Texas Christmas Bride: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Book 6

by Jean Brashear

  She grinned over her shoulder at Bridger, surprised to discover she could still blush. “That thing you did?” She kept her voice soft. “With the bath gel?” She fanned herself a little. “Not hardly. I only meant—”

  Her mouth was seized in a hot, hard kiss that softened to sweetness. She turned in his arms, ignoring the jeers and cheers coming from behind them.

  And she felt once more the sting of what she was denying him.

  She wasn’t sure what she was waiting for. There was no question she wanted this man for the rest of her life. She couldn’t imagine loving anyone more.

  “Uh-oh. I really am falling down on the job if you can still think while I’m kissing you.”

  “You don’t know what I’m thinking,” she protested.

  “What? No. But that you are? Oh, yeah.” He drew back. “You okay?”

  She didn’t know what to do with her confusion, but she was not marring this day he’d been looking forward to as much as the kids. She cradled his strong jaws in her hands. “How could I not be, looking at this face?” She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the love she felt for this remarkable, generous man who was so much better at love than she feared she would ever be.

  He picked her up and began walking toward the door.

  She laughed against his lips. “Bridger, stop that!”

  Around them fond laughter arose.

  She smacked his shoulder. “Put me down. I’m working.”

  “Break time,” he said. “Carry on, people. She’ll be back.”

  And he carted her outside as, once out of the view of the children, she hitched her legs around his waist.

  Back inside, Jackson drew Veronica into his side while Mackey wrapped his arms around Rissa’s waist. Ian picked Scarlett up and replaced her in the chair, holding her on his lap.

  Click-clack click-clack.

  A growl rose from Rissa’s throat. Scarlett groaned.

  “Hey, Hayley,” greeted Mackey. “You here to make cookies?”

  A few minutes later, Penny returned without Bridger, her color high, her hair in disarray. When everyone looked at her, she merely lifted a smug eyebrow.

  Then she spotted the newcomer. “Fab shoes, Hayley.”

  The little blonde preened. Then her gaze dropped to Penny’s feet. “Yours, too—oh.”

  Penny looked down and realized just how far she’d gone native.

  “You should see my red cowboy hat to match.” She turned to go to her former station.

  Ben stepped in her path. “Aunt Penny?”

  “Hey, Ben. Great to have you here.”

  “As if I could miss.” But he didn’t seem too worked up over it. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “Not here.” His voice was barely a whisper.

  “Oh. Sure.” She thought for a second, then spoke louder. “Ben and I are going to see if Aunt Ruby needs anything.”

  Once outside, she walked the long way around the courthouse. “What can I help you with?”

  “Is it too late?”

  “For what?”

  “For Mom to marry Pops for Christmas.”

  She studied him. “Does that mean you’re okay with it?”

  “I was always okay with my parents getting married.” He shrugged. “A blind man could see how much they love each other. It was just—”

  “The adoption thing.”

  “Yeah.” He paused. “I mean, I know it was stupid, since I’m his real son, but—”

  “But David was your father. He raised you.”

  “Yeah. And it seems kinda disloyal to ditch his name.”

  “Do you have to?”

  “That’s what I was wondering. What if I just added Gallagher, and Butler stayed in my name, just not my last name?”

  “Hey, you could be like royalty. They have a whole string of names. That’s what you mean? Keep your full Benjamin Edward Butler and add Gallagher?”

  “That’s lame, right? I should ditch my middle name, but it’s my, well, Edward Butler wasn’t my real great-grandfather, but—”

  “David’s grandfather was a kind man. Names are important, and yours should feel right to you. That’s your choice to make, and I know your folks would agree. You just need to talk it over with them, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “But what?”

  “Wouldn’t it be kind of a cool surprise for Pops? If he got his Christmas wish after all?”

  “Is that what you’re asking? If we can pull off this wedding in time, only without your dad knowing?”

