Chapter Three
Ty sat at the big table in the kitchen staring at his laptop. He was glad that Shayna had answered him, but he’d been hoping for more of a message than she’d sent. It was brief and gave nothing away. Then again, that wasn’t true. She’d thanked him for reaching out – that said a lot. She’d said she was glad that he had. And perhaps most telling, she’d said that she felt awkward about April messaging him. He liked that. Not that she felt bad but that it wasn’t all some big joke to her.
He couldn’t blame her for keeping her message brief – it matched the one that he’d sent her. Why should she give much away when he hadn’t? He blew out a sigh. He wasn’t looking for a polite back and forth, though. If he was going to explore whether she might be someone he wanted to meet, he was going to have to be the one to open up more. He didn’t mind. It made sense for him to do it. He frowned. It hadn’t occurred to him before, but if she was a real small-town girl, like both Chance and April had said, then the whole online dating thing might be nerve-wracking for her.
He sipped his coffee and stared at the screen. Tanner came wandering into the kitchen and greeted him with a bleary smile.
“What are you doing today?”
“Not much.” Weekends were a bit different at the lodge. The folks who were only here for a couple of days were more interested in getting up and heading out early. They weren’t like the folks who stayed the whole week and had more time to hang around and enjoy the lodge and the ranch. Wade had told Ty when he first came home and took the job that his weekends would be his own. The other staff set up buffet style meals, and Ty was fine with that.
“Want to come down to the barn this afternoon? You can help out if you like.”
He laughed. “Why don’t you ask for my help instead of making out that you’re the one doing me a favor?”
“Because I know you enjoy it, and I don’t need the help, I just enjoy having my little brother around.”
Ty rolled his eyes when Tanner ruffled his hair before sitting down beside him.
Tanner grinned when he looked at the screen. “Did you check out those chicks I saved for you?”
“I did.” Ty didn’t manage to hide his smile.
“What? What’s that look for? Did you talk to one of them?”
“Not one of the ones you saved for me – although, no, wait. You did save the girl with the flower picture, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Tanner shrugged.
“Come on, you had to have a reason. All the rest were your type; that one didn’t even show her face.”
Tanner shrugged again. “I dunno. There was just something about her; she sounded … nice.” He grinned. “And I figured you might not appreciate the beauties that I saved for you.”
Ty nodded slowly.
“Why? What’s that look for? Did you message flower girl?”
“Yeah, well … no. She messaged me first. In fact, she didn’t – get this – April Runyan messaged me from Shayna’s account. She knows her, and she recognized the hat in my picture.”
Tanner stared at him wide-eyed and took a sip of his coffee before he spoke. “Seriously? That’s some freaking coincidence!”
“Right? But also, it’s kind of understandable. April was looking for cowboys for Shayna, so she did a search around here. Makes sense really.”
“I guess. So, do you have a photo of this Shayna now? What’s she like?”
“I still don’t know. I sent her a short message, and she sent me a short one back.”
“Get a photo! You need to know if she’s worth your time.”
Ty frowned. “She seems nice.”
“I know, that’s why I saved her profile for you, but are you seriously telling me you want a girl to be your pen pal or far away friend? It’s a dating site, Ty. If you wouldn’t want to date her, what’s the point?”
He shrugged. “I dunno.”
Tanner chuckled. “It’s up to you, but if you start talking to her, you might like her and then find out that she’s …”
Ty raised his eyebrows, wondering what his brother was about to say.
“… that you’re not attracted to her, let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
“Yeah, I think we should.”
“So, it’s your turn to message her back?”
“Yep.”
“What are you going to say?”
“I think I’m just going to talk to her. Maybe it’s best that I haven’t seen her. If she’s a hot chick, I’ll probably be more careful about what I say. This way I can just talk to her with no major expectations.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Tanner got up. “I’m headed to the barn; come on down there after you chat with your new friend.”
“Maybe.”
After Tanner had gone, he stared at the screen and wondered what to say. Should he just chat with her as though she was a friend – or a potential friend? That was probably the best way to go.
He refilled his coffee and sat back down at the table. He stared out the window at the mountains and wondered where to even start. After a while, he smiled and started to type.
~ ~ ~
By ten o’clock, Shayna was ready to leave the barn and dash home for a shower before her shift at the grocery store.
“Are you ready, Booker?” she called.
Booker was standing by the fence talking to Mac and Beau, the two horses Alexis had rescued from a kill pen. It was strange how things worked out. In saving the horses and bringing them here to board at Lily’s barn, Alexis had set in motion a whole chain of events that had changed her life – hers, Davin’s, Booker’s, and Shayna’s. These days, the four of them saw themselves as a little family unit, and Shayna loved it. She loved it just as much, if not more for Booker. He’d been out on his own and homeless when Alexis and Davin found him. These days, Shayna thought of him as her little brother.
“Come on!” she called when she reached her SUV. “I need to go!”
She smiled at the thought that like any little brother, he could be annoying at times.
“Sorry, Shay,” he said as he climbed into the passenger seat.
“No problem. You know I’m always on a tight schedule.”
“Yeah. Are you at the grocery store today?”
