Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(9)

They finished their sandwiches and he put the plate in the dishwasher before heading up to bed with her right behind him.

“I’m going to watch television but I’ll keep it turned down,” she said.

“Honey, don’t worry about noise on my account. A freight train coming right down the middle of my bed couldn’t wake me when I’m asleep.”





Chapter Four



Katy had filled a pretty crock bowl with gravy and set it and a basket of piping hot biscuits on the table beside a platter of scrambled eggs and bacon.

Fiona poured two mugs of coffee and carried them to the breakfast table. “Do you think Jud overslept?”

“He’s been gone for more than an hour. Left a note on the cabinet to say he’s eating over at Toby and Lizzy’s this morning,” Katy answered.

A jab of disappointment stuck Fiona in the chest. She’d liked the banter the night before, loved sharing leftovers with him and talking to someone who expected nothing from her. She didn’t have to be anyone but herself: no airs, no changing from who she was to who she could or should be—in essence, no bullshit.

Katy shoveled half the eggs and bacon onto her plate and passed the rest to Fiona. “You ready to go to work this morning?”

“Sure. Do you mind if I borrow your car when I need it?”

“Of course you can use the car. The first store task I’m turning over to you is the bookkeeping.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Fiona grinned.

The sun was bright against a sparkling white blanket covering the north part of Throckmorton County that morning when Fiona and Katy left Audrey’s Place and headed into town. Christmas carols played on the radio and everything was good until Fiona remembered that she’d sold her laptop. How in the devil was she supposed to do anything in bookkeeping without a computer?

“Well, shit!”

“What?” Katy asked.

“I don’t have a computer. I know you’ve always kept books by hand but I’m used to spreadsheets and a computer program.”

“That can be fixed. Go down to Lizzy’s store and tell her to get on hers and order you one. It can be here in two or three days, depending on the weather.”

“Mama, I have less than three dollars in my purse,” she said honestly.

“It’s a business expense for the store. Or if you want it for your own use as well as the business, I’ll pay for it and you can pay me back. Divide the payment into six and take that out of your weekly paycheck.”

“It can be for the store,” Fiona said quickly.

Katy pulled into her normal parking spot at the back of the store. “Bless your heart. And I mean that in a good way because when it comes to taking care of the business stuff, I’m six months behind, so get ready to pull your hair out. That new computer will damn sure pay for itself, I’m sure. I just don’t know how to do that stuff and I’m too busy with your grandmother to learn.”

“I would have worked for room and board,” Fiona said softly.

“You are not the prodigal son. You are my daughter and we always paid you girls when you worked for us, remember?”

By noon, Katy had explained the basic delivery schedule and the payment agreement with each vendor, and Fiona had filled six pages of her notebook. “Any questions?” Katy asked.

“Just a couple of logistics things. If we moved the prepackaged pastries up to this end cut right here”—Fiona pointed to the first one inside the door—“then it would be an impulse buy. Folks coming in for coffee would see them and pick them up quicker than if they have to walk to the back of the store to find them. We could switch them out with the cleaning supplies and toiletries. People coming in to get those things are in an emergency situation if they’re buying them in a convenience store.”

“Then that’s your next job. Anything else you might want to suggest?” Katy grinned.

“Are we still getting a couple dozen doughnuts from the shop in Throckmorton as he drives through on his way north each day?”

“Most days but it’s a long holiday weekend,” Katy said. “We still keep them under the glass dome just like your grandmother did when she ran the store. Why?”

“I wanted one.” Fiona smiled. “I guess I’ll wait until Monday.”

“While you work on that switch you have in mind, I’m going to put on a pot of coffee. Even if it’s a holiday, the old guys could come in for a gab session after they get chores done. Cows have to be fed and taken care of every day of the year,” Katy said.

“Where’s a dust rag? I’ll clean as I go.”

Katy set about making coffee in the two big pots at the back of the store. “In the back room right along with the spray cleaner. And thanks, kiddo. It’s been at least two weeks since I’ve had time to dust the shelves.”

Fiona found what she needed and set about her job. She’d barely gotten a good start when Jud swaggered into the store and went straight for the coffee machine. The smell of hay, aftershave, and some kind of manly soap all trailed after him. She gripped the cleaning rag and reminded herself to keep working or she would have fallen right in behind him like a little puppy.

“Where’s the doughnuts?” he asked.

“Holiday,” Fiona said.