Chapter 14 #2
While the other cowboys continued to talk, he leaned in close. “His youngest is turning one,” he said. “Dawson and his older brother, Duke, run the Rhinehart Ranch, which borders Shiloh Ridge on the south. It’s quite the drive, but I was planning on going.”
“And I don’t work weekends.”
He grinned at her. “Well, then I guess we’re planning on going.”
In a pause in the conversation, he said, “I’m gonna go get a soda pop. I heard there were specialty drinks designed by Trooper and Judy. All this talking has me parched.”
Finn laughed again. “Yeah, all right. Let’s go get drinks.”
Ty had only taken one step when he heard, “Tyson Joseph,” in his mother’s voice.
“Oh, boy,” JJ said. “That’s your mother. I’ll go get you a drink.” He herded away the other cowboys while Ty turned toward his mother, taking Winnie with him. If he ever got out of this ballroom, it would be a miracle.
She usually wore jeans and a tank top, cowgirl boots and a hat, and her hair in a ponytail. But every week when they went to church, and any time she and Daddy went out on date nights, she let her hair down and it hung straight, just like Angel said hers did.
She’d brushed a little bit of makeup on her face, but not much, and she wore a floral print dress on a cream-colored background with a bright blue belt cinched around her waist. Daddy wore navy-blue slacks, a white shirt, and a brown leather jacket, as he knew how to dress up and be a picture-perfect cowboy, just like Ty.
They’d both ridden in the rodeo, and a flash of love and gratitude filled Ty in the couple of seconds that he took in his parents and Daddy settled at Momma’s side.
“That was a great wedding, wasn’t it?” Momma flicked her gaze over to Winnie and opened her mouth as if she’d say something more.
“Momma,” Ty blurted out quickly. “This is Winona Landry.” He omitted the part about her being his girlfriend, but Winnie stepped forward and slid her lips across his momma’s cheek.
“It’s so great to meet you, ma’am,” she said. “Ty talks about you constantly.”
“Does he now?” She gave Winnie’s shoulders a quick squeeze, and they both stepped apart.
“And my daddy,” Ty said. “Ethan. My momma’s name is Brynn. They run the barrel racing training facility out at Three Rivers Ranch.”
“Is that the one where we’re going to go horseback riding?” Winnie asked.
“No, that’s Courage Reins,” he said.
They had talked about his childhood and how much time he’d spent out at Three Rivers working, cleaning stalls—not only for the ranch but for his momma and Pete Marshall, who owned Courage Reins.
He told her he saw a therapist there, in conjunction with the work he did with the horses as part of their equine therapy unit.
Winnie had told him that she thought everyone should see a therapist, and Ty really liked that she never judged him in anything he did. He’d fallen flat on his face a couple of times in front of her, and she never made a big deal out of walking on his right side.
He’d enrolled in the beginning sign language classes, because he would love to be able to talk with Winnie silently, and he knew he wasn’t going to regain his hearing in his lifetime. For all the flaws Ty felt he had, Winnie didn’t seem to see any of them.
“It’s great to meet you,” Daddy said, and he reached forward. “Is this more of a casual thing?”
“Oh, no, sir,” Winnie said. “Ty’s been telling everyone I’m his girlfriend.” She beamed at him and then looked back at his parents. “And he’s right. He’s not really the type to do casual. Ty doesn’t like to play games.”
“I have never said those words out loud,” he said.
Winnie blinked at him. “You’re the one who said it wasn’t casual.”
“Well,” he said. “You’re the one always bringing up family games like I know all the rules.”
Winnie put one hand on her hip and pushed it out in a way that made Ty’s pulse bump in strange ways. “Didn’t I send you a fashion show picture this morning?”
“Oh, this is fun,” Daddy said, and he genuinely sounded like he was enjoying himself.
“Just be careful what pictures you’re sending to each other,” Momma said, and Ty’s eyes flew to hers.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said.
“Just because you’re a grown man doesn’t mean you can’t get yourself into trouble.” She smiled at Winnie. “You are lovely, and I’ll stop embarrassing my son now.”
“You’re not embarrassing me,” Ty said. He dropped his hand to Winnie’s and captured hers in his. “Winnie has a pretty good idea of how I am.”
She nodded emphatically, her smile wide, her teeth so white against her bright red lipstick.
“Here’s your drink,” JJ said, and he handed Ty a fizzy, bright orange drink with a maraschino cherry floating on top. “Winnie, I went ahead and got you the other one. This one’s Judy’s. It’s a Shirley Temple, with a citrus twist.”
“It’s nonalcoholic, right?” Winnie said. “I don’t drink.”
“It’s nonalcoholic,” JJ said. “The Glovers have too many kids to be serving alcohol.”
“Okay, great,” Winnie said, and she took the pink drink and lifted the straw to her lips. “Ooh, this is good,” she said after she’d taken a sip. “You’ll like it.” She extended the drink toward Ty. “You love ginger ale.”
“I do.” He fumbled, but managed to get his lips around her straw and take a drink. He felt like a complete fool with his momma and daddy watching, as this felt like an intimate moment that only he and Winnie should be sharing.
He expected the cherry to come with his ginger ale, as that made a Shirley Temple, but he also got a hint of something sour at the end. “That’s good,” he said. “What is that?”
“I think it’s grapefruit.” Winnie took another drink. “What’s yours?”
JJ had already left, and Ty tried to remember what Trooper’s drink had been. “I think it’s blood orange and mango,” he said. “With orange juice and Sprite.”
“It’s a lot of citrus,” Momma said.
Ty took a sip and his mouth puckered. “Yeah, this is sour—just what I like.”
He offered the drink to Winnie, and she took a sip too. “Yes, I can see why you would like that.”
Ty looked back to his parents, and Daddy now wore slightly narrowed eyes. Momma’s were as big as moons, and they kept moving between him and Winnie, him and Winnie, him and Winnie.
“How long you two been going out?” Daddy asked.
“Our first date was just one week ago, sir,” Winnie said.
“But she’s your physical therapist, right?” Daddy asked.
“Dad,” Tyson said, his tone laced with warning.
Momma laced her arm through his. “It’s clear that they’ve known each other for a while.
Come on, Ethan-baby, let’s go get ourselves a drink too—since no one seems to be sharing with us.
” She gave Ty a raised-eyebrow-brilliant-smile look, and reached out and grabbed onto Winnie’s forearm as she passed.
“It really is great to meet you, Winnie. I hope Ty will bring you around to some of our family dinners.”
“I’m sure he will, ma’am,” Winnie said, and she turned her head and watched as Momma and Daddy made their exit.
The breath whooshed out of Ty’s lungs, and he raised his drink and took another long sip, the sourness notwithstanding. “Well, there you have it,” he said. “You’ve met a bunch of my friends, and my parents.”
Winnie swallowed another sip of her drink. “And neither one of us died.”
“Yet,” Ty muttered, which only made Winnie scoff and shake her head as she giggled.
The crew who would be setting up the tables and chairs for the dinner started entering the ballroom, and Ty took that as their cue to leave. As he walked with Winnie through the double doors and out into the foyer, he tilted his head toward her.
“So will you dance with me at this wedding?” he asked. “Or is all dancing off-limits, all the time?”
Winnie cozied up next to him, pressing in tight to his right side and sending fire through every cell in his body when she said in a flirty tone that told him he would have to constantly remind himself that they were not alone while holding Winnie in his arms on the dance floor, “I’ll dance with you tonight, cowboy. ”