Chapter 30
“Anyway,” Ty said in Winnie’s ear. “I just pulled up to your house. I’ll get the cats fed, and we can go to dinner when you get here.”
“Okay,” Winnie said, and she dipped her hand into her purse to find her keys.
“Wow, the wind is terrible.” A flash of fear moved through her, as if she might have to endure another dust storm in her car.
Winnie looked to the western sky, which remained clear and dust-free.
The sun stayed up longer and longer these days, but it would be down in probably the next hour.
“Oh, hey, Rocky.” Ty’s soft coo for her cat came through the line, and Winnie’s heart filled with appreciation for Ty. As much as he claimed not to like cats, he sure took good care of Rocky and Salmon.
When she pulled her keys out of her purse and clicked to unlock the door from several feet away, she practically dove into the safety of it, shivering just a little bit.
“It’s really cold today,” she said.
“Yeah, we’ve got a little spring cold snap coming through,” Ty said. “I can’t wait to tell you about this place.”
He’d already told her quite a bit, as he’d dialed the moment he’d gotten back in the car after wandering around a smaller hobby farm that he thought might actually work for him.
It was the first time she’d heard any true excitement in his voice after a showing, and it did Winnie’s heart good to hear him so happy.
She pushed the ignition button and her sedan roared to life. Thankfully, it had not been in the shop for very long—the bumper had just had to be pulled out and the engine cleaned.
“Okay, I’ll let you go to drive,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“All right,” Winnie said, though she loved making her quick fifteen-minute evening commute with Ty on the line.
He went to work earlier than she did and was usually done a few hours before her.
They’d fallen into a nice rhythm of dating, where she called him after her final paperwork was done for the day and he kept her company on the drive home, though she usually found him already at her house, feeding the cats or stirring something on the stove.
The man loved to cook, and he was very, very good at it.
Tonight, they were going out, and Winnie couldn’t wait to have some of her favorite chicken tortilla soup and chips and guac while Ty told her everything about the property.
She arrived home, called, “Let me just change my clothes real quick, and we can go,” as she walked inside, and tossed her bag on the dining room table.
He didn’t answer, and Winnie looked out the sliding glass door.
Ty loved to sit on her back deck, and he was brave enough to let the cats out with him.
She found the three of them out there—Salmon prowling around the top of the stairs that led down into the yard and Rocky sitting right on Ty’s lap, the cowboy using his big, capable hands to give the cat a rub.
Winnie had never been jealous of one of her cats until that moment, because she knew what luxury it was to have Ty’s hands touch her. She slid open the door a foot or two and said, “I’m home. I’m just going to change and then we can go.”
Ty turned toward her, and she caught a glimmer of joy in his eyes. “All right,” he said. “No rush.”
“Oh, there’s a rush. I’m starving.”
He gifted her with her favorite lopsided smile and turned back to the river. “We’ll go when you’re ready, then, sweetheart.”
Winnie got ready quickly, chastised Salmon for taking so long to come in off the deck, and before she knew it, they had arrived at the Mexican restaurant she’d requested.
They seated themselves on this Thursday evening, and a waitress approached with a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa. “It’s open taco-bar night,” she said. “Or I can bring menus.”
“I don’t need a menu,” Winnie said. “But I also don’t want open taco bar.”
“I do,” Ty said. “That sounds amazing.”
The woman grinned at him and then focused on Winnie. “What can I get you, hon?”
“I want the chicken tortilla soup, the guacamole sampler, and the beef enchiladas.”
“You got it.” She nodded to Ty. “Taco bar is open. You grab a plate and eat as many tacos as you want in one night, cowboy.”
Ty clapped his hands together, his smile wide and glorious. “Someone’s speaking my language.”
They laughed together, and she left, promising to bring water and a drink menu.
Ty did not immediately jump to his feet and head for the buffet, and Winnie was actually surprised he’d ordered that, as he hated buffets and having to carry a plate while he walked.
“So tell me about this place,” she said. “You’ve been mysteriously quiet about it since you called.”
“Yeah.” Ty took off his cowboy hat and set it on the seat next to him.
He ran his fingers through his hair, and Winnie couldn’t help the way her hormones fired at his handsomeness.
