Maverick flipped it open to find a gold Claddagh ring with a brilliant diamond in the middle of the heart. It would match the bracelet he had found for her at the mall perfectly. He’d only bought two charms: a Claddagh and one shaped like Texas. He’d written a note and put it inside the box saying that it was to remind her of her past and her future.
“I never saw you wear this.” Maverick couldn’t take his eyes off the ring.
“I wore it all the time with this little gold band.” She held up her left hand. “But when your father refused it, I put it away for the right time to give to my first grandson. This is the right time.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, hoarsely.
“I promised I wouldn’t cry like a baby.” Paxton brought out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. “I couldn’t believe you were giving us the ranch, and now this. I expected this to be an emotional day, but lord…cowboys aren’t supposed to cry.”
Tears streamed down Maverick’s cheeks, and he took a red bandanna from his hip pocket to wipe them away. “I don’t even know what to say. I figured someday you’d sell the place and use the money to buy something smaller in town. Neither of us ever thought about you just handing it over to us, plus all the money to run it.”
“It’s your inheritance, and I’ve put back plenty of money to keep me comfortable in the assisted living place. Build it up into something you’ll be proud to give to your sons one day so the Callahan Ranch can go on and on. I knew this would be emotional. That’s why I didn’t want to say and do all this in front of Bridget. I love her and want her to be my granddaughter, but this is between me and my boys.” Iris reached over the seat and took Paxton’s handkerchief from him to wipe her own eyes. “And, Paxton, you are not being left out. I have a dinner ring that your grandfather had made for me when we were married fifty years. When you get ready to settle down, I want you to take the diamonds from that ring and have them made into an engagement ring for your lady.”
“Alana will love that,” Maverick teased to lighten the mood.
Paxton punched him on the arm. “That’s not funny. Make him stop, Granny.”
“He hit me,” Maverick said. “Make him ride in the back of the truck for being mean.”
“He started it,” Paxton whined like a little boy.
“That’s my boys, always making me either want to pinch their heads off or laugh at them. Never a dull moment.” Iris grinned. “Now, start up this truck, and let’s talk about fences and cattle. This is the last day I intend to put my two cents into this ranchin’ business. That doesn’t mean I won’t still be bossy. I’m tellin’ you right now, you will both come see me each week at the center, except for the weekends when I come to visit the ranch. I won’t be coming back for the first month, though. Maverick needs to get things under control and propose to Bridget.”
“Granny!” Maverick gasped.
“Don’t you use that tone on me.” Iris shook her finger at him. “Drive around the fences first and let me see the cattle. Then we’re going to talk about how many to take to the sale next spring, and how much you need to spend on a new bull.”
“And you weren’t going to be bossy?” Paxton chuckled.
“Enjoy it, today,” Iris told them.
“Does that mean we can’t come to you for advice?” Maverick started to drive through the snow still piled up next to the fence row.
“Of course you can,” Iris said. “But you ain’t getting it without askin’. You’ve worked on the biggest ranch in the panhandle, and you’ve been foremen of that spread out there in Sunset. You’ve had the best education in the whole state. It’s time to use it.”
“We’ll do our damnedest to make you proud,” Paxton said.
“I don’t have a doubt in the world that you’ll do just that.” Iris pointed toward an Angus bull standing under a pecan tree. “That old guy should be sold. He’s been a good bull, but he’s getting too old to throw good calves.”
Maverick nodded in agreement. Emotions aside, getting the ranch in order was going to be an undertaking, but it was actually in better shape than the one he’d been helping the Baker brothers with back to the east in north central Texas. Even if Callahan Ranch didn’t have the prime cattle Tag and Hud got to start with, the Callahan house was bigger, and there was a helluva lot less mesquite to clear off the land.
Then there was the fact that he also had Bridget to help him. He patted his pocket where he’d tucked the little ring box away.
Chapter Twenty-five
Maverick was sitting on the edge of Bridget’s bed when she awoke the next morning. For a few minutes, she wondered why he wasn’t lying beside her and then she remembered that he’d kissed her good night at her bedroom door the night before. Until Paxton left and they got Iris moved into her new home, they wouldn’t be sleeping together.
“Merry Christmas, darlin’,” he whispered.
“It is Christmas.” She smiled. “I get to spend Christmas with my cowboy. That’s the best present ever.”
“We’ll see if you still think that when we open presents. Paxton and I are going outside to do morning chores before breakfast. Granny is already in the kitchen and barking orders,” he said.
“Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Bridget was out of bed so fast that she was barely a blur. She grabbed a pair of pants from the back of a rocking chair and was pulling them up over her hips when Maverick reached out and put his hands around her waist.
“She will appreciate your help, I’m sure,” he said. “But she needs to do this herself, darlin’. It’s kind of like closure for her. She gave us our orders on the morning rounds yesterday, and I guess you got yours while y’all were having tea and scones.”
Bridget nodded and picked up her little Christmas tree earring from the dresser. “And reinforcement of them while we packed. She told me to take the bed out of her room and store it, and to paint the walls pale pink so that Laela would have something feminine in her life.”
