The sliding glass door opened, and Winnie said, “Hey, there you are.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, immediately putting a smile on his face. He didn’t want her to go, but her father had fallen and needed a fairly major surgery, and her brother and sister had been dealing with things for a week now. Being surly about it wouldn’t help either of them.
“You got Rocky out here,” she said, coming closer.
“He likes the outdoors. It just takes him a little longer to realize it.”
Winnie grinned, sighed, and walked past him to the edge of the steps.
“Hey, it’s gonna be fine,” Ty said. “It’ll be good to see your momma and daddy again.”
“Yeah, I know.” She turned back, a fierce look on her face. “I’ve only packed enough clothes to stay through the weekend. I’m going to get there tonight, get all my questions answered, assess a few things, and tomorrow, I’ll make sure he has appointments with the right people.”
Ty nodded and gestured for her to come closer. When she did, he took her hand, gently tugging her between his legs. “Sit with me, sweetheart.”
Ty could sometimes barely hold up his own weight, but Winnie didn’t protest or complain. She simply settled onto his right leg and curled into his chest. He’d never felt more like a man than he did in that moment, and he pressed a kiss to her temple.
“You’ll be back on Monday night,” he said. “And I’ll have dinner ready.”
She nodded. “I have to work Tuesday.”
“Maybe I should move my appointment, because I don’t really want to see Jerome.”
“Oh, please. He’ll be good for you,” Winnie said. “I think I’ve been babying you.”
“Give me a break.” Ty rolled his eyes. “You haven’t beenbabyingme.”
Winnie giggled and pressed further into him. Ty wanted her to be happy above anything else, and he wondered if that was what love felt like. He’d thought he’d been in love before, but it hadn’t been this warm, wonderful feeling—this keen sense of missing, even though Winnie hadn’t left yet.
“Are you going to stay in the house?” she asked.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Ty said.
“You can. It’d be a lot easier with the cats.”
“I know.” He couldn’t quite articulate why it felt strange to stay at his girlfriend’s house while she was out of town, only that it did.
“It smells like something’s cooking,” Winnie murmured.
“Yeah. I put one of my curry chicken bags in when I got here. It should be ready in the next few minutes.”
“I suppose I should finish packing.”
“You’re not ready?” He grinned at her as she straightened. “I’m shocked by that.”
She grinned back and nudged his chest. “I’m mostly packed. I just need to get my toiletries from this morning.”
“I miss you already,” he said.
A softness entered Winnie’s face that told him she missed him too.
“So we’ll eat,” she said. “And then you’re going to kiss me goodbye and tell me everything will be fine.”
“I like that.”
“Then what are yougoing to do?”
“I’ll probably go by my parents’,” he said. “I want to talk to them one more time about that farm.”
