Free Texas Christmas Bride: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Book 6 by Jean Brashear

enough.”
    “You got that right.” Rissa blew out a breath. “But we’re moving on now, right? I did promise to forgive you. Even if I still don’t want to,” she grumbled.
    Penny bit her lip. “You deserve to hate me, Clary—Rissa. You do. Mama would have wanted me to take better care of you.”
    Rissa lifted one shoulder. “I turned out okay.”
    “More than okay, little sis. You did an amazing job of raising yourself. I’m known for being a strong woman, but I’m peanuts compared to you.”
    A little girl’s eyes peered out of Rissa’s bravado. “Thank you.” She tried to smile, but it wasn’t steady.
    “I feel awful,” Penny whispered. “I look around at this, and I think of the tremendous love Mama poured into us. She’d be so upset to know that the family she spent her life building and nurturing fell apart without her. She raised me to be better than that.” It was her deepest shame and sorrow. She rose to her knees and seized her sister in a hug. “If I could do it over, I would.”
    Rissa grabbed on and held her tightly. “Just these few months of being someone’s mother…I don’t know how she did it. We were unbelievably lucky to have her. I don’t know anyone who had anything comparable.” She released Penny. “But remember what she also said, over and over? Life takes turns you don’t expect, but if you like where you are, you can’t regret the road that got you there.” She gripped Penny’s hand. “You’re back and Jackson’s back, and we all have love in our lives. Dad and Jackson have reconciled. We’re strong and united now, even if we weren’t always. We are what she raised us to be, at last. Even if she might not like how we got here, I think she’d approve, don’t you?”
    Penny nodded. “I miss her so much.”
    “This—” Rissa gestured around them “—has to make it worse. What are you doing?”
    Penny explained about the quilt. “Will you help me pick some fabrics that represent all of us?”
    “Sure. Any more boxes to open?”
    “I’ve barely made a dent.”
    Rissa glanced around. Saw a trunk. “Oh, Penny. Remember that? It’s Mama’s hope chest.”
    Penny gasped. “Oh! I remember her letting us go through it when—” She gasped. “Do you suppose her wedding dress is still in there?”
    Rissa’s eyes widened. “Let’s see.” She picked her way over and opened the trunk. Drew out a zippered bag Penny remembered as though it was yesterday.
    Hastily she joined her sister. With trembling fingers, they opened the bag and let the dress spill out of its second protective wrapping.
    “Oh! Oh, Ris…look. It’s so beautiful.” Lace bodice with camisole beneath, long, flowing chiffon skirt, the dress was fairy princess lovely.
    “You should wear it,” Rissa said. “When you and Bridger get married.” Naked longing was on her features. She and Mackey had done a quick justice of the peace wedding to be eligible to adopt Eric.
    There was nothing that appealed more, but—“You and I both grew too big. We’re much too tall.”
    A thought struck her.
    Rissa spoke at the same time. “Veronica.”
    They traded smiles. “Mama would love that,” she said.
    “Veronica might not want it. And Jackson is eager to spend a fortune on her.”
    “I don’t think that’s what she wants, though.” Excitement seized Penny, and she wiped away the tears from her sister’s eyes, then her own. “She should have the opportunity. But no pressure. We’d better catch Jeanette quickly, though, before she does any work on a new one.”
    “I’ll call her. Then we should go see Veronica.”
    Penny hesitated. “I…I’m not sure it’s a good time.”
    “Why do you say that? Is something wrong?” Rissa read her expression. “Penny, I’m not the little girl anymore. If there’s a problem with my family, I deserve to know. I always hated it that you and Jackson shared everything and left me out.”
    She was right. They’d been so smug in their twinhood.