She’d had diamonds the first time around and they hadn’t helped things to work. Next time all she wanted was a plain gold band—if there was a next time. An antsy feeling told her that someone was staring at her and she looked up to see the manager of the jewelry store smiling from the other side of the glass.
Then an arm slipped around her waist and Jud was there beside her. Her heart jacked up its speed a few notches and her palms got a little clammy as he pulled her close enough that they were touching from shoulder to thigh.
“I’ve bought you a couple of private things to be opened when it’s just us,” he said. “But I can’t find anything that looks right, that tells you what is in my heart and yet can be opened in front of the family.”
“Me too,” she sighed.
“How about that?” He pointed toward a red velvet box with a set of matching gold bands.
“Are you serious?” Fiona asked. “We’ve barely known each other a month.”
Her heart fluttered and her hands trembled. She should panic or run but all she wanted to do grab hold of Jud and never let him go.
“We could put them on a shelf until you’re ready,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.” He dropped down on one knee right there in front of the jewelry store and held her hands in his. “I think I knew I was in love with you the moment you kicked the crap out of the tires on that old truck you drove into town. And since then all I can think about is you. When I go to sleep, I relive the day we’ve had. When I wake up, I can’t wait to see you again. When we dance, it’s like the world disappears. I never want to live a day without you. Fiona Logan, will you marry me?”
It was too soon. She had a decision to make about the Houston job. She couldn’t rush into anything. She had to plan things out. She couldn’t say yes. It was crazy. It was too fast.
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.
Excitement built higher and higher when she saw the driver holding a tablet with her name on it. He led her out to a limousine and held the door for her. The firm was surely courting her in high style. Twenty minutes later, she was sitting in an office on one side of a highly polished table with four men and a woman on the other side.
“Ms. Logan, I’m very impressed with your résumé. We like your work ethic, your dependability, and your dedication. We do, however, have a few questions. The first one being why have you dropped out of the market for a year?” the oldest one of the four men asked.
“I was working in the same firm as my husband. We divorced,” she said.
“Well, that clears that up. I’m surprised that you didn’t find a job immediately with another firm. We weren’t in the market for your skills but surely
there were other places,” the lady said.
“I put in several résumés with several companies. I guess no one was in the market for my skills until now,” Fiona answered honestly.
“Well, we like what we see and we would like to make you an offer and introduce you to the other three people in the department,” one of the men said.
“I have a question,” Fiona asked. “How long have these other three been working for you?”
“One has been here twenty years, one eighteen, and the last one fifteen. The supervisor who left retired after thirty-five years with us. Folks stay with us when they join the firm,” the woman said proudly.
“Why not promote one of those to this position and hire someone to fill that place?” Fiona asked.
“We thought new blood might be good and all three of them will retire in a few years. We don’t want to be left in the same position we are now.”
Fiona turned over her hands, palms up, in her lap. In the left one she put the offer of the new job and thirty years of future work in this firm with all the perks that came with it. There would be hard feelings in the ranks because she was younger than any of the people that she’d be supervising. But she could overcome that with kindness, fairness, and hard work.
She put family, Dry Creek, and Jud in the right one. An old kitchen table in the back room of the store compared to a lovely office—maybe even with a lovely view, with a gorgeous mahogany desk and comfortable chair. Three clients compared to dozens, maybe hundreds. Cute little power suits or jeans and boots.
The lady was shuffling papers and getting ready to take her to see her office but Fiona’s hands were still open. She couldn’t make herself rise out of the chair.
Not yet.
Seeing Jud every day or maybe a couple of short weekends a month. Watching Audrey grow up or making an appearance in her life a few times a year. Being with Granny while she was sporadically lucid or never seeing the light in her eyes again.
Jud had said he would follow her to Timbuktu, but was that fair? He loved the Lucky Penny. He was lucky when it came to oil and he was so excited about drilling in a few months.
The left hand slowly closed into a fist and she brought the right one up to rest on the desk. “I’m sorry if I have wasted your time. I do appreciate the expense that you’ve gone to for this interview, but I’m going to have to refuse your offer.”
“The salary is negotiable,” Mr. Pierce said quickly.
“It’s not the money.”
“Then, what?” the secretary asked.
“My heart is in Dry Creek, Texas, and if I can’t throw everything into a job, I can’t do it,” she answered truthfully.
“That’s exactly the work ethic we want to see. I’m so sorry that we can’t persuade you to join us, but I understand.” Mr. Pierce offered his hand.
Fiona stood up and gave it a firm shake. “Thank you again, sir.”
She walked out of the office, got into the car, and went back to the airport with no regrets and the lyrics of “Breathe” running through her head.
Jud met her and Katy at the door, a question on his face as he brushed a kiss across her lips. “Welcome home to both of you.”
“Can I talk to you upstairs in the hall?” she asked.
He took her hand in his and walked beside her up to the second floor. “I wanted to call or text but this had to be your decision and you didn’t need me to influence you one way or the other.”
When they reached the hall, she kicked off her fancy shoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, drew his face down for a long, lingering kiss. “I love you, Jud. Let’s get married Sunday morning.”
“And the job?”
“I turned them down. When I put everything on the balance scale, that just couldn’t come up to the benefits and joy I have right here with you,” she answered.
