Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(24)

Sharlene watched Jud until he was in the truck and then turned back to Fiona. “I heard about Dora June and Truman’s place burning.”

“They’re staying with us at Audrey’s,” Fiona said. She couldn’t fault Sharlene for flirting or for watching that cute little tight-hipped swagger because she was doing the exact same thing.

“You’re kidding me.” Sharlene gasped. “After all the trouble they’ve caused?”

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Fiona whispered with a nod toward the door, where Dora June and Truman were pushing their way inside the store.

Both wore coats that were too big. As usual, Truman looked like he’d been sucking on lemons and Dora June had a big smile on her face.

“Hello, ladies,” she said. “Sharlene, did you hear about the fire?”

Sharlene crossed the floor in a couple of long strides and wrapped Dora June up in a bear hug. “I’m so sorry to hear what happened to your place. If I had room, I’d sure ask you to come and stay with me, but my rental house only has one extra bedroom and Mary Jo is using it until she can get on her feet and find something.”

“We’re very comfortable where we are, but thank you so much, honey.” Dora June patted Sharlene on the shoulder. “It’s so nice to have good folks in a community when tragedy strikes. I came to ask you if you have a key to the house, Fiona. Your mama gave me one so we can come and go, but I got worried that maybe you didn’t have one, so I thought it best to stop and ask before we leave town.”

“Yes, I do have a key and if you aren’t home when I get there, I’ll get the dumplings started,” Fiona said.

“We’ll be there,” Truman said tersely. “Come on, Dora June. It’s an hour up there and an hour back.” He tucked her arm into his and led her outside the store.

“Poor old things,” Fiona said. “You get a gold star for that performance, girl. I swear if I didn’t know you so well, I would have believed that you really did want to give them a place to live.”

Sharlene smiled brightly and bowed. “He’s probably hating the taste of that crow pie he’s having to chew on right now. He’s an old bear but then I would be, too, if everything I had just went up in smoke,” Sharlene said. “Thank God I don’t have a spare room because I can’t imagine living with him. You are a brave woman, Fiona Logan.”

“I know they’ve been difficult but I feel sorry for them. No children and now their house has burned,” Fiona said.

“Me too, but I sure don’t want to live with them,” Sharlene said. “Now what’s this I hear about you being divorced?”

“For a year now,” Fiona said.

Sharlene and Allie had gone to high school together, so Fiona knew the woman but she and her sisters hadn’t ever been close friends with her. Still, Sharlene had no scruples or pride when it came to diving right into the personal lives of anyone she had a speaking acquaintance with.

“And Jud?”

“What about Jud?”

Sharlene tilted her head to one side and lowered her eyelids slightly. “Is he a roommate in that big old house or something more?”

“Good Lord, Sharlene! I’ve only been home four days. Right now, Jud Dawson is someone who lives in the house with me and Mama because he’s kin to my two brothers-in-law,” Fiona said.

“Good! The way he was flirting, I might change my mind about him.” Sharlene winked and started for the door. “I still can’t believe that you came back to Dry Creek. We all wished we had your backbone when you left and didn’t even glance in the rearview mirror.”

“I’m not sure I’m staying forever.”

“I couldn’t do it. This is home and I’ll be here until they drag me out by the heels. See you later.” The bell above the door sounded loud and clear when Sharlene left.

“I’m still not staying forever,” Fiona said. But there was a little part hiding down deep in her soul that didn’t believe a word of it.



Dark comes early in the last days of November in Texas, especially when the sky is a solid sheet of gray. Katy had left from the store to go with a couple of her friends down to Abilene for a steak supper. Her car looked pretty small when Fiona parked it next to Jud’s big club-cab truck.

The cold wind cut through Fiona’s denim coat on the way from the yard to the house. If there wasn’t snow or sleet in those clouds, she’d be willing to eat a dirt sandwich for supper. The wonderful aroma of chicken filled her nose when she stepped through the back door into the utility room.

“So how was your day?” Jud sat at the kitchen table.

Her eyes were drawn to his big hands wrapped around that glass of sweet tea. “Busy,” she answered.

“I got here about thirty minutes ago. I took the chicken out of the slow cooker and just finished boning it. I don’t know how to make dumplin’s, but I got that much done.”

She removed her coat and hung it on one of the long row of nails inside the back door, kicked off her boots, and padded across the kitchen floor. “We’ll pour the broth into a pan and while it’s heating up to boiling, I’ll get the dumplings ready and stir up enough dough to make a quickie peach cobbler for dessert.”