Fiona hummed Christmas carols all day long as she waited on customers at the store and worked on the accounting in the back room. It had been years since she’d been home on the evening they decorated the tree, and her spirits were high, even when she had to enter miles and miles of numbers into the computer.
At noon, Katy went up to Nadine’s and brought back a couple of big juicy burgers and they had lunch together at the yellow table. “You are in one fine mood today,” Katy said.
“I can’t wait to decorate the tree, and Dora June said she was making cookies.” Fiona bit into the burger and groaned. “I love good burgers. This is amazing. Nadine should have put in a café years ago.”
“She’s doing a good business. Speaking of businesses—do you remember my friends Trudy and Janie?”
“Those are the women you went to supper with the other night, right?”
“Yes,” Katy said. “They’re both retired and they’re going to Florida for three months. They asked me to go with them. They’ve rented a condo right on the beach where a bunch of retired folks go for the winter. Trudy has done this for years but it’s Janie’s first time to go with her.”
“And?” Fiona held her breath.
Katy laughed. “Don’t panic. I told them no. I can’t be away from Audrey for three months or your grandmother, either.”
“But you could be away for a week or maybe even two. Are they flying?”
“No, they’re driving in Trudy’s van,” Katy answered.
“You want to go, don’t you?”
“I haven’t been away like that in…” Katy paused.
“Did you even have a honeymoon when you and Daddy married?” Fiona could never remember a time that her mother had been out of Dry Creek for more than a day.
“We went to Dallas for the weekend but he had to be back on the job Monday morning and I was helping Mama run this store so…” Katy shrugged.
Fiona shoved some paperwork to the side and reached across the table to lay a hand on her mother’s. “Go with them. Stay a week or two and then fly home. You can be back in plenty of time for Christmas, and I’ll see to it that Audrey gets lots of love and I’ll check on Granny every Sunday afternoon that you are gone.”
“But…”
Fiona gently squeezed Katy’s hand. “You told us girls no buts, so I’m sayin’ the same thing to you. I can hold down this place for a couple of weeks. Getting away will do you a world of good. When are they leaving?”
“Tomorrow,” Katy sighed.
“Perfect. The tree will be up. Granny can spend the evening with us, so you’ll get to have that time with her and then you can leave in the morning. That’s only two Sundays and I’ll visit her both of them, I promise, and take care of anything that comes up with her. You’re only a phone call away and if something drastic happens, you can be home in a few hours. Planes go from there to Dallas every day.”
“You should have been a lawyer rather than an accountant. You present a strong case.” Katy smiled.
“Then you’ll do it?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough,” Fiona said.
Fiona was not one bit disappointed when she and Katy came home that evening. The lights coming from the windows of Audrey’s Place cast a yellow glow on the falling snow, creating a picture fit for a Christmas card. The warm house smelled like pine and sugar cookies mixed in with something chocolate and was that chicken? A blaze crackled in the fireplace and Christmas carols were playing. Fiona removed her coat, hat, and gloves and took it all in like a thirsty person who’d just crossed the desert with no water.
“Well, let’s get started decorating the tree?” Irene started to unbutton her coat.
“I’ll help you.” Fiona hurried to her grandmother’s side.
“Bein’ forgetful is a bitch, but it don’t make me helpless.” Irene pushed Fiona’s hand away. “I’m hungry. I hope there’s Christmas cookies with icing on them in the kitchen.”
“I bet there is.” Fiona stood back and let Irene hang up her own coat.
The whole family was there to help put up the decorations and supper was laid out buffet style on the dining room table. Chicken salad sandwiches, chips, three kinds of dip, and all kinds of cookies and finger foods. Dora June was bustling around like she did at a church supper, playing with Audrey one minute and fussing about no one eating enough the next.
“What in the devil are you doing here, Dora June?” Irene asked as she removed her coat and hat. She handed them to Fiona and went straight for the table, where she picked up a cookie. “Did you make these?”
“I’m staying here for a while,” Dora June answered. “My house burned down and Katy is letting us stay with her. And, yes, I did make the cookies.”
