Page 20 of Architect's Christmas Nanny

Brad’s sister, Emma, was set to be married to the wealthy rancher who’d caused such a stir last year by buying up so much of the farmland around Trinity Falls. The whole family was very excited and everyone was busy preparing for the ceremony.

“Oh, I’m helping some with the dresses,” Annabelle admitted. “But Emma and her bridesmaids are working out all the details.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Shirley chimed in. “Byhelping out some, she means organizing all the food and cooking most of it.”

From all Jillian knew about Brad’s mother, that tracked perfectly.

“Let’s not get sidetracked, ladies,” Annabelle continued, but there was a clear note of pride in her voice. “Every year, each of us heads up a group of volunteers to make the Winter Wonderland happen. Betty Ann handles the community garage sale, Shirley coordinates the food offerings, and Ginny handles theunexpectedthings.”

“Like if someone doesn’t show up for another task,” Ginny explained with a gentle smile. “Or if someone faints or loses their tickets, or a child needs to win something and hasn’t yet.”

“You make sure all the kids get to win something?” Jillian asked, impressed.

“The little ones, yes,” Betty Ann said firmly. “No child should go home empty-handed.”

“My group has been collecting book donations,” Annabelle said. “I was hoping you might volunteer as part of the team that goes through them to make sure they’re ready for sale. We also pull out anything that might be good to donate to the children’s section at the library, and that goes on a separate table.”

“I’d be glad to,” Jillian said, feeling excited about the prospect of volunteering with a team. “Thanks so much for thinking of me.”

“Oh, I do like her,” Betty Ann said, patting Jillian’s arm.

Jillian felt a burst of warmth in her chest. Maybe her life was a little up in the air, and maybe her heart felt like it was sinking into the floor. But having a worthy purposeand a community around her, even for a little while, was just what she needed.

The next hourpassed quickly as she listened to the ladies make their plans and laugh about past festivals. Just a short amount of time with them allowed her to see not just how well the Winter Wonderland was run, but also to hear references to so many other events in town that this group had a hand in.

She was so drawn in that she didn’t even notice Brad’s arrival until Betty Ann tapped her hand.

“Hey there,” he said, his deep voice touching her heart as it always did when he spoke gently like this. “I was heading over to pick up Josie, and I saw you in the window. I wondered if you might like to join me.”

“Yes,” she said right away. “I mean, unless you all need me to stick around?”

“No, no, dear,” Annabelle said right away. “Josie will want to tell you all about her day.”

“Thank you,” Jillian told her. “This was really amazing. I can’t wait to lend a hand. I’m sure we have some books to donate. We really didn’t have time to sort through all our things.”

“You can bring them over to the community center,” Betty Ann told her. “And if you have children’s books, those can go over to Miss Caroline at the library. We let her pick through everything first since her budget is limited over there.”

Caroline was married to Brad’s brother, Logan. Theylived on the homestead too, but all the way on the opposite side. Josie had stayed with Logan for a month or two last year while Jillian was busy helping her sister, and she was pretty sure the amazing time Josie had with them was a big factor in Brad’s decision to move back to Trinity Falls.

“Oh, Caroline would love that,” Annabelle said with a fond smile. It was clear how much she adored her daughter-in-law.

“Great,” Jillian said. “We’ll definitely do that.”

“Thanks for letting me borrow her back, ladies,” Brad said in his charming way.

They all laughed and said their goodbyes before Jillian followed Brad outside toward his car.

The wind was so cold that she hurried to button up her coat. Now that she wasn’t distracted with her new friends, the thought of Brad and the pretty blonde lady slammed back into her head and her breath caught in her throat.

“You okay?” Brad asked as he opened the car door for her.

“It’s just really cold,” she said, hoping he would think that was a good enough answer.

She didn’t like being anything but honest with the man who had been the kindest and best of employers for almost ten years. But she also couldn’t tell him that seeing him with another woman hurt so much it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

You’re not in love with him, she told herself fiercely as he got into the car.You just haven’t been out in the world in a long time.

Playing house with Brad Williams had been a really nice way to spend her twenties. But the reality was that if she wanted a family of her own,shewas the one who ought to be going out with someone, and as quickly as possible.

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