âNot until now, anyway.â
Hettie glanced at her, and then turned back to Morgan. âWeâll be stopping in Cozumel, Montego Bay and George Town.â
âYouâll love it, Aunt Aggie,â Trish hurried to assure her. âA whole ânother world, as they say.â
Aggie grunted. âI can go to Texas for that.â
Hettie pushed back her chair and stood, then grabbed Aggieâs arm and tugged. âCome on. Letâs go take a look at what clothes you have. Iâm anticipating a shopping trip in a couple of days.â
Looking up, Aggie muttered, âHeaven help me. Sheâll drive me crazy on a boat.â
âShip,â Trish and Morgan replied in unison.
Hettie laughed as she coaxed Aggie from the room, nearly having to drag her. Trish shook her head. Her aunt had never been one for being fancy. Plain and simple, Aggie always said about herself. Trish suspected it hadnât always been that way. Her dad and mother had both mentioned more than once that in her youth, Aggie had been a beauty. Somewhere through the years, it simply had ceased being important to her.
When Morgan cleared his throat, Trish felt the need to comment. âTheyâll have a lovely time.â
âNo doubt. And probably get into some kind of scrape, knowing them. It was really nice of you and Kate to give them the cruise as a Christmas present.â
Shrugging, Trish took a seat at the table and avoided meeting his gaze. âThey both deserve it. Aggie has worked hard all her life. Things are better for her, nowthat Kate and Dusty have taken over the farming, but we wanted to do something special.â
âOnly you and Kate could have thought of a cruise.â
She looked up, straight into his eyes. âShe took in two orphaned teenage girls. Sheâs been our mother for almost twelve years. Booking her on a cruise with her best friend doesnât come close to repaying her for everything sheâs done for us.â
His expression was solemn as he nodded his understanding. âI know. Sheâs one of the best. Her and Hettie.â
âAnd your uncle Ernie,â Trish added. Morgan had broken her heart, but the pieces still loved him beyond measure. She willed the thought away. She couldnât risk clouding her mind with emotions that might mean nothing to him. Not with the decisions she needed to make for her and the babyâs future.
âI brought something for you,â he said, getting up from the table.
âReally?â She watched as he walked to the small table by the door and picked up something hidden beneath where heâd left his coat.
âIt isnât much,â he said, returning with a pretty wrapped package in his hands.
âI have something for you, too,â Trish said, jumping up from the table. She slipped the package from the counter where sheâd left it and took it back to the table. âItâs not much, either,â she said, taking her seat again.
With a bit of embarrassment on both their parts, they exchanged their gifts. âGo on,â Morgan urged after taking his, âopen it.â
Trish felt her cheeks warm even more as she carefullybegan removing the tape on the ends of the package. Gently folding back the shiny silver-embossed paper, she spied the gift heâd given her. âOh, Morgan, itâs beautiful!â
âWhen I saw it one day when I was in Oklahoma City, I thought of you.â
Tears swam in her eyes as she ran her hands over the front of the leather journal. Sheâd once told him that keeping a diary was something she had started as a young girl. Most of the entries had been snippets of fairy-tale stories that floated around in her mind. Those had been the beginning of her writing and what had led her to write a childrenâs book.
âAnd a pen, too!â Saying too much would only make him uncomfortable, so she merely looked up at him, hoping he could see how much