“Sunday? That’s Christmas Day,” he said. “But it’s doable if that’s what you want.”
Her feet left the floor when he picked her up and swung her around. “This is the best Christmas present ever for me.”
“Me too,” she giggled. “Now let’s go tell everyone.”
Fiona awoke Christmas morning and was on her way down the stairs when she met Jud coming back up with two cups of coffee in his hands. He handed her one and drawled, “Merry Christmas and happy wedding day, darlin’.”
She took a sip, and then kissed him. “I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
He turned around and followed her down the stairs. “Fiona, I did a fair amount of fighting with myself, too. That’s why I couldn’t be really mad at you when you ran away that night.”
He stopped at the end of the steps and pointed up to the mistletoe hanging above the doorway into the kitchen. She held her coffee cup out to the side, wrapped the other arm around his neck, and tiptoed to kiss him. It only amazed her slightly that his touch and his kisses made her knees go weak and created a place where there was no time, no world, nothing but the two of them.
“I love you, Jud Dawson, and when we are old and gray and chasing grandkids around the property on the Lucky Penny, your kisses will still make me want to drag you off to the bedroom.”
“I hope so,” he chuckled. “That’s exactly what I’d like to do right now but I hear truck doors slamming, which means the rest of the family is here. And your mama and Dora June have been making a buffet breakfast for everyone for the past hour, so I expect we’d better wait until later.”
“Merry Christmas!” Lizzy called out as she and Toby pushed open the door.
“I smell cinnamon.” Blake carried Audrey into the house.
“That’s bacon,” Allie said right behind them. “Mama always makes her famous oven omelets with bacon on Christmas.”
“You are all wrong. It’s coffee.” Deke brought up the tail end of the parade.
Coats came off and were hung on the hall tree, along with cowboy hats. Boots were kicked off and lined up against the wall before everyone padded in their socks to the dining room.
“Merry Christmas to all y’all!” Dora June and Katy said.
“Breakfast before presents,” Katy said. “This is quite a day.”
“And I’ll never forget my anniversary.” Jud kissed Fiona on the top of her head.
“And this morning I’m asking Truman to say grace for us.” Katy bowed her head.
Truman pushed back the chair at the end of the table and stood up. “Thank you, God, for this family, for this beautiful Christmas morning, and for all that you have brought into our lives this past month and for this food. Amen.”
Jud squeezed Fiona’s hand. “I won. He’s no longer Scrooge.”
“Yes, you did.” She smiled up at him.
“He must be hungry for his prayer to be that short.”
“More nervous than hungry. Deke has parked the RV out back. He plans to leave right after the wedding. And Mama says that next Saturday there will be a huge reception at the church for us, and all your family has been invited. Allie and Lizzy say there are lots and lots of Dawsons.”
He put a finger over her lips. “They will love you because you love me.”
“Okay,” she said. “But it’s not fair that you only had to remember a few names and I’ll have to get to know dozens of new faces.”
“Dozens?” Jud chuckled. “Try hundreds. I’m just glad that we’ll be married or my handsome cousins would steal you from me.”
“Not a chance,” she said.
Presents flowed out from under the tree to the sofa, and following tradition, Katy passed them all out before she sat down in a rocking chair. “And now,” she said, “you may start opening.”
“All at once?” Jud asked.
“That’s the way we do it,” Fiona answered. “It’s noisy but it’s so much fun.”
Like a little girl, Dora June ripped into her first package and brought out a lovely set of monogrammed towels. The second one produced a set of pots and pans and the third one a set of dishes and cutlery for fo
ur.
Truman’s first present was a pair of red swimming trunks with bright blue dolphins printed on them. His second was a pair of flip-flops and the third was a digital camera from Deke.
“What on earth does Truman need that for?” Dora June asked. “Y’all are playin’ pranks on him, aren’t you?”
“He might want to take a few pictures,” Deke said. “He can send them straight to your phone and you can send them on to us.”
“Well, it will be kiddin’ time before long. I expect he could take pictures of the new baby goats.” She opened a set of king-sized sheets. “This is a wedding shower. I love it all.” Excitement danced around her as she continued to open gifts while everyone else set theirs to the side and watched as Truman handed her a card with a tiny little present on the top.
Dora June’s hand went to her heart and her eyes filled with tears. “You bought me a present, Truman?”
“Guess I did,” he said with a slight grin. “Open the card first.”
Her eyes filled with tears when she read the card. “Oh, Truman, I don’t care what the present is. You bought it for me so it’s going to be special.”
She laid the card to one side and Fiona saw part of the message: I hope this will make up for all the Christmases that I’ve been a jackass. All the rest will be special, I promise.
The whole room went silent as Dora June pulled the ribbon loose from the small package. When she opened the gold box and found keys to a vehicle, she squealed. “Oh, Truman, you’ve gotten me a new truck, haven’t you? But there’s two sets of keys. What’s the second set for?”
“Yes, I did.” He nodded. “And it’s sittin’ right outside the kitchen door. Want to go see it?”
“Right now?”
“Right now,” Deke said. “Do you know how hard it’s been to keep this a secret?”
Merry Cowboy Christmas Page 26
