Free The Lawman's Little Surprise by Roxann Delaney

“Not until now, anyway.”
    Hettie glanced at her, and then turned back to Morgan. “We’ll be stopping in Cozumel, Montego Bay and George Town.”
    â€œYou’ll love it, Aunt Aggie,” Trish hurried to assure her. “A whole ’nother world, as they say.”
    Aggie grunted. “I can go to Texas for that.”
    Hettie pushed back her chair and stood, then grabbed Aggie’s arm and tugged. “Come on. Let’s go take a look at what clothes you have. I’m anticipating a shopping trip in a couple of days.”
    Looking up, Aggie muttered, “Heaven help me. She’ll drive me crazy on a boat.”
    â€œShip,” 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 hadn’t 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. “They’ll have a lovely time.”
    â€œNo 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.”
    Shrugging, Trish took a seat at the table and avoided meeting his gaze. “They 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€œOnly you and Kate could have thought of a cruise.”
    She looked up, straight into his eyes. “She took in two orphaned teenage girls. She’s been our mother for almost twelve years. Booking her on a cruise with her best friend doesn’t come close to repaying her for everything she’s done for us.”
    His expression was solemn as he nodded his understanding. “I know. She’s one of the best. Her and Hettie.”
    â€œAnd your uncle Ernie,” Trish added. Morgan had broken her heart, but the pieces still loved him beyond measure. She willed the thought away. She couldn’t risk clouding her mind with emotions that might mean nothing to him. Not with the decisions she needed to make for her and the baby’s future.
    â€œI brought something for you,” he said, getting up from the table.
    â€œReally?” She watched as he walked to the small table by the door and picked up something hidden beneath where he’d left his coat.
    â€œIt isn’t much,” he said, returning with a pretty wrapped package in his hands.
    â€œI have something for you, too,” Trish said, jumping up from the table. She slipped the package from the counter where she’d left it and took it back to the table. “It’s not much, either,” she said, taking her seat again.
    With a bit of embarrassment on both their parts, they exchanged their gifts. “Go on,” Morgan urged after taking his, “open it.”
    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 he’d given her. “Oh, Morgan, it’s beautiful!”
    â€œWhen I saw it one day when I was in Oklahoma City, I thought of you.”
    Tears swam in her eyes as she ran her hands over the front of the leather journal. She’d 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 children’s book.
    â€œAnd a pen, too!” Saying too much would only make him uncomfortable, so she merely looked up at him, hoping he could see how much