“You ain’t lost your touch.” Irene picked up a second one. “Allie, you need to take that baby into the living room. She won’t remember today when she’s old as I am but we will remember the look on her little face when the tree is lit up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Allie crossed the room and hugged Irene. “How was your ride down here tonight? Were the roads clear?”
“They were. According to the weather report, the snow stops just north of us and is going to the east,” Katy answered.
“Hey, y’all, I hear there’s a tree decoratin’ goin’ on tonight.” Deke swept into the house through the kitchen door, hung up his coat and hat, and grabbed two sandwiches on his way to the living room. “Granny! I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“I’m always here when it’s time to decorate,” Irene said.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Dora June whispered to Fiona. “She’s good tonight.”
“I know.” Fiona nodded.
For someone who had put up such a fuss about Allie and Lizzy marrying those two Dawson brothers, Dora June sure was acting like a loving grandmother that night. Maybe since she’d figured out she couldn’t lick them, she’d join them as the old saying went. Truman was nowhere to be seen, but then Fiona didn’t expect him to come out of his cave and be civil.
“We’ve been waiting for y’all to get home,” Lizzy said. “The guys brought down all the Christmas decorations, and we’re ready to start putting up the tree. The outside will have to wait until the weekend. We can’t get the lights up out there in this blinding snow.”
Fiona picked up a sandwich and ate it on the way to the living room. “Holy smoke, Allie! There’s enough stuff in here to decorate half the state of Texas.”
“Ain’t it wonderful.” Dora June almost swooned. “This is the most exciting day I’ve had in as long as I can remember. Give me that baby and let me sit in the rocker and just watch. Come and sit beside me, Irene, and we’ll talk about old times.”
Irene stacked three more cookies in her hand and followed Dora June to the living room, sat down on the end of the sofa, and asked Dora June to tell her about the fire.
Allie put Audrey in Dora June’s lap. “When it comes to putting on the ornaments, you have to help.”
Fiona sat down on the other end of the sofa and watched the guys put together the eight-foot artificial tree. Thank goodness they built houses with high ceilings in the early part of the previous century.
“I can’t believe Allie and Lizzy are nice to me. I’ve been so nervous about this all day that I almost spent the evening in the bedroom with Truman, but I want to watch the Christmas decorations going up and I do love holding a baby. This is my favorite season of the whole year,” Dora June whispered behind her hand to Fiona.
“Us Logans don’t carry grudges…not for very long,” Fiona said softly. “Besides, it’s Christmas and miracles happen at this time of year.”
“Thank you, Lord.” Dora June looked toward the ceiling.
“I love Christmas,” Irene said.
“You think if I invited Truman to join us it might help?” Fiona asked.
Dora June shook her head. “If he comes out of the room, it has to be his decision. He didn’t help with decorations, but he did sit in his recliner and eat cookies the day that I put the tree up. He’s not much of a shopper, but he does pick out a card every year and he puts a hundred-dollar bill in it for me to spend on whatever I want. He might have been different if we’d had kids, but the mumps fixed Truman right before we married.”
“I’m sorry. You would have made a good mama and grandma,” Fiona said.
“I wanted a family but we’ve done all right except for the Christmas thing. Maybe it was because he had the mumps at Christmas and that soured him on the holiday. But I love it and I’ve had my tree and my decorations every year. I’m glad y’all are putting up one here since mine burned,” Dora June said sadly.
“Fiona, Jud needs help getting the lights on the tree,” Katy said. “I do believe y’all will have to wait until the weekend to get the outside stuff up and running. That wind is getting fierce out there.”
Fiona whipped around to lock gazes with her mother. “You’ve decided to go?”
“I have. I called Trudy while you were tidying up your paperwork and told her to pick me up in the morning,” Katy answered. “And thank you.”
“Go where?” Allie asked.
Fiona draped an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “She is going on a two-week vacation to Florida with her friends.”
“I can…”
“We will…”
Jud and Dora June both spoke at once and then stopped.
“Nothing needs to change. The only difference in the routine is that I won’t be here,” Katy said. “Now let’s get started on this tree. Fiona, you help Jud. Lizzy, you and Allie unpack the other boxes of decorations.”
“Are you sure?” Dora June asked.
