Mallory #2
Once they had settled down again, they unpacked the treats Mal had brought over, and her dad started up a pan of bacon and another of eggs.
While the food was cooking, Harrison’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket.
“I’m sorry to do this on Christmas Day,” he said. “But I’ve got to take this.”
Mal assumed it was one of his workers when he picked up with a polite Merry Christmas. But that was followed up with a Yes, sir.
And then he handed the phone to Mal.
“Hello,” she said, giving Harrison a curious look.
“Hey there, Mallory,” a familiar voice said. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Webb,” Mallory said, her eyes widening at the idea of talking to her landlord so unexpectedly. “How are you?”
“It’s just Simon,” he laughed. “And it’s Christmas, so there’s a little magic in the air over here. How about for you?”
“Same,” Mal said, looking around at her dad enjoying his day with Harrison and Katie and little Peppermint.
“Well, your boyfriend called me with a question and I gave it some thought,” Simon replied.
Your boyfriend…
“Okay,” Mal said, wondering what was going on.
“He mentioned that you might want to buy the place one day,” Simon said. “And I’ve thought about it, and I have a proposal for you.”
“Y-you do?” Mal asked, her heart thundering.
Simon went on, laying out an option for her to buy the place with him financing it, at a price that felt too good to be true.
“If you have a good year, you can pay it down faster, of course,” he said. “But that’s the idea in general. Want to give it some thought?”
“Isn’t it worth a lot more than that?” Mal asked, knowing it was the worst possible thing to say in a negotiation, but not wanting to take advantage of the man who had been so kind to her.
“Well now that’s a good question,” Simon said.
“To you? Maybe so. You’ve got a nice business built and a good kitchen too.
But I don’t see it as my place to take advantage.
Besides, at my age, I’d like to see it passed along to capable hands without a lot of fuss—one less thing for me to worry about.
So if that price works for you, it works for me.
No need to answer now though, I expect you’ll want to think about it. ”
“I don’t have to think about it,” she told him right away. “If you mean it, I’m in. And… well, thank you.”
“Thank you, young lady,” Simon said warmly. “I’ll see if Levi Williams can help us with the paperwork on Monday. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she murmured, feeling like she was in a dream.
“What was that all about?” her father asked.
“I’m buying the building,” she said, dancing around the room. “I’m buying the building.”
Katie laughed and got up to dance around with her.
“I assume you had something to do with this, son,” Mal’s dad said to Harrison.
“Very little,” Harrison said. “I knew it was something Mal wanted, and I just reached out to the man. I thought I’d have to play hardball, but he was a pushover. Said he’d actually been wondering when she would ask.”
“Well done,” her dad said thoughtfully.
Before long, they had all eaten until they were stuffed and there was wrapping paper everywhere from the presents.
Katie was curled up on the floor by the fireplace with Peppermint in her lap, reading one of her new books while the adults sipped coffee and looked out at the softly falling snow.
Mal’s dad headed out to the kitchen for a refill and Harrison hopped up to join him, coming back in a few minutes later, looking excited.
Mal looked to her dad, but he just smiled at her kind of dreamily.
“We’ve got one more present,” Harrison said.
“You did too much for us already,” Mal protested, her hand touching the pretty snowflake necklace that he and Katie had given her and thinking of the freezer full of steaks he’d brought over for her dad.
“This one is for me,” Harrison said. “Maybe.”
Katie dropped her book and scrambled up, Peppermint following right behind.
“Mallory,” Harrison said, dropping to one knee. “You’ve opened up our hearts again, and made us feel like we’re home. You make me want to be a kinder and better man, every single day. Katie and I want you in our lives for keeps.”
“And Benjamin Franklin,” Katie whispered.
“And Benjamin Franklin too,” Harrison added. “Will you be part of our family? Will you marry me?”
“Are you sure?” Mal murmured, unable to believe that this was all happening so quickly. “This is so different from what you said before…”
She thought back to when he’d told her he didn’t want to marry again.
“I was wrong,” Harrison said, his voice deep with emotion. “I’m not ashamed to admit it. I want to share everything with you, a marriage, a home, a daughter…” Katie nudged him. “And a cat. And maybe one day, our family will be even bigger.”
“Dad,” Mal whispered, turning to her father.
He had told her to be careful, said not to get involved with a man who already had a number one girl.
But he was smiling at her now with unshed tears in his eyes as he nodded.
“It’s your decision, Sugarplum,” he said. “But it’s probably worth saying that I was wrong too. A man can have more than one number one girl.”
His eyes went to Katie, and Mal realized he wasn’t just talking about Harrison, Katie was quickly becoming her dad’s other number one girl too.
“Oh, Katie,” Mal said. “Is this really okay with you? To share your dad and your home?”
“If you say yes, you get the prettiest ring,” Katie said with pleading eyes. “And you get to come live with us and we can bake every day if we want.”
Mal turned back to Harrison. His blue eyes were trained on her, an expression of patience and calm on his handsome face, like he could wait forever if he had to.
But he didn’t need to. Because Mal couldn’t wait to marry him.
“Yes,” she said at last.
Harrison rose and pulled her into his arms.
There was a flurry of joyful noise around them as Katie squealed, and Peppermint barked, and Mal’s dad chuckled.
But Mal only had eyes for her fiancé as he bent to kiss her.
It was a chaste kiss, the kind you wouldn’t mind your dad and soon-to-be stepdaughter seeing.
But the warmth of his mouth and the way his big hand wrapped around her cheek, as if he was desperate to hold her still with him forever, sent her heart racing and little fireworks of happiness bursting inside her chest.
“Thank you,” he growled, pulling back and gazing into her eyes. “Thank you, Mallory.”
“The ring, Dad,” Katie squeaked. “Don’t forget the ring.”
Harrison pulled a pretty wooden box from his pocket and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful bezel-set emerald, twinkling happily on a golden band.
“It’s so beautiful,” Mal breathed. “Oh, Harrison.”
“If you really like it, you have your friend Valerie to thank,” he told her with a wry smile. “She wasn’t kidding that she had the ring ready. She didn’t even let me look at anything else, just said this was the one, and that the setting is just right for a baker.”
“And the emerald is almost as pretty as your eyes,” Katie added, tugging on Mal’s sweater.
“Thank you both,” Mal said, bending to give Katie a big hug.
Katie laughed with joy and ran off to find Peppermint and Mal’s dad, who had headed back to the kitchen.
“And thank you,” she said, turning back to Harrison.
“I’m so glad you said yes,” he murmured, his eyes on hers with an intensity that made her pulse race. “I know it’s not easy for you to open your heart like this. I promise you won’t regret it.”
She went up on her toes to kiss him again, her heart filled of so much love it might have hurt if it weren’t so very, very sweet.
***
Thanks for reading Cowboy’s Christmas Baker!