Merry Cowboy Christmas

by Carolyn Brown

  Deke poked her on the arm. “Was it snowing in Houston?”

  She smiled. “It never snows in Houston.”

  “That’s why she left Dry Creek. She wanted to live where they never had a good hard winter,” Irene said. “I bet the roaches and flies are big as buzzards in that place without a good freeze to kill them off.”

  “Granny! I don’t want to hear about bugs at the dinner table.” Fiona smiled, despite her words. She’d forgotten how much she’d missed her family and their crazy ways. A peace settled over—a sense of belonging—that was every bit as important to her soul as the food was to her body.

  Irene smiled. “There’s my fiery girl.”

  “Just how long are you staying?” Lizzy asked.

  Before Fiona could answer, Allie chimed in with another question. “Can you stay all weekend?”

  “Or a week?” Lizzy piped up.

  “She’s here for good,” Katy said. “She brought a cardboard box. That means she’s moving back home and it’s about damn time.”

  Fiona’s sense of peace fled as she took a drink of sweet tea and swallowed another huge chunk of her pride. She wouldn’t tell them the part about being so hungry she was dizzy or how little money was in her billfold. If she did that, her mother might drop with a heart attack right there on the dining room floor.

  She straightened her back, put her hands in her lap, and began. “There’s something I need to tell you all.” She took a deep breath. “A little more than a year ago, Kyle and I divorced. There was a prenup, of course, so all I got was ten thousand dollars, which went fast while I looked for a job. It didn’t take long to figure out that I’d been blackballed in my line of work.”

  Time stood still.

  Fiona was sure if she’d been outside, snowflakes would hang suspended in the air and the wind would cease to blow.

  “Fiona Deann!” Katy finally gasped. “What have you been living on? And why would Kyle make trouble for you?”

  One shoulder rose in a half shrug. “I guess it upset him when I punched his girlfriend and tried to yank out all her hair.”

  “He cheated on you?” Lizzy asked indignantly.

  “Don’t know if he cheated, but she came with him when he told me he was divorcing me. Idiot.”

  Admitting all that felt so good! Now she could eat dinner without a single worry.

  “What did you do?” Allie asked.

  “I used the last of my divorce settlement to buy that old truck after my car was repossessed. I put all my fancy clothes in a consignment shop, and some weeks I made enough for groceries from those sales but that ran out after six months. They closed the coffee shop where I worked and I couldn’t find anything else and my money ran out. So here I am. Broke and needing a job. You need help at the feed store, Lizzy?”

  That was about as short a version as she could make it, but it did the trick. The moment was pregnant with sheer awkwardness. Allie stared at her like she had an extra eye right in the middle of her forehead, but then Fiona remembered a time when she’d looked at her sister the same way when she moved back home after a divorce.

  Katy shook her head. “I get first dibs on you. You are the answer to my prayer. I’m run ragged trying to take care of the convenience store by myself. So you, young lady, will go to work with me starting in the morning.”

  “Mama, I’m happy to help at the store in exchange for room and board here, but I’m also going to need a job that pays me.”

  “Bullshit!” Irene said loudly. “Living here is your right as family. The job at the store will give you minimum wage just like it would pay anyone else. Right, Katy?”

  “Right,” Katy said. “How about it, Fiona? There aren’t many jobs in Dry Creek. You could probably waitress at Nadine’s new café, but I need you worse than she does.”

  “That’s settled,” Irene said.

  Fiona wasn’t sure that it was, but she wasn’t going to argue at the Thanksgiving table. Later, when everyone had left, she and her mama would have a long talk and that’s when Fiona would tell her that she was not planning to live in Dry Creek forever.

  “Sounds like we all have a lot to be grateful for this year. I’m thankful that Toby and I finally found a sofa we could agree on and now our living room has one piece of decent furniture,” Lizzy said.

  “I’d forgotten about our tradition,” Deke said. “I’m thankful for the Logan family and all the good times I’ve had in this house.”

