Girls' Night Out
Girls’ Night Out
Heart Falls Vignette Collection: Vol. 2
Vivian Arend
Contents
Message from Vivian
Heart Falls Series Chronological Reading Order
Heart Falls Family Tree
Glamour & Truth
1. Julia
2. Zach
Ashton’s Birthday Surprise
1. Ashton
2. Sonora
3. Ashton
Mischief at the Fire Hall
1. Madison
2. Ryan
Sharing Secrets
1. Rose
A Forever Family
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
7. Interlude: A Wedding
8. Interlude: A Wedding
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
About the Author
Message from Vivian
After the happily ever afters, their stories go on.
* * *
One of the great parts of writing a long family saga is revisiting characters who have already found their happily ever after. Once again, we’re diving back into Heart Falls, only this time we’re also sneaking a little ahead for a couple of stories.
* * *
This collection contains a brand-new short story for Walker and Ivy Stone as well. I’m so glad to be able to share this important moment in their lives.
Check the intros first to see where the individual stories fit into the full series if you want to avoid spoilers for books you haven’t yet read! There’s a reading order on the next page if you want to make sure you’ve read all the books so far. I will admit I overlap stories at times, though, so it’s occasionally a bit of a tangle. Plus, I’ve jumped around a little between series, so if you’ve missed any, now’s the time to catch up!
* * *
I’ve also included a who’s who this go-round to help you remember names and places.
* * *
I hope these stories make you smile.
* * *
With love from me and your friends in Heart Falls.
Heart Falls Series Chronological Reading Order
A Rancher’s Heart (The Stones of Heart Falls, Book 1)
Surprised at Bootstomp Point (Heart Falls Vignette Collection Vol.1)
A Rancher’s Song (The Stones of Heart Falls, Book 2)
A Firefighter’s Christmas Gift (Holidays in Heart Falls, Book 1)
A Rancher’s Bride (The Stones of Heart Falls, Book 3)
Heartfelt at Heart Falls (Heart Falls Vignette Collection Vol.1)
The Cowgirl’s Forever Love (The Colemans of Heart Falls, Book 1)
A Wild Horse Wedding (Heart Falls Vignette Collection Vol.1)
The Cowgirl’s Secret Love (The Colemans of Heart Falls, Book 2)
The Cowgirl’s Chosen Love (The Colemans of Heart Falls, Book 3)
Glamour & Truth (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 2)
A Soldier’s Christmas Wish (Holidays in Heart Falls, Book 2)
Oh, Baby! (Heart Falls Vignette Collection Vol.1)
A Hero’s Christmas Hope (Holidays in Heart Falls, Book 3)
Ashton’s Birthday Surprise (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 2)
A Rancher’s Love (The Stones of Heart Falls, Book 4)
A Cowboy’s Christmas List (Holiday in Heart Falls, Book 4)
Mischief at the Fire Hall (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 2)
A Rancher’s Christmas Kiss (Holiday in Heart Falls, Book 5)
Sharing Secrets (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 2)
A Forever Family (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 2)
Rose’s One Night to Forever (Heart Falls Vignette & Novella Collection: Vol. 3)
Still to come:
A Cowboy’s Claim (The Skyes of Heart Falls, Book 1)
A Cowboy’s Bride (The Skyes of Heart Falls, Book 2)
A Cowboy’s Trust (The Skyes of Heart Falls, Book 3)
And others.
Heart Falls Family Tree
Glamour & Truth
Girls’ night out is always a special evening. This time, Julia Blushing will not only enjoy the company but learn a few lessons about making her guy happy. And when we jump to just before the new year, Zach Sorenson gets a special reminder of exactly how well she learned that lesson!
* * *
Featuring: Hanna Ford, Tamara Stone, Karen Marlette, Lisa Coleman, and Julia Blushing. (AKA, the four Whiskey Creek sisters and Hanna from A Firefighter’s Christmas Gift.)
* * *
Timeline: This scene starts during The Cowgirl’s Chosen Love
1
Julia
November, Lone Pine ranch
“I’ve got all the extra bits and pieces we need.” Hanna Ford gestured at the fabric piled on her living room table. “Only this part isn’t my forte. I’m a cleanup kind of girl. Making the mess is a little harder.”
Julia Blushing laughed as she stepped forward to help her new friend. Since arriving in Heart Falls the previous April, she’d had plenty of time to get to know her sisters and some of the women in the community.
Tonight’s girls’ night out activity promised to be an eye-opener, in more ways than one.
A week earlier, Hanna had looped Julia in and suggested that they set up a boudoir shoot. They’d brainstormed how to run the session in a low-key way, acting as their own photographers. When they emailed the idea to everyone in their group, along with a list of items to bring, the plan was greeted with enthusiasm. A few members of their regular group couldn’t make it, but the ones who could were fully on board.
Hanna’s husband, Brad, hadn’t been told the details, but he’d willingly taken their daughter out for the evening to leave the house empty for mischief.