“Yep.”
“And The Boathouse again tonight?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t know how you do it all.”
She waved at Lily, who owned the barn, as she pulled away. “Sheer determination, coffee, and energy drinks,” she said.
“But you’ll be at the house tomorrow afternoon, right?”
“You know it. That’s the one sacred time in my schedule when I won’t take any shifts anywhere.”
Booker grinned at her. “I love that.”
“Me too.”
“What else is going on with you?”
She felt bad; although they worked at the barn together most mornings, she hadn’t made the time to chat with him much lately – she was more focused on getting her work done as fast as possible.
“Remember I told you I signed up for that dating site?”
He frowned. “Yeah. And I told you – if you’re going to meet someone, I can tail you to make sure you’re going to be okay.”
“Aww thanks, squirt. That means the world to me, that you’d do that for me. I might be talking to someone, but you don’t have to worry about me meeting up with him. He lives in Montana – he’s a cowboy.”
“Then why bother?”
She pursed her lips. “I probably wouldn’t have but April did a search on the guys where she used to live up there, and he showed up. She knows him and she says he’s a good guy, so …”
“Yeah, but like you said, you’re not likely to meet up with him.”
“No, but even if I met someone who lived here in town, I wouldn’t have the time to go out with him either. It doesn’t really matter where he lives.”
“I guess. And April knows him?”
“She does. Oh, and Chance does, too. He and Hope came to talk to me at the bar last night and they said he’s a good guy.”
Booker nodded slowly. She knew that invoking Chance’s name would help convince Booker. Chance was an old friend of Lily’s and he usually came out to the barn to see her and to ride when he and Hope were in town.
She shot a glance at Booker. “What about you – have you met anyone you’d be interested in dating?”
He shook his head rapidly. “Nope! And don’t you go getting any ideas about setting me up with anyone. I’m not interested.”
Shayna smiled – she already knew that. He was still at the stage where he found girls intimidating. She didn’t know if that was because of his age or because of his background. Whatever the reason, dating wasn’t on his radar yet.
When they got home, she let him out before she pulled into the garage.
“See you tomorrow,” she told him.
“Yep, and don’t work too hard,” he replied.
“I’ll do my best. What are you doing this afternoon?”
“I’m taking the truck over to see Gramps. He’s going to teach me how to do an oil change.”
“Awesome! Tell him I said hi.”
“I will. Want me to drive us tomorrow morning?”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind.” It made sense for them to ride over to the barn together whenever they were working there. Even though Booker loved driving the old truck that Gramps Douglas had given him, Shayna didn’t want him spending his money on gas.
He met her gaze and held it for a moment. “Thanks, Shay. You’re the best big sis in the world.”
“Aww! Love you, too, squirt!”
He made a face and turned to go into the house, and Shayna ran up to her apartment. She needed a quick shower, something to eat and one of her energy drinks to keep her going through her shift at the grocery store.
After her shower, she sat at the breakfast bar to eat a bowl of oatmeal. She smiled to herself as she opened the dating site on her phone. He might not have answered yet, but she was hoping that she’d have a message from Tyler.
Her heart rate picked up when she saw that she did. Hopefully, this time he’d have more to say for himself. When she clicked to open the message, it seemed that he had a lot to say.
She gave an excited little squeak and balanced her phone against the bowl so that she could read while she ate.
Hi Shayna.
Thanks for answering so quickly. I was half expecting that you might leave me in limbo for a while, wondering if you were going to get back to me or not.
This is weird, I don’t really know what to say. One of my friends set up the profile for me, and I haven’t talked to anyone on here yet. I don’t know about you, but most of the messages I get on here make me want to block the sender, not reply to them.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth our time talking to each other. I mean, Cali is a long way from Montana. But since April made the connection, I feel like we should explore it.
I guess you need to know more about me before you can decide if you even want to do that. So, here goes … I guess you could call me a cowboy. I grew up on a ranch where we raise cattle and breed horses. I was gone for years though – I served in the Navy. Since I’ve been home, I help with the cattle and the horses whenever I’m needed, but my main job is as the chef at the lodge. One of my brothers opened a guest lodge, and I’m in charge of the kitchen. I love to cook. My dream is to own a restaurant of my own. I’ll make it happen one day.
Jesus, I just read what I wrote – I sound boring, don’t I? So how about I hit send and see what you think so far. I was going to attach a photo but now I don’t think I should. If I do and you answer me, I’ll never know if you think I’m a dweeb, but you don’t care because you like the way I look!
Hope to hear back from you – totally understand if I don’t.
I want to ask you at least a dozen questions but I’ll wait for you to tell me what you want me to know first – that seems fairer.
Tyler
Shayna couldn’t stop smiling as she read and reread the message. He sounded normal. He didn’t know what he was doing any more than she did. He wasn’t trying to impress her; he was just being honest. At least, it seemed like he was. She checked the time. She had a few minutes before she needed to go. She started to tap out a reply.
Just as she was backing out of the garage, Booker appeared next to her window and motioned for her to put it down.
“What’s up?” she asked. “Tell me quick, because I can’t be late. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I was thinking about you talking to that guy online and I wanted to tell you something.”
