Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(89)

“Right now?”

“Right now,” Deke said. “Do you know how hard it’s been to keep this a secret?”

Truman went ahead of her and slung the back door open. Dora June stepped out onto the porch and immediately tears began to flow down her cheeks, landing on her bright blue Christmas sweatshirt. Her palms flew to her cheeks and she kept blinking as if she wasn’t sure she was seeing things right.

“Well, don’t stand there blubbering, woman.” Truman took her hand in his and opened the door of the enormous RV. “Come on inside and tell me if you like it. I bought one of them crazy-lookin’ smart cars and it’s on a little trailer on the back so we can get around wherever we stop for the nights.”

“Stop for the nights?” Dora June asked.

“Yep. We’ve got a reservation at a campground in Jacksboro. I figure that’s far enough for tonight and then tomorrow we’ll be driving south to Florida. From there, you get to choose where we go next. I hope before we die we have spent a few weeks in every state.”

Dora June wrapped her arms around Truman’s neck and hugged him tightly. “Now I understand the presents.”

“Let’s go back inside,” Katy said softly. “They need to explore their new home for the first time together.”

“Are you going to buy me an RV when we’re married fifty years?” Fiona asked Jud on the way to the living room.

“No, but I could buy you some goats,” he said.

Her eyes widened out. “You didn’t? You wouldn’t?”

Jud hugged her close to his side. “Don’t worry, darlin’. I don’t want goats, either. We talked Deke into buying all of Truman’s stock. Cattle and goats. Truman gave him a deal on his equipment and all the hay in his barns if he’d take on the goats with the deal.”

Paper was scattered everywhere and they were down to only a couple of gifts each when Dora June and Truman came back to the room. They were holding hands and her face was still streaked with tears and be damned if that wasn’t a tear in Truman’s eye.

“Scrooge is officially dead and Truman is alive,” Fiona whispered to Jud.

“I see that,” he said softly.

“Now open our presents,” Dora June said. “Truman, you get that camera and take a picture of Audrey with her dolls.”

“I don’t know how to work that damned thing,” he grumbled.

“Like this,” Deke said, patiently explaining the basics. “If you can learn how to put a tractor together, you can learn this, Truman.”

“I’ll give it a try,” he said stoically.

All the gifts had been opened, but then Katy held up one present that had been overlooked under the tree. “This one has Jud and Fiona’s name on it.”

“Who is it from?” Fiona reached out to take it from her mother.

“Me,” Katy said.

Fiona tore into it to find a letter and three keys. With a quizzical expression, she started to open the letter but her mother put a hand on her arm.

“I’ll explain. The key with the red top is to this house. The one with the blue top is to the store. The one with the fancy stuff is the car keys to my car that I stole from your purse last night because I didn’t have time to get another one made.”

“But I have keys to all those places,” Fiona said.

“These are special keys. They belong to you and Jud, not just to you. I’m giving you Audrey’s Place and the twenty acres it sits on with the stipulation that from now on it’s not Audrey’s Place but part of the Lucky Penny Ranch. I’m giving you the convenience store. Lizzy got the feed store. Allie got the construction business. You get the store. It’s a combination wedding gift, welcome-home-to-where-you-belong gift, and Christmas present all in one.”

Now it was Fiona’s turn to cry. “Mama, I don’t even know what to say. Thank you isn’t nearly enough.” She almost bowled Katy over when she hugged her.

“Yes, it is because I’m buying a condo in Wichita Falls in the same complex with Trudy and Janie. I can be near your grandmother so I can see her every day and I’ve found that I like not having so many responsibilities. It’s close enough to y’all that I can visit any time I want and far enough I won’t be meddling.”

“Jud?” Fiona asked.

“I’m speechless. Thank you, Katy. This is huge,” Jud stammered.

“Not really. It’s a hell of a lot of work, both here and at the store. You’ll earn your living but I’ve got every confidence that you two are going to be just fine.” Katy reached for Jud and made it a three-way hug.



The preacher took his place behind the pulpit and smiled out over the family and few friends who were attending the small wedding. “It dawned on me this morning that all three of the Logan ladies will be married in the same year, and on or near a holiday. That sure makes it easy for the grooms to remember their anniversary.”

He motioned toward the piano player while the chuckles died down. Instead of the traditional wedding song, Fiona had chosen the music from “Breathe.” She’d danced to it with Jud and it had been the song in her head as she left her past behind and looked ahead to a bright future with him.

Deke walked Fiona down the aisle, her arm looped in his. Fiona wore a cute little white lace dress that hugged her body and stopped at midthigh, where a white satin garter shined on her leg. Instead of high-heeled shoes, she’d chosen the cowboy boots that she’d worn the night she and Jud had gone dancing. She carried a bouquet of white roses tied up with dark green ribbons.