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

“I’ll drop it off with Big Jim tomorrow when I go over,” Jared told him. “I think he’ll get a kick out of seeing how many of his neighbors want to help out.”

“How did you do this?” Cora asked, looking up from the sheet she held in her hand.

“He stood on a chair,” Sly said instantly. “Everyone looked at him like, wow. And it was so cool.”

“Thanks, Rocky,” Jared said with a smile. “But it had nothing to do with me. It was all about Big Jim and how much everyone loves him and wants to make sure his family has everything they need.”

Sly gave his mom a hug and Jared realized she had tears in her eyes.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“Just happy for little Jimmy,” she said.

“Should we celebrate?” he asked.

She smiled and nodded, and he swore her cheeks got a little pink.

“Sylvester, you have a choice to make for tonight,” she told him. “Jared brought over popcorn and a movie.”

“The first Rocky movie,” Jared put in.

“The first Rocky movie,” she said, nodding.

Sly was already jumping up and down a little.

“Or,” Cora said, “he can help you make decorations for the Christmas tree.”

Sylvester looked torn and for a moment, Jared swore he could see the gears turning in his head.

“I guess we have all year to watch Rocky,” he said at last. “But we want our tree to have more decorations now.”

“Great decision,” Jared told him right away, filing away the excellent excuse to come over again. “I can come back to watch the movie with you anytime. Are you ready to make decorations?”

“I’ll get started on snacks,” Cora said, smiling fondly at Sylvester and then turning her beautiful gray eyes to Jared.

It hit him suddenly that he was here even though he wasn’t working on the house, and she seemed really happy about it.

Is this a real friendship now?

Jared thought it was. But deep down, he hoped it was more than friendship that might be blossoming between them.

The evening passed peacefully. Jared sat at the table with Sly, teaching him how to make the simple paper ornaments his mother had taught him to do when he was a kid.

Cora brought them each a thick slice of warm cranberry bread and sat down to help. Together, the three of them made snowflakes and handprints and even a few yards of delicate chain from a stack of colored paper in Sly’s desk.

Christmas music still played on the radio and at one point when he looked up, Jared spotted some snowflakes drifting down outside.

“Looks like Christmas is coming,” he said, nodding to the window.

“It’s snowing,” Sly yelled out, delighted.

Jared and Cora watched as he scampered to the front window and gazed out, amazed.

“It probably won’t stick,” Jared warned him. “The real snow won’t come until January. But it’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“It’s just like in Narnia,” Sly said dreamily.

Jared looked to Cora, wondering where Narnia was. He’d thought they were from Virginia, and there certainly wasn’t much snow down that way.