“Absolutely. You’ll need to keep an eye on these two kids I’m leaving in your care.” Katy grinned. “And you two kids will have to keep a watch out for Dora June and Truman. Don’t let them work too hard.”
“Well, I think it’s a great idea for you to get away for a little while—long as you don’t decide to stay down there,” Allie said.
“Me too. I’d sure want you here for Christmas,” Lizzy chimed in.
“The timing is perfect.” Fiona started clipping lights to the tree. “Mama can have the fun of the trip and be home a few days before the holiday. Don’t go so fast, Jud. This part takes time and patience.”
“Oh, honey,” Jud whispered for Fiona’s ears only, “I can go fast or I can have patience, depending on whatever you want.”
“Hush.” She blushed.
“Dora June can hold Audrey while we do all this,” Allie said.
“No, that’s my job since I won’t see her for a couple of weeks.” Katy took the baby from Dora June and sat down on the sofa with her. “We are going to watch this whole process together. Dora June, darlin’, will you unpack the ornaments and line them up on the coffee table so that they’ll be ready when the time comes?”
Dora June clapped her hands. “I love looking at the pretty ornaments and it’s a special year when me and Irene can put them on the tree together.”
When she turned around to pick up the box that had been marked ORNAMENTS, Fiona noticed that she wiped a tear from her eyes.
Fiona felt a sting of sadness for Dora June. She’d never had a big family around her as she decorated her tree. Even with Truman sitting in the background enjoying her cookies, it had to be lonely. Then another shot filled her heart as she watched Irene struggling to hold on to everything she held dear. Two old ladies: one with family that she didn’t even know some of the time, the other who wished she had family.
Lizzy bumped Fiona on the shoulder. “Time to get busy if we’re going to get this done tonight.”
“What are you and Allie going to do while I’m doing the hard work?” Fiona asked.
“We’re unpacking the boxes with the stuff in them like Mama said.”
“Mama lets me help with the ornaments,” Irene said.
“You can help tonight,” Katy told her. “You and Dora June can do that job together.”
“I think I’m supposed to be mad at Dora June but I can’t remember why,” Irene whispered.
“Y’all aren’t mad at each other anymore.” Katy patted her on the shoulder. “The miniature nativity scene goes on the mantel and the collection of snowmen goes on the top of the bookcase and the secretary and wherever you can find a place,” Katy said. “This is the last year we’ll put them on the end tables. Next year Audrey will be walking and she might hurt herself if she knocked one off and broke it.”
“And the snow globes?” Lizzy asked.
“Exactly in all the traditional places this year. We may have to rethink things next year since Audrey will be walking by then,” Irene answered.
“Have the lights been tested?” Fiona asked before she clipped another one to the branches. “This tree is artificial but I swear I smell pine.”
“I lit a pine-scented candle,” Dora June said. “And thank you, Katy for letting us continue to stay here while you are gone.”
Fiona’s hand brushed against Jud’s bare arm and the electricity was nothing short of pure static. How no one else saw it was a complete mystery.
“To answer your question about the lights, Fiona, the guys and I did that before you got home,” Jud answered.
Tradition: that’s what her mother said years ago when she asked why they still used the ancient lights on their tree when everyone else had gone to the flashing twinkle lights.
He stopped and she took another step, her whole body plastering against his, sending little spurts of heat from her toes to the ends of every red hair.
“Where does a person even buy the bulbs for these antiques anymore?” she murmured breathlessly as she took a step back.
“Anywhere,” Jud answered. “They sell every color imaginable for night-lights now. Same size as these are. My grandparents still use this kind. I saw a place online last week that’s selling strands of these again and I plan to buy some when I have my own home and Christmas tree.”
He bumped against her hip and more sparks flashed around like dozens of stars falling from the sky. Everyone talking at once covered Fiona’s quick intake of breath, thank God. She clipped the bulb to the tree and took a step, putting a foot of space between her and Jud but that didn’t do much for the heat between them.
“I’d offer you a penny for your thoughts but I bet you wouldn’t sell them that cheap,” Jud whispered.
Sweet Lord! She wouldn’t sell what she’d just been thinking for any amount of money.
