Chapter 29
Brand-New Kicks
Duke
“I didn’t know I had a sexy mechanic fantasy until…yup, right now.”
I smile at the sound of the familiar voice. Glancing up from the trailer tire I just replaced, I see Wheeler standing inside the garage. It’s been a few weeks since our first date, but I still can’t get over the fact that she finally agreed to be my girlfriend.
I can’t get over the fact that it was her idea.
“You’re welcome,” I reply.
“You can fix tractors and wheels and engines and…shit?” She motions to the heavy equipment parked behind me. A stack of spare tires is tucked into a nearby corner; a toolbox the size of a small house sits beside it.
I wipe my face on my sleeve. “I’ll get any engine goin’, no problem.”
“You’re funny.”
“You’re pretty.”
She nods at the flat tire. “What happened?”
“A nail. We bought this dang trailer less than a month ago, and it’s already gotten three flats.”
Then again, that’s the hazard of working and living in a giant construction zone.
Stray nails, broken glass, and splintered wood are everywhere these days.
Seems like the whole damn ranch is under construction.
Between the new studio Mollie and Wheeler are building for Bellamy Brooks, the massive irrigation repair we’re doing over on the Rivers’ side of the ranch, and the renovations we’ve started on several outbuildings, our property is a fucking mess.
It’ll be worth it. But it’s a huge pain in the ass in the meantime.
Speaking of asses, Wheeler is currently devouring mine with her eyes.
“The grease.” She blinks. “Your sweat. But the jeans—”
“What about my jeans?” Rising, I grab my gloves off the top of the tractor’s wheel basin and tuck them into my back pocket. “You sayin’ they’re dirty too?”
“Very dirty. And I like them very much.”
“Would you say I”—I pick up a tool and toss it in my hand—“threw a wrench into your plans for the afternoon, Miss Rankin?”
“Ha.”
“You all right? Feeling any better?”
Wheeler was hit by a vicious bout of nausea after breakfast this morning. Dr. Martinez informed us that the morning sickness can get worse before it gets better, peaking between nine and eleven weeks, and that’s definitely been the case over the past few days.
Luckily Mollie was with her at the New House when it happened, but I still rode like the devil from the north pasture to check on her. She assured me she’d be all right and insisted I get back to work. I stayed with her for some lunch, then headed back to the herd.
Not long after that, the trailer tire blew out. Took me over an hour to drag it back to the garage. Another hour to change out the tire, because someone took it upon themselves to hide the tools I needed underneath the baler nearby.
I really hope it’s quitting time soon. If only so I can go home with my girl.
“I’m feeling all right. Just had a snack, which helps.”
“Good.” I toss up the wrench one last time before catching it. Then I put it back in the toolbox.
She blinks again, straightening. “I will not let your hot mechanic look distract me. I have a surprise for you.”
I gesture to the front of my Wranglers. “And I have one for you.”
Her face creases into a smile at that, tongue darting out to move over her bottom lip. “Mine first.”
“Aw, Blue, I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to wait that long.” I close the distance between us in four long, lazy strides. “I’ve a mind to dirty you up too.”
Those brown eyes dance. “Don’t you dare get grease on this dress. Shower first. Then we can do all the surprises.”
“Deal.”
“Meet me at the cottage when you’re done.”
I have no idea what to expect when I pull up to my house ten minutes later. Giving myself a good scrub in the quickest shower ever, I dry off, then pull on a clean T-shirt and jeans.
When I emerge from the bathroom, I hear Wheeler and Mollie chatting on the porch. The front windows are open, so I’m able to catch what they’re saying.
“He’s gonna flip his shit when he sees these boots,” Mollie squeals, trying—and failing—to keep her voice down. “Wheeler, I am obsessed.”
“I am too,” Wheeler gasps. “I mean, feel this goatskin. It’s smooth as a baby’s bottom.”
My stomach takes a hard tumble, landing somewhere on the ground between my feet.
Boots.
Goatskin.
Baby.
“Have I told you yet how happy I am that we’re having our babies together?” Mollie asks.
I hear the smile in Wheeler’s voice when she replies, “Just a few hundred times.”
“Thank God we have each other.”
“And our cowboys. Speaking of, did you ever call Miss Lee back?”
Now I’m smiling. Miss Lee is Sawyer and Ava’s nanny.
Last night, Wheeler and I chatted about our childcare options on an after-dinner stroll.
We both want to continue working full-time, so we agreed we’d ideally hire a nanny.
It’s a huge privilege to be able to afford that kind of help, but I can swing it.
We can swing it. Still getting used to us being, well, an us.
My face hurts. Not sure I’ve stopped smiling since Wheeler enthusiastically agreed to be exclusive.
Thank fuck.
“I did!” Mollie says. “We spoke for a while last night. She knows a woman who’s looking for a full-time nannying position—”
“Amazing news.”
“I’m not sure the timing will work out, but it’s a start.”
“I’m relieved to hear there are options available at all.”
“You know it’s not a crime to get what you want, right?” Mollie’s voice is soft. “And it doesn’t make you stupid to hope for the best.”
Wheeler chuckles. “As long as I can still expect the worst too.”
