Teacher's Christmas Cowboy (Trinity Falls Sweet Romance - Icicle Christmas #5)

But of course he couldn’t answer, so she pictured his sweet face in front of her instead, cheered by his warm smile, even if it was only a gift from her imagination.

And she couldn’t help but think of the way Jared sometimes smiled at her with that same genuine warmth.

13

JARED

Jared drove over to Cora’s house after a long day helping out at Big Jim’s and a quick shower at home.

“We hardly see you anymore,” Mom had said as he headed for the back door. “Are we going to see Cora and Sylvester again soon?”

She said it like she liked the idea of seeing more of them, like she thought it was reasonable that he might be getting serious. He knew he should feel a lick of panic on his insides, but lately he had been feeling like maybe, just maybe Cora was starting to open her heart to him.

“We’ll see, Ma,” he told her. “I’m working on it.”

“I’ve never known a man to win a woman by milking another man’s cows,” she teased, her eyes twinkling. “But I hope your case is the exception.”

“Me too,” Jared said, laughing as he pulled on his coat.

She shook her head and turned back to the cranberry bread she was slicing.

“Don’t worry,” he told her as he kissed the top of her head on his way out. “You’ll always be my favorite girl.”

“Wait,” she said. “Why don’t you take her over some of this? It’s still warm.”

“I can’t say no to that,” he said, watching her wrap up a whole loaf in foil.

The fragrant bundle sat on the seat beside him now, and somehow the sight of the simple gift from his mother to the woman he was falling for filled his heart with hope.

He pulled in the drive and was surprised when he got out and made it to the steps without Sylvester bursting out of the front door to greet him and ask how far he had gotten in the book they were reading.

But as he approached, it became clear why no one had noticed his arrival. Light from inside poured out onto the porch and he could hear Leona Lewis’s “One More Sleep” playing inside, the fun Christmas tune making him smile.

Jared knew he should knock on the door, but when he spotted movement inside, he stopped for a moment to watch Cora dancing around with Sylvester, both of them laughing their heads off as they moved their arms and spun with abandon to the cheerful music.

Cora’s hair was down around her shoulders instead of up in its usual smooth ponytail. Her dark tresses moved like silk as she shimmied and giggled at Sylvester’s amazing dance moves.

She looked beautiful, but she was always beautiful in Jared’s eyes. What had him frozen in his tracks tonight was that she looked so young.

Jared had noticed many things about Cora, how smart she was, how responsible, and how kind. But tonight, his heart ached for the carefree young woman he saw letting go and enjoying herself with her son.

I wish I could make her feel that way more often, he thought to himself suddenly.

“Jared,” Sylvester called out from the other side of the window.

Quickly he knocked on the door, holding the still-warm loaf of cranberry bread in front of him.

The door opened a moment later. Cora was still smiling and her cheeks were flushed.

“Hi,” she said, her expression a little embarrassed.

“Hi,” he replied, already lost in her gray eyes.

“What’s that?” Sylvester demanded, his eyes fixed on the fragrant foil-wrapped treat Jared had already forgotten he was holding.

“My mom sent me over with a loaf of her homemade cranberry bread,” he said.

“Oh, that was so nice of her,” Cora said. “Come on in. Shall we have some now?”