She liked him in the black cowboy hat, but she liked it when he took it off too.
The man had a great head of hair—one she’d had the opportunity to run her fingers through a time or two when he kissed her.
She blinked, trying to focus on the conversation. “I actually feel really good about it,” he said. “I’ve been trying to sit with it instead of just pouring everything out. And it’s not much when you first pull up to it, but it’s got two houses.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“I don’t know, I just think it’s kind of perfect. The smaller one is more move-in ready, and I could live there while I fix up the bigger one.”
“That’s the two-story one, right?”
The waitress returned with ice water, and Winnie reached for the glass. “Can I have the virgin tequila sunrise?”
“Yep. Anything for you, cowboy?”
“You know what? I want a really big Diet Coke tonight.”
“You got it.” She set down the platter of guacamole and added, “You can have as many chips as you want, hon. Just let me know when you need a refill.”
“Thank you,” Winnie said, and the waitress moved away again.
“What did your parents think of it?” Winnie asked, reaching for a chip. She swiped it through the guacamole that had corn and pico de gallo in it—her favorite variety—and put the whole thing in her mouth.
“I think my daddy was more impressed than he let on,” Ty said. He dunked his chip into the salsa. “And Momma kept asking so many questions.”
“Oh, boy,” Winnie said, smiling. “Did that drive you nuts?”
“At first,” he admitted. “But then I realized they were good questions I should be asking. So it turned out all right.”
“What was she asking?”
“If the place has a well, what the water rights were, can more than one family live on it—that kind of thing.”
“It’s your property and it has two houses. Surely the county can’t tell you who can live there.”
“Jerry said it’s zoned for residential use. And I’m not trying to start a business or anything, so that would work for me.”
“That’s great, baby. Do you want me to go get you a taco?”
He finished his chip and shook his head.
“No, I can do it.” He slid to the end of the bench and stumbled for a moment as he got to his feet.
Instead of heading for the taco bar, he came to her side of the table and leaned down.
“It’s good to see you, Win.” He pressed a kiss to her temple that shouldn’t feel so erotic, but did, and then walked away to get his tacos.
Winnie watched him go, wondering when her feelings had started to feel like love.
Her phone chimed as she filled a chip with regular guacamole—her second-favorite variety on this platter—and she knew it was her mother without having to look at the device.
Winnie sighed, because it was Thursday, and she wasn’t sure she had the patience to deal with her parents tonight.
Her mother needed constant advice—though she’d already looked everything up on the internet and wouldn’t listen to anything Winnie suggested.
She simply wanted to vent, and Winnie supposed everybody needed somebody like that.
She checked the screen and found that her mother’s text wasn’t the only one she hadn’t read.
She had a couple from Jerome at work, and one from Colt, who was more Ty’s friend than hers, that sent her heartbeat tumbling.
She tapped on his, though her mother sent in another message that started with you need to call me.
Hey, Winnie, Colt said. Ty’s birthday is coming up next month, and me and Trap and the boys want to do something for him.
I’m sure you guys have some romantic plans, so will you let me know what day works for us to kidnap Ty and show him a good time?
He’d added a smiley-face emoji, and his second text read, Don’t worry—it’ll be good, clean fun.
Winnie grinned at the text and then tapped over to her mother’s, because she had not known that Ty’s birthday was in May and therefore didn’t have any romantic plans as of yet.
Winnie, your father has fallen down, and Brad has told us to go to the hospital. I just don’t know if it’s necessary or not. And you know how your father is—he thinks the doctors might be trying to trick him about everything. Can you please call him and tell him that he needs to go to the hospital?
The next text, which had to come in only a few seconds after the first, said, You need to call me, please. It’s really urgent.
Her heartbeat sprinted through her chest as pure indecision raged through her.
Ty had not finished telling her about the property, and she wanted to ask him about his birthday too.
She glanced over to the taco bar and found him standing there with a plate of food in his hand, resting his left hip against the counter as someone she didn’t know spoke with him.
Ty knew everyone in town, so this encounter wasn’t unique or unusual, and Winnie quickly dialed her mother.
Her mother answered after only one ring. “Oh, praise the heavens, Winnie. I called nine-one-one.”
Alarm rang through her. “You called nine-one-one?”