Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(40)

Fiona picked up a red plastic basket, put a paper in it as if she were serving doughnuts, and filled it with honey buns, chocolate cupcakes, and powdered doughnuts. When she set it in the table, they were cussing the insurance companies. According to them, Truman’s company should have already settled with him and a new house should be built right where the old one stood.

Fiona really had no right to watch the clock and conveniently be at the front of the store when Jud hunched his shoulders against the cold as he left Mary Jo’s Beauty Shop. Hoping he might swagger on across the street, she held her breath, but he got into his truck and drove away.

“Hey, if y’all need anything else, yell right loud. I’m going into the back room to do some book work,” she yelled.

Herman waved to let her know that he’d heard her and went back to listening to the next rant about insurance. She whipped around and went to her desk, opened up Nadine’s files on the computer, and started inputting data.

Fifteen minutes later, Truman hollered that they were leaving. “Put what we had today on my bill.”

“Will do. Y’all be careful out there in that mess,” she shouted back.

“Hey, Fiona, your sister’s comin’,” Herman yelled as he left the store.

Fiona set her work aside and in seconds, Lizzy carried two cups of hot chocolate to the back room. Fiona had always envied her for knowing exactly what her path was in life and never looking back once she made a decision. She’d known in junior high that she would inherit the feed store, and she never looked to one side or the other. She strapped on the harness and took care of business.

“I just saw Jud leave Mary Jo’s. Guess he got a haircut this morning.” Lizzy handed off one cup of hot chocolate and sat down in the chair facing the desk. “How are things really going in the house? Last night was all Walton wonderful, but still waters run deep. Are you going to be all right with Mama gone and having to be in that house with Dora June, Truman, and Jud?”

Fiona chuckled. “Remember when Granny used to watch reruns of that television show and tell us no one in the world was that perfect?”

Lizzy warmed her hands around the mug. “But she’d watch them over and over again, wouldn’t she? I miss her.”

“Me too. I still expect to hear her cussin’ down the foyer before she even appears in the kitchen or living room.”

“It got bad there at the end. She ran away and it was awful the way she dressed. Either in sequins and mismatched shoes or else she’d run away in her nightgown and a robe with rubber boots on her feet. But I wasn’t asking about Granny. How are things with you?”

“It will be fine. It’s not forever and I enjoy Jud being there. It’s nice to have someone to talk to in the evenings but…”

Lizzy set the mug on the desk. “But what?”

Fiona shrugged.

“But he’s putting down roots and you still want to fly, so you aren’t going to start anything, but he’s a damn fine-lookin’ cowboy and you haven’t had time for a romp in the bed since your divorce.” Lizzy stopped to catch her breath and then went on. “How close am I?”

“I’ve only been home a week.”

Lizzy blew across the top of the steaming hot chocolate. “What’s that got to do with my question?”

Fiona sighed. “Yes, you’re right on all counts. We’re going to the Rusty Spur Friday night, but it’s not a date. Besides, what can we do with Dora June and Truman in the house? You know how the bed springs squeak.”

“Oh, honey.” Lizzy’s grin said that she could tell tales that would make a sailor blush. “If that’s the only thing holding you back, it can be arranged that they will be out of the house any evening of the week.”

“That is a lovely sweater. I believe it belonged in my closet at one time,” Fiona said.

“Nice way to change the subject. I can totally see you blushing, you know,” Lizzy told her.

“Quit playing matchmaker with the hopes that if I fall for Jud Dawson I’ll stay in Dry Creek.”

Lizzy’s head bobbed up and down several times. “I only do it because I love you and this is where you belong. You just don’t know it yet. I should probably get back to the store, though everyone is holed up in this kind of weather and no one needs anything. I hope I don’t die of boredom. Toby, Blake, and Jud are even painting the inside of my house because they can’t do anything on the ranch until this clears up.”

Fiona went back to her bookkeeping work when Lizzy left but she couldn’t keep her mind on her work. Finally, she saved what she had done, drew up another cup of hot chocolate from the machine, and picked up a six-pack of miniature powdered sugar doughnuts on the way to the table. She propped up her scuffed cowboy boots on an empty chair and tried hard not to think of Jud, his kisses, that cute little crooked smile when he was amused, the sexy strut, or his drawl.

But it didn’t work…



Deke was the tallest of the four men, so he got the job of rolling the white paint on the ceiling. Toby and Blake were already working on the walls when Jud arrived, and as luck would have it, the last one to the party got the worst job. He had to paint the woodwork. He opened the gallon can of semigloss trim paint, dipped the brush, sat down on the floor, and started painting baseboards.