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

19. Tanner

19

TANNER

T anner sat in the guest room of his aunt and uncle’s house early on Christmas morning, sipping hot chocolate with Zeke while Valentina showered in the next room.

Valentina had insisted that Zeke get a warm shower first. He did, and was dressed in a pair of too-big pajamas now. Thankfully, Aunt Annabelle kept spare clothing in all sizes in the big guest room bureau. He seemed awfully happy for a kid whose Christmas presents were all back at the apartment in the village.

On the other hand, Tanner was feeling very happy himself that he’d been able to get the two of them safely up to the big house from the cabins. He’d ventured out into the icy landscape just before the sun came up and found that sure enough, his uncle left the keys on the seat of his old truck.

He’d figured no one would mind him borrowing the truck to run down to the cabins and back. The path was slippery, but the chains were on the truck’s tires, and he took it nice and slow.

By the time the sun peeked out over the trees, he could see that the whole homestead was covered in a beautiful layer of ice. It sparkled and twinkled like diamonds, lighting up the fields and making it seem later in the morning than it was.

Valentina and Zeke had been enchanted by the magical sight on the drive back up to the big house. They had even decided to sing “Winter Wonderland” together. Neither of them was particularly good at singing, but that made it almost better, and even Tanner had joined in by the time the truck was climbing the main drive.

He looked down at his son now, marveling at how resilient the boy was. He’d been scared last night. But all day today, he’d been radiant with joy.

“Merry Christmas,” Tanner told Zeke softly, ruffling his light brown hair. “I’m sorry we’ll have to wait on presents. But it will be so nice to see family right away this year.”

“We already got our Christmas miracle,” Zeke told him happily.

“Yes, it’s so good we made it safely through the storm,” Tanner said, nodding.

“Oh yeah,” Zeke said. “That too.”

“What were you talking about?” Tanner asked.

Zeke’s eyes went to the bathroom door, where a tiny wisp of shower steam slipped out from beneath. When they stopped talking, they could just hear Valentina softly singing “Silent Night,” the same song that had been playing in Tanner’s head last night when he watched her sleeping with Zeke in her arms.

“I got my stepmom,” Zeke said dreamily.

Tanner closed his eyes, praying for the strength to talk honestly to his boy without breaking his heart beyond repair.

“She stayed with us,” Zeke went on. “And she told me this morning she hadn’t slept that well in forever.”

“It was really nice to spend time with her,” Tanner agreed. “But Valentina’s family is in the city. When her job here in Trinity Falls is done, she’ll want to go back there to be near her parents and her brothers.”

Zeke blinked at him then shook his head.

“She’s a good, good friend,” Tanner said, before the boy could argue. “And I know she’ll miss you a lot when she goes back home.”

He had a whole speech forming in his mind. But Zeke suddenly snaked his arms around Tanner’s waist and collapsed into his chest, melting into him like he had as a despondent toddler.

Does she really need to go? Shouldn’t I ask her to stay?

But there were about a million things wrong with that. The first one being that they weren’t even dating. And she had stated pretty clearly that she would never date someone she worked with.

He had thought about simply quitting to remove that obstacle many times since that moment.

But if he left the job just so that they could date, it would throw her timeline into chaos on the Radcliffe land project. And he knew completing that project successfully meant the world to her. She had worked a lifetime to climb that mountain. He couldn’t put that in jeopardy for his own selfish reasons.

And besides, what if the work thing was just an excuse, and she really wasn’t interested?

But the way she looked at me last night, like I was the most important man in the universe…

There was a tap on the door.

“Come in,” Tanner called out softly.

The door opened and Uncle Alistair poked his head inside, his face breaking into a big smile when he saw who it was.

“I thought I heard three little mice sneaking into my house this morning,” he said.

“We were stuck in the forest, Great-uncle Alistair,” Zeke said, lifting his head from Tanner’s chest. “We stayed in a cabin.”

“You did?” Alistair looked horrified.

“It worked out just fine, thanks to your stocked cabin,” Tanner told him right away. “And I’ll restock firewood for you tomorrow.”

“Thank goodness you thought of the cabins,” his uncle replied, his face suddenly serious. “Why didn’t you call us for help?”

“It was Christmas Eve,” Tanner said, shrugging. “Besides, it wouldn’t have been safe for you to come down in the storm. And now we get to help out with Christmas things a little earlier than usual, right, Zeke?”

“Will Great-aunt Annabelle make gingerbread pancakes?” Zeke asked right away. “And can I flip them?”

“I’ll bet she would love to do that with you,” Alistair said with a big smile. “How’s your girl holding up after a night of unintended camping?”

He glanced over at the bathroom door, but Tanner shook his head once from behind Zeke.

“She’s fine,” Tanner said lightly. “She rolled her ankle a little last night, but it seems like she’s feeling better today.”

“She’s a nice lady,” Alistair said quickly. “It’s good to have good friends. We’ll find her some ibuprofen.”

“She saved me when I almost fell,” Zeke said. “But I made her forget her hurt ankle with a good story.”

“You’re a good boy, Ezekiel Williams,” Alistair declared. “When you’re ready, come on down and we’ll see about those pancakes. I know your great-aunt’s recipe by heart, you know. Maybe we could surprise her.”

Zeke squeaked with delight and sprung off the bed to join his great-uncle.

Tanner took one last longing look at the bathroom door and then moved to join them. There was no point sitting here mooning over a woman who didn’t feel the same way.