“What?” She didn’t want to brush him off, but she needed to get going.
“You should tell him that we’re your family – like, for real.”
She gave him a puzzled smile. “You know I think of you that way.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m not being sappy. It’s just … they used to have people come into the group home to give us talks about different things. Some of them were dumb, but there was this one time when they brought a guy in to talk about human trafficking. He said that we should be suspicious of pretty much everyone, but especially people online since you can’t know if they are who they say they are.
“He said that any time you talk to someone online, you should talk about being close with your family and having lots of friends.”
Shayna let out a short laugh. “In my case, that’d be a big fat lie!”
“Exactly, and that’s the point. Predators are looking for people who won’t be missed. If they think you have people who’ll kick up a stink if you go missing, they’re not as likely to target you. But if they think no one’s going to notice or care, they see you as an easy target. That’s how they saw us – foster kids – and they were right, we didn’t have anyone.”
Shayna reached through the window to touch his shoulder. “You do now! You have us.”
He smiled. “I know, and so do you. I know you’re probably thinking that it’s a dumb idea, but it can’t do any harm. Think about it; if you just chat with this cowboy guy for a while and it doesn’t go anywhere, it doesn’t matter what you told him. If you end up getting to know him better and actually meeting him, you can tell him the truth later.”
He held her gaze. “It can’t do any harm, and it could do some good.”
“Okay.” She could see that he had a point. She didn’t think that Tyler was up to anything nefarious, given that April and Chance both knew him and had vouched for him, but it wouldn’t do any harm to be cautious.
“Promise me?”
She nodded slowly. As he said, there was no harm in it, and she really had to get to work. “I promise.” She laughed. “But if I end up seeing him, I’m going to make you explain to him why I lied.”
Booker smiled. “I’ll do it, no problem. And it’s not really a lie, is it?”
She smiled back. “No, it isn’t.”
~ ~ ~
Ty sat perched on the top rail of the fence as he watched Tanner work one of the youngsters in the round pen.
He turned when Tanner waved to someone coming down the path from the big house behind him.
He grinned when he saw his twin, Kolby.
“Yo, bro!” Kolby pushed at him when he reached him, but Ty held on tight and laughed.
“What are you doing out here? Where’s Callie?”
“She’s gone to hang out with Sierra and little Maya. I thought I’d come see what you were up to.”
“Not much.”
Tanner came over to join them. “Don’t believe him – he’s chasing some hot blonde in California!”
Kolby raised his eyebrows. “Someone you met at Chico?”
Tanner laughed before Ty could answer. “Nope, someone he hasn’t met at all – someone he met online.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He explained the whole story to Kolby, who smiled and said, “You know who lives in Summer Lake now, don’t you?”
“I know Chance has a house there and he’s there visiting his dad and his sister this weekend.”
“Yeah, but I don’t mean him – I mean Xander.”
“Oh, shit! You’re right. He finally got together with Tori, and they moved there and opened a bar.”
Kolby nodded. “Yep. So, if you want to go visit this girl, you have a friend in town.”
Tanner laughed. “And another option for getting a photo of her.”
Kolby gave him a puzzled look. “You haven’t seen a photo of her?”
“Nope.” He grinned. “But Chance assured me that she’s hot – he said she reminds him of Hope.”
“Wow! Then if I were you, I wouldn’t be too worried. So, what’s the deal, are you going to meet her?”
He shrugged. “We only just started talking. I dunno. It might not go anywhere.”
“Have you heard back from her yet?” Tanner asked. “You said you set the emails to go to spam, so you’ll have to log in to see if she messaged you.”
He had a point. Ty took his phone out to check, even though he didn’t expect that she would’ve answered him yet.
He grinned when he saw that she had.
“Look at that smile!” said Kolby.
He jumped down from the fence and started walking back up to the house. “I’ll be back.”
Tanner laughed, and Kolby called, “Make sure you do come back; I came out here to see you.”
He waved over his shoulder. He wasn’t going to skip the chance to spend some time with his twin, but he wanted to see what Shayna had to say for herself.
He took a seat on the back porch and opened the message.
Hi Tyler
This is just a quickie because I have to go to work in a minute. I didn’t want to leave you dangling, wondering if I was going to answer again.
The first thing I want to say is – thank you for your service. My dad was a military man. I have a lot of respect for everyone who’s served.
Since you shared your dream, I’ll tell you mine. I’m working toward getting my degree in psychology online. I want to be a therapist and work with vets who are suffering from PTSD someday. It’ll take me a while because I can only take a class or two at a time.
I work a bunch of part time jobs. I need to get to the grocery store for my shift there in a minute, I was at the barn mucking out stalls this morning, and I’ll be behind the bar at the local resort, serving drinks tonight. You said you sound boring – you don’t. I know my life doesn’t sound glamorous – because it’s not, haha! If you’re looking for a glamorous chick, I’m not your girl.
I’ll tell you more later. I feel like I should send you a photo, so you know what you’re dealing with, but for one thing you didn’t send me one, and for another, I really have to go or I’m going to be late for work.
Hope you have yourself a great day.
Shayna