Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(76)

Jud did the same as he sat back down. “Fiona, I like that you called me your boyfriend. And FYI, I know for a fact that Truman and Dora June will be gone by Christmas Day. You have to keep this under your hat and not even tell your sisters because if Truman found out I told you, he’d probably shoot me.” Jud went on to tell her all about the RV plans.

Fiona hugged herself and giggled. “That is amazing news. You really did turn Scrooge around. So Christmas Day? That sounds like a perfect time for you to announce that I’m your new girlfriend.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” He set their two empties on the floor and pulled her up into his arms. One brief kiss was all he gave her before he headed off to his bedroom and gently shut the door behind him.

Dammit! She wanted more than a peck on the lips. She wanted the big kahuna, the tsunami, the class-five wild Texas tornado, all of it rolled into one big kiss and then a long bout of amazing sex. What in the hell was she thinking when she said they should go slow?

You are an idiot! she thought as she picked up her boots in one hand and the beer bottles in the other and crossed the landing. Her room looked different, not nearly as confining and more inviting. She tossed the bottles into the trash, making a mental note to get rid of them the next morning and set her boots in the closet where they belonged.

After she got comfortable on the bed, with pillows propped behind her back, she hit the button on her phone to call her mother. Katy answered on the first ring with laughter in her voice.

“Hello, Fiona. I just hung up from an hour-long conversation with Allie. Y’all deserve special things in your Christmas stockings for the way you’ve turned Truman around. I didn’t expect anything but hoped for at least some kind of reconciliation between him and my sons-in-law before I came home. Looks like we’re getting a lot more with him talking about a big RV and taking Dora June to see the whole country.” Katy stopped for a breath.

“Well, dammit! Do Allie and Lizzy both know? I wanted to tell you the story. I laughed until I got the hiccups at the way Jud told it.”

Katy’s tone changed and suddenly Fiona could hear the sound of the ocean in the background. “Blake and Toby can’t keep a secret one bit better than Jud can, evidently. Now, I want to know your story. Lizzy just had the highlights. I want the details. What is going on in your heart, Fiona Deann Logan?”

“You just triple named me. Am I in trouble?”

“No, but I want you to know that I’m serious and I want the whole story,” Katy said.

“Jud and I are dating, but we don’t want to tell anyone until after Dora June and Truman are gone or they’ll think it’s improper for us to live together in this house. Do you have a problem with that?”

All Fiona could hear were the waves coming into shore for several seconds. “Mama, are you still there? Please don’t faint or die of a heart attack.”

“I’m still here. Took a minute to process what you just said. I wasn’t expecting that right here at the first of the conversation. Can’t say I’m surprised, but it still shocked me,” Katy said breathlessly.

“Do you want him to move out into his travel trailer?”

“You are both grown adults. What you do or how you handle this relationship has nothing to do with where you sleep at night. Now that that’s out of the way, tell me why you thought you had to run away and not let anyone know where you were for a whole night?”

Fiona repeated the whole story, even adding in how every song on the radio seemed to be talking straight to her, from the first one that made her leave to the last one that told her to go home.

“I’m wiping tears from my cheeks,” Katy said at the end with a sniffle. “My biggest prayer has been answered. Not that you would come home. Not that you’d find someone to date. But that you’d finally find yourself and happiness.”

“And now you’ve got me crying. I never can let anyone weep alone,” Fiona said.

“I can’t wait to come home.”

“Are you homesick?” Fiona asked.

“Not for Dry Creek but for you girls. I’m really settling in to a life with no responsibilities and liking it. I didn’t know how tense I was until I started to relax but I wouldn’t want to live here forever. Texas is where my heart and soul is.”

“Mama, there won’t be a problem with me staying here at the house and working in the back room at the store for a long time, will there?” Fiona asked softly.

“Not at all but I’ve got some things I want to talk to you about when I get home. It’s not something to discuss on the phone so we’ll wait. You just go enjoy your newfound happiness and we’ll have a long visit. But don’t worry, you are welcome to the back room as long as you want it and I love that you are in the house. Now I’m going inside and having a margarita with the girls. Good night, Fiona, and, darlin’, you’ve given me the best Christmas present in the world tonight.”

“I think it’s me that got the Christmas miracle this year, Mama. Good night, and have an extra margarita for me.” Fiona pushed the END button.

She draped her clothing over the back of a chair and pulled a nightshirt over her head, slid beneath the covers, and wiggled into a comfortable spot. It sure beat the hell out of sleeping in her car the night before.