Page 72 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

“All your favourites.” She returned his kiss but her nose was wrinkled when she pulled back. “Shower.”

“On it,” he promised.

Dinner was filled with overlapping conversations and moments of sheer amusement.

“Do horses need helmets in outer space?” Tyler demanded. Turns out his picture was a rocket ship loaded with horses, and this was the one area he wasn’t sure about.

“Sorry, Ty, but the rockets going off are going to terrify them in the first place,” Sasha told him.

Jinx raised a brow. “Should logic really be involved in this answer?

“Right. Don't crush his artistic vision,” Emma told Sasha.

“I’m supporting the horses.”

Emma’s nose wrinkled. “The horses are imaginary.”

“Doesn’t mean they deserve to be traumatized.”

A guffaw escaped Aiden. “Valid point.”

Tyler had been considering hard as he’d watched the conversation. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “My horses like rockets” he told them all with a firm nod. Matter settled, he dug into his potatoes.

The adults at the table all exchanged smiles before moving to the next topic of conversation.

Aiden accepted the gravy from Tamara. “The hall inspection schedule finally came through.”

“When?” Tamara asked.

“Final inspections should be done by the middle of November. There are still a few things that could delay us, but if they go well, we’ll have the occupancy permit before December.”

“That’s great news,” Caleb said.

“It is,” Aiden agreed. “The whole project has gone better than anyone had a right to expect.”

“Which means,” Tamara said, pointing her fork at him then around the table, “people can stop dressing as if they got dressed in a wind tunnel inside a thrift store.”

Emma laughed so suddenly she had to put down her water glass. “Not a chance. The high school staff are all in for Tacky Threads for October.”

Caleb glanced at her. “The teachers?”

“Every one of them.” She grinned. “Mr. Dunlop wore orange plaid pants yesterday with a purple paisley shirt and a green vest covered in embroidered gophers.”

Tyler’s eyes widened. “Gophers?”

“Fancy gophers,” Emma assured him. “Today Mrs. Campbell had one leopard-print boot and one silver boot, a fishing-lure necklace, and earrings shaped like tiny rubber chickens.”

Petra covered her mouth. “I need pictures.”

“Everyone took pictures. The yearbook club is having a blast.”

“Good.”

“The funniest part is they’re so competitive,” Emma continued. “Mr. Hanson accused Mrs. Cowalski of buying new clothes instead of using thrift-store stuff, and she made him smell the inside of one boot to prove it was used.”

Aiden choked on his drink.

Tamara leaned back in her chair, laughing. “I take back everything I said. The Throwdown can stay.”