  “Never mind. It’s too much. I shouldn’t—”

  Penny laughed from deep in her chest, a laugh of pure delight. “I think it’s an awesome idea. And hey, a family tradition, surprise weddings, right?”

  Ben grinned.

  “But surprising your mom is a whole different level of issues.”

  “I was going to talk to her because I know wedding junk is important to women. I just didn’t want to say anything if pulling this off was asking too much of everyone.”

  “It’s a lot,” Penny admitted. “I won’t lie to you.”

  “Then never mind. I know I screwed all this up. I should have—”

  She placed a hand on his arm. “I’m not saying it can’t be done.” A smile spread. “This town adores your mom, and everyone is really happy Jackson’s back. He’s doing so much for everyone. We will get this done.” How, she wasn’t sure, but regardless, she was already making lists in her head.

  “Really?”

  “Really. You and I, young Jedi, are going to make this thing happen.” She stuck out a palm.

  He high-fived it. “You’re the best, Aunt Penny.”

  “I really am,” she said.

  Over the next several days, Sweetgrass hummed with activity.

  Construction proceeded on the two buildings on the square that Jackson had chosen for his Texas headquarters. He’d decided not to try to hold his company Christmas event in Sweetgrass this first year and chosen instead to bring a select few employees to town for the community Christmas. Thus he didn’t need as much housing in a hurry, but he wanted to have some enticing workspace for them to view when they got to town.

  For their lodging, he’d asked locals to consider taking in a person or two, so that the employees—all of whom had no family with whom to celebrate—would experience the holiday in a more personal way. Volunteers had been plentiful.

  The tree inside the courthouse was the Secret Santa tree, with names attached for those who faced an uncertain holiday. Day by day, those tags disappeared, ornaments springing up in their places. Tree trimming for the tall juniper on the courthouse lawn was a continuing event, as residents dropped by to hang new ornaments to accompany the lights that had been strung at the end of Cookie Day, accompanied by the singing of Christmas carols. Patrons at Ruby’s Diner had front row seats to the decorating process, and each day was a feast of discussions on which ornaments were most appealing and which had been contributed by whom. Diners caught one another up on the latest ornament count and composition.

  Over in the construction zone, work continued on the new headquarters of Enigma Games and the studios on the floor above.

  “You ever get tired of pulling a fast one on your buddies?” Ian asked as he measured window trim.

  “Hell, no,” Mackey snickered. “Why would I?”

  “Don’t be smug just because you’re already married. Springing this surprise on Jackson after doing the same to me…you ready to be zinged right back when you least expect it?”

  Mackey’s grin was unrepentant. “You trying to tell me you’re not crazy happy with Scarlett?”

  “Hell, no.”

  “Do you mind that the surprise meant you had to get married again by the justice of the peace because you didn’t have a marriage license?”

  Ian rolled his eyes. “Texas law says she had to be there to get one.” His smile spread. “But by
then, she was committed.”

  “Then I rest my case. Wiz will love this, you know. It’s one crazy great surprise. Ben’s such a good kid.”

  “He is.” Ian glanced around them. The construction crews Jackson had hired worked all day, but the locals pitched in where they could, and many of them gave up their evenings to help out. The downstairs of the old dry goods store was taking shape, and up here, living quarters were emerging from what had been abandoned storage for longer than Ian had been alive. “It’s a good thing we’re doing.”

  “Yep.” Mackey hammered in another nail. “I was thinking…Roundtree might want in on this.”

  “The construction? Seriously?”

  Mackey shook his head. “He’s out on tour. I meant the wedding. The community Christmas celebration. He doesn’t really have any family to speak of. He seemed to get a real kick out of being here and singing at your wedding.”

  Ian smiled. “It was pretty amazing. Not a lot of folks can say they had a country superstar serenade at their wedding. Should we ask Josh to check with him?”

  “Quinn’s over there working. Let’s see what he thinks. Roundtree and Josh have been friends a long time.”

