Chapter 12
Winnie slept on and off all afternoon, her belly full of delicious Chinese food and her heart filled with happiness that Ty had shown up in her hour of need. At one point when she’d awakened, she’d found him stretched out on her couch, fast asleep.
He’d breathed in and out, soft and steady, and he hadn’t moved at all though she’d gotten up, gone down the hall to the bathroom, and returned.
She lay cradled in the beanbag now, her kitties warm along her side, and the sound of Ty humming in the kitchen. Everything about it felt domestic and homey and absolutely wonderful.
When they’d both been awake earlier, he’d opened up the front window and the back screen door and let the Panhandle wind air the house out. He’d done her dishes and taken out her trash and fed her cats—which he was actually doing for the second time that day right now.
“Come on, guys,” he called, and Winnie opened her eyes. The scraping of the cats’ feeding bowl on the linoleum in the other room filled the house, and both cats catapulted off the beanbag and ran toward the kitchen. She heard his low voice murmuring to them, and it caused a smile to fill her face.
He came around the corner, wiping his hand on one of her dish towels. “Do you need to eat?” he asked.
Winnie shook her head. “I want to get something after class, like you suggested.”
“All right,” he said.
“Just something fast on the way home,” she said. “And then you can tuck me in bed and go home.”
“I’m fine for whatever you need me for, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, but you have to go to work tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Out at Lone Star. I can come back in the afternoon.”
“I’ve called out again for tomorrow,” she said. “I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning, so if I have a virus, hopefully I can get some antibiotics.”
“What about the wedding?” he asked.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not going to miss the wedding.”
A frown settled over his expression, drawing down his mouth and making that tight V appear between his eyes. “I don’t want to go to the wedding anyway. This would be a great excuse to miss it.”
“Because I’m sick?” Winnie asked.
“Yeah. Why not?” Ty threw her a look and went back into the kitchen. She heard the water run in the sink, and then he called, “Can I have one of these bottles of water?”
“Of course,” she called back.
“Do you want anything?”
“No, I’m good.” Her throat felt scratchy and dry, but the cold medicine she’d taken a few hours ago had definitely done its job. She didn’t feel nearly as stuffed up, and if she could stay hydrated and rested, she knew she’d make a full recovery.
Ty came back into the living room, and it did seem a little bit strange to see him walking around her house in his socked feet. He’d taken off his cowboy boots at some point and left them by the front door.
“Is there room for me on that?” he asked, nodding to her left side.
Winnie scooted over, pure anticipation dancing through her at the thought of cuddling with Ty on the squishy beanbag.
It was like swinging in a hammock with a person, and she wouldn’t be able to hold her body up away from his.
He sank onto the other half of it, and he turned toward her, wrapping her easily in his arms.
As he drew her into his chest, she pulled the blanket up and over his shoulder and sighed as she sank into his warmth. She breathed in the scent of his shirt and his skin, getting notes of cedar and sunshine and something spicy that was probably labeled waterfall in his cologne.
“You’re probably going to get sick,” she whispered. “You should’ve kept your distance.”
“I can’t,” he said. “You’re just so pretty.”
Winnie smiled to herself. “I got a new jumpsuit for the wedding,” she said. “It came last night, and I tried it on, and it fits pretty good.”
“And I didn’t get a fashion show picture?” he asked.
“A fashion show picture?”
“Whenever my sister gets new clothes, she sends us all fashion show pictures.”
“I didn’t know I needed to do that,” Winnie said.
“It’s kind of like the games you play in your family,” he said. “Remember how I failed at all of those?”
She laughed against his chest. “You haven’t failed at anything, Ty.”
“What color is the jumpsuit?” he asked.
“Red,” she said. “And it’s got white animal print all over it. It’s pretty cute.”
“Red and white animal print.” Ty chuckled. “I actually can’t wait to see that, so I guess we’ll have to go to the wedding.”
“I guess?” She almost scoffed but held it back at the last moment. “I don’t know why you’re so grumpy about going to this wedding.”
“I don’t know why you’re so jazzed to go,” he shot back. “It’s not like you know Judy or Trooper.”
