He’d trained his gaze on Winnie at that point, and she’d sighed. “Don’t look at me with those big, sad cowboy eyes,” she’d said.
“You can’t take care of a border collie, and I can.” He’d seen the moment she’d agreed with him, and Ty couldn’t wait to have Lucky on the farm with him.
Yes, this weekend definitely marked a lot of changes. Ty looked out the window, didn’t see Winnie’s sedan, and marched himself into the kitchen. He pulled open his junk drawer and retrieved the navy-blue velvet box sitting there. The lid creaked as he opened it, and he smiled down at the diamond peeking up at him from all that plush fabric.
“There’s already enough changes for one weekend,” he said quietly to himself.
Winnie still had not told him in exact words,I love you,butthey’d talked quite a bit more about marriage. His sister was getting married in only three more weeks, and Bryan and Ellie had set a date for late September, giving Momma four months between the two events.
If Ty and Winnie gave her four more months, that would be…February.
Ty knew without a doubt that Winnie didnotwant to set a date for that month—or anywhere near it. She didn’t want to be married in the winter at all.
The only way Ty could imagine they could be married this year instead of next would be if he squeezed in a wedding sometime between Carolina’s and Bryan’s, and that would be impossible. He hadn’t brought it up with anyone yet, because his mother was so busy with Carolina’s wedding and running the horse stable during very busy spring and summer months.
Ty snapped the lid on the ring closed and had just shut it back in the drawer when he heard Winnie pull up outside the farmhouse. He headed that way and stepped outside just as she emerged from her car.
“Howdy,” he said, giving him his first birthday present—her arrival in a black-and-white striped pair of slacks and a billowy, loose top that looked like someone had splashed black watercolor flowers on a white background. “You are the prettiest woman in Texas.”
He wanted to bounce down the steps and take his girlfriend into his arms, but he held onto the railing and took careful steps instead.
She greeted him by reaching up and tapping the brim of his cowboy hat. “This is new.”
“It’s my birthday present to myself,” he said with a grin.
She giggled. “Is that what we do? Buy presents for ourselves?”
“I do,” he said.
She put one hand against his chest and leaned into him. “I like that idea.”
Ty placed one hand on her back, holding her close as he leaned down to kiss her. “Mm, you taste like mint,” he said. “And maybechocolate.” He cocked one eyebrow at her, and Winnie grinned that softI’m in love with yousmile at him.
“I may have eaten part of your present on the way here,” she said.
“Youatemy birthday present?” Ty laughed, filling the sky with more happiness than he thought he could ever feel or express. “What was it?”
“There’s still some in the car,” she said. “Come see.” She took his hand and led him over to the passenger door, which she opened for him.
Ty found the package of mint Oreos sitting on the passenger seat. Yes, they had been opened and resealed. After he sat down and she closed his door for him, he pulled back the packaging and saw she’d only eaten a few.
“You were starving, huh?” he asked when she got behind the wheel. “And I just want the record to show that this feels weird.” He gestured between them. “That you came and picked me up, and that you’re driving me around in your car.”
She grinned at him. “It’s okay to do new things, Ty.”
“Oh, brother.” He rolled his eyes. “Thanks,DoctorLandry.”
Winnie laughed and pulled around in a wide arc to set her car back on the road leading off the ranch. Ty wasn’t sure where she was taking him, but she’d promised he would be happy with the food and the atmosphere.
She turned left out of his place and headed back toward Three Rivers while Ty tried to swallow his nerves.
“You’re being awfully quiet tonight,” she said. “I expected a report on the second level of your house.”
“Yeah. It’s going good.”
“Going good? That’s all I get?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something, actually,” Ty said.
