Page 5 of Cowboy’s Christmas Baker

“How about Carla’s Place?” he reminded her.

“Right,” she said with a funny look on her face. “Yes, of course. Let me just grab something.”

She jogged back behind the counter, her fiery ponytail bouncing in a way he found almost hypnotic, and came back with a big box.

That’s really Mallory…

“Okay,” she said, setting the box on one of the tables to pull on her coat before picking it up again. “Here we go. See you, Ana. Bye, Valerie.”

“Have fun,” the girl with the bob said, giving Mallory a sly smile.

“Bye,” the other girl added.

Harrison let go of Katie’s hand to open the door. She was only eight, but he was sure that she wouldn’t run into the street or get distracted by a puppy or an ice cream truck. He was proud of her being well-behaved, but sometimes he wished she’d get excited enough about something to be a flight risk.

“Are you really closing just for us?” he asked Mal as she stepped past him into the flurries, the faint scent of vanilla trailing after her on the breeze.

Stop noticing her hair…

And her eyes…

And her smell…

“No, no,” she assured him. “My helper is getting here in a few minutes. She’ll open up again.”

“It’s good you have help,” Harrison said.

“She’s only part-time,” Mallory said, shrugging. “She’s a college student, so she just works during her breaks. Actually, it’s her senior year, so next Christmas I’ll be on my own again if I don’t find someone else.”

She seemed resigned about it, though Harrison figured it ought to be easy enough to find another kid to hire.

It’s grief, he reminded himself. Soon after losing Penny, he’d felt exhausted and overwhelmed by even the smallest decisions and challenges.

Now I’m just angry all the time.

Mallory shifted the big box in her arms as they set off down the street.

“Can I carry that for you?” he offered automatically, indicating the box.

“That would be great,” she said with a smile as she handed it over. “Thank you.”

“Hey, Mal,” a lady whispered loudly in their direction, her head poking out of the open door of the hairdresser’s and glancing around. “Have you seen Sloane? Do you know if he’s with her?”

“Haven’t seen them yet today,” Mallory replied.

“Thanks,” the woman replied, nodding to Mallory and giving Harrison a quick once-over before ducking back inside.

“We’ve got some excitement in town,” Mallory said, smiling up at Harrison. “I mean, by our standards it’s exciting.”

“What’s going on?” he asked, not sure if he was more intrigued by the subject or the way her cheeks had gone pink in the frosty breeze.

“There’s a reporter here in the village,” she confided. “His name is Kai Blackstone, and he’s here to do a write-up on Trinity Falls. Sloane Greenfield is showing him around. She’s one of the local real estate agents.”

“What’s it for?” Harrison asked.

“There’s a big competition for Best Small Town in America,” Mallory said. “We’ll never win, but it’s still kind of exciting. And maybe we could make the top hundred or something. Though even that doesn’t seem too likely, since no one has seen the guy smile yet. I guess he’s not usually on the rural beat.”

Mallory was right, of course, Trinity Falls was a sweet little place, but it didn’t have the slick, expensive feel of the towns that always wound up at the top of those lists.