“I can take care of this part,” Julia promised. “You finish getting the rest of the important stuff together.”
“You mean the food and drinks? That I have under control,” Hanna said.
“Pour me a drink, then, because I think we’ll all need something under our belts before we start.” Julia picked up one of the sheets Hanna had left on the table and began strategically draping it over a couple of chairs and pinning it to the curtains as a backdrop.
She’d barely finished when Hanna held forward a tumbler full of ice and something fruity. “Here. Strawberry mojito. Not very festive, but also not tequila.”
“Thanks.” Julia laughed before she tucked the final edge of the sheet between two chair cushions then took the liquid offering. She lifted it in a toast. “To an evening full of lots of blushing.”
Hanna’s cheeks flushed. “So it would seem. But since this is self-inflicted, I’ve got nobody to blame but me.”
Before Julia could respond, a loud bang and shout rang from the front door. “Hello. We’re letting ourselves in.”
A moment later Julia’s three sisters entered the room together, conversation swelling as if there were a dozen of them. Tamara caught Hanna in a hug, Karen put down an armload of snacks, and Lisa went straight to the draped fabric, hands planted on her hips as she examined it decisively.
“Make yourself at home,” Hanna said without a trace of sarcasm. The petite woman was just so damn sweet and innocent, which made it all the funnier that she was the one who’d come up with the theme for the evening.
Lisa twirled, rubbing her hands together. “I cannot believe it took this long for us to have a boudoir shoot. I am so looking forward to this.”
“It’ll be fun,” Tamara agreed, “but let’s make a pact right now. All pictures stay priv
ate unless we choose to put them out there.”
“Definitely.” Hanna nodded seriously. “Part of the reason I didn’t hire a real photographer was the money, but also, even if none of the pictures we take on our phones turn out great, we’ll still have the fun of doing something together.”
Karen had found the pitcher of drinks and poured a round for everyone. “Trust me, odds are we’ll have at least a few good pictures in the end.”
“Screw the pictures,” Lisa said with exaggerated flair. “I mean, I agree in principle. Considering how awesome the material, the pictures are bound to turn out gorgeous.” She gestured to the women around her. “But the whole point of boudoir is to celebrate our amazingness and absolute personification of sexiness.”
“In other words, a fuck you to a society that says my post-baby body is no longer drool-worthy?” Tamara asked with a smile. She’d settled on the couch, the rest of the group gathering around and getting comfortable.
“Pretty much,” Hanna agreed.
“I will say I have a fairly healthy attitude toward my body, and yes, I’m looking forward to celebrating that. But I’m also looking for a good Christmas present for Finn. Because not only are these pictures going to make me happy, but I really hope one or two make him happy as well,” Karen said.
Tamara raised her glass. “Hallelujah, Hanna. You solved my Christmas dilemma. Our husbands will all say thank you down the road.”
“Oops, we’d better kick Lisa out,” Karen teased. “No husband.”
Julia held her tongue. She and Zach were legally married, but their actual relationship was a lot more complicated.
“Shut up. Just because you decided you wanted to put a ring on it, doesn’t mean Josiah and I have to cave to antiquated societal norms. Permanently shacking up is like a step beyond marriage because there’s no paperwork demanding we stick together.” Lisa dipped her chin firmly then stuck out her tongue. “So there.”
A trickle of laughter danced around the room. “For a moment I was going to say that was an amazingly mature thought process, but then you had to go and reveal your true colours at the end.” Tamara clucked disapprovingly, dodging the pillow Lisa tossed at her.
“Speaking of sex,” Lisa began.
Karen snorted, wiping at her mouth as she apologized. “Were we speaking of sex?”
“We were bound to at some point,” Lisa said pragmatically. She leaned forward. “Just an FYI, since lifelong learning is a goal I aspire to, I found this wildly entertaining website last week. WowYes.”
Julia and the others paused as Lisa fell silent.
“We’re waiting. Great podcasts? YouTube? Cooking show? Oh, wait. You said sex.” Julia pretended to be shocked. “You’re sending us to a porn site?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of ruining your fun. Just thought I’d share that I bought a membership. Josiah and I are working through some of the suggestions, and totally TMI, but holy fucking moly, I might have passed out from my orgasm the other night.”
Hanna’s cheeks were glowing hot enough to heat the entire room. “Um. Good for you?”
Tamara patted Hanna on the arm. “It takes all types, honey, and Lisa’s definitely an extra type. Exhibitionist, extrovert, extra out-there.”
“Hey, I resemble that remark.” Lisa winked at her own bad joke.
Tamara put her glass down decisively. “Okay, somebody’s gotta go first, so to get this show onto a slightly less risqué topic, I volunteer. Let me get changed.”
She stood, grabbing an oversize purse off the table and heading to the bathroom.
“Any ideas where you want to pose?” Hanna tossed after her.
