“I’m notcheerfulabout them.” She put her palm against his chest and pushed him a few inches further away. “But there’s no point in wallowing in it. What’s done is done. Carver walked out. He didn’t love me. Why would I want to be in a marriage with a man who doesn’t love me? Everything would be worse if we’d gotten married.”
Her chest stormed and Winnie felt her emotions running away from her. She tried to grab onto them, because when that happened, she said too much and almost always the wrong things.
“Are you implying that I’ve been wallowing in my injury?”
“Haven’t you been?—?”
“You don’t know meat all,” Ty said.
“I know you a little bit,” Winnie said. “And no, I don’t think that you’ve been wallowing.”
He pressed his lips together, clearly fighting what he really wanted to say. “Whatdoyou think?” he finally asked.
Winnie studied his face, the pure unhappiness in his eyes and the sharp daggers he threw her way.
“I think you’ve been a very fortunate man,” she said. “Who has a big bank account, so when he got hurt, he was able to take all the time he needed away from the responsibilities of life.
“I think you have amazing parents and siblings and friends and a small-town community who welcomed you home with open arms, and it took you a while to realize that you appreciate that, too.”
He dropped his eyes, some of his fight deflating and easing the tension in the air between them.
“I think you fought really hard to be where you are,” she said next. “Probably harder than I, or anyone else, even knows, becauseI’ve read your chart, Mister Greene, and you had doctors telling you you would never walk again.”
She took a breath and reached for Salmon as he joined them on the beanbag. She drew comfort and strength from her grumpy cat, realizing that Tyson reminded her a lot of Salmon. And all she’d ever had to do was take care of him, and the cat loved her for it.
“I think you’ve been coming around to yourself more and more in the past several months,” she said. “I don’t really know how long before I met you, butsinceI met you, you seem like you want to build your life here in Three Rivers, and you want your own place, and you want to be able to walk out your back door and go ride your horse.”
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“And I think you haven’t had a lot of luck with women, and for a while, you figured,Why should I try at all?” She slid her hand up his arm and along his jaw, gently lifting his chin so he would look at her.
“And we may see things differently, because I never think,Why try?I think,Why shouldn’t I?I might fail, but it’s at least worth a shot, and maybe I’ll learn something along the way.”
“Yeah, I don’t think like that,” Ty said.
“But youhavetaken a shot,” she said, her eyebrows coming up and a small smile first crinkling her eyes and then extending to her mouth. “I see you, Tyson Greene, and I know that it took a lot for you to ask me out.”
He didn’t argue with her, which meant she was right—or he simply didn’t want to argue anymore.
“Was it very hard to bring me lunch today?”
“No,” he whispered. “The hardest part was remembering the name of the Chinese restaurant, but I’d written it down.” A tiny smile played with his lips too, and Winnie focused her attention there.
“I think I naturally see things in a more positive light,” she said. “And I think it takes work for you to do the same, but you eventually get there.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He dipped his head and ran the tip of his nose across her cheekbone. She couldn’t help pressing into his touch,because he was so strong, and so warm, and Winnie liked him so much.
With his lips practically catching against her earlobe, he whispered, “I promise I’ll try to have a good attitude at the wedding.”
“Mm-hm,” Winnie hummed, because she couldn’t get her mouth to form words, not with him so close and his breath tickling her neck.
“Okay?” he whispered.
“Yes, okay,” she said.
His arms around her tightened, and Winnie relaxed into his chest.
“I’m thinking pizza for dinner,” he said, his voice soft and sexy. “I can order it from the app when your class is almost over, and it will be here when we get back.”