“She should have both worlds,” Maverick agreed. “Someday she will help run this place and it’s hard work, but she needs to be a girl too.”
“But she’s…” Bridget held the earring up to her ear.
Maverick put his finger over her lips before she could finish. “She will be our firstborn, even though not a drop of our blood is in her veins. I want to adopt her and make her a Callahan when the time is right. Wait right here,” Maverick said. “Don’t move, not even your hand.”
He ran across the hall and got the match to the earring and brought it back in his closed hand. “I found this tangled up in my shirt after I left your apartment that morning. I’ve kept it to prove that I wasn’t dreaming about that night.” He opened his hand. “I guess it belongs with its mate, like we belong together.”
“You really are quite the romantic.” She grinned as she put the earrings on. “I’m glad to have them back together. Nana bought them for me when I was a teenager and I always wore them on Christmas Day.”
“I’m glad that we are back together,” he said and turned around when he heard Laela jabbering. “Our baby girl is already awake. She’s probably excited to see what Santa brought her.”
“She’s too young to even know what today is, but please tell me that you didn’t let Paxton or Iris get her a real pony.” Bridget pulled her nightshirt over her head and put on a bra and T-shirt. “She needs to be old enough to be responsible for animals before she has one of her own.”
Maverick caught Bridget as she passed and pulled her onto his lap. “I figure she needs to be walking before she has a pony, and, honey, she will learn responsibility soon enough on this ranch. Until then, she can be satisfied with Dolly and Ducky.” He kissed her one more time, set her back on the floor, and went to the crib. He picked the baby up and carried her to the window. “Look out there, Laela. This is your home now, and you get to spend your first Christmas in Texas.”
“Da-da-da-da,” Laela said.
“Did you hear that?” Maverick spun a
round to look at Bridget. “She said it again. She called me Daddy for the second time.”
“I heard,” Bridget said. “But I’m not sure she knows what she’s saying or what it means.”
“It’s my Christmas present from her, Bridget, and it’s a sign. I want more than to just live with you. I want to marry you and adopt this child, but I’m going to leave it up to you as to when you’re ready to say yes,” he said.
She finished buttoning her jeans, and then tiptoed and kissed him. “Thank you for that. But right now, I can’t wait to open presents, so go get your morning chores done.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His lips met hers in a steamy hot kiss full of promise for the future. When it ended, he handed the baby to her and blew her another kiss as he left.
Bridget hummed “Let It Snow, Let It Snow” as she dressed Laela for the day. She put a cute little red corduroy jumper on her, put her back in the crib with some of her toys, and was brushing her own hair when her phone rang. She picked it up from the nightstand and answered it on the fifth ring.
“Merry Christmas, Sean,” she said.
“Merry Christmas. Did I interrupt morning sex? Are you opening presents yet?” He chuckled.
“No, but I was just about to go help Iris finish making cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then we’re having presents. Yours will be late, but you have one on the way,” she told him. “And, Sean, my mind is made up. I’m definitely staying in Texas.”
“I went out to the cemetery this afternoon and put a few flowers on my grandma’s grave. Since you aren’t here, I laid a rose on your nana’s and one between Deidre’s and Jimmy’s. I told them Merry Christmas from you and Laela,” he said.
“Thank you.” Her eyes welled up with tears.
“Don’t worry, luv. I’m still your friend,” he said.
“And I’ll come visit when I can,” Bridget promised.
“I’ll be here. And now I’m going to the pub for one little nip of Jameson to toast my grandpa. He never was one much for roses.” Sean chuckled. “Go have a Merry Christmas with your cowboy.”
“I will,” she said and they ended the call.
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” had just started playing on a CD player sitting on the counter when she made it to the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Bridget said. “I would have been in here helping earlier if you had told me you were getting up early.”
“Honey, let me have this one last hoorah.” Iris crossed the room and hugged her and the baby at the same time. “I get to do this one last Christmas with my boys, and who knows what will happen between now and next year.”
“If you come to visit us for the holidays, you can do breakfast on Christmas anytime you want,” Bridget said.
“That’s why I love you. You remind me so much of Virgie, your nana. I love this song.” Iris nodded toward the CD player sitting on the countertop. “I had the same one on cassette tape before CDs took their place. I really like my old vinyl records better, but I can’t get this one on vinyl anymore. I play it every year and think of my Thomas. I dream of the day I can join him in eternity.”
“Iris!” Bridget fussed. “You aren’t sick, are you?”
“Hell, no!” Iris laughed out loud. “And I’m not in a big hurry, but I do dream of that day. He hasn’t gone on into heaven yet, but he’s waiting at the door so we can go in together. He’s a patient man, so I don’t have to worry about him. Besides, there’s no time or clocks in heaven. And, young lady”—Iris shook a spoon at her—“from this day forth, you will call me Granny, not Iris.”
“All right.” Bridget smiled. “Granny, it is.”
* * *
Maverick had thought about romantic ways to propose all morning as he and Paxton fed the cattle and chopped through the ice on the stream so they could get to water. Maybe a fancy dinner or a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with champagne—God, he hated champagne! But he’d drink it to make it a special evening for her. At least he had lots of time to plan.