“No, but they’re your friends, and I like meeting new people.”
“Another thing I don’t understand,” he griped.
She pulled away and looked up at him. His eyelids fluttered open, and Winnie wondered if she should hold her tongue, but she wanted to be able to speak her mind with the people she spent her time with. If Tyson didn’t value that, then she didn’t want to be with him.
“Oh, you’ve got that look in your eye,” he said.
“What look?”
“It’s the same look my momma gets when she has something she wants to say, and she knows I’m not going to like it.”
Winnie pressed her lips together and looked over to the entrance to the living room. As Rocky entered, he meowed several times before joining them on the beanbag. She stroked her hand down his side, trying to find the right words.
“Are you going to be super surly at the wedding?” she asked.
“I’ll probably just be myself,” Ty said.
“Well, if that’s the super surly version of yourself, then I’m not sure I want to go with you.
” She looked up at him. “I think true love is amazing, Ty. And even if we’re a little bit jealous, or we wish it was for us, or we don’t know the person, it’s something that can touch our hearts and we can appreciate it.
If you can’t even try to do that, then I’ll just wear my jumpsuit to church on Sunday. ”
He searched her face too, his eyes sharp but everything else about him soft. “I just can’t believe you want to go to a wedding for people you don’t even know,” he said. “Just to meet a few of my friends.”
“Well, your friends are important to you, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” he clipped out. “But how are you not angry and bitter about the wedding that you didn’t get to have?”
“Who says I’m not?” she asked.
“I do,” he said. “You acted a little sad about it, for like, four minutes. And then your response was literally, I just need to find the right person.”
“Well, that’s true,” she said.
“I don’t understand how you can be so, so, so…cheerful about the bad things that have happened to you.”
“I’m not cheerful about them.” She put her palm against his chest and pushed him a few inches further away.
“But there’s no point in wallowing in it.
What’s done is done. Carver walked out. He didn’t love me.
Why would I want to be in a marriage with a man who doesn’t love me?
Everything would be worse if we’d gotten married. ”
Her chest stormed and Winnie felt her emotions running away from her. She tried to grab onto them, because when that happened, she said too much and almost always the wrong things.
“Are you implying that I’ve been wallowing in my injury?”
“Haven’t you been—?”
“You don’t know me at all,” Ty said.
“I know you a little bit,” Winnie said. “And no, I don’t think that you’ve been wallowing.”
He pressed his lips together, clearly fighting what he really wanted to say. “What do you think?” he finally asked.
Winnie studied his face, the pure unhappiness in his eyes and the sharp daggers he threw her way.
“I think you’ve been a very fortunate man,” she said. “Who has a big bank account, so when he got hurt, he was able to take all the time he needed away from the responsibilities of life.
“I think you have amazing parents and siblings and friends and a small-town community who welcomed you home with open arms, and it took you a while to realize that you appreciate that, too.”
He dropped his eyes, some of his fight deflating and easing the tension in the air between them.
“I think you fought really hard to be where you are,” she said next. “Probably harder than I, or anyone else, even knows, because I’ve read your chart, Mister Greene, and you had doctors telling you you would never walk again.”
She took a breath and reached for Salmon as he joined them on the beanbag. She drew comfort and strength from her grumpy cat, realizing that Tyson reminded her a lot of Salmon. And all she’d ever had to do was take care of him, and the cat loved her for it.
“I think you’ve been coming around to yourself more and more in the past several months,” she said.
“I don’t really know how long before I met you, but since I met you, you seem like you want to build your life here in Three Rivers, and you want your own place, and you want to be able to walk out your back door and go ride your horse. ”
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“And I think you haven’t had a lot of luck with women, and for a while, you figured, Why should I try at all?” She slid her hand up his arm and along his jaw, gently lifting his chin so he would look at her.
“And we may see things differently, because I never think, Why try? I think, Why shouldn’t I? I might fail, but it’s at least worth a shot, and maybe I’ll learn something along the way.”
“Yeah, I don’t think like that,” Ty said.
“But you have taken a shot,” she said, her eyebrows coming up and a small smile first crinkling her eyes and then extending to her mouth. “I see you, Tyson Greene, and I know that it took a lot for you to ask me out.”
