Chapter 39 #2
He’d spent a lot of time on his phone this week as he’d made arrangements to have this house cleaned, inspected, and furnished for her parents or for himself. He’d wowed her parents with his good cooking, and he’d even gotten Taylor to laugh a few times.
No matter what, Winnie had fallen more and more in love with him, with everything he said and every move he made, and every preparation he put together on her behalf. He’d had Conrad send pictures of Rocky and Salmon, and he’d assured Henry and Angel that he’d be back at Lone Star next week.
Winnie realized in that moment that his brother was also engaged, and she might not be able to have her non-winter, non-February wedding this year.
Worry worked through her gut and then Winnie told herself that she and Ty weren’t even engaged.
In fact, she’d told him that he was absolutely not allowed to propose to her before they’d been dating for six months, which put them right around the Fourth of July.
Winnie wasn’t sure why that mattered, only that it felt fast otherwise. She wanted to be very sure this time.
As opposed to last time? she thought. She and Carver had dated for almost two years before he’d asked her to marry her, and they’d been engaged for fourteen months.
She realized this as she followed her mother out of a corner door in the master suite and onto a private, master-only deck.
The date on which things happened had mattered to Carver. He’d proposed to her on New Year’s Eve in an extremely romantic grand gesture, and they’d been set to be married only a few days after Valentine’s Day.
“This is a really nice place,” her mother said.
Winnie leaned her head against her mom’s shoulder. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s really quiet and peaceful here.”
“What would you rather have us do, Winnie?”
Winnie didn’t think her mom had ever asked her opinion before, at least not about something like this. “I think you should do whatever you think will make you happy, Mom,” she said. “And whatever you think will be easiest for Daddy, because he’s going to do whatever you say.”
“Yeah, probably,” Momma said. “I think this would be really nice for before the surgery, but we’ll need somewhere with level ground where he’ll be able to walk after it.”
Winnie nodded. “So maybe you’ll stay with me until our appointment on Tuesday,” she said. “And then once you know when the surgery will be, you and Daddy can make a decision. You might even be able to go back to Oklahoma for a couple of months.”
Momma shook her head and sniffled. “No, I think you’re right. We need to be here, and we need to be away from Taylor. That girl needs to figure out her life.”
Winnie had listened to her mom complain about a great many things, but her words never turned into actions and things never changed much, so she simply agreed.
“We told her when we come home she has to move out,” Momma said.
“What?” Winnie’s eyes widened, and she gaped at her mother.
“So we won’t go home before the surgery,” Momma said. “We told her she probably has six months, and she needs a job and her own place before then.”
“Wow, Momma. Do you think she’ll actually do it?”
Her mother sighed and leaned against the railing, gazing out over the fallow land.
“I don’t know, Winnie. But you know, I think we’ve enabled her long enough, and she and your father don’t get along.
I think she’s poisoned me a little bit against him, and I want to be a good caretaker for him and a good support.
” She smiled over to Winnie. “The way you are for Ty and he is for you.”
“Do you like Ty, Mama?”
“Yes, Winnie,” she said. “He’s wonderful.”
“Yeah, but we thought that about Carver too,” she said.
“Ty and Carver are nothing alike,” Momma said.
“How do you think they’re different?” Winnie asked, because she had her own reasons, but she wanted to know what her mother thought.
“For one, every single thing Ty thinks or feels is right there on his face. He doesn’t have a disingenuous bone in his body.”
“He’s actually pretty good at hiding things,” Winnie said.
“At least he thinks he is. He said he had to do it all the time in the rodeo—that he’d just swallow the fear and get on the bull.
” She sighed and looked out at the untamed Texas wilderness too.
“I don’t want to be a bull to him. I want him to want to be with me. ”
“I think he does, dear,” Momma said. “And like you said, you guys are going to give yourselves a few more months to get to know one another, celebrate some holidays together, experience some birthdays, and see how things go with your father’s surgery.”
“Yeah,” Winnie said.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you need to worry about Ty,” Momma said. “I mean, the man babysat your cats—both of them—for ten days, and that Salmon can be a real piece of work.”
Winnie pealed out a laugh, and she hugged her momma tightly. “Thanks, Momma. Now let’s go see where Ty and Daddy are.”
Winnie stepped back into the bedroom and allowed her mother to go past her and out into the hall first. She really wanted to be one hundred percent sure about Ty in all things, and maybe she didn’t have to wait six months for him to propose to her.
Maybe they both just needed to be on the same page—ready to write a book about the future of them together—and everything else would work itself out after that.
Winnie paused in the bedroom alone. “Bless me with clarity of mind,” she murmured, and she believed with her whole heart that God could and would answer her prayers. She felt brave and indestructible as she stepped out into the hall and joined Ty and her parents out in the main part of the house.
Ty glanced at her. “Your momma says she’s just going to stay with you until they meet with the doctor on Tuesday.”
Winnie nodded and moved to his side. “That’s right.
If the surgery is right away, then maybe they’ll just stay with me through it.
Momma wants to have level ground for Daddy to walk on after his recovery, as we already know that a lot of walking after his surgery will be one of the most important parts of his recovery. ”
“Makes sense,” Ty said. “I’m fine with whatever. I just want you guys to know that this is available.”
“We really appreciate it, Ty,” Momma said, and she lunged at him. Ty managed to wrap Momma in his arms, and he smiled over her shoulder at Winnie as they embraced.
Winnie stepped back and grinned at all of them. “I’m starving. Let’s go find somewhere awesome for lunch.”
“I know what that means.” Ty kicked that delicious grin at her.
“What does it mean?” Daddy asked, a look of confusion knitting his brows.
Ty considered Winnie for a moment, and she simply watched him back. “Well, Winnie has a way of saying what she wants without really saying it,” Ty said.
Both Momma and Daddy looked at him blankly and then switched their attention to Winnie.
“Right now I’m thinking she either wants Chinese food or tacos, and I’m just trying to figure out which.” He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Seems to me that I remember her saying there were no good Chinese places in Redwood, so I’m going to go with that.”
Winnie clapped a couple of times for him and said, “Chinese food, cowboy. It’s only the best cuisine on the planet.”
He laughed and took her into his arms and then led the way out of the house, leaving her parents to follow behind them, whether they wanted Chinese food or not.