When he and his brother were finished with the chores, they drove back to the house, parked the car, and like two little boys, had a footrace to see who could get to the house first. Paxton beat him by a few feet, but Maverick didn’t even mind, because he was the lucky one. Bridget was waiting for him when he got inside, and poor old Pax still had to find the love of his life.
The smell of fresh hot bread and cinnamon filled the whole house. When he made it past the utility room, he found Iris spreading a thick layer of icing on the tops of the cinnamon rolls that she’d just taken out of the oven. He scanned the room, looking for Bridget, but she was nowhere in sight.
“She took the baby back to her bedroom to change her nappy, if that’s who you’re lookin’ for,” Iris said.
Maverick washed his hands and headed in that direction. Bridget had just finished the diaper-changing job, and Laela was still in the crib when he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her back to his chest. “You look amazing this morning. You could be a model.”
“In jeans and an old T-shirt from Saint Patty’s Day?” She giggled. “Besides, I’m not tall enough to be a model. But flattery will get you anything you want.” She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and raised up on her tiptoes to kiss him—long, lingering, and passionately.
“Anything?” he teased.
“I keep my promises,” she said.
“Whew!” He wiped his brow in a dramatic gesture. “I’ll have to remember that flattery is the way to your heart.”
“No, cowboy, flattery is the way to my bedroom. It takes more than that to get into my heart, but you’ve already managed that, so you don’t have to worry.” She kissed him on the cheek.
Maverick figured there couldn’t be a more romantic or better moment in the world to propose than right then on Christmas Day. He took a step back and dropped down on one knee. “Bridget O’Malley, I truly believe that you are my soul mate, and that we not only belong together but we would be miserable apart. Will you marry me? I’ve tried to dream up a romantic place that would be just right, but nothing fits like this room where I first saw you for the second time. I love you. Please say yes.” He reached into his pocket and brought out the little velvet box Iris had given him and popped it open. “My great-grandfather proposed to my great-grandmother with this ring. My grandfather proposed to Granny with it, and now, I want you to wear it to let the world know that you are engaged to me.”
“Yes,” she said simply and held out her hand.
He slipped the ring on her finger and wasn’t surprised one bit when it fit perfectly. She stared at it for a long time before she said, “It’s Ireland and Texas all together. I love it.”
“We’ll get a gold band to go with it for the wedding day, but there’s no rush. That day is for you to decide.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her.
“Da-da-da-da.” Laela called out from the crib.
“Yes, baby girl, I’m going to be your daddy. No matter how many kids we have, you’ll always be my firstborn.” He picked her up from the crib.
Laela laid her head on his shoulder.
Maverick flashed a grin toward Bridget. “I think this means she knows exactly what I said. Let’s go tell Granny and Paxton that we’re engaged?”
“I love you, Maverick Callahan,” she said. “And I want us to start out our new life together as husband and wife on the new year.”
“I bet that can be arranged,” Maverick said.
Chapter Twenty-six
Bridget and Maverick stood before the preacher in their little church on New Year’s Eve. Surrounded by loving family and neighbors, Bridget’s only wish was that Nana and Deidre would know somehow that she and Laela were happy and had a good life ahead of them—and that she wouldn’t forget her vows.
She wore a form-fitting white velvet dress that skimmed her knees. Instead of a veil, Alana had woven white baby roses and shamrocks in her hair, and she carrie
d a bouquet of the same. Alana served as her maid of honor, and Paxton was Maverick’s best man.
“Bridget Virginia O’Malley”—Maverick took her hands in his—“I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you in the Shamrock Pub in Ireland. I didn’t recognize it as love, because I’d never felt that before. I loved you the next time I saw you on the Callahan Ranch, here in Daisy, Texas. I recognized it and I fought against it. I love you today and forever. I give you my heart. That’s not enough for all the happiness you’ve brought into my life. It’s not enough, but I hand it over to you today, until death parts us,” he said.
“Maverick Thomas Callahan”—she blinked back tears—“those were the most romantic, sweetest words I’ve ever heard spoken. And this is the man who couldn’t find words to even talk to me?”
The congregation chuckled.
She went on, “I will protect and cherish your heart, and I give you mine. When I came to Texas it was broken and hurting. Today it’s whole and happy, and it’s yours from now through eternity. Death can’t part us, my love. What we have is strong enough to last through all eternity.”
The preacher wiped his eyes with a hanky. “Those are beautiful vows. I think all I need to do is to say, I now pronounce you man and wife. Maverick, you may kiss your bride.”
Maverick bent her backward in a true Hollywood kiss that brought about applause from a packed church.
“And now, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Maverick Callahan,” the preacher said. “Alana and Matt Cleary would like to extend an invitation to everyone here to come on out to the Cleary Ranch for a combination wedding reception and New Year’s Eve ranch party.”
Bridget looked out at the congregation—Nana would be so glad that she’d found a church family. With Laela in her lap, Granny smiled up at her—Deidre would be happy that Laela not only had parents but also a lovely great-grandmother. The little Sunday school class was standing up, clapping their hands—Randy’s finger started toward his nose and Lily Rose slapped it away.
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