A Cowboy's Christmas Reunion (The Boones of Texas 1)

buy it at the store, we don’t have it at our place.”

Lola clicked her tongue. “Well, that’s just wrong. Baking is good for the soul.” She paused, winking at them both. “If not for the waistline.”

They laughed.

“You’re welcome to lend a hand anytime,” Josie added. “Once you’re old enough to hire, believe me, I’ll tell Dad to hire you.”

“He does too much on his own. The ol’ coot,” Lola agreed. “Would do him some good to hire some help.”

Josie agreed. When she couldn’t sleep, she’d organized her father’s financials. He was making a tidy profit. He didn’t need to be a one-man show. Josie loved seeing him relaxing, putting on a little weight, smiling and laughing. He needed to get out, to have a life beyond the four walls of his bakery. With Lola Worley.

“If I can convince my mom.” Dara sounded a little wistful.

“She doesn’t want you working?” Lola asked. Lola, Josie noted, didn’t mince words when it came to conversations. “A woman should have skills.”

Josie agreed. But there were women, her mother included, who still believed the best career a woman could have was marrying a rich man. Her mother’s idea of a well-rounded education had included pouting, exercising and the importance of thorough grooming. Aging gracefully was a concept her mother disdained. She claimed it was an excuse for letting yourself go and getting complacent.

“I think my mom worries about me. She doesn’t want me to be a housewife. She wants me to be a lawyer or doctor or something.” Dara shrugged, her cheeks turning a deep red. “I like making things.”

“What do you want to do?” Josie asked the girl.

“I don’t really know. Do I have to? Right now?” The young girl looked between them both.

“No.” Lola laughed.

“Sometimes I still don’t know,” Josie added.

Annabeth arrived. “Hey, guys. Sorry, Cody’s playdate got started late. What did I miss?”

“Dara wants to know when she has to decide what she wants to be,” Josie said.

Annabeth frowned. “Ugh. Not for years and years?”

“Good.” Dara sighed. “I’m more interested in learning to drive and what my first kiss will be like.”

Josie, Annabeth and Lola shared a smile.

“Sounds about right to me.” Lola gave Dara a one-armed hug.

“You remember your first kiss?” Dara asked Lola.

“Of course I do.” Lola nodded, moving cookies from the baking pan to the cooling rack. “It was with Theodore Boone.”

“Really?” Josie glanced at the woman.

“Do tell,” Annabeth said as she washed her hands before jumping into the cookie making.

Lola nodded, a look of pride on her face. “I was a looker and the menfolk were all very flattering. Of course, Magnolia hadn’t moved to town yet, so I didn’t have much competition. But he was sweet on me. So was my Henry. In the end, Henry was the right pick—even if Teddy was a better kisser.” She giggled. “Henry got better, in time. You have to train them right.”

Josie laughed, taking note of Dara’s round eyes and startled expression.

“Speaking of first kisses, I’m assuming Hunter was yours?” Lola asked Josie.

Josie nodded, staring at the dough.

“Take after his daddy?” Lola asked. “Meaning, he knows how to kiss a girl?”

Dara made a strange little noise at the back of her throat.