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

BONUS EPILOGUE

Valentina stepped into Zeke’s classroom, still smiling from all the friendly greetings she’d gotten since she stepped into the lobby downstairs.

A year ago, coming to the elementary school to volunteer for a second-grade class Valentine’s Day party was just about the last thing she thought she would be doing. But today, there was no place she would rather be.

“Valentina,” Zeke yelled, hopping up from his table and sprinting over to hug her. “Hey, everybody, this is Valentina. It’s her special day because of her name. And she fell in love with my dad at Christmastime, and became his girlfriend on New Year’s Eve, and she’s going to be my new mom on the day before Easter—so all the holidays are hers.”

Valentina felt her cheeks heat at having her whole personal life illuminated at once for a curious group of seven- and eight-year-olds, but they were all smiling, so she smiled back at them gamely. If there was one thing she had learned from Zeke, it was that life was best lived enthusiastically, leaning into all the changes that came along.

“We’re so glad you could be here today,” Mrs. Hastings said, beaming at her as she came up to take her hands. “Zeke has been telling us about you all week.”

“Oh wow,” Valentina said, feeling a little embarrassed, but mostly proud. “That’s so nice of him. I can’t wait to be his mom, so I talk about him constantly too.”

“Well, we know you’re up to your ears planning the open-air community center,” Mrs. Hastings said. “So it means a lot to us that you’re here today.”

Mrs. Hastings showed her to the Valentine corner, where Valentina got to work right away helping kids draw, paint, write, and put stickers on special cards for their families.

The children were so adorable that she didn’t even notice Tanner come in until he was sitting down beside her.

“Hey, beautiful,” he murmured, pressing his lips to the crown of her head for a moment.

“Oooooohhhh-ooooohhh,” the kids all cooed delightedly.

“They’re in love,” Zeke explained patiently. “But you can’t kiss in school, Dad.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry about that, Mrs. Hastings,” Tanner said immediately.

She nodded with a stern expression, but then she winked at him, and Valentina almost laughed out loud.

“So, what are we doing over here?” Tanner asked the kids.

As they fell all over themselves to explain it to him, Maggie Sullivan, the teacher in the second-grade classroom next door, peeked her head in.

“Hey, can I steal Miss Jimenez for a moment?” she asked Mrs. Hastings.

“Of course,” Mrs. Hastings said.

Valentina scrambled up, giving Zeke a pat on the head on her way out to the hallway.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Maggie said. “But I got a message from Rory Douglas this morning, and I don’t think it can possibly be right. I tried to call him back, but he’s not picking up.”

Rory Douglas would be running the farmer’s market at the open-air community center. Valentina was pretty sure he was leaving a lot of shocking messages for local artists and artisans this morning. Maggie was well known for the beautiful candles she poured during her school breaks and then sold at Cassidy Farm.

“Look,” Maggie said, holding up her phone.

The number of candles Rory was requesting really was astonishing. But it matched what he had talked to Valentina about.

“That’s right,” Valentina said, smiling. “But if it’s too much, you can just tell him how many you can make. He knows you make them for Cassidy Farm, too.”

“That’s just it,” Maggie said with a tremulous smile. “If this order is right, then I won’t have to wait tables this summer. I can just make candles.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Valentina said softly. The young teacher was such a hard worker. It was heartbreaking to think that she had been working a second job over the summer to make ends meet. But it meant the world to be part of helping her do something she enjoyed more instead.

Suddenly, Maggie was hugging her and both of them were crying a little.

It was funny, letting her emotions show in public was new for Valentina, but with help from her new family, she was starting to realize that it definitely agreed with her.

“What’s going on out here?” Mrs. Hastings asked with a smile as she slipped into the hallway to join them.

“Just a little good news,” Valentina said as she and Maggie pulled back from their embrace.

“I’m going to spend the whole summer making candles,” Maggie said happily. “Thanks to Valentina.”

“It takes a village,” Valentina said, quoting her dad’s favorite African proverb. “It definitely isn’t just because of me.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and Valentina couldn’t help laughing.

“I guess I’d better get back in there,” she said to Maggie. “I’m so glad you’ll do it.”

“Of course I’ll do it,” Maggie said, laughing.

Valentina headed back in, seating herself beside Tanner without kissing his cheek.

“She’s onboard?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, still feeling a little emotional about it.

“That’s great,” he said.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Well, my new boss isn’t as much fun to break in as my old one was,” he teased with a pretend thoughtful expression.

She elbowed him and then panicked, thinking the kids would tattle on her. But they were so busy working on their cards that they didn’t seem to have noticed.

“But it was a great day,” he said. “You left Darcy with a good playbook. She gives me a long leash, and I should be able to wrap things up in plenty of time to get started on the open-air market.”

“That’s great,” Valentina said.

He had told her that he would prioritize her project, but she would never let him leave Baz in the lurch. And she knew full well how many unexpected things could come up in a big project like that.

“And with plenty of time to take our honeymoon,” he added, winking at her.

They were going to stay at a bed and breakfast in Amish country for their honeymoon. Valentina was leaning into her new obsession with horses, and they were planning to visit several horse farms, and maybe even learn to drive a horse and buggy. She was pretty sure her abuelo would be proud of her for taking advantage of doing all the things he hadn’t been able to do. And she was expecting to enjoy the horse-themed activities enough for both of them.

And of course she was looking forward to romantic evenings with her new husband. She and Tanner were trying to set a good example for Zeke, so other than a handful of really amazing kisses, they were saving things for after the wedding. Tanner sometimes teased her about coming upstairs when he dropped her in front of her apartment every night, but in reality, she knew he was happy with their old-fashioned courtship.

Really, their only trouble was that they weren’t sure where they would come home to live after the honeymoon. Of course Tanner’s aunt and uncle really hoped they would decide to restore a house on the Williams Homestead and live among the family. But Tanner wasn’t sure it would be so easy to leave the apartment building where he had raised Zeke. They were thinking about all kinds of possibilities, including using the apartment as their shared office for planning and running the open-air community center, so that they would have an excuse to be there every day and continue to care for the residents who had become like family to Tanner and Zeke.

She was sure it would all work out in the end. After all, she knew she would be happy as long as she was with her two favorite guys.

“Valentina, look,” Zeke said softly, snuggling into her side. “It’s for you.”

Zeke had drawn three figures on his card—a tall man in a cowboy hat, a woman with long, dark hair, and a little boy with a smile so big that it took up almost all of his face.

“It’s our family, see?” he whispered to her, wrapping an arm around her neck.

The tears she had been trying to hold back before began to slide down her cheeks.

“Oh, who cares if we get in trouble, right boy?” Tanner said to Zeke.

The next thing she knew, each of the Williams boys was giving her a kiss on her cheek as the kids around the table giggled.

As far as Valentina was concerned, life just couldn’t get any sweeter than this.

***

Thanks for reading this special bonus scene from Cowboy’s Christmas Bridesmaid!