“Nope,” Ty said. “And it sometimes dries up in the summer. It’s a great thinking spot.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, glad when he lifted his arm and brought her closer to his side, tucking her next to him before he took another bite of his croissant.
Winnie felt like something as simple as a picnic had made her whole world brighter. Ty had rescued her from so many things…including herself, and she hoped their relationship would continue to develop into something beautiful and lasting and real.
Please let it be real this time, she prayed.Because I don’t know how I’ll survive if it’s not.
11
Tyson pulled open the door to the physical therapy clinic, his anticipation for today’s appointment already off the charts. He hadn’t seen Winnie in a professional capacity since before Christmas, and he hadn’t seen her in a personal capacity since their Sunday picnic at Eagle Bear Lake.
They’d been texting a lot, but with the holidays over and the vacation schedules at the ranches and orchard where he worked done, Ty had returned to Lone Star on Monday, and was working with his crew at the orchard on Tuesday.
Classes had resumed atSigns for Successyesterday, though Winnie’s first beginning sign language class actually started tonight. Ty had gone ahead and signed up for that one as well, knowing he needed to do a lot more work to be proficient in ASL.
A new receptionist waited at the desk when Ty arrived, and he said, “I’m Tyson Greene. I have an appointment with Winnie Landry at eleven-fifteen.”
The girl, who seemed to be about fifteen, looked up at him with wide blue eyes. “Did you not get our message,Mister Greene?”
“No,” he said, pausing though he’d already picked up the pen to sign in. “What message?”
“Miss Landry is out today,” she said. “I called a couple of hours ago and wondered if we might reschedule you with Melissa Ryher? If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to reschedule you with Winnie next week.”
“Winnie’s out today?”
“Yes, sir,” the woman said. “Yesterday, too. She’s not feeling well.”
Ty immediately wanted to leave the clinic, find her favorite Chinese food, and go see what she needed. He’d texted with her last night, and she had not mentioned that she’d stayed home from work, nor had she told him that she would not be at their appointment today.
He signed his name and pulled out his phone to text Winnie.You’re sick? Can I bring you lunch?
“So are you okay with Melissa?” the receptionist asked, and Ty nodded absently, watching his phone and willing Winnie to respond. She didn’t.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, already calculating how long it would be before he could get to Winnie’s house to see how she was doing.
Melissa spent half of his appointment reviewing his notes and making him show her things that he’d been doing for months. Then she told him to continue to do those things, and said he should come see Winnie next week.
“Glad I paid for that,” he grumbled as he stepped onto the elevator and left the clinic.
It had started to rain while he’d been inside, and he hurried to his truck and got it started so the heater would begin to blow. Then he pulled out his phone and checked his notes, because he couldn’t remember the name of the Chinese restaurant Winnie had given him exactly a week ago now.
“Wok This Way,” he said. “That’s right. Chicken teriyaki rice bowl.”
He texted Winnie again:I’m getting lunch and stopping by. Tell me now if it’s a bad time.
She still didn’t answer, and Ty didn’t want to wait for her permission anyway. She was sick, and he wanted to make her life easier if he could.
So he looked up the restaurant and navigated to what old-time Three Rivers residents called New Downtown, which was a series of high-rise buildings filled with various companies, offices, and yes, restaurants. In fact, one of the buildings housed several restaurants on the top floor or the roof, providing amazing views of Three Rivers and the surrounding Texas Panhandle.
Wok This Way stood at street level, but Ty had to park down the block and make the walk to get there. He found a lunchtime crowd waiting in line and a complicated menu board that he thankfully had time to figure out before it was his turn to order.
He thought about all the things he would like in a teriyaki chicken bowl, and then ordered the opposite of that for Winnie.
He got a noodle bowl with steak and wok sauce, water chestnuts, and sugar snap peas—something he would take a picture of and send to his mother, just to prove to her that he ate vegetables from time to time. With everything finally in his possession, he limped back to his truck and aimed himself toward Winnie’s house.
She always pulled all the way into her garage and closed the door before she got out of the car, something Tyson had witnessed her doing after church a few days ago. When he’d asked her about it, she told him it simply made her feel safe, and she couldn’t imagine getting out of her car with the door still open.
He couldn’t tell if she was home or not, but her quaint little cottage made him smile. He collected their lunch and texted her for a third time.
