Winnie again.
“Yeah,” Ty said as they reached the table and set down the cooler. He let out a long sigh. “Okay, I think Bryan said he just wanted the Rice Krispy treats out.” He bent with a groan, already tired after a long morning of dog training, and took out the treats his brother had made and packed.
“When do you think they’ll get married?” Libby asked while Ty arranged the treats between the two plates.
“Ellie wants pumpkins and corn stalks,” Ty said as he stepped back and surveyed the table. “And my momma said Bryan couldn’t have his wedding within three months of Carolina and Hugh, so….” He grinned over to Libby. “It’s September or later, and I don’t really know when the exact date will be.”
“Carolina is getting married the first week of June?” Libby asked. “I’m pretty sure that’s what I have on my calendar.”
“Yeah,” Ty said, though he didn’t have the exact date memorized. Perhaps he really did need to write down more information.
“I think it’s only a week before I’m due.” Libby sighed and wiped her hair back, then put her cowgirl hat back on her head.
Ty gaped at her. “You’re pregnant?”
Libby gave him a smile that suddenly seemed very tired. “Yeah. I haven’t made it to the ranch owner’s meetings to tell people, so I figure the more people I tell, it’ll spread through town without me having to say anything.”
Ty blinked at her. “And you’re telling me?” He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not part of the rumor mill, Libs.”
“No, but your mother is,” she said.
“So is yours,” he said without missing a beat.
“Yeah, and that’s how I know you have a date with a mystery woman to Judy and Trooper’s wedding next weekend.” Libby bumped him with her hip and nodded to the cooler. “Push that further under the table, and let’s get out of the sun. I’m tired, and the bright light hurts my head.”
She shaded her eyes while Ty did what she said. They returned to his truck, and Ty drove them back to the epicenter of Three Rivers Ranch. Libby lived in the big ranch house with her husband and little girl—and apparently a new baby come summer—and Ty waited until she’d gone up the stairs and into the house before he turned his attention to the horse training facility his momma owned.
Bowman’s Breeds.
Ty sighed at the sign, at the trucks parked out front, at the fact that in about another thirty minutes, he’d be the only un-engaged member of his family. His mother had said she had clients today, and that she’d sent Bryan and Ellie out on horseback to “get rid of them,” so she could get through her day.
His phone buzzed, and Ty pulled it out of the cupholder to check it. Momma had said,They just left. You guys have about ten minutes to be out of there. Status?
I just dropped Libby off at the farmhouse, Ty told her.Everything is set and ready for them.
Great! Thanks, baby.
I’m headed home, he told her.
Dinner with everyone tomorrow?she asked.After church? I’m making that chicken cheese bread you love.
Ty didn’t want to commit to dinner at his parents’ house, with Carolina and Hugh and Bryan and Ellie and all their diamond-shiny-happiness. And that only made him feel worse about himself. Guilt drove through him, because his siblings had spent their lives cheering him on, and he couldn’t even be happy for them?
“I am happy for them,” he told himself. “And I drove over an hourfrom my morning job to put out some Rice Krispy treats for my brother’s proposal.”
He now had to drive forty-five minutes back to his apartment, shower, and get ready to go out on a weekend evening date with Winnie.
“Definitely too much pressure,” he said to himself, which was what a Sabbath Day meal with his family would be too. He’d wanted things with Winnie to be more casual from the beginning, because he needed time to figure out how he felt about her before they got too serious.
“She was engaged,” he whispered to himself as his phone vibrated again. That told Ty that Winnie knew how to be in a serious relationship.
His phone buzzed, and then it rang. His mother, again.
Ty exhaled slowly and tapped to answer the call. “Hey, Momma.”
“I can see you sittin’ in your truck.”
Ty looked out his side window and found his mother standing against the post at the end of the fence. He waved, sighed, and got out of the truck.
