Page 26 of Texas Christmas

“Is it a sexy present?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

I’d gone into town today and bought her a new pair of cowboy boots after snooping for her shoe size when she was in the shower this morning. I couldn’t wait to see her wearing the boots – and nothing else.

“I didn’t get you anything,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re my present, darlin’.”

“Oh jeez, that’s so lame,” Allen piped up.

I smacked him on the back of the head. “Shut it, asshole. I’m trying to have a tender moment with my girl.”

Abby slipped her arm around my waist. “We can have a tender moment when we’re alone.”

“I can’t wait.”

Epilogue – Abby

Six months later...

“I told you we’d be sisters someday!”

I smiled as Clara burst into the room, wearing the maid of honor dress she’d picked out. It was dark blue with a lacy bodice and a poofy skirt, a surprisingly girly choice for the no-nonsense doctor.

Clara and I had gotten to be good friends over the last few months. I felt closer to her than I did to any of my other friends, and since Allen was standing up for Peter as best man, it only made sense to ask Clara to be my maid of honor.

Neither Peter nor I wanted a big wedding, so we’d opted to have a small ceremony right here at the ranch. Honestly, we both would have been fine going to the courthouse, but Mary was appalled by that idea.

I’d nearly fallen over laughing when Peter’s mother pointed out to him that if we got married here, he wouldn’t even need to leave home. The joke was on her though because we were going down to Padre Island for our honeymoon.

“Is Allen with Peter?” I asked.

“Yeah, and he’s still grumbling about Peter scheduling your wedding before ours.” She lowered her voice in a spot-on impression of her fiancé. “My little brother is so damned competitive. He always has to beat me at everything.”

I laughed.

“In fairness, Peter did propose before Allen, so it makes sense for us to get married first.”

Like everything with us, our decision to get married was low key. We were in the goat pen one day helping a mama goat who was in distress. I’d safely delivered the two kids and saved the mother. Peter and I were sitting on the ground, each of us holding a baby goat, and out of the blue he said, “We should get married.”

He'd kept his eyes on the kid, a sure sign he was nervous. Sometimes I forgot that I wasn’t the only one in the relationship with a fear of rejection.

“Okay, but I don’t want a whole big fancy thing.”

I don’t know which one of us was more surprised that I’d agreed so readily. But then again, we’d been living together for a few months and things were going great for us, so I no longer had any doubts.

“I’d marry you right here in the goat pen,” he said sincerely.

I laughed, getting to my knees so I could lean over and kiss him. “Well, maybe just a smidge fancier than this.”

A few days later Clara, who was a total adrenaline junkie, convinced Allen to jump from a plane in a parachute. After her terrified boyfriend landed safely, he’d told her he was planning to propose, then followed up with a real proposal that very night.

There was a knock on the door, and Lionel stuck his head in. The guy was normally pretty stoic, but when I asked him to walk me up the aisle he’d actually teared up. He and Mary were the parents I’d never had, both of them treating me like a daughter.

“You ready to get hitched, little lady?” he asked with a wink.

“Yeah.” I spun around, making the skirt of my ivory dress poof out around my legs. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” he said sincerely.

A few minutes later Lionel handed me over to Peter as the wedding ceremony started. I glanced around at my found family and the handful of friends who’d made the cut and received an invite to the wedding, and my heart was filled to bursting.

Peter took my hand.

“Before we get started, I want to say something in front of everyone,” he said, his voice louder than I’d ever heard it. “I choose you, Dr. Abigail Southerland. I want you, and only you.”

I knew why he was making this public proclamation, and I loved him for doing it.

I threw my arms around him. “And I choose you, Peter Jeffers.”

“In that case, how about we get this wedding started?”

***