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

9. Tanner

9

TANNER

T anner glanced over at the table by the big window from his spot in line at Jolly Beans.

The place was hopping, so he’d sent Valentina over to secure them a table and of course Zeke had wanted to go with her and show her his library books.

Tanner had been ready to tell him no, but Valentina looked pretty pleased about the idea, so he’d let it go. Now they were both bent over one of the books, Valentina’s long, dark hair cascading down like a curtain, hiding most of the honey color of Zeke’s hair from view.

It was such a cozy sight to see the two of them huddled together in the warm coffee shop, with snow flurries swirling down outside the window and over the little village beyond. Something about it made Tanner feel almost homesick, even though that made no sense at all.

“How can I help you?” Holly Fields asked from behind the counter with a knowing smile .

He ordered three breakfast sandwiches, two coffees, and a hot chocolate, then paid, hoping the whole time that Holly wouldn’t ask him anything about Valentina.

“She’s super sweet,” Holly said softly as she handed over the two coffees. “Comes in here every morning and always has something nice to say.”

“We just work together,” he said too loudly.

“Oh,” Holly said politely. “Well, I’ll bet she’s nice to work with.”

She is nice to work with, he thought to himself.

“I’ll be over with your sandwiches and Zeke’s hot chocolate in just a minute,” Holly told him.

“Thank you,” he said.

He slipped a bill into the tip jar when she turned away, and then headed to the table where Valentina and Zeke were still studying their book.

As he got closer, Tanner could see that it was one of the Busytown books. Zeke could read short chapter books these days, but he still loved the Richard Scarry stories about the little town full of workers because they were funny, and there was always something new to find in the pictures.

“I read these when I was a kid too,” Valentina was telling Zeke as he set the coffees down.

“Did you love them?” Zeke asked.

“I did love them,” Valentina said. “But pigs were my favorite animal, so I used to be a little bit sad when the pig caused an accident.”

“Real pigs are very dangerous,” Zeke told her solemnly .

“I guess I should keep that in mind since I’m living in the country now,” Valentina said. “Thank you, Zeke.”

“Holly said this is how you like your coffee,” Tanner said, feeling almost like a third wheel as he sat down opposite the two of them. “I grabbed us all breakfast sandwiches too. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you kidding?” Valentina said. “That sounds great.”

She seemed so much more relaxed today. She still wore high heeled boots and a sweater that looked like it might have cost more than Tanner’s first car, but she had jeans on and her long hair was down.

Honestly though, Tanner suspected it was the company that had her guard down. Zeke had that effect on people. And he clearly really liked Valentina. The two of them leaned toward each other slightly, though he wasn’t even sure they were aware of it.

“Okay, I’ve got a not-too-hot hot chocolate here,” Holly announced as she arrived at their table with a full tray. “And three breakfast sandwiches.”

“ Yes ,” Zeke said, causing Holly to laugh as she placed his mug in front of him and handed out the sandwiches.

The food smelled incredible and tasted even better, and for a few minutes there was absolute silence at the table as they all enjoyed their meal.

“Okay,” Tanner said when his sandwich was gone. “Valentina and I are going to talk about something important for a little while, buddy. Will you be okay reading while we do that?”

“Sure, Dad,” Zeke said, then took another giant bite of his sandwich.

“Good job,” Tanner said, his heart so full it felt like it was going to explode as he looked at his boy.

This was one of the things they didn’t warn you about parenthood, how occasionally your child would fill your heart so suddenly that you couldn’t catch your breath—for almost no reason at all.

“What did you mean before?” Valentina asked. “When you said that everything I needed to know was right there in the papers?”

He turned his attention to the woman he couldn’t seem to get out of his thoughts lately. She might look relaxed today, but it was clear that she was as focused as ever. She definitely wasn’t losing sleep thinking about him.

But he couldn’t bring himself to blame her for that. She was loyal to her boss to a fault. And he wasn’t going to knock anyone for loyalty.

“Look,” he said, “I know the paper seems to only report good news. And that’s kind of the town personality too.”

“Like, look on the bright side ?” she asked.

“Exactly,” he said, nodding. “We try and look on the bright side as much as we can. After all, life is pretty great here, and there’s no reason to complain over things we can’t change anyway.”

She nodded, looking thoughtful.

“But there’s another way to read each article,” he went on. “You mentioned a craft fair being rained out. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a covered space for that kind of thing?”

“Oh,” she said, grabbing her phone to note down the idea. “Yes, a space like that would be a great rain-date option for movie nights and pet adoption dates too.”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“So, a covered space for anything that might get rained out,” she said. “I wonder if he could donate land for that to the town. But of course, that doesn’t solve the problem of how to get the rest of it sold.”

“The newspaper doesn’t really tell you everything,” Tanner said. “It’s probably better to get out there and talk to people.”

“Sure,” she said. “I could ask people what they’d like to see in town. Although if you aren’t thinking about real estate development, you might not even know what you want or need.”

“I think you could figure it out by talking with them,” Tanner said. “You wouldn’t even need to ask specifically about what they needed. You could just get them talking about what challenges they’re facing.”

Valentina was frowning with concentration as she typed everything he was saying into her phone.

“Here’s the thing though,” Tanner said, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to figure out how to tell her without hurting her feelings. “You can’t just… march around on high heels, shaking people’s hands and asking about their challenges.”

She looked up, her eyes wide.

“The best way to get people to open up is to try and match your pace to the town,” he went on. “Slow things down, relax and enjoy yourself a little.”

She nodded, but even her nod was still brisk and focused.

An idea struck him, maybe the perfect example of what he meant.

“Have you ever been to Cassidy Farm?” he asked, figuring that of course she’d say yes.

“I’ve heard people talk about it,” she said, shaking her head.

“You haven’t been to Cassidy Farm,” he said, blinking at her stupidly. “But you’ve been living here for a year.”

“I’ve been busy,” she said dismissively, breaking eye contact to look at her phone screen again.

Shoot. He had actually hurt her feelings.

“I’m so glad,” he said quickly. “Zeke and I would love to be the first ones to introduce you to the farm. What do you say? Do you have time to go with us tomorrow?”

“Please, Valentina,” Zeke said excitedly, his attention definitely distracted from his book now. “It’s so awesome there, and I can show you the real corn maze.”

“Sure,” she said, giving Zeke a warm smile, and then turning to Tanner. “If you guys don’t mind?”

“There’s no better place at Christmastime,” Tanner told her, trying not to lose himself in the welcome sight of her dimples.