  Fiona hadn’t forgotten, not on the way home, not in the awkward silence, not even with having to live with Jud Dawson in the house. After the prayer and while they were eating, everyone around the table shared something they were grateful for. She searched for a single thing that she could say because they’d be here until eternity dawned if she shared everything she was thankful for that cold winter day.

  “I’m thankful beyond words that Fiona is home,” Katy said.

  Allie nodded. “I’m grateful for my amazing husband and my daughter.”

  “I’m thankful that this beautiful woman is both my best friend and my wife and that we have a gorgeous daughter,” Blake said.

  “Hey, she can be your wife, but she’s my best friend,” Deke argued. “Fiona, you are going to have to be my best friend since Allie has deserted me.”

  “I’m thankful to be home and that Deke is my new best friend,” Fiona said with a smile.

  “For the Lucky Penny and my wife.” Toby grinned at Lizzy.

  “I’m thankful for Walter,” Irene giggled.

  “Who?” Lizzy, Allie, and Fiona said in unison.

  Katy sighed. “She’s taking a trip into the past.”

  “Hell, if I am,” Irene said. “I’m not going anywhere. I am thankful for Walter. He lived over on the Lucky Penny when Katy was getting married. I guess your grandpa got to feeling old since his daughter was old enough to get married, so he found himself a younger woman.”

  “No!” Lizzy slapped a hand over her mouth.

  Well, that damn sure had to hurt, Fiona thought. Lizzy had always had the idea that Grandpa could walk on water.

  “Oh, yes,” Irene said. “So I started flirting with Walter to get back at him.”

  “Granny!” Allie said.

  Why is Allie so surprised? Fiona held her breath and hoped that Granny kept explaining because they’d all wanted to hear the story of Walter ever since Blake moved in next door. Granny’s dementia was getting out of hand and she kept thinking that Blake was Walter.

  “Why are you thankful for Walter?” Fiona asked.

  “He made your grandpa realize that I wasn’t an old shoe that he could toss in the garbage. He broke it off with that other woman and came home.”

  “And you forgave him?” Katy asked.

  “Course I did. I had no right to judge him when I’d done the same thing with Walter. Besides, Walter wasn’t nearly as good in bed as your grandpa,” Irene said bluntly. “Now pass me those potatoes and, Deke, carve me off another piece of turkey. I’d like dark meat this time.”

  And there it was, the truth according to Granny when she was lucid. Fiona was amazed that no one was asking a million questions.

  “Where is Walter now?” She finally broke the awkward silence.

  “Walter?” The light went out of Irene’s eyes in an instant. “Is he a new boy in town? I’m ready for dessert.”

  “I thought you wanted more potatoes,” Katy said gently.

  “I want cherry pie with ice cream on top and then I want a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. Then I want to go outside and play in the snow.” Irene crossed her bony arms over her chest and glared down the table. “I do not want potatoes.”

  “Miz Irene, how old are you? You told me but I forgot,” Deke asked.

  “I am thirteen,” she said defiantly.

  “Well, I think you should have pie,” Fiona said. “I will bring it to the table and we won’t wait for everyone to finish before we have dessert.”

  Irene cocked her head to o
ne side. “I like you. You can stay and talk to me after dinner, right? Is that new boy named Walter cute? Will I like him?”

  “I don’t know but I’ll stay and we can talk about him,” Fiona said.

  “Who are you?” Irene frowned.

  “She’s Fiona, your granddaughter,” Allie said gently.

  Irene ran a hand across her forehead, smudging the dark eyebrows. “I forget things sometimes. Can I take a nap now? Would you take me to my room, Nurse?”

  Katy pushed back her chair and laid her napkin beside her plate. “Yes, you can take a nap. I’ll show you to your room and sit with you while you fall asleep.”

  Fiona swallowed hard but the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away.

  “It’s okay.” Deke patted her on the shoulder. “We’ve seen this happen so often that it doesn’t surprise us. We’re just grateful for the times when she does have it all together.”

  “But not when she admits to having an affair,” Allie protested.

  “Why not? We’d figured out that Walter lived on the Lucky Penny at one time. Now we know what happened,” Fiona said.

  “But Grandpa?” Lizzy groaned.

