Chapter 14
Ty had had a taste of celebrity in his life.
He’d accepted awards in the past and sat at signing tables to scrawl his own name over his scowling picture for fans.
He had three championship belt buckles—two in bull riding and one in team roping—and yet he’d never felt like as big of a celebrity as he did with Winnie on his arm.
She’d curled her hair, and she wore more makeup than Ty had ever seen her wear before.
She’d painted her lips bright red to match her jumpsuit, and she wore shiny, sleek white heels and great big enamel-coated hoops in her ears.
Every person who looked at her smiled, and that meant their positive energy hit Ty as well.
“Well,” she said, still clapping as Judy and Trooper ran down the aisle, hand in hand. “That was incredible.”
“The Glovers know how to throw a party,” Ty yelled, and he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Several moments later, the cheering and clapping subsided, and the same cool female voice who had told them to take their seats came over the public address system in the building.
“Due to the weather, we will be unable to mingle in the gardens while we change over the facilities for dinner. If you’ll please exit the ballroom, we have set up a few seats and bar tables with snacks and drinks in our Regency Room, located directly across the foyer.”
Ty took Winnie’s hand and led her down the row, stepping just in front of JJ. When they reached the end of the aisle and the space opened up, he said, “Hey, Ty, introduce me to your girl.”
Ty slowed and stepped out of the way. “Yeah, sure,” he said, though his heartbeat thrummed like tiny bird wings in his neck. “This is Winnie Landry. We just started seeing each other last week.”
“Oh, so it’s really new,” JJ said, wearing a smile that could light the city.
“Yeah.” Ty said, “Winnie, this is JJ Walker. He runs Seven Sons Ranch just about fifteen or twenty minutes south of town. You’ve probably passed it on your way out to Signs for Success.”
“If you take the south highway, at least,” JJ said with a genuine smile. “You turn left at the junction right past Seven Sons.”
“Yeah,” Winnie said, recognition brightening her face. “Yes, I have seen the signs. You guys have a lot of stars on your fences.”
“Yeah—seven of them,” JJ said with a laugh. “My daddy has six brothers, so there are seven sons.”
“Ah, got it,” Winnie said. She reached out and tickled baby Jade in JJ’s arms. “What’s your baby’s name?”
“Jade,” JJ said, smiling down at the little girl. “This is my wife, Ruby.” He drew her closer to his side, and the three of them shone with what Ty could only describe as joy. J-O-Y all day long, everywhere.
“Oh, like the gems,” Winnie said. “She is just the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.”
JJ and Ruby did have a gorgeous baby, as they both came with dark features, though Ruby’s were a little bit lighter in her hazel eyes and her auburn hair.
“What do you do, Winnie?” Ruby asked.
Winnie’s smile filled the hall. “I’m a physical therapist,” she said. “I work at the Premier Family Clinic in what Ty has informed me is New Downtown. I’ve only been in town for about seven months.” She beamed over to him and linked her arm through his.
Ty saw the moment that JJ and Ruby realized what was going on. But thankfully, neither of them raised their eyebrows and said, So you started dating your physical therapist? as if he’d done something wrong.
“You should’ve seen JJ and Ruby’s wedding,” Ty said, half his mouth lifting up on the side. “I wasn’t here for it, but it’s still talked about around town.”
“Oh, it is not,” Ruby said with an added eyeroll, as if her wedding hadn’t been the premier event of the year a couple of summers ago.
JJ looked at her and then over to Ty. “Is it really?”
“It was featured in Texas Country Living,” Ty said to them, then he turned his attention to his lovely Winnie. “She wore a red wedding dress, sweetheart. You’d have loved it.”
“I clearly like red,” Winnie said with a laugh and swish of her wide pantlegs. “That sounds amazing.”
“I’ll find the article for you,” Ty said, just as Finn Ackerman joined them.
“Hey, fellas,” he said, “I just wanted to say hi. Edith took the boys out to get a little snack, and I saw you standing here.”
“This is Finn,” Ty said. “He runs our small ranch owners’ group at the IFA.” He nodded to Winnie. “This is Winnie Landry, Finny. We just started dating.”
“Winnie Landry,” Finn said, cocking his head slightly. “Yes, I think my wife said she knows you?”
“Oh? Who’s your wife?” she asked.
“Edith Baxter,” Ty and Finn said together.
“Ohhh, she’s the author,” Winnie said, and she bounced on the balls of her feet slightly. “When I moved here and I found out she lived here, I sent her an email.”
“Yep, that’s it,” Finn said.
“You read Edith’s books?” Ty asked. “Aren’t they for kids?”
“They’re middle grade novels,” Winnie said with a hint of haughtiness in her voice, though it was hard to hear with the mass of wedding guests flowing past them.