Tamara glanced back over her shoulder, a mischievous smile flashing. “Let’s use the kitchen.”
She vanished from sight, leaving Julia to exchange confused but happy smiles with the three remaining women.
“Well, this could be interesting.” Julia got to her feet, bringing out her phone. “Hanna, did you find any suggestions for the best way to take shots?”
“A few. Don’t use terrible props. Watch the angle of your shots so it doesn’t feel as if the model is about to tip over. Don’t take pictures from too far away, don’t try to get too close. Try not to chop off limbs—”
“Always a good suggestion when you’re taking pictures in a kitchen,” Lisa quipped. She moved aside one of the chairs at the kitchen table, glancing around the neat area with an assessing eye. “I guess we’ll wait to see what Tamara has in mind.”
It didn’t take long before Coleman sister number two returned, her dark hair combed straight over her shoulders, a fuzzy robe wrapped around her long, sturdy body. “I’m ready for my debut,” Tamara teased.
She walked to the sink and pivoted, resting her hands on the counter behind her hips.
Lisa had her phone out, but she sniffed disapprovingly. “Hon, hate to tell you this, but the instructions said to bring something to wear that made you feel, you know, glamorous. This is what you look like every morning. I know this because I lived with you for six months.”
“Scratch that. We lived with her for years, and this is what she’s always looked like in the morning,” Karen corrected.
“Except for that time when she had the hair disaster.” Lisa shook her head, a horrified expression crossing her face.
“Dear Lord, that’s right.” A shudder shook Karen’s torso.
“The bangs. The bangs were simply—”
“Oh my God, shut up,” Tamara said with a laugh, pushing her crimson glasses a little more firmly on her nose. She turned her gaze to Hanna and Julia. “I’d apologize for those two, but they’re not my responsibility.”
Hanna giggled. “You guys are terrible to each other, but it’s clear how much you love being terrible to each other. I like that.”
Tamara winked then clapped her hands decisively. “All right. Enough teasing. This is me, celebrating my awesomeness, six months post-baby, a bunch of years post-eighteen.” She turned her gaze on Lisa. “And I’ll have you know, part of what makes me feel powerful and complete is that I have an amazing husband and incredible children. They aren’t who I am, but they’ve filled a part in me that makes me happy. And the robe in the morning is a part of that.”
“Preach it, sister,” Lisa offered enthusiastically. “Fuzzy robe your heart out, then.”
Tamara brought out her own phone, cranking up a country station. She put it on the counter a few paces away before facing the gathering. “Here we go. You tell me if I need to change position, since I can’t see what you’re looking at.”
She let the robe fall open as she leaned back on the counter. Her gaze rested somewhere near the door to the kitchen. It looked as if she’d made eye contact with a certain someone—in her case, Caleb—whom she was about to get naughty with.
Under the robe she wore a push-up bra and boy shorts, the same crimson as her glasses. The contrast between the robe and the lingerie underneath showed two sides of a coin. A get-it-done mom and a woman who definitely knew she was attractive to the man in her world.
What followed was laughter and whistles of admiration and cheeks that didn’t need any makeup to turn them rosy and bright. Julia helped take pictures, making suggestions as to where Tamara should stand and how to adjust her poses.
“Oh, look at this one.” Hanna stepped forward and showed Tamara her screen.
“Damn. That is hot. I’m hot,” Tamara said with a grin before offering Hanna a high five. “Hang on, I want to take a few more without the robe, but I think we’ve got some good ones. These are going to make Caleb very happy.”
Ten minutes later, Tamara was back in her jeans and T-shirt, flipping through the pictures on Karen’s phone as they waited for Lisa to join them.
“Oh, my.” Hanna’s whispered words hung on the air.
Three heads turned to discover Lisa strutting into the living room as if she were on a fashion runway. “You like?”
“How the hell are you not breaking your ankles?” Tama
ra demanded, pointing down at what had to be four-inch heels in shiny black gracing Lisa’s feet.
Julia had an even more pressing question. “How the hell are you not falling out of those scraps of material?”
Lisa shimmied her shoulders, and the straps of black crossing her bosom in an imitation of a bra flowed with her as if they were drawn on. “Two-sided tape,” she confessed.
She pivoted, showing off the short black skirt and fishnet stockings. Then she brandished the final part of her costume—a feather duster.
“You’re sexy and making me laugh,” Karen offered. “I had no idea you had French maid fantasies. Is this why you wanted to travel?”
“Hush,” Lisa said in a very dignified voice. Then she winked. “I’m with Tamara. I do think a boudoir shoot is an amazing way to celebrate our confidence, but it’s also a really good opportunity to do something nice for my guy. And at the risk of being TMI again, this outfit is going to make Josiah very happy. I like doing things that make him smile, in all parts of our relationship.”
Warmth rushed through Julia. The evening had begun with her thinking how wonderful it was to celebrate her sisters and positive womanhood, but truthfully—Zach was on her mind.