Cowboy’s Christmas Baker (Trinity Falls: Village Christmas #1)

1. Mallory

MALLORY

Mallory Fisher gazed out the bakery window, watching flurries drift down over Trinity Falls.

The tiny snowflakes melted as they touched the sandstone sidewalks, but clung to the knit hats and brightly colored coats of the people who bustled through town holding their shopping bags with big smiles on their faces.

In spite of Mal’s aching heart, Trinity Falls kept right on going, as picture-perfect as any vision of Christmas you might find inside a snow globe.

Even the bakery smelled incredible today, a mixture of the warm cinnamon rolls she’d just taken out of the oven, yeast from the morning’s fresh bread, and a waft of chocolate from today’s attempt at a signature holiday treat.

And of course there was the rich aroma of fresh coffee, its steam swirling from the three stoneware mugs sitting on the table. One was pale with milk, another had a dash of cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg, and the third was black as night.

“I’m so sorry, Mal,” Ana said softly from across the table, her dark eyes filled with sympathy.

“He’s a colossal jerk,” Valerie announced from beside Mal. Her no-nonsense tone made Mal feel a little silly for not being over Declan by now.

As much as she’d had to fight not to feel sorry for herself this year, Mal also knew she should be deeply grateful.

Bad things happened—they were a part of life.

But she was incredibly lucky that her two best friends had her back.

Between Ana’s kindness and Valerie’s fearless honesty, Mal was always anchored, in spite of the storm around her.

And she knew the real reason she was feeling so low had a lot more to do with losing her mom earlier this year than it did with her pining over some unrequited crush.

Although finding out just this morning that the guy she’d had a thing for since elementary school was marrying someone else had certainly shaken her up a bit.

“He’s not a jerk,” Mal said carefully. “He just wasn’t into me like that. And Julie Rodman is a perfectly nice person.”

Valerie only rolled her eyes in response. Mal could hardly blame her. She didn’t love defending Declan and his new bride-to-be, but she was determined not to let herself be a bitter person.

“Anyone would think he was interested in you,” Ana said. “I mean, why else was he in here all the time?”

“This is the only shop with coffee on this side of the street,” Mal pointed out, gesturing to her espresso machine. “And we grew up together. Why shouldn’t he come in and say hello? It’s not his fault I had a crush on him.”

“You probably could have said something to him about it,” Valerie pointed out. “But ultimately, it’s his loss. You can do better.”

Mal bit her lip and nodded. There was no point arguing, even if she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to do any better than Declan Hawkins. Declan was her brother Dean’s best friend and she had known him long enough to know he was smart, funny, and kind.

Her fingers slipped into her apron pocket of their own accord, searching for her cell phone. There was one other person she wanted to talk to about all of this, but Mal couldn’t stop everything just to message her online buddy right now.

It was funny how often she wanted to do exactly that lately. Harrison had a knack for understanding her feelings, and he always knew exactly what to say to cheer her up.

“You should let us set you up with someone,” Ana, always the matchmaker, offered kindly.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Valerie practically growled.

Mal looked up in surprise. Valerie could be sharp-tongued at times, but her disdain was never directed at her friends.

But Valerie wasn’t talking to Ana. Her eyes were fixed on the door.

No, Mal thought to herself when she spotted the customer.

She was struck by a sudden urge to disappear into the back, but the door was already opening, sending the bells hanging over it jingling. The merry sound was pretty far from her current mood.

“Hey, Mal,” Julie Rodman said, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks pink. The woman looked like she was on top of the world.

And why wouldn’t she be?

“Hi, Julie,” Mal said, rising and heading for the counter.

Do not stare at the ring, she told herself sternly as she wondered what in the world the woman was doing in her shop.

“It’s beautiful out there, isn’t it?” Julie practically sang. “I love the holidays.”

“Me too,” Mal said, a little tightly. “How can I help you?”

“Well, I wanted to order a wedding cake,” Julie said, the twinkle in her eyes telling Mal she was expecting a big reaction.

“That’s wonderful,” Mal told her as warmly as she could. “I heard about your engagement, and I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Julie said with a huge smile. “The wedding’s not for six months, but I wanted to make sure to lock you in now. Everyone knows you’re the best baker in Pennsylvania, and I want my fiancé to have the best, no expense spared.”

“That’s very kind,” Mal managed.

Julie continued, waxing poetic about flavors, decorations, and the number of wedding guests, which was pretty large for their little town. Her budget was pretty impressive too. On paper, this was a dream job. Mal did her best to keep up, jotting as much as she could in her little notebook.

“So what do you think?” Julie finished up breathlessly.

“It sounds like a wonderful project,” Mal told her. “I’d love to do it. I have a little questionnaire I like to use for inspiration on bigger projects like this one. Can I send you home with it and have you give it some thought and fill it out for me? We can meet up again when you’re ready.”

“Of course,” Julie said happily, taking the form Mal had placed on the counter. “What a great idea. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“That’s great, Julie,” Mal said.

“Hey, can I get a coffee with milk and two sugars for the road?” Julie asked.

“Of course,” Mal told her.

She quickly prepared the beverage and held it out to Julie, but forgot not to look at her hand during the exchange.

