“Almost eleven,” she said. Her chest finally loosened, and she felt like sagging to the floor. “I’m sorry. I’ve started this date out all wrong.” She turned away from him and redeposited her purse on the TV cabinet. “We don’t have to go to dinner.”
“Why wouldn’t we go?” Ty pressed in close behind her, his right hand sliding down her bicep, over her elbow, and along her forearm to her fingers. He took them fully into his now, his left hand coming to rest on her hip. “Unless you don’t want to, that is. I get panic attacks and how they can wear you out.”
“You do?” she whispered.
“For the first six months after my injury, every time I woke up, I’d panic,” he whispered back. “It’s exhausting and demoralizing all at the same time. So…yeah.”
Her stomach growled, and Winnie didn’t want to send Ty away and call for Chinese food. Not when she’d gone shopping for a new jumpsuit for next weekend’s wedding, and not when she’d picked up these cute flowered pants she now wore.
Bright, vibrant pinks, purples, and white petals danced across a black background, and she’d paired it with a black blouse on top. The jeans disappeared into the tops of her ankle boots, and Winnie wished she could rewind time and open the door as the confident, beautiful woman she wanted to be.
“You look real nice,” Ty said, still in that same low voice. “And if I’m right about where you live, you should have the river running along your backyard. So I can order dinner here, and we can eat it outside if you want.”
She turned, glad when he simply let his left hand slide along her back. She ran her hands up his chest and yes, leaned into him again. “Do I strike you as the kind of woman who likes to eat outside?”
“Yes.” He grinned at her. “Because you told me last night that you take your pomegranate tea on the back deck every morning.”
She smiled back at him. “That’s cheating.”
He chuckled. “Cheating? I’mcheatingnow if I remember what you’ve told me? That doesn’t seem fair.”
“I don’t want to eat on the back deck.”
“Okay,” he said. “I don’t care about the panic attack, Winnie. I just won’t ring that doorbell ever again.” He wore fierceness in his expression, and his tone turned a touch harsher than he’d used so far that evening.
“Where are we going to dinner?” she asked.
“I got us a garden table at Squared Away. It’s a nice little bistro on the square downtown.” His eyebrows went up even as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “If you still want to go.”
Winnie watched his mouth as he spoke too. “I do,” she whispered. “I like this shirt. It’s very soft.” She played with the buttons up near his throat that he’d left undone. “I promise I won’t freak out every time you come get me.”
Ty nodded, then simply turned, dropped his hand to hers again, and led her out of her own house. She hadn’t grabbed her purse, and part of her felt naked without it. She had her phone in her pocket, though, and she figured she could call a ride, pay for things, and pretty much survive with just that for tonight.
“How did the engagement go?” she asked, once they both sat in his truck.
Ty glanced over to her. “Great. She said yes.”
Winnie smiled out the windshield. “That’s great.”
Ty backed out of her driveway and started down the lane. “You have a very cheerful attitude about marriage for someone who’s been through what you have.”
She looked over to him, and with the sun already down tonight, with only tones of gold and violet in the sky, she couldn’t see him as clearly as she’d like to. “I still want to get married someday,” she said. “I’m just…well.” She blew out her breath, searching for the right words.
“I guess I just need to be more selective about who I spend my time with.”
“Seems to me you’ve been spendin’ time all over town,” he said.
Winnie watched him come to a stop at the end of her street, the orange lamp there painting his features in harsh light. “What do you mean?”
“You’re everywhere, Winnie,” he said, that lopsided smile making an appearance. “You volunteer at the summer dance, you’re teaching at the Deaf academy, you work with all my friends.”
“Onefriend,” she shot back. “And that’s just luck. I don’tpickmy patients. They get assigned to us at the clinic.”
“Hey, it’s not a bad thing.” Once he’d turned, Ty reached over and took her hand in his again. “I like holding your hand. Is this okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “It’s nice—I haven’t….” She trailed off, something inside her turning her tongue shy.
“You haven’t what?” he asked.
