Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(26)

“I haven’t changed my mind about you and that cowboy,” Dora June said bluntly.

Fiona cut her eyes around at Dora June. “Oh?”

“They might be hardworking cowboys like Lucy and Herman say all the time, but that ranch is what it is and no one has ever been able to change it. When their savings run out, they’ll leave and take your sisters with them. I’m not wrong. I’ve seen it happen too many times through the years. And just because your mama was kind enough to let us stay here don’t mean that I’ll change my mind.”

“Frankly, I don’t care if the whole family leaves Dry Creek because I’m not planning on sticking around a minute longer than necessary, either. Maybe we’ll all just leave together and the feed store and Mama’s store will close up. Whole town will probably fall into decay and die if that happens.”

Dora June narrowed her eyes into slits. “Your mama wouldn’t do that, but Jud will break your heart. Trust me, Fiona, this one is trouble.”

Fiona frowned. “I’m not sure that’s a bit of your business.”

“Your granny Irene was my best friend. I miss her.”

“What’s that got to do with you trying to tell me what to do?” Fiona snapped.

It started as a chuckle and grew into a laugh that had every one of Dora June’s three chins wiggling. She finally wiped her eyes with the tail of an old faded apron that had evidently come from the church clothes closet.

“You do have her temper. Nobody ever told Irene how to run her life. I always wished I could have gotten some of that for myself.”

“Never too late,” Fiona said. “Want to make some cookies tonight?”

“No, I do not! I’m going to wash a load of underwear so me and Truman can have clean things after our shower. I never wear under-britches right out of the packages and it was a real leap of faith for me to put on the ones I got at the church last night, but when you ain’t got anything else, you learn to be grateful for what you can get.”

“I’m going to make cookies and I’ll finish cleaning up the kitchen. You can get your laundry started,” Fiona said.

“Are you telling me what to do now?” Dora June raised a gray eyebrow.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

The older lady pursed her lips and settled her chins together in one big blob under her chin as she tilted her head down and looked up at Fiona over the top of her wire-rimmed glasses. “Just like Irene. Bossy as the devil. And look where it got her. Her mind is gone and she don’t even know her family.”

“Living with Truman, I’d think you would be praying that you’d get Granny’s dementia so you wouldn’t know him,” Fiona told her.

“Hmmmph!” Dora June snorted but her eyes twinkled in merriment. “Living with you ain’t goin’ to be easy.”





Chapter Eight



Fiona ate one cookie out of each bunch that came from the oven, so by the time the six dozen were finished, there were only five and a half left. Of that, she placed six on a plate and the rest in an airtight container and left them on the counter in case Dora June or Truman wanted a late evening snack.

She filled a quart jar with milk, twisted the lid on it, and took it along with the cookies up the stairs. If there was no light shining from under Jud’s door, she’d take the treats to her room. If there was, she’d set them on the floor, knock gently, and go on to her room.

His door was wide open. Jud was lying back in the recliner with a laptop resting on his knees and the wires from earbuds hanging down past his shoulders. He grinned and motioned her inside.

With a few flicks of the wrists, whatever was on the laptop disappeared and the earbuds were gone. “Hey, is that what I hope it is? I left the door open so none of the smell would be wasted.”

“Chocolate chip cookies and milk.” She set them on the nightstand beside his chair.

“Stay a while and talk to me. I was watching a show because I’m bored. If it hadn’t started snowing and wasn’t so damned cold, I’d be out on the porch or taking a drive.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed. “What were you watching?”

“Some episodes of Justified. I really like the first season. I hated it when the series ended, so I bought all six seasons.” He bit into a cookie and smiled. “Just like Mama makes and warm right from the oven.”

“That’s when they’re best,” she said. “So on a normal Monday night in your life before the Lucky Penny, what would you be doing?”

“Probably sitting in the living room watching television. Maybe drifting off to sleep because I’d partied too hard over the weekend. You?”

“Didn’t have the money or the friends to party with over the weekend. So I would probably be propped up on my bed reading. The television in the furnished apartment I rented didn’t have cable and only got one channel that usually played cartoons. The library was a block down from the coffee shop where I worked. On Saturday morning before my shift started, I’d go by and check out half a dozen books.”

He picked up the second cookie. “What do you read?”

“I like romance, but not paranormal. And mystery, but not the cozy stuff. Recently I’ve gotten into some cowboy romance by Katie Lane and Laura Drake.”