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It took him a moment to realize she’d turned it personal. Aimed at him.

“Jackson,” she called out, “quit trying to hide over there. Get up here.”

He didn’t want to, and for a moment, didn’t move. Then Nic whispered in his ear, “You know you don’t dare ignore Maggie Rafferty.”

“I know,” he muttered and surrendered.

As he walked through the crowd, applause started, and he felt as if it were something he’d never experienced before. Or maybe it was just because, as with the hat, he’d never felt he deserved it before. But he thought maybe, just maybe, now he’d earned a little of it, at least.

When he got up onto the makeshift stage, Maggie gave him a welcoming hug in front of the entire gathering.

“Well, that ought to seal the deal,” he whispered to her. “Thanks.”

She laughed, then called out for, of all people, Chief Highwater, who grinned at Jackson as he strolled out and handed Maggie a large box. She removed the lid and lifted out a pristine, dark-blue felt cowboy hat. He’d never seen one quite that color. A memory flashed through his mind, of Nic holding a shirt up to him in Yippee Ki Yay, saying the dark blue matched his eyes and really brought them out. And he knew who was behind this particular choice.

“You’ve earned this, Jackson,” Maggie said, reaching up to plant the hat on his head. “And if anybody says different, you send them to me.”

The crowd laughed, and he heard his sister’s familiar whoop of support. It gave him a chance to gather his scattered thoughts. Finally, he gave Maggie the hug this time, then looked out at the gathering and said, in his best projecting voice, “Thank you. All of you. This is the best award I’ve ever gotten.”

He meant it, and let it ring in his voice and show on his face. And when he tipped the new hat to the crowd, a roar of approval went up. He saw Nic in the crowd, with Jeremy up on her shoulders so he could see over the other heads, both of them clapping and letting out some Texas-sized yells, and he knew she’d been right.

He was home at last.

The End