So he’d come to church today. She wondered if he’d seen her, and her pulse ricocheted through her body with what to do. By then, he’d passed her row, and she couldn’t see him anymore. Winnie fished in her purse for her phone, and she turned the volume back up so she’d hear notifications of texts and calls.
They hadn’t made definite plans for a picnic today, and the grayness in the sky told Winnie she didn’t really want to spend any significant time outside. She also felt like she’d been quite forward with him already, and part of her wanted to be wooed. Chased. Asked out.
“Hedidask you out,” she whispered to herself. Butshewas the one who’d turned their canceled lunch date into a Saturday night dinner date.
Her phone chimed, and Winnie nearly jumped out of her skin. “That’s way too loud.” She pressed on the button on the side of her phone to lower the volume, and she caught Ty’s name as the text got sucked back up into the top of the screen.
She tapped over to his text, her giddiness returning.Hey, I just saw you at church, and I was wondering if you still wanted to do that picnic.
A picture came in, also from Ty, and a moment later, a picnic basket with a red-checkered cloth spilling out the top brightened her screen. It appeared to be riding shotgun in Ty’s truck, and Winnie wanted to be there too.
It’s looking gray today, cowboy, she said.
I know a great place, he said.Very quiet, and we can sit in the back of my truck. I brought a couple of blankets, and if I open the little window, the heat blows right down the back of your neck.
Sounds nice, Winnie said.I saw you walk through the parking lot. Did you want to meet me at my house?
Yeah, I’ve already left.
Okay, see you there. Winnie set her phone back in her purse, and she too left the church parking lot. She made the drive, a few raindrops splattering her windshield, and when she turned onto her lane, she found Ty’s big, dark brown truck parked in front of her house.
Winnie smiled and smiled and couldn’t stop smiling as she pulled into her driveway, then her garage. She closed the door while she still sat in her car, something she always did, and then quickly ran into the house.
I just need to feed the cats.She sent the text to Ty, rushed through giving Rocky and Salmon their midday meal, and then she paused in front of the full-length mirror on the inside of the coat closet door only a few feet from the front windows.
“It was good enough for church,” she said, taking in her black slacks and sage-green blouse. She wore a pumpkin-colored jacket with cream trim, and she reached for her purse at the same time Ty knocked on the front door.
She took the couple of steps to it, pulled it open, and grinned at him. “Sorry. Was I taking too long?”
“Not at all,” he said easily. “I thought I’d put Valerie Thompson’s worries at ease, since she’s been glaring at me from her front porch since I pulled up.” He kicked her that adorable grin, and Winnie reached for his hand.
“I don’t even know who Valerie Thompson is.”
“She lives next door to you,” Ty said. He glared to the house located just north of hers. “Right there.” He lifted his free hand to a woman standing there with a watering can, doing absolutely nothing.
Winnie smiled and waved at her too. “I haven’t met her yet.”
“I’m stunned by that,” Ty said as he led her down the steps. “You’ve lived here for what? Seven months?”
“Yeah,” Winnie said. “But she was out of town visiting her daughter when I moved in, and I work a lot. So.”
Ty reached his truck and opened her door for her. “Who feeds the cats their lunch while you’re at the clinic?”
“What?” Winnie blinked at him and then got in the passenger seat.
“The cats.” He slammed the door between them and went around the back of the truck to get behind the wheel.
“No one feeds the cats while I’m at work,” she said. “I just like to keep them guessing on the weekend, and I only gave them my leftover chicken for breakfast.”
“Wow.” He chuckled. “That’s one expensive feline breakfast.” He grinned at her. “And double wow—it’s so great to see you.”
Winnie lifted her chin and kept smiling. “Thanks. It’s great to be seen by you.” She peered over the seats and into the back of the truck. “Where’s that picnic basket?”
“Right behind you, sweetheart.” Ty eased away from the curb, waved once again at her neighbor, and headed out of the neighborhood. He went back toward the little white church on the south side of town, and then took the highway that led away from Three Rivers.
“How far to this ‘quiet place’?” she asked.
“Fifteen or twenty minutes.”