  Fiona smiled. “Made a mistake and I bet he paid for it for a long time, knowing Granny.”

  “She did the same,” Allie said.

  “I bet she never told him that and I bet that’s why she still feels guilty and keeps revisiting that part of her life,” Deke said. “Hey, Blake, if she ever comes back over to the Lucky Penny and thinks you are Walter, you should break up with her or make her so mad she’ll break up with you. Maybe that would bring closure to her.”

  Fiona threw an arm around Deke and hugged him. “Great idea. I might like being your best friend.”

  Chapter Three

  There’s nothing as empty as a big house after the family all goes home in the middle of the afternoon after Thanksgiving dinner. Katy had invited Fiona to ride with her to take Irene back to the facility in Wichita Falls. Allie had insisted that she go home with her, and Fiona had been tempted to go over to the Lucky Penny and hold that precious baby all afternoon. Lizzy had wanted Fiona to go see her new house, which was now part of the Lucky Penny also. But Fiona begged off every offer, saying she wanted to put her things away.

  She stood in the middle of her old room, where not one thing had changed since she graduated from high school. She opened a few drawers to find them still organized with scarves in one, pajama pants and knit shirts in another one. Things that she’d left behind when she went to college. The closet was the same—jeans, shirts, boots, and a couple of heavy, warm coats.

  “A fresh start,” she murmured.

  She’d left everything behind for a purpose: so she wouldn’t be reminded of home. It had worked. She hadn’t been homesick like the other girls—not one time. She’d lost herself in classes, in the social life, in living on a shoestring budget and working as a waitress at a steak house. And now here she was back, with the same old third-wheel attitude that had made her want to leave Dry Creek.

  She sighed and stretched out on the bed. Allie had been the smart one. She’d always been Daddy’s girl because of her love for carpentry. Lizzy was the pretty one and had been Grandpa’s favorite because she liked the feed store business. It wasn’t that Fiona didn’t feel loved; God, no! Her mama and granny loved all three girls as equally as humanly possible. And it wasn’t that she was jealous of her sisters and their ambition or their inheritance.

  Lacing her hands behind her head, she stared at the ceiling. “It was the belonging that I had trouble with,” she whispered.

  While Allie and Lizzy put down deep roots, Fiona had grown wings. And now she was right back in the same place with the same feelings as she’d had then. She popped up to a sitting position and shook her head. She wasn’t eighteen anymore. She’d flown the coop and even if she was back in it temporarily, that did not mean she had to clip her wings and settle down in Dry Creek.

  “Hey, anybody home?” a deep voice yelled right before someone started up the steps.

  She hopped off the bed and opened her bedroom door. “Deke?”

  “No, Jud. We got that old rattle trap of a truck hauled out behind the barn on the Lucky Penny and fixed the fence.” He stopped at the top of the stairs and hiked a hip on the railing. “Hey, it looks like my bedroom is right across the hall from yours. That going to be a problem?” he asked.

  “Not one bit. I forgot that you were staying here. Everyone coming back over for supper after a while?”

  “Wild horses couldn’t keep them away. I’m going out to check on one of the heifers before they get here, though.” He smiled.

  Blake was the wild cowboy and Toby had been dubbed the hot cowboy, but Jud had gotten the reputation of being the lucky one. Did that mean fortunate in ranching, oil, or women? Or maybe all three? Probably it had to do with that crooked little grin and that swagger.

  Katy had barely gotten her coat off that evening when the family started to arrive for leftover supper. Allie, Blake, and Deke came through the door with baby Audrey all bundled up inside a carrier. As soon as Allie took her out, Deke reached for her.

  “Give me that baby, Allie. I haven’t held her yet today. I’m sure she’s grown a foot since this afternoon,” he said.

  “Not quite but she’s working on it.” Blake removed her little pink hat and kissed the baby on the top of her red curls.

  Fiona slipped past Deke and took the baby from Allie’s arms. “Not so fast, cowboy. You got to hold her a whole bunch of times already.”

  She sat down in the nearest rocker with the baby in her arms and all her anxiety disappeared. It didn’t matter if she had to start all over. She’d made it home, where no one cared if she was penniless or had a million bucks in the bank.