“You got that right.” Crimson filled her cheeks.
“Are you blushing? Now I really want to know what you were thinking.” His warm breath caressed that soft spot on her neck, sending shivers up her back.
“You aren’t getting them spread out enough. We’ve only got two more strands and they have to do the whole tree,” Lizzy bossed from the sidelines.
“You worry about your job and leave me alone. The nativity is off center. The shed and manger go smack dab in the middle, or you won’t have enough room for all the rest of the animals,” Fiona told her.
“The joys of sisterhood.” Allie winked.
Toby unpacked figurines of sheep, a donkey, a few cows, and a couple goats. “Hey, where is Truman? I found goats.”
“Not even nativity goats would get him out here,” Dora June said above the noise. “The music has stopped. Someone needs to start another CD. I always play music when I’m decorating.”
“It ain’t Christmas without music,” Irene said.
“Yes, ma’am.” Blake crossed the floor to the corner where the CD player was located and chose an album with a mixture of country music artists.
Fiona wiggled her hips to the song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” When she stopped and went back to work, Jud nudged her with his shoulder.
“Great moves there. Want to go out Friday night and do some dancin’?” he asked.
“Are you asking me for a date?” she whispered.
“I guess I am. We could go to Wichita Falls or maybe to a place called Frankie’s.” He drawled so low that only she could hear him.
“Frankie’s? How do you even know about that place?” Her big green eyes widened and she cocked her head to one side.
“Deke offered to take me. He took Lizzy, you know.”
“No!” Fiona gasped. “Does Mama know?”
“Have no idea. You’ll have to ask her,” Jud said.
“What are y’all whispering about?” Dora June asked.
“I was asking her to teach me to do that dance. I can two-step or swing dance, but I can’t do the shuffle and she’s really good at it,” Jud answered.
“It looks like a pagan mating dance to me,” Dora June huffed. “Y’all get on with the lights so I can help put the ornaments on. Audrey gets to put the star on the top when we get done. I promised her she could do it if she wouldn’t go to sleep. That way she’ll stay awake and then sleep good tonight for her mama.”
“But”—Allie glanced over toward the rocking chair—“she’s not even two months old, Dora June. How is she going to put the star on the tree?”
“We’ll really put it on the tree.” Dora June smiled.
“Blake will hold her up there beside it like she did it,” Irene said. “Y’all can take a picture of her up there beside it. The rule in our house says the youngest kid gets to put the star on the tree. Who knows? It could be the only year she’ll get to put the star on the tree. She might have a little brother or a cousin next year at this time.”
“Bite your tongue,” Allie gasped.
“One never knows what another year will bring. I sure wouldn’t mind giving Audrey a little cousin next year,” Lizzy said.
Dora June’s eyes shifted to Fiona.
She popped up both palms, fingers splayed out in defense. “Don’t look at me. I’m not in the market for a baby, not even to put the star on the tree.”
“Best be careful. God has a way of throwing monkey wrenches into the best plans,” Dora June giggled.
“So no babies before next year but we could go dancing. Last time I checked that didn’t produce a baby,” Jud flirted.
“Can you guarantee that?” she asked.
“For sure,” he said.
“What are you two talking about?” Lizzy asked.
“We are going dancing on Friday night,” Fiona said. “But it’s not a date. It’s just two people going out for a good time.” She tucked the final light in exactly the right place. “Now it’s time for Dora June and the rest of y’all to put the ornaments on. Jud and I have done our job.”
“Oh, really? Was I fast or patient?” Jud’s eyebrows went up.
“You finished well,” she said.
“I always do,” he whispered.
She started to say something else but noticed that Irene’s eyes had begun to dart around the room.
Katy went right to her side and held her hand. “Are you okay, Mama?”
“Where am I? I don’t know this place. Did we get new nurses?” Irene frowned.
“We hired help to decorate the lobby. Are you ready to go to your room?” Katy asked.
Irene nodded. “I am very tired.” She glanced out the window. “Maybe tomorrow we can build a snowman if it snows enough.”
Deke had been helping Lizzy set snow globes on the higher places but he turned and headed toward the kitchen. “Let’s take Miz Irene home in my truck. I’ll feel better if I go with y’all and if the roads get slick, then my truck is heavier.”