  Ian glanced over at the silent, watchful presence. Quinn Marshall had been through tragedy, had nearly died. But he’d come out the other side, marrying the former Lorie Chandler, queen of the daytime soaps, a beautiful blonde who’d been stalked by a sicko who’d murdered her first husband. Now they lived on Quinn’s ranch up on the Caprock where he raised horses, and she was a midwife, of all things.

  Life had interesting twists. Who could have predicted his own? “Yeah, let’s see.” As they walked over, Mackey asked, “Did you hear that Dev Marlowe might bring his brother Connor?”

  “Former SEAL? Got hurt bad in Afghanistan?”

  “Yep. Dev says he’d like Connor to get involved with Rissa’s therapy horses.”

  “The vets she’s worked with from the Army hospital in San Antonio have really benefitted.” Ian knew it was a cause dear to not only Mackey’s heart but Bridger’s.

  Speaking of the devil…

  “Bridger, did I hear that your sister is coming for Christmas?”

  The man’s face lit. “She is. Just found out yesterday.” Bridger had lost his entire family when his father had murdered his mother, then killed himself, and Bridger had been considered too young to be allowed custody of his siblings. Dev had helped him find Molly, but two siblings were still missing.

  “That is fantastic. Congratulations.” Ian extended a fist-bump, and Bridger returned it.

  “Yeah. I’m pretty happy. She’ll be here the day before Christmas Eve. She’s a resident, so time off isn’t exactly easy to get, but somehow she managed.”

  “Nice Christmas gift.”

  “It is. I’ll be able to show her where Penny and I are building our home.”

  “You’re pouring the foundation this week?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Need any help?”

  “Only with getting Legs to say yes.” His eyes darkened but his kept his smile in place.

  “We could always include her in the surprise wedding,” Mackey offered. “Wouldn’t be the first time for a double wedding the brides didn’t expect.”

  Bridger didn’t echo Mackey’s grin. He shook his head. “No. She’ll get to it when she does. I’m not pushing her on this.” But his sorrow was evident.

  Ian clapped him on the shoulder. “Gallagher women…what can I tell you?”

  “Anybody have a clue what the problem is?”

  “Besides rock-hard heads, you mean?” Mackey asked. “Pure-dee meanness is my explanation.”

  “Penelope isn’t mean. Neither is Rissa or Scarlett, for that matter.”

  “And yet…they resist.”

  The three shook their heads in commiseration.

  “Well, we’re headed to talk to Quinn. Good luck, man. Too bad you can’t find yourself a kid who needs adopting to give Penny some urgency.”

  Bridger chuckled. “Yeah, right. Great tip. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

  Then there were the wedding preparations, conducted in secret, mostly at Jeanette’s little house.

  “I never thought I’d be grateful to see Jackson leave town,” Veronica said as she helped Jeanette pin a bodice to a skirt for Beth’s dress.

  “Keeping secrets is hard.”

  “Especially when it’s something I know he still wants, however much he’s let the subject go. And, of course, I can’t say a word in front of the twins. Beth would have trouble keeping the secret, but Abby…?”

  The group chuckled. “She’d probably pop from the pressure of an unvoiced thought.” Rissa grinned. “Love that kid.”

  “Me, too. But I’m about to pop myself. And I’m nervous.”

  “Seriously?” Penny asked. “Why? The man adores you to distraction.”

  “I know. But so much could go wrong.”

  “You’ll be there, Jackson will be there,” Jeanette ticked off on her fingers. “Everyone who loves you will be there. And no one’s going to give a rat’s patootie if some little detail goes awry.”

  “You’re right. I know you’re right.”

  Even Hayley was hanging around and pitching in. “If I had a man who loved me the way that man loves you…” She looked around. “All of you. It’s sickening and gives me hope, all at the same time.” Her voice wobbled, and the whole room went still in shock. Hayley? Emotional?

  She glanced up from the needle she’d proven surprisingly adept at wielding. “Oh, grow up. You know what you have here. Sweetgrass is the perfect town.”

  Eyebrows lifted. Glances were exchanged.