He didn’t argue with her, which meant she was right—or he simply didn’t want to argue anymore.
“Was it very hard to bring me lunch today?”
“No,” he whispered. “The hardest part was remembering the name of the Chinese restaurant, but I’d written it down.” A tiny smile played with his lips too, and Winnie focused her attention there.
“I think I naturally see things in a more positive light,” she said. “And I think it takes work for you to do the same, but you eventually get there.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He dipped his head and ran the tip of his nose across her cheekbone. She couldn’t help pressing into his touch, because he was so strong, and so warm, and Winnie liked him so much.
With his lips practically catching against her earlobe, he whispered, “I promise I’ll try to have a good attitude at the wedding.”
“Mm-hm,” Winnie hummed, because she couldn’t get her mouth to form words, not with him so close and his breath tickling her neck.
“Okay?” he whispered.
“Yes, okay,” she said.
His arms around her tightened, and Winnie relaxed into his chest.
“I’m thinking pizza for dinner,” he said, his voice soft and sexy. “I can order it from the app when your class is almost over, and it will be here when we get back.”
Winnie pulled back and smiled at him. “Let me guess: you’re an I-don’t-eat-fruit-on-my-pizza cowboy.”
He grinned at her. “Wrong. I love a good ham and pineapple pie, but it has to have Alfredo sauce, not the red sauce. Otherwise, everything’s too sweet.”
Winnie shook her head. “I’ve never met anyone who changes their order and does so many substitutions as you.”
“Are you kidding?” he said. “We’ve been out once, and I ordered the chicken dinner as-is, same as you.”
“Yeah, but you’re always telling me how you like this—but—and you like that—but.”
“Well, there are some modifications worth making.”
Winnie cradled his face in her hand, and the moment between them softened and also strengthened. “I really appreciate you coming to take care of me today, Ty.”
“It might sound crazy,” he whispered back. “But I really like taking care of things. Mostly, I’ve only had the opportunity to do that for horses, but doing it for you is twice as good as helping out a horse.”
Winnie grinned and giggled. “Wow, that’s so romantic.”
Ty laughed, the sound free and full of joy. “Don’t make fun of me,” he said. “That was romantic for me.” He sobered, and their eyes met. “You know everyone is going to pepper you with questions at the wedding.”
He sighed and let his eyes drift closed again. “You’re going to have to meet my parents, my siblings, all of my friends. Every single one of them is going to wonder what we are.”
Winnie’s pulse stormed through her body. “Part of having Carver leave a week before our wedding taught me that people can think whatever they want. As long as I know what’s true, then it doesn’t matter.”
“I like that.” Ty opened his eyes and looked at her. Really looked at her. “And what’s true for us?”
He leaned closer, his lips barely skimming the soft skin along her cheek. “Am I your boyfriend?” He touched his lips in a full kiss right below her ear. “Are you my girlfriend?”
“Yes,” she gasped. “I’m not seeing anyone else, and we’ve been out a few times now.”
“So the wedding isn’t just a couple of casual hours, so I don’t have to go alone.”
“If that’s what you want it to be, you better say so right now,” she said. “Because I think we’ve come a long way in a week, and I can have casual friendships with my coworkers.”
Ty pulled back just slightly, his eyes oh-so-serious as he gazed at her. “Good, because there’s nothing casual about this for me.”
He laid his head back down on the beanbag, and Winnie tucked herself back into his arms, a sense of safety and comfort filling her that could only come from having another person care about her and take care of her.
“But for real,” he said. “What do you want on your pizza tonight?”
“Anything but mushrooms,” she said. “Remember, Ty, I like to eat, and I can find almost anything that I like.”
“All right,” he said. “There’s an amazing barbecue chicken pizza from The Bullpen. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like an amazing third date,” Winnie said, and while attending the wedding with him did send a stream of nerves through her—mostly because of how many people would be watching her and wondering how she and Ty had met and how serious they were and how long they’d been together—Winnie was still sure that her time on Saturday would be her fourth incredible date with the handsome, if a little surly, Tyson Greene.