Christmas Gifts: Cinderella and the Cowboy / The Boss's Christmas Baby / Their Little Christmas Miracle. Judy Christenberry

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      “Elizabeth,” Carol prompted when she didn’t reply. “I’d love for you to be my matron of honor.”

      “But I’ll have the baby to take care of.”

      “We can get someone to take care of Jenny and Brady.”

      “But I don’t have anything to wear.”

      “We’ll get you a dress.”

      Elizabeth had run out of excuses. “Okay, Carol, I’ll do it.” A big grin lit up her face as she thought of the ceremony and the romance and the flowers and the cake. It was going to be a beautiful affair, and she was so honored that Carol had chosen her.

      “Great,” Carol said. “It’s going to be perfect. Tom’s asking Jack to be his best man. You two will make a lovely couple.”

      Elizabeth dropped the phone.

      Chapter Eight

      “IS SOMETHING wrong?”

      Elizabeth jumped. She hadn’t heard Jack come into the kitchen. She picked up the phone, hung it up and turned to him.

      “Nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly.

      “Want to buy them a wedding present?”

      “Oh! I’d forgotten about a present. I need to get a dress, too.”

      “For what?”

      “Carol wants me to be her matron of honor. I need to buy a dress.”

      “Good. I need to buy a tux.” He smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling. “I’m the best man.”

      “You’re going to buy a tux?”

      “Aren’t you going to buy a dress?”

      “Well, yes. Will you have another opportunity to wear it?”

      “Yeah, I’m planning on it.”

      “May I go with you and do my shopping, too?”

      “Sure. I’m leaving just after lunch.”

      “Thank you, Jack.”

      “No problem.”

      She hurried upstairs.

      Jack stood there, watching her departure. A smile played across his face. Yesterday she’d been jealous when she thought he had another girl. Today she was jittery at the thought of being partnered with him at Tom’s wedding. He hadn’t missed her dropping the phone and the splash of color on her cheeks when he came in.

      It was going to be an interesting wedding.

      But first he needed to buy a gift.

      Earlier when he’d been talking to Tom, Tom mentioned getting some new furniture for their bedroom. He also wanted to spruce up the room with a more formal sitting area in front of the fireplace. That would make a perfect gift.

      She had the money to buy her dress for the wedding. And he’d get to see her in it before anyone else. That thought made him smile to himself, his eyes dancing.

      “I’ve been thinking about my gift to Tom and Carol and I had an idea for you, too.”

      Elizabeth turned to him as he drove them into town to shop. “What do you have in mind?”

      He told her about the bedroom set he planned on buying. “I thought you might want to give them a TV so they could go to their room for some privacy in the evenings.”

      “You’re right, Jack. I think that’s a good idea, but I don’t know anything about televisions. Can you help me pick out one?”

      “Sure.” After a moment he said, “Are you saying you didn’t have a television?”

      She shook her head.

      “Did you not want one?”

      “Reggie never saw a reason to buy one. I hadn’t had one when we got married, so I guess he assumed I didn’t want one.”

      “He wasn’t much of a husband, was he? I mean, aside from the obvious, he didn’t know you very well.”

      “Let’s just say he didn’t waste any effort trying to get to know me.”

      Because talking about Reggie seemed to sadden her, he changed the subject. “You know, this is the second time in a week that we’ve gone shopping. That’s pretty amazing. I never shop that often.”

      “You could’ve fooled me.”

      He grinned. “I didn’t think I knew what to do. The salesladies helped me a lot.”

      “Yes, I’m sure the salesladies helped you, but I think you did an amazing job.”

      “With no cooperation from you, by the way.”

      “That’s true. I didn’t think Tom should spend that much on us. I didn’t feel he had a reason. After all, he didn’t really know us.”

      “You were all he had left of his son.”

      “I wasn’t sure he’d be glad to know he had anything left of Reggie.”

      “He didn’t realize how bad Reggie had gotten. I was hearing things about Reggie, but Tom didn’t hear. He thought his son wasn’t good at letting his dad know how he was doing, but he forgave him for that.”

      He turned and looked at Elizabeth. “He still has a future in Brady and Jenny, thanks to you.”

      “I’m glad for him,” Elizabeth said, “and I’m glad for Brady and Jenny. They now know their grandfather.”

      “And they’re now going to have a grandmother, too.”

      “Did you know she’d miscarried twice? I felt so sorry for her when she told me that.”

      “Yeah, we knew that. I thought she seemed awfully lonesome.”

      “Now she’ll have a lot of family.”

      “Except me. I’m not really family.”

      “But Tom said he regards you like his son. Only a nicer version.”

      “I appreciate Tom saying that, but I’m not like Reggie. And I have my own parents.”

      “You never talk about them. Are they local?”

      Though he didn’t want to talk about himself, he felt she at least deserved some details. After all, she’d divulged the truth about her addicted mother and unknown father.

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