“Oh, did he come?” Link asked, his eyes bright with hope.
“No. He ended up getting somewhere up in Oklahoma, where we’re from,” she said. “But trust me,everyoneknows Shiloh Ridge.”
Link chuckled. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“Oh, it’s a good thing and you know it,” Ty said. “They’re like a billion-dollar ranch or something.”
“It’s not quite a billion with a B,” Link said, and Misty scoffed.
Ty gestured to her and said, “See? She knows. This is Link’s wife, Misty. They’ve got three kids—a couple of boys—and that’s their youngest, Meadow.”
“Wow, you guys make the cutest babies ever,” Winnie said. Shelooked from Jade to the baby in Misty’s arms. “Is there something in the water here in Three Rivers?”
Everyone smiled, and Finn shook his head. “Mine are monsters most of the time, but we love ‘em.”
“Finn’s got three boys,” Ty said. “And—oh, what do you know? Here’s Finn’s cousin, Henry.” Ty grinned and leaned closer to Winnie. “They’re my bosses at Lone Star, so try to act like I’m really amazing.”
“Youarereally amazing,” Angel said.
He smiled at her. “This is Angel Marshall and her husband, Henry,” Ty said. “They own and operate Lone Star—that big boarding stable I work at out near Amarillo.”
“Sure, sure,” Winnie said. “Ty loves his job there. I think he talks more to horses than he does people.” She giggled, and everyone in their little huddle joined her.
A hint of heat climbed into Ty’s face. “Hey, horses don’t talk back,” he said. “And I don’t have to worry about offending them.”
“They are good listeners,” Henry said, stepping in to shake Winnie’s hand. “It sure is great to meet you, ma’am.”
“How do you get your hair to hold that curl?” Angel asked. “Mine refuses to do it no matter what.”
“My hair is a little bit naturally curly,” Winnie said. “But I have this really great dry spray that I put in before I curl it. I’ll show you.”
“That would be great,” Angel said. She carried their daughter on her hip, and the little girl fussed. She passed her to Henry and took Wrangler’s hand in hers. “Well, we promised the kids snacks, and they know how to organize a coup if we don’t follow through. It was lovely to meet you, Winnie. Good to see you, Ty.”
Henry bumped his fist, and the two of them left with their kids.
“I’m going to take the kids to get treats too,” Misty said, and she herded their boys toward the exit.
Ty stood there with Link, JJ and Ruby, and Finn, not surprised at all when Dawson Rhinehart joined them.
“This is Dawson,” he said dutifully. “Dawson, this is my new girlfriend, Winnie.”
“Oh-ho, you’re calling her a girlfriend?” Dawson grinned. “I was not expecting that.”
“She’s handling questions a lot better than I am,” Ty said.
“Well, you answered the only one I had.” Dawson reached out and shook Winnie’s hand. “It’s great to meet you. I think you work at the physical therapy clinic?”
“Yeah,” Winnie said.
“Yeah, Libby was talking about you in one of our meetings,” Dawson said.
“Oh, sure,” Winnie said. “Libby’s great. She doesn’t come anymore, because I’m pretty amazing at my job.” That caused a few people to chuckle as well, and Ty marveled at how well she met new people, how easily she could flow with conversations and names, how she didn’t get riled up by anything.
“And,” Dawson said, glancing around at everyone. “I’m going to send a reminder out, but Caroline wanted me to let you all know about Bronco’s birthday next Saturday.”
“I’ve got it on the calendar,” Finn said.
“It’s just at our place,” Dawson said. “We’re praying that it won’t be snowing, but the ten-day forecast looks pretty good.”