“Thank you,” Katy said.
“No problem. See all y’all tomorrow, folks.”
Fiona started across the room to hug her grandmother but Katy shook her head. Allie looped her arm through Fiona’s and Lizzy laid a hand on her shoulder.
“She thinks we are hired help and those folks would not hug her,” Allie said softly.
“We’ve learned how to handle it,” Lizzy said.
“This is so hard.” Fiona swiped at a tear clinging to her long lashes.
“Yes, but we’ll be thankful that we had her for a couple of hours. That’s a miracle,” Allie said.
“Just one minute, Katy,” Blake said.
Even though all the ornaments weren’t on the tree, he fixed the star to the top and held Audrey up for everyone to take pictures. “I don’t want you to miss seeing the real thing.” He grinned.
Jud plugged the end of the cord into the outlet and the multicolored lights lit up beautifully.
“Thanks.” Katy smiled as she helped Irene into her coat and hat. “Look at Audrey’s eyes. I’m so glad you did that for me, Blake. That’s a precious memory I will cherish forever.”
Fiona inhaled deeply. Lizzy was right. They’d had Granny for a little while and that was a miracle. Audrey’s little eyes had lit up so bright when the lights came on that Fiona couldn’t even find words to describe the joy in her heart. She made a vow right then that she’d always come home the weekend after Thanksgiving and enjoy this tradition. It didn’t matter where she lived; she would never miss making memories like this again.
“Carols!” Dora June clapped her hands. “We haven’t had a caroling in years. We’ve got enough folks in this room right here to have one. We can ride on the back of a flat-bed trailer and sing all the old carols. We’ll have to figure out an evening.”
“Can you sing?” Jud asked Fiona.
“No, she can’t,” Allie said. “But we don’t care because she can dance.”
Lizzy nodded emphatically. “Yes, she can. If it hadn’t been for her, I’d have been a scared rabbit at my proms. She taught me all the newest dance moves and I was the queen of the prom.”
“Well, if you can dance that well, I’m really looking forward to Friday night,” Jud said.
“Friday night? What’s going on Friday night?” Allie asked.
“We are going to visit Granny and then go to a country bar up near Wichita Falls for some dancing,” Fiona answered.
“Oooooh.” Dora June’s eyebrows shot up.
“Just as friends,” Fiona quickly clarified.
The eyebrows settled back into place.
“If you aren’t nice, I will sing, Jud, so remember that,” she said.
“Is this your song?” He nodded toward the stereo.
Fiona cocked her head to one side and listened to “The Angel and the Little Blue Bell” by Brenda Lee. She had not heard the song since she was a little girl. The lyrics were about a little blue bell that couldn’t ring and said that an angel appeared and told the little blue bell that she’d come to dry his tears. She changed him to gold, gave him the perfect tone, and on Christmas Day he could ring.
“No, it’s not, because I don’t expect an angel to appear on Christmas Eve and give me a voice of gold,” she answered.
“What if it’s symbolic of what the angel could bring you?” he asked.
“The angels deserted me a long time ago.” She took a step away from him and went to the turntable. The angels had really turned their backs the day she was born. They had put wings on her shoulders instead of giving her something to hang on to so that she could find a place to light and call home.
Jud followed her. “How did they desert you?”
“All I ever wanted was a place to belong like Lizzy and Allie, but the angels turned their backs on me. I didn’t fit into the little town of Dry Creek or in the big city of Houston. Maybe I’m one of those souls who will wander for her whole life and never find a place to call her own.”
“Maybe you need a good reason to put down roots,” Jud said.
“Family should be a good reason, right?”
“Maybe you need more,” he answered.
She found a CD with several of the older country artists featured on it. Loretta Lynn started out with a fast song and Fiona’s shoulders wiggled to the music.
“You’ve really got music in your soul whether you can sing or not,” Jud said.
“Yes, she does,” Lizzy said. “And we’ve missed that around here.”
“I missed all this,” Fiona said honestly.
Jud grabbed her hand and twirled her several times before bringing her back to his chest. “Don’t look now, but Truman is peeking around the edge of the door. He’s itchin’ to come in here and join us but he’s too damn stubborn.”
