Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(86)

She fell to her knees in front of him, hands still in his, and listened to her heart instead of all the noise in her head.

“Yes,” she said, and all the doubts and fears about decisions disappeared into the air along with the Christmas music.

He let go of one hand and tipped her chin up with the back of his forefinger. When his lips met with hers, they were the only two people on the whole planet and she knew she’d made the right decision even if it was impulsive.

“I didn’t plan this,” he whispered softly.

“Neither did I.”

“Let’s go in here and buy you an engagement ring. We can wait until summer for a wedding.” He straightened up and pulled her to her feet.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I want everyone in the whole world to know that you’re mine,” he said.

“No, I mean, why wait until summer? I don’t want a long drawn out affair that will drive us both crazy. Lizzy did that when she was engaged to Mitch. It was horrible. That’s not for me.”

“Spring?” Jud asked.

“We could get a license tomorrow and the preacher could perform the ceremony after the Christmas church service. We can have a reception later with all our families there but Dora June and Truman won’t miss the wedding that way.”

He picked her up and twirled her around half a dozen times until they were both dizzy with happiness. Everyone near them had stopped to stare, so he yelled, “She said yes!”

The applause echoed off the walls of the mall and several people started a mob humming of the traditional wedding song.

Jud bent her backward in a true Hollywood kiss before he led her into the jewelry store.

“Congratulations.” The store manager grinned.

“We need to look at that set of wedding bands in the window,” Jud said. “We’re getting married this week.”

The jeweler held the rings out. “They can be resized by tomorrow afternoon.”

Jud slipped the smaller one on Fiona’s finger and the larger one on his. They fit perfectly.

Fiona held up her hand, the band shining in the well-lit jewelry store. Saying yes might have been impulsive, but it was right. And when something was a right fit, she wasn’t going to argue.

Then the guilt set in—she should tell him about the job offer, right? And yet she could not spoil their moment with that news.

On the way home, the guilt got the better of her and she said, “Jud, I have something I have to tell you.”

“That you’ve reconsidered and want to wait?”

“No, it’s more than that.”

“You look like you are about to explode. Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about us altogether,” Jud said.

“Not about us. I love you, but maybe about Dry Creek,” she said, and then told him about the offer.

“I don’t give a damn if you go to Timbuktu, Fiona. I’ll be there beside you. There are ranches and oil in this whole state, and like I said, I want your beautiful face to be the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been hunting for you my whole life and now that I’ve found you, I don’t intend to let you go.”

“I love you, Jud Dawson,” she whispered.





Chapter Twenty-Five



Where had the week gone?

Jud proposed on Monday. Not a single member of the family, Dora June and her mother included, was surprised. Happy for them but not surprised.

On Tuesday morning the secretary from Pierce, Davis and Green called and offered her a plane ticket to and from Houston and a car to take her to an interview and then she could catch a flight back home if she would only come to talk to them before the holidays.

When Fiona checked her mother’s flight into Dallas on Wednesday, she saw it would all work out perfectly. Fiona’s return flight would get in thirty minutes before Katy arrived from Florida. Besides, there was still a tiny little niggling thought in the back of her mind that wondered what it would be like to be back in the city, carrying a briefcase—and being the supervisor of an accounting department.

She had to go.

She had to know for sure.

But how did she tell Jud?

That evening she carried a heavy heart to his bedroom and leaned on the door frame. “I need to talk.”

“They called again, didn’t they?” he asked.

“I’m going to go talk to them tomorrow. I’ve got the perfect story. I’m going to Dallas a little early to pick up Mama at the airport, maybe to do some shopping. One of Herman’s granddaughters is going to babysit the store for me.”

Jud pulled her into his arms. “Of course you have to go, darlin’. If you get down there and it’s what you really want, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I love you, Fiona. I would never stand in the way of your dreams.”

“I love you, too, Jud, and we can work this out no matter which way the ball falls.”



Flying first class that morning, the sky was literally the limit. During the hour-long flight from Dallas to Houston, she made herself forget all about Dry Creek and concentrate on the day at hand. She wanted to feel the rush of the big city, of wearing a cute little navy blue suit and high-heeled shoes. If she had time, she might even slip into her old hairdresser’s place of business on the way out of town and get her hair done.