Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(6)

“Hey, anybody home?” a deep voice yelled right before someone started up the steps.

She hopped off the bed and opened her bedroom door. “Deke?”

“No, Jud. We got that old rattle trap of a truck hauled out behind the barn on the Lucky Penny and fixed the fence.” He stopped at the top of the stairs and hiked a hip on the railing. “Hey, it looks like my bedroom is right across the hall from yours. That going to be a problem?” he asked.

“Not one bit. I forgot that you were staying here. Everyone coming back over for supper after a while?”

“Wild horses couldn’t keep them away. I’m going out to check on one of the heifers before they get here, though.” He smiled.

Blake was the wild cowboy and Toby had been dubbed the hot cowboy, but Jud had gotten the reputation of being the lucky one. Did that mean fortunate in ranching, oil, or women? Or maybe all three? Probably it had to do with that crooked little grin and that swagger.



Katy had barely gotten her coat off that evening when the family started to arrive for leftover supper. Allie, Blake, and Deke came through the door with baby Audrey all bundled up inside a carrier. As soon as Allie took her out, Deke reached for her.

“Give me that baby, Allie. I haven’t held her yet today. I’m sure she’s grown a foot since this afternoon,” he said.

“Not quite but she’s working on it.” Blake removed her little pink hat and kissed the baby on the top of her red curls.

Fiona slipped past Deke and took the baby from Allie’s arms. “Not so fast, cowboy. You got to hold her a whole bunch of times already.”

She sat down in the nearest rocker with the baby in her arms and all her anxiety disappeared. It didn’t matter if she had to start all over. She’d made it home, where no one cared if she was penniless or had a million bucks in the bank.

“She looks like Allie, has your hair, and is already showing signs of my temper,” Fiona said.

“Hey.” Lizzy and Toby pushed into the house, stomped the snow from their boots, and hung their coats on the hooks on the hall tree. “You are hogging the baby. I haven’t held her at all today.”

Lizzy was the outspoken one for sure. She might look all sweet with those pecan-colored eyes and dishwater-blond hair, but folks around Dry Creek knew better than to cross her. The only time Fiona had ever worried about her was last year when she had been engaged. It was downright scary to see the feisty Lizzy turn into a submissive prim-and-proper woman who was going to be a preacher’s wife. Thank God that didn’t work out.

“Yes, I am and I don’t intend to stop. I can’t believe you named her Audrey.” Fiona kissed Audrey on the top of her head and inhaled the sweet smell of baby shampoo and lotion. “I’m going to rock this baby until dinner is ready. I’m already falling in love with her, Allie.”

“Enjoy it because we’ll be eating in five minutes. We just have to pull it all out of the refrigerator. Anyone wants their food hot can stick it in the microwave,” Katy said.

“How was Granny when you left her?” Fiona asked.

“You don’t want to know.” Katy blushed.

“Why?”

“Let’s just say she was on another Walter kick and thought I was her best friend. She went into explicit detail and comparison between him and my father. I thought I’d burn up with shame.” Katy fanned her face with the back of her hand.

“Just remember that she’s not herself and what she’s talking about might have happened or it might be something in her imagination,” Blake said.

When Fiona first saw pictures of Blake with his dark hair and green eyes, she’d thought he was the handsomest cowboy she’d ever laid eyes on. Then Lizzy sent pictures of Blake’s brother, Toby, and Blake took a backseat.

She chanced a sideways glance toward Jud. With that mop of blond hair and those pretty eyes and quick smile, why on earth wasn’t he married?

“Hey, Lizzy, I need some help out here,” Katy called from the kitchen.

The cowboys and her sister moved toward the kitchen, leaving Fiona alone in the corner of the dining room with Audrey, which was fine with her. Fiona rocked the baby and sang a lullaby. So what if she couldn’t carry a tune. Audrey didn’t care one bit.

Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that the last meal, as big as it was, had long since been digested. Two huge meals a day was pure luxury, especially when she’d arrived in Dry Creek with exactly two dollars and thirty-nine cents in her purse. She’d been afraid to buy coffee or food with it in case she needed to put a tiny bit more gas in the truck. She’d been running on fumes and luck for the last ten miles.

Throw in a prayer and a bit of cussing to that mixture, she thought.

Audrey wiggled around until she was looking up at Fiona with big blue inquisitive eyes. Fiona put her finger in the baby’s hand and Audrey quickly closed her tiny fist around it.

“She’s pretty special, isn’t she?” Katy asked.

Her mother’s voice startled her. “You snuck up on me.”

“Supper is on the bar. Want me to hold her so you can eat?”

“I hate to give her up, Mama. I’d forgotten what it’s like to hold a baby,” Fiona answered.

“Then you’ve been gone too long. Maybe you should volunteer to do nursery duty at church.”