“Like I told him before, pride is a dangerous thing.” Fiona fell into step to a country waltz as Loretta sang about the chill on the air because Daddy wouldn’t be there.
“I’ve got a cousin in Kuwait right now and he’s got two little kids. It puts a tear in my eye when I listen to this song. This was about Vietnam but I’m sure it’s the same feeling,” Jud said.
“I’m sorry,” Fiona said.
George Strait started singing “Christmas Cookies” and the mood of the whole room jacked up a notch. Allie put the baby in her carrier and grabbed Blake’s hand for a dance. Toby wrapped his arm around Lizzy and they joined the other two in a fast swing dance. The lyrics said that every time she put a batch in the oven there was fifteen minutes for kissing and hugging.
Jud leaned back and laughed. “I got gypped.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Fiona made cookies yesterday, but I didn’t get in on the fifteen minutes of fun while they cooked,” he said honestly.
Dora June shook a bright red and silver ornament in their direction. “As long as I’m in this house, there had better not be any of that fifteen-minute stuff. Miz Katy would fire me from my chaperone job and throw me out in the snow if that happened.”
Jud bowed at the waist to kiss Fiona’s fingertips when the song ended. “Thank you for the dance, ma’am.”
“You are very welcome,” Fiona said.
Blake slid a more modern CD into the player. “I think it’s time for some Alabama.”
“Hear, hear!” Toby agreed.
Dora June swayed to “Christmas in Dixie” as her eyes shifted around the room. Her whole face shined with excitement when she stared at the nativity scene. A big smile covered her face at the snowmen looking out from every corner of the room. And when she looked at the snow globes, she nodded so hard that all chins were set into motion.
“This is wonderful,” she said. “There’s something about having all you kids around me that I can’t even explain.”
Fiona could relate well after the lonely holiday she’d spent the year before.
“We need presents under the tree. Fiona, will you take me shopping on Sunday after church?” Dora June asked. “We could go see Irene while we’re up there. I should be whipped for not going to see her more often. That’s saying if the weather will let us.”
“Of course we can,” Fiona said. “Matter of fact, maybe we’ll make it a girls’ day out. What do you say, Lizzy and Allie?”
Her sisters both shot bewildered looks across the room and she understood them. They’d put up with Dora June’s crazy meddling. Fiona had been ready to shoot her right between chin number two and three more than once, but if they were going to turn Dora June and Truman into allies rather than enemies…well, it had to start somewhere.
She caught Truman’s frown as he peeked around the door frame again and that solidified her determination. “We’ll take Audrey with us.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful.” Dora June grinned.
Lizzy nodded. “I haven’t shopped for this sexy husband of mine and that would be a great time to do so.”
Allie’s nod was slower. “I haven’t even started my shopping, so I guess I do need to go.”
“Rule number one, Dora June. No bossing us or telling us how to run our lives,” Fiona said.
“Rule number one, Fiona.” Dora June pointed a chubby finger at her. “You need bossing and I’m like your granny. I speak my mind.”
“It should be an interesting day for y’all,” Jud muttered.
It was past ten when everyone finally left, but the whole downstairs was decorated for the holidays. A lovely poinsettia and candle centerpiece graced the dining room table. Red candles with greenery around them were arranged on the foyer table and the kitchen curtains had been taken down and replaced with pretty red and green plaid ones.
Fiona took one long, last look at each room before she turned out the lights in the kitchen. She carefully picked up two bottles of cold beer and carried them upstairs, along with a platter of leftovers from the supper buffet.
A thin line of yellow light cut across the neutral-colored carpet of the hall but it grew to a wide band when Jud threw the door wide open. “I thought I heard you. Weatherman says we’re in for sleet off and on all day tomorrow and Thursday, but the sun will come out on Friday and melt most of it, so we should be good to go dancing. Want me to tell Deke we’ll go to Frankie’s with him?”
“No! I’m not going to Frankie’s. I can’t believe that Lizzy went. That’s just a glorified brothel. I’ll go up to the Rusty Spur with you, though, as long as you let me pay my own way,” she said. “Hungry?”