“Link, Misty.” Finn waved at the couple moving by. “Come meet Winnie.”
“Really, Finn?” Ty asked.
His friend turned and looked at him. “What? They’ll want to meet her.”
“Yeah, everyone wants to meet her,” Ty said.
Winnie’s hand in the crook of his elbow tightened and he met her eye. The silent conversation they then had started with Winnie saying, It’s fine. I want to meet your friends. Remember?
Ty ducked his head in acquiescence and then lifted it when Link said, “Howdy. I’m Lincoln Glover.”
“Yep, he’s Lincoln Glover,” Ty said. “He’s co-foreman with Wilder—who’s around here somewhere—and they run Shiloh Ridge together, with a couple other Glovers too.”
“Yeah, Gun, and Rock, and Smiles—when he comes home,” Link said. “We have a couple of uncles still doing a few things.”
“Shiloh Ridge is just a little bit further south than my place,” JJ said.
“Mm, everyone knows Shiloh Ridge,” Winnie said. “My brother wanted to get a job there about a decade ago.”
“Oh, did he come?” Link asked, his eyes bright with hope.
“No. He ended up getting somewhere up in Oklahoma, where we’re from,” she said. “But trust me, everyone knows Shiloh Ridge.”
Link chuckled. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“Oh, it’s a good thing and you know it,” Ty said. “They’re like a billion-dollar ranch or something.”
“It’s not quite a billion with a B,” Link said, and Misty scoffed.
Ty gestured to her and said, “See? She knows. This is Link’s wife, Misty. They’ve got three kids—a couple of boys—and that’s their youngest, Meadow.”
“Wow, you guys make the cutest babies ever,” Winnie said. She looked from Jade to the baby in Misty’s arms. “Is there something in the water here in Three Rivers?”
Everyone smiled, and Finn shook his head. “Mine are monsters most of the time, but we love ‘em.”
“Finn’s got three boys,” Ty said. “And—oh, what do you know? Here’s Finn’s cousin, Henry.” Ty grinned and leaned closer to Winnie. “They’re my bosses at Lone Star, so try to act like I’m really amazing.”
“You are really amazing,” Angel said.
He smiled at her. “This is Angel Marshall and her husband, Henry,” Ty said. “They own and operate Lone Star—that big boarding stable I work at out near Amarillo.”
“Sure, sure,” Winnie said. “Ty loves his job there. I think he talks more to horses than he does people.” She giggled, and everyone in their little huddle joined her.
A hint of heat climbed into Ty’s face. “Hey, horses don’t talk back,” he said. “And I don’t have to worry about offending them.”
“They are good listeners,” Henry said, stepping in to shake Winnie’s hand. “It sure is great to meet you, ma’am.”
“How do you get your hair to hold that curl?” Angel asked. “Mine refuses to do it no matter what.”
“My hair is a little bit naturally curly,” Winnie said. “But I have this really great dry spray that I put in before I curl it. I’ll show you.”
“That would be great,” Angel said. She carried their daughter on her hip, and the little girl fussed.
She passed her to Henry and took Wrangler’s hand in hers.
“Well, we promised the kids snacks, and they know how to organize a coup if we don’t follow through.
It was lovely to meet you, Winnie. Good to see you, Ty. ”
Henry bumped his fist, and the two of them left with their kids.
“I’m going to take the kids to get treats too,” Misty said, and she herded their boys toward the exit.
Ty stood there with Link, JJ and Ruby, and Finn, not surprised at all when Dawson Rhinehart joined them.
“This is Dawson,” he said dutifully. “Dawson, this is my new girlfriend, Winnie.”
“Oh-ho, you’re calling her a girlfriend?” Dawson grinned. “I was not expecting that.”
“She’s handling questions a lot better than I am,” Ty said.
“Well, you answered the only one I had.” Dawson reached out and shook Winnie’s hand. “It’s great to meet you. I think you work at the physical therapy clinic?”
“Yeah,” Winnie said.
“Yeah, Libby was talking about you in one of our meetings,” Dawson said.
“Oh, sure,” Winnie said. “Libby’s great. She doesn’t come anymore, because I’m pretty amazing at my job.” That caused a few people to chuckle as well, and Ty marveled at how well she met new people, how easily she could flow with conversations and names, how she didn’t get riled up by anything.
“And,” Dawson said, glancing around at everyone. “I’m going to send a reminder out, but Caroline wanted me to let you all know about Bronco’s birthday next Saturday.”
“I’ve got it on the calendar,” Finn said.
“It’s just at our place,” Dawson said. “We’re praying that it won’t be snowing, but the ten-day forecast looks pretty good.”
“Yeah, it’s supposed to clear up again,” Winnie said. She met Ty’s eyes. “Is this a big birthday party?”