As Julie reached for her coffee, the ring on her finger caught the light perfectly. It was just a simple gold band with a tiny chip of a diamond, but the sight of it deflated something in Mal’s chest.

“On the house,” she managed, turning away and pretending to fuss with the mugs hanging on hooks behind the counter so Julie wouldn’t have to see the unshed tears burning in her eyes.

“Oh, wow,” Julie chirped. “Thank you so much. I’ll be in touch really soon.”

A moment later, the bells over the door jingled again and she turned back to her friends, determined to keep it together.

“Oh, honey,” Ana said.

And that was all it took. To her horror, Mal let out a loud, awful sob and hot tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“For Pete’s sake,” Valerie bit out, sliding out of her seat and moving to turn the sign on the door from Open to Closed.

“We’ve got you,” Ana said, patting the seat next to hers and opening her arms to Mal.

Mal went to her, collapsing beside Ana and letting herself melt against her best friend as she cried like a baby.

“I can’t believe she had the nerve to march in here like that,” Valerie grumbled as she came back to sit across from the two of them, facing the windows like she was on lookout duty for any more unwanted visitors.

“Everyone knows you had a thing for Declan. Did she really have to rub your nose in it like that?”

“It’s fine,” Mal said, sniffling. “I really don’t think she knew.”

“Mal’s right,” Ana agreed. “Julie’s not like that.”

“Why her though?” Valerie wondered out loud, ever loyal to Mal.

“She’s nice,” Mal admitted honestly. “She really is. I’m happy for them. Or at least I’m trying to be.”

And it was true. Julie Rodman was sweet as sugar. She worked at Gabriel’s Drugstore and volunteered at the animal shelter. If Mal’s brother Dean had brought her home as his fiancée, Mal would have been thrilled.

It was just a little harder to accept when it was Declan, since Mal had imagined her own wedding with him more times than she cared to admit.

“I’m s-sorry,” she said, embarrassed to find herself crying again.

“Hey,” Ana said. “You’ve had a hard year. Just let it out.”

Ana was talking about Mal’s mom, of course.

Both of her friends knew Mal well enough to know that even though this Declan thing was a bummer, losing her mom was the real reason she was having a hard year.

Lila Fisher had always been healthy and active.

Her heart attack had taken everyone by surprise.

One day she was a busy math teacher, planning out her retirement and posting a steady stream of funny memes in the family group chat. The next she was gone.

That loss hit harder and deeper than any news from Declan Hawkins ever could. It shadowed every aspect of Mal’s days, making her world a little less bright. And on the occasions when she let herself forget for a moment, the grief sometimes hit her again suddenly, taking her breath away.

But thinking about her mom reminded her of what she actually had to do today, and that was something to actually feel good about. She’d been looking forward to it all week, in fact.

“No, no,” she said, sitting up and grabbing a napkin from the holder to dry her eyes. “I have to get it together. I’m showing someone around town today.”

“Really?” Valerie asked, sipping her black coffee. “Who?”

“A guy from my grief support group, actually,” Mal said. “He’s moving out here, and I told him I’d walk him around town.”

“I see,” Valerie said, arching a sculpted brow.

“It’s not like that,” Mal said, smiling. “His name’s Harrison. He’s a sweet old man who lost his wife. And he’s been really kind to me since I joined the group online.”

“That’s so nice,” Ana said.

“When I shared that I had a bakery, he messaged me privately,” Mal went on. “He’d been trying to figure out some of his wife’s recipes for his daughter, and he thought maybe I could help.”

“That is actually kind of sweet,” Valerie allowed.

“We message each other once in a while now,” Mal said.

She didn’t exactly want to admit to her friends that they messaged each other every day, usually several times. And she really didn’t want to tell them that Harrison Law’s messages had come to be one of the highlights of her day.

They already worried about her enough.

“Anyway, when he let me know that he was moving out here for a fresh start, I offered to show him around,” she continued.

“He spent time in Trinity Falls as a kid, but hasn’t really seen it since.

Plenty has changed here, but mainly I just thought it would be good for him to see a friendly face when he first arrives. He’s been through a lot.”

“You’re a good person,” Ana told her, squeezing her arm.

“I didn’t think I’d be feeling so low today,” Mal admitted. “I hate for him to see me like this.”

“Why don’t I take him around?” Ana offered. “My mom can handle the shop on her own today. That way you can breathe for a minute and he’ll still have a friendly face waiting for him.”

“Oh, no, Ana…” Mal began.

But she trailed off as the door swung open, sending the bells jingling again.

“We’re closed,” Valerie said firmly.

“Hey, there,” a deep, masculine voice said. “I’m not here as a customer. Mallory told me to come by. She’s supposed to show me around today.”

It was Harrison. And he was early.

Mal turned to greet him and nearly gasped out loud.

The figure in the doorway wasn’t the stooped old man she had been expecting.

Harrison Law had to be well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders that practically filled the doorframe. His dark hair hung slightly long in front of his bright blue eyes. And he had the chiseled jawline of a movie star.

Beside him stood a beautiful little girl with two blonde braids and a solemn expression.

“Never mind,” Ana whispered in Mal’s ear, as she stared agog at her online friend. “I think you’ve got this.”