“Not right now, but I’ll take one of those beers,” he said. “How’d you get those anyway?”
“Deke sneaked them in when Dora June’s back was turned. But we have to drink them tonight because she’ll find them tomorrow.”
“Bless old Deke’s heart.” Jud twisted the top off and drank a fourth of the contents. “Icy cold, too. Come on in. I’ve been dying to tell you about what happened with Truman.”
Setting the platter on the end table, she settled in on the bed with pillows behind her back. She removed the lid from her beer, then hurriedly sipped the froth when it threatened to overflow the bottle. “Don’t want to waste a single drop of this precious stuff. You do know that Throckmorton County is dry and we have to cross the county line to get anything to drink.”
“That’s the first thing Blake moaned about last winter.” Jud settled into the recliner. “Do you realize that we’re like two old married folks? You have your spot and I have mine.”
“We’re more like a couple of high school sophomores, sneaking beer and kisses behind the principal’s back,” she laughed.
“And the principal is Miz Dora June O’Dell, right?”
She raised her bottle and leaned forward. He did the same and touched his to it.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather when you and Truman walked in the store together, so talk.” She bit into a chicken salad sandwich. “These are so good. I have to ask Dora June what spices she uses. But back to the Truman story.”
“Well, I got to thinkin’ last night about how to knock some of that jackass attitude out of him, so I got up early and went down to breakfast.” Jud told the whole story between sips of beer and bites of three cookies.
“Wow!” she said.
“I’m having breakfast with him again every day for the whole time they’re here. He’s either going to shape up or else leave because he hates me so bad,” Jud said.
“Why were you interested in that old well? We always thought it had water in it and maybe the folks who lived there had their house burn down and that was the reason the house was gone. Did you do your homework?” she asked.
“About what?” He reached for a sandwich at the same time she did.
The reaction when his hand touched hers didn’t surprise her anymore, but that didn’t mean she had to do anything about it. She could ignore it until it got bored and went away.
“This whole area was filled with military forts because this is where they housed the Indians about the time Texas became a state. So there could have been houses all over the place, and that old well could have been the main source for water during that time,” she explained.
“Well, according to Truman, that well never had water because they hit limestone, which he thought was a hoot. He figured he was delivering bad news to me, but it was really good news. I’m going to talk to Blake and Toby first, since this is a joint venture but…” He paused.
“You think you are sitting on oil?”
He nodded. “Or natural gas, but my nose says it’s oil.”
She leaned forward and held out her nearly empty bottle to clink with his again. “That’s fantastic. Good luck with it. Are you going to use your old work connections to drill it for you?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m going to subcontract a rental agreement for the equipment and sink it myself. It will take every dime of what I’ve got saved and my inheritance from my grandparents, but if I hit oil, it will all come back to the Lucky Penny.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then I’ll be broke, but at least I won’t have cost the ranch anything,” he said. “It will take a few months to get it going, and Josie might even want to partner with me. She’s thinking about it.”
“That’s a big risk.”
Another nod. “Life is full of risks. We make a decision based on what we have to work with that day, not the day before because that bronc has already been ridden or the day after because that wild horse isn’t ready to ride, but today.”
Fiona drained the last drop from her beer bottle. “I had no idea you were a philosopher.”
His slightly lopsided grin warmed her heart. Why had she not noticed that his smile wasn’t perfect?
“Me? I’m just a rough old cowboy with a pretty good nose for oil. That’s why I couldn’t get here before now. I had another year on my contract with a company based out in the panhandle. I’m not bragging, but if I said to drill in a certain place, they sunk a well.”
“You ever wrong?” she asked.
“One time, but I stopped the job before it started.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Josie thought it was a mistake and the more I listened to her, the more I realized she might be right. I went back over my notes, went back to the site, and I had doubts. So they didn’t drill. Usually Josie and I agreed, but that time she was right and I was wrong.”
Fiona picked up an extra pillow and hugged it against her stomach. “Did it hurt to admit that to your sister?”
“Hell, yes, it did. And she rubbed it in for weeks,” he chuckled.