  “She looks like Allie, has your hair, and is already showing signs of my temper,” Fiona said.

  “Hey.” Lizzy and Toby pushed into the house, stomped the snow from their boots, and hung their coats on the hooks on the hall tree. “You are hogging the baby. I haven’t held her at all today.”

  Lizzy was the outspoken one for sure. She might look all sweet with those pecan-colored eyes and dishwater-blond hair, but folks around Dry Creek knew better than to cross her. The only time Fiona had ever worried about her was last year when she had been engaged. It was downright scary to see the feisty Lizzy turn into a submissive prim-and-proper woman who was going to be a preacher’s wife. Thank God that didn’t work out.

  “Yes, I am and I don’t intend to stop. I can’t believe you named her Audrey.” Fiona kissed Audrey on the top of her head and inhaled the sweet smell of baby shampoo and lotion. “I’m going to rock this baby until dinner is ready. I’m already falling in love with her, Allie.”

  “Enjoy it because we’ll be eating in five minutes. We just have to pull it all out of the refrigerator. Anyone wants their food hot can stick it in the microwave,” Katy said.

  “How was Granny when you left her?” Fiona asked.

  “You don’t want to know.” Katy blushed.

  “Why?”

  “Let’s just say she was on another Walter kick and thought I was her best friend. She went into explicit detail and comparison between him and my father. I thought I’d burn up with shame.” Katy fanned her face with the back of her hand.

  “Just remember that she’s not herself and what she’s talking about might have happened or it might be something in her imagination,” Blake said.

  When Fiona first saw pictures of Blake with his dark hair and green eyes, she’d thought he was the handsomest cowboy she’d ever laid eyes on. Then Lizzy sent pictures of Blake’s brother, Toby, and Blake took a backseat.

  She chanced a sideways glance toward Jud. With that mop of blond hair and those pretty eyes and quick smile, why on earth wasn’t he married?

  “Hey, Lizzy, I need some help out here,” Katy called from the kitchen.

  The cowboys and her sister moved toward the kitchen, leaving Fiona alone in the co
rner of the dining room with Audrey, which was fine with her. Fiona rocked the baby and sang a lullaby. So what if she couldn’t carry a tune. Audrey didn’t care one bit.

  Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that the last meal, as big as it was, had long since been digested. Two huge meals a day was pure luxury, especially when she’d arrived in Dry Creek with exactly two dollars and thirty-nine cents in her purse. She’d been afraid to buy coffee or food with it in case she needed to put a tiny bit more gas in the truck. She’d been running on fumes and luck for the last ten miles.

  Throw in a prayer and a bit of cussing to that mixture, she thought.

  Audrey wiggled around until she was looking up at Fiona with big blue inquisitive eyes. Fiona put her finger in the baby’s hand and Audrey quickly closed her tiny fist around it.

  “She’s pretty special, isn’t she?” Katy asked.

  Her mother’s voice startled her. “You snuck up on me.”

  “Supper is on the bar. Want me to hold her so you can eat?”

  “I hate to give her up, Mama. I’d forgotten what it’s like to hold a baby,” Fiona answered.

  “Then you’ve been gone too long. Maybe you should volunteer to do nursery duty at church.”

  “If Allie lets Audrey go to the nursery, I just might do that.” She handed the baby up to her mother and went straight to the kitchen. As luck would have it, she fell in right behind Jud. Wide shoulders stretched the knit of his shirt and the remnants of his aftershave, mixed with the outdoorsy scent that he’d picked up doing evening chores, smelled heavenly. Probably because she’d been too busy keeping body and soul together to notice men at all, but dammit, why did he have to look so good?

  That night, Fiona slipped downstairs right after her shower for another piece of pumpkin pie. Standing in front of a full refrigerator loaded with Thanksgiving leftovers was right up there next to having the pearly gates swing open for her to enter heaven. She removed a whole pie and set it on the countertop along with a container of whipped cream, but she held the door open with a toe. Next she took out the pitcher of sweet tea and the plastic container with the turkey leftovers.