  “Are you okay, Hayley?” Penny probed.

  “What? Of course I am. It’s no one’s fault that some men are blind and stupid besides.” She shuddered dramatically. “Anyway, I belong in L.A.—not that visits here aren’t nice, but—”

  “Nordstrom is in Austin. We’ll indulge in some emergency shoe therapy. You’ll feel much better,” Penny said.

  Rissa snorted in derision. “Getting lightheaded from lack of shopping, Hayley?”

  Her sister glared at her.

  Rissa rolled her eyes.

  Veronica cleared her throat and drew attention away from the potential argument. In the week and a half since Ben had dropped his bombshell and planning had whipped into warp speed, they’d become a cohesive group, even sharing confidences. “Steph will be coming with Jackson’s group.”

  “Who’s Steph?” Hayley asked.

  “One of the three who helped Jackson start Enigma. She’s the one Ty tried to frame, then abducted and held hostage before he shot himself right in front of her.”

  “Oh. Wow. She and Jackson are close?”

  Closer than anyone here knew, but Veronica tried to lock that out of her brain. The thought that this woman had seen Jackson naked caused her more than a little lost sleep, no matter how he insisted—and she believed him—that it had been only one time. That it had been only sex.

  Only sex was not a term she could relate to. Making love with Jackson was an extraordinary and emotional experience, a time when they fortified their bond, when they left behind business plans and children’s needs and decisions that impacted others. In those sacred moments, the world was only the two of them, a private space that felt…hallowed. She restored her soul there. She opened her heart fully. It was every bit as emotional as physical.

  She wanted to tear Steph’s hair out by the roots.

  She felt truly sorry for what Steph had been though.

  She didn’t want to welcome Jackson’s former lover into her home.

  But she would. For Jackson.

  “So, wait…she’s coming here? I thought she wasn’t working for him anymore.”

  “She’s not,” Penny spoke up. “But that’s who my brother is. He feels responsible for her, for all of them. He’s not just their boss, he’s their mentor, their cheerleader, their trailblazer. If you co
uld see how people look at him back there…they’d walk through gunfire for him. He has the lowest turnover rate in the industry and yes, he provides terrific benefits to them, but that’s not what makes them stay. It’s respect. Admiration. And they honestly like him. He’s as likely to play a pickup basketball game as lead a meeting. He doesn’t put on airs. He has a fancy office for when he needs it to impress outsiders, but he has a workspace like the rest of them, down on the same floor, right in the mix. It’s why he wants as many of them here as possible, so that chemistry will survive. If he’s gone for months at a time, even conference calls won’t make up for not having him there to tell a joke to or to jump in on a Lone Assassin tournament.” She shook her head. “Until I started working with him, I didn’t realize just how hard it was going to be on him to move to Sweetgrass.”

  “I should have moved to Seattle with the kids,” Veronica said.

  “No. That’s not what he wants at all. He sees how you thrive here. He gets Sweetgrass as only someone who’s been estranged from it for so long could. He’s just trying to find his footing. He’s been solitary for a long time,” Scarlett reminded her. “He loves it here, too.”

  “I admire what you’re doing, Veronica. I don’t know if I could welcome Steph here, but you’re showing Jackson how much you love him by making the effort. I hope you know he only thinks of her as a friend.” Penny’s expression made it clear that she, too, was aware that the two had had more than a business relationship.

  “I believe that.” Mostly. It wasn’t Jackson she doubted. But how could any woman experience the power and beauty of his lovemaking and not be at least half in love with him? She forced herself to stop and think. Who had Jackson asked to marry, after all?

  But Stephanie Hargrove was a bombshell, for sure. Veronica might be a farm wife, but she didn’t want to look like one. Not when a breathtakingly handsome man like Jackson was looking at her.

  “Having her here will be fine,” she said firmly, then switched the subject. “Is Bridger excited about Molly being with him for Christmas?”

  Penny cocked one eyebrow at the switch but played along. “He’s over the moon. Molly’s great.”