Page 33 of Cowboy’s Christmas Baker

“We’re trying to make like a million of them to hang up out there,” Amelia explained, sliding her the other pair of scissors. “There’s no right or wrong way to do it, but I like cutting them into a square first.”

She immediately began to demonstrate on her next sheet of paper.

Katie watched for a minute, then grabbed her own sheet and got to work, the two of them snipping intently away at their creations.

“We’re cousins, you know,” Amelia said in a friendly way.

Katie nodded. She didn’t look away from her snowflake, but Harrison thought he saw a hint of a smile trying to peek out, and was glad all over again that she was doing this.

“Harrison,” Sam said, ducking her head back in, this time without the baby. “Would you mind helping me with the outside decorations?”

He kept his eyes on Katie until she looked up at him and nodded once.

“I’d be glad to,” he told Sam, following her out to the reception area.

Two of the guys were sitting on the floor, stacking up blocks for Sam’s baby, who crowed with delight as Sam set him down on the floor again so he could knock them down.

“Do you have Ezra for a bit, Fallon?” Sam asked the man with the big, dark eyes.

“Of course,” he replied.

“Thank you,” she said.

He nodded to her.

“And thank you so much for helping out,” Sam told Harrison. “We had some string lights out there, but Captain Anderson really wanted this set instead.”

She held up a box of lights with big colorful bulbs, like the ones his grandparents always had on their tree.

“Nice,” he said, nodding.

“His son’s grandmother had this kind,” Sam said with a fond smile, echoing Harrison’s own thoughts. “So he thought it would be nice to have them here too.”

“Is Anderson the one who runs this place?” Harrison asked. He’d heard something from his great-aunt about the man getting married last Christmas. It was a juicy story with a second chance and a fake wedding, and a little boy who allegedly dreamed up the whole thing in an attempt to bring them together.

“That’s a good question,” Sam said, smiling. “He was, but we share that responsibility now. He promoted me to co-director.”

“Wow, congratulations,” Harrison said. “That’s a great promotion.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Sam said, shaking her head as she unpacked the lights. “We’ve both got families, so we cover for each other a lot, which has been a lifesaver. And it’s been wonderful to be in on the big picture planning side of the center, not just in the trenches, rolling things out.”

“So what’s the vision for the coming year?” Harrison asked.

“We’ve got another space up by the open-air market,” she told him. “And we had planned to move our day-to-day up there.”

“Okay,” Harrison said, hanging the first section of lights from a hook.

“Wow, you don’t even need the ladder,” Sam said, her eyes twinkling.

“Yeah,” he said. “Being tall comes in handy once in a while.”

She laughed and handed him another section.

“So you’re moving things to your other location?” he asked.

“That was the plan,” she said. “But you see how it is in the village. People stop in and say hello or drop off donations while they’re in town for other things.”

“It feels more like you’re part of the community here,” Harrison said, nodding.