“Now, that’s something we gotta work on.” I step onto the porch. The late afternoon light streams through the new leaves on the trees overhead, dappling the ground with gold. The air is warm but not humid.
Gonna be another gorgeous evening.
Mollie and Wheeler look up. They’re bent over the picnic table Ryder and I recently built out of leftover lumber. Wheeler is holding a boot in her hand.
It’s square-toed, the shaft—heh—made of smooth brown leather, but the toe box is covered in this cool ostrich-type leather that’s the same shade of brown.
A little Texas flag is stitched onto the side of the heel.
Pressure, hot and sudden, appears behind my eyes.
Wheeler smiles. “Hey, baby.”
“Oooh, I like the way that sounds,” Mollie says. “And she’s working on her optimism, Duke. I’m doing my best to convert her.”
I’m choking on my heart, but I still manage to gruffly reply, “Thank you kindly. We’ll make a believer of her yet.”
“So.” Wheeler turns the boot in her hands one way, then the other. “What do you think of your creation?”
I try to clear my throat. “Our creation.”
“Y’all are making beautiful babies and beautiful boots together.
” Mollie beams at us. “It’s so perfect I almost hate you for it.
” Then she goes up on her toes to press a kiss to my cheek.
“Thanks for the ideas. You get a ten out of ten from me, no notes. Wheeler did say you were willing to go naked in the advertising campaign. That true?”
“I’m always willing to get naked.”
Mollie laughs. “For once in your life, that’s a good thing.”
“There’s been other times that it’s a good thing,” Wheeler shoots back, giving me a saucy look.
But Mollie just waves us away. “Y’all can go bone in a minute. First, we need to get your approval on these masterpieces. And then we need to ask you something.”
Wheeler holds out the boot, and I take it. Thing’s got heft. Leather really is soft. Proportions look right. Bet it’s comfortable.
She puts her hand on my shoulder. “It’s your size. Wanna try it on?”
“My size?” Shit, I’m really gonna cry. “How’d you—”
“I snooped through your closet, of course.”
“Did you find the old Playboys?”
Wheeler bites her lip and nods. “Hot.”
“I think Wyatt stole them from my dad, and I stole them from him.”
Mollie makes a face. “That’s not weird at all.”
“Hey.” I shrug. “Our internet was slow. Needs must.”
Toeing out of my sneakers, I drop the boot on the ground. I bend over and carefully tuck my foot inside it, using the ear pulls to finish the job.
I straighten. Put my weight back in both feet.
Perfect fucking fit. There’s just enough cushion to make me think I could wear these all damn day but not so much that the sole feels mushy or my foot feels cramped.
When I open my mouth to say as much, I find I can’t breathe.
Instead, I meet Wheeler’s eyes. They’re uncertain but hopeful too.
She’s trying.
A tear slips out of my eye. I don’t know what else to do, so I take her face in my hands and pull her in for a kiss.
A messy, warm, trembling kiss.
I’m in love with you, I want to say.
“You made the fucking boots,” I say instead.
She nods. “You wanna travel—do something different—well, come make these boots with Mollie and me. Come sell them with us. Come do this thing with us, Duke. Not as our employee but as our partner.”
“We’d love to have you on board,” Mollie says. I can tell by the way her voice shakes that she’s crying too. “Sorry to be the third wheel, but I’m too obsessed with these boots not to be involved.”
I let out a gruff chuckle. “I’ll allow it.”
Wheeler pulls back, keeping her eyes closed as she rolls her forehead against mine. “If you can’t make it work with your cowboy schedule, I totally understand—”
“Ella’s graduating preschool soon. She can fill in for me.”
That makes Wheeler laugh. “She’d whoop all y’all’s asses.”
“God, I love that kid,” Mollie adds.
I run my thumbs over Wheeler’s cheeks. “I’ll figure it out. I wanna do this with you, Blue. I’m—Christ, so honored y’all would go out of your way to…”
I can’t finish.
“You’re making my dreams come true,” she replies steadily. “I want to do the same for you.”
“Oh yeah?” I sniffle. “What would those dreams of yours be?”
“For starters, having not one but two amazing best friends. Obviously you and I are more than friends too, but you get my point.” She searches my eyes. “I needed a friend like you more than I knew.”
“She means a friend with a penis,” Mollie explains.
I laugh. “Got it.”
“And then there’s this.” She grabs my hand and puts it on her belly. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. I’m still figuring my shit out when it comes to my parents and their whole…situation. But I really do feel hopeful for the first time in a long time, and that—it’s all you, baby.”
The words are on the tip of my tongue.
Just three of them. Simple enough.
I’ve said them before, but I’ve never actually meant them.
I open my mouth. Just say it.
“Answer’s yes.” Aw, now I feel like a chickenshit. I just don’t wanna ruin this moment. Everyone’s in a good place. One major milestone at a time, right?
Wheeler wraps me in a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her against me, burying my head in her neck so I can inhale the familiar smell of her skin.
Maybe one day, she’ll say yes to me too.
For right now, though, this is enough.
I got my girl, and now I got a plan to pivot my life and my career in a way I’ve always wanted.
I’m bursting.
I’m happy.