There was something about Fiona’s fire that drew Jud to her like a gypsy to a bonfire. He looked forward to the evenings when they talked. He missed having breakfast with her. His heart skipped half a beat when he walked into the store and there she was either behind the counter or at that table in the back room with the laptop in front of her.
It could simply be because they were thrown together, living in the same house, kin to the same people, working in a town with a population of less than five hundred people, so there weren’t many folks to talk to. But that argument wouldn’t hold water if he was honest. He was flat out attracted to her.
She threw her legs off the bed. “I’ll take care of the beer bottles if you’ll take what’s left of those dirty dishes in the morning.”
“What are you going to do with them?” he asked.
“Hide them in my coat pockets and then toss them in the Dumpster out behind the store. It’s an old trick us girls perfected years ago.” She smiled.
“You drank beer under your mama’s nose?”
“When we could get it,” she said. “But never more than one or two at the most. Us Logan girls cannot hold our liquor worth a damn. Both Lizzy and Allie had their first drunk experience after your brothers came to the Lucky Penny. I won’t be following in their footsteps.”
“Did Blake make them do his hangover cure?” Jud asked.
“Oh, yes, and from what I hear it’s a miracle, but I hate, absolutely hate, bananas.”
“Noted. No bananas for you.” Jud stood, handed her his beer bottle, and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Let me walk you to your room.”
“I’m pretty sure I can make it on my own,” she laughed, and rolled her eyes. “But I appreciate the gesture.”
“Aw, where’s the fun in that?”
Jud wanted to kiss her again. No, he wanted to kiss her lots of times and then slowly lead her back to his room, tumble her onto his bed, and make slow, sweet love to her all night. Instead, he kissed her knuckles one at a time and then cupped her face in his big hands and lowered his mouth to hers for a long, lingering kiss.
“Good night,” he whispered, and turned around to go back to his room.
“Jud,” she called out.
He glanced over his shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows. “Change your mind?”
“Dora June would catch us for sure,” she giggled. “These old beds have squeaky springs.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her hearing the springs nearly as much as hearing your screams,” he teased as he shut the door to his room.
The next morning, Jud hit the floor with determination to make progress on thawing Truman a little more. Fiona had been right about the squeaky springs, because he heard her tossing and turning as he tiptoed past her bedroom door early that morning. A picture flashed through his mind of the two of them making beautiful music with those springs, but he quickly made himself think of other things.
Truman and Dora June were both at the table when he reached the kitchen and immediately Dora June pushed back her chair.
“Three eggs? I got biscuits and sausage gravy and the waffle iron is hot,” she said.
“Sit still, Miz Dora June. You don’t have to wait on me.”
“It’s all on the stove,” she said. “I appreciate you gettin’ it for yourself, Jud. My old knees are feelin’ this cold weather.”
“Can I warm up either of y’all’s coffee while I’m getting mine?”
“I’d love a warm-up, thanks,” she said. “And Truman’s cup is nearly empty, so he’ll take more, too.”
Jud filled all their cups and then set the coffeepot back on the warmer. “I thought I’d go with you this morning, Truman. It’s a nasty day out there. Are your cell phone batteries charged?”
Truman puffed out his chest. “I don’t carry one of them damn things. They are the ruin of society and I didn’t ask for your help.”
“You could fall and freeze to death in this weather if you’re out there alone.” Jud carried a plate of food to the table. “You don’t have to use it unless you need it. Miz Dora, we need to buy him a pay-as-you-go phone for Christmas.”
“If you do, I’ll throw it out in the yard,” Truman declared.
“Well, you’re not big enough to throw me out in the yard,” Dora June said. “So either Jud goes with you until this weather clears up or I’m going with you every morning. Your choice but you need to make it now because I’ll have to get into my warm clothes.”
“Hmmmph.” Truman snorted. “I ain’t takin’ you out in this weather. You’d catch cold and maybe pneumonia. I guess Jud can go with me.”
“Thank you for offering, Jud. I do worry,” Dora said softly.
“So would I if it were my grandpa out there without a phone or any way to get in touch with us if he got hurt,” Jud said.
“I’m not your grandpa,” Truman said tersely.
Jud let him have the last word but he caught the sly wink from Dora June.