Merry Cowboy Christmas (27 page)

“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.

When she passed the pew where her granny sat with Allie, Blake, and Katy, Fiona stopped and pulled a rose from her bouquet and handed it to Irene. She planted a kiss on Irene's forehead and sent up a silent prayer of thanks that her grandmother was lucid right then.

Deke led her right to where Jud waited and kissed her on the cheek. “Be happy, darlin', and, Jud, you remember who you'll have to deal with if you ever hurt her feelings.”

“Never happen.” Jud grinned as he took Fiona's hand in his.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the preacher asked.

“Her family and I do,” Deke said.

The first chords of “Amazed” began to play on a CD player. Fiona looked deeply into Jud's eyes all during the song. She'd found her place and now she belonged. Jud had been right when he'd said that maybe what she'd been looking for was someone to put down roots with and she was more than ready to do just that—right there in Dry Creek, Texas.

When the song ended, Fiona took the microphone from the preacher's hand. “Every word in that song is my vow to you, Jud. I can feel how much you love me and it does blow me away. I truly have never been this close to anyone. I can actually hear your thoughts and see your dreams and I'm so glad that I'm spending the rest of my life with you beside me because I'm totally amazed that we have this love.”

Jud's lips met hers in a brief kiss as he took the microphone from her. “Darlin' Fiona. I don't even believe in love at first sight, but it happened. And those words sunk into my heart at the bar where we danced that night. I realized that I had the best thing that could ever happen to me in my arms and I wanted you to be there forever and ever.”

He gave the microphone to the preacher, who smiled and cleared his throat. “I'm getting used to the Logan ladies doing things their way, so we'll get right into the ceremony.” He went on to perform a traditional ceremony, ending with, “And now, Jud Dawson, you may kiss your bride again.”

Fiona was breathless when the kiss ended and she was standing upright. She could almost feel the roots growing as she shed her wings that day in front of God and her whole family.

Fiona threw her bouquet toward the back of the church. A pair of hands came up and caught it, but she didn't notice who it was.

The preacher pulled the microphone closer to his mouth so everyone could hear above the noise. “I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Jud and Fiona Dawson for the first time. I'll miss these holiday weddings but there are no more Logan ladies so…”

“Whoa!” Fiona said loudly. “There's still Deke! He's like our little brother so…”

“And I caught the bouquet.” Deke held it up.

“And I damn sure ain't married,” Granny Irene piped up.

Jud grabbed her hand and the two of them did a fancy swing dance all the way to the back of the church as “Amazed” played for the second time. At the end of the song, Jud scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the fellowship hall.

“We did it our way, didn't we, Mrs. Dawson,” he said.

“We did.” She pulled his face to hers for a long, lingering passionate kiss.

“Merry Christmas,” he drawled.

“Merry cowboy Christmas to me.” She grabbed his hand. “And just think, we've got a whole lifetime ahead of us,” she said.

Jud carried Fiona from the pickup and across the yard. She used her brand-new key to unlock the door to their house. It wasn't different than when she'd left it a few hours earlier. The outside lights were still sparkling. The Christmas tree still stood in the corner of the living room. But it felt different because it was now her house and it was part of the Lucky Penny.

He shut the door and locked it without setting her down, then carried her all the way up the stairs and to his bedroom, where he kicked the door shut with the heel of his boot. Then he gently put her feet on the floor and pulled her close to his chest.

“You are really my wife. I've lived in fear that something would happen to make you change your mind. I love you so much,” he said.

“Jud Dawson, when I said yes when you proposed, I was more at peace with myself than I've ever been in my life. I love you and our hearts are wrapped up together now and forever.”

“Now where are those glow-in-the-dark…” He grinned.

“No need. I made a trip to the doctor in Throckmorton. I got a shot that covers all that for three months. We'll talk later about whether I'll take another one or not,” she said as she started unfastening the buttons on his shirt, one by one.

“Merry cowboy Christmas to me,” he singsonged as he slid the zipper of her dress down slowly, the touch of his hands making her insides quiver…again.

Carolyn Brown is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling romance author and RITA finalist.
Merry Cowboy Christmas
is her eightieth published book. Presently writing both women's fiction and cowboy romance, Brown has also written historical single title, historical series, contemporary single title, and contemporary series. She lives in southern Oklahoma with her husband, a former English teacher, who is not allowed to read her books until they are published. They have three children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

 

You can learn more at:

CarolynBrownBooks.com

The Lucky Penny Ranch series

Hot Cowboy Nights

Wild Cowboy Ways

MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY

By Carolyn Brown

No one tells a cowboy story like
New York Times
bestselling author Carolyn Brown. So grab your hot chocolate and settle in because this Christmas, Santa's wearing a Stetson. Fiona Logan is everything Jud Dawson thought he'd never find. But with wild weather, nosy neighbors, and a new baby in the family, getting her to admit that she's falling in love might just take a Christmas miracle.

A CHRISTMAS BRIDE
By Hope Ramsay

USA Today
bestselling author Hope Ramsay's new contemporary romance series is perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr, and Sherryl Woods. Haunted by regrets and grief, widower David Lyndon has a bah-humbug approach to the holidays—until he's shown the spirit of the season by his daughter and her godmother Willow. Paired up to plan a Christmas wedding for friends, David and Willow will discover that the best gift is the promise of a future spent together…

CHRISTMAS COMES TO MAIN STREET

By Olivia Miles

It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas…or so Kara Hasting hopes. Her new cookie business is off to a promising start, until a sexy stranger makes her doubt herself. Fans of Jill Shalvis, RaeAnne Thayne, and Susan Mallery will love this sweet holiday read.

A HIGHLANDER'S CHRISTMAS KISS

By Paula Quinn

In the tradition of Karen Hawkins and Monica McCarty comes the next in Paula Quinn's sinfully sexy MacGregor family series. Temperance Menzie is starting to fall for the mysterious, wounded highlander she's been nursing back to health. But Cailean Grant has a dark secret, and only a Christmas miracle can keep them together.