked.

“You did it in one try,” she said.

Tanner glanced over and saw that she was right. Zeke’s blue crayon line led from the entrance of the maze right to the center, without any mistakes.

“What do you mean?” Zeke asked.

“Here,” Valentina said, paging through the book. “Here’s one that another child did, when he was a little older than you.”

The other child had to be Wes Radcliffe, who was eleven now, and plenty smart. Tanner frowned at the many loop backs and attempts that came before success.

“Yours is really amazing, isn’t it?” Valentina asked, turning back to the page Zeke had worked on. “How did you do it?”

“I looked at it,” Zeke said. “And I thought about it first.”

“So you sort of followed the path in your mind,” Valentina said. “Before you started tracing it?”

“Yes,” Zeke said, nodding. “That’s what I did.”

“Did you know that you’re super smart?” Valentina asked him, without a hint of condescension in her voice. “Most adults I know couldn’t do that.”

Zeke glanced over at Tanner, hope flickering in his eyes.

Tanner smiled at him and nodded, confirming what Valentina had said, even as his heart broke at the idea that his son had ever felt anything but smart and capable.

“Wow,” Zeke said. “But… I always take too long with my math homework.”

Tanner longed to jump in and explain that the teacher was overwhelming the kids with so much drilling that probably every child took too long.

“That’s a different kind of smart,” Valentina said dismissively. “Being quick at math problems won’t be important when you grow up. You’ll just use a calculator, like everyone else. But being patient enough to solve a maze, and visualizing and memorizing a path without tracing it? That’s really cool, Zeke. Maybe one day you’ll be an air traffic controller, or maybe you’ll work for NASA.”

Zeke rose out of his chair as if he had been lifted by an unseen hand, and the next thing Tanner knew, the boy was wrapping himself around Valentina in a giant bear hug.

Tanner was pretty sure Zeke’s hands were still sticky from the empanada, and even if they weren’t, he’d been playing outside all morning, which showed in the not-so-clean clothes that were currently wrapped around Valentina’s pristine white blouse and gray trousers.

But before Tanner could open his mouth, Valentina hugged Zeke back.

“That’s the best hug I’ve had in a long time,” she said warmly when she pulled back.

“Thank you,” Zeke said, looking up at her. “Except my dad gives the best hugs.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked him, her eyes dancing.

“He gives big bear hugs,” Zeke said, nodding with a serious look on his face.

Big bear hugs and little bear hugs had been kind of a thing with them since Zeke was tiny. Tanner was moved that the boy still talked about hugging his dad without embarrassment. He knew that wouldn’t last forever.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Valentina told him. “In case I ever need a big bear hug. And I’m glad you liked the empanadas.”

“We have a present for you too,” Zeke said.

“Just a work thing,” Tanner said quickly. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Oh,” she said, turning to him.

He pulled out the paper bag that held the coverall and handed it to her quickly, hoping she didn’t think it was stupid. She took it out of the bag, her brow furrowed at the purple fabric until she unfolded it.

He held his breath as she looked it over.

“Oh my goodness,” Valentina said, her eyes lighting up. “This is amazing.”

“It’s just for when you visit on site,” he said quickly. “So you don’t get any more paint on your pretty clothes.”

“And it’s purple,” Zeke pointed out.

“My favorite color,” Valentina told him with a big smile.

Valentina’s phone buzzed on her desk, and she glanced over worriedly.

“We’ve taken up most of your morning,” Tanner said right away. “Thank you for hearing me out, and for the treats, and for letting Zeke borrow your maze book.”

“He’s welcome back to do another one anytime,” she said, flashing both of them a smile as she headed over to her desk for her phone. “Thank you so much for my coverall. Good luck with your math, Zeke, and I’ll see you in the valley, Tanner.”

“Definitely,” he told her.

Zeke grabbed his backpack full of homework and they headed out together.

“She said I was smart,” he whispered loudly as soon as they were two steps out of her office. “And she liked her present.”

Tanner glanced back, pretty certain Valentina had heard that .

Sure enough, her dimples were showing, even though she was talking business on the phone.

She really likes him, he couldn’t help thinking.

Something in his chest seemed to settle into place, and he felt more relaxed without really knowing why.