“I heard that my friend might set you up with another friend of mine, and it irritated me. Okay? I didn’t want him to ask you, and I didn’t want to see you there with him. Yeah. That’s why. That’s why I asked you.”
Pure disbelief tore through Winnie, and she was so glad she’d put down her tea. Otherwise, she might have spilled boiling liquid all over herself when the muscles in her arm failed her.
“You didn’t want him….” She pressed her eyes closed. “I’m confused.”
“Welcome to the club,” Ty muttered. “It’s okay. You just don’t like me.”
Her eyes flew open. “Hey, I like you fine.You’rethe one who acts likeI’mthe black cloud ruining your otherwise sunny day.”
“You make me do things I don’t want to do,” he shot back.
“It’s myjob.” Winnie blew out her breath.
“I don’t want to go out with my physical therapist,” Ty said without missing a beat. “So if you can’t just go as Winnie, a really beautiful woman, with a cowboy, who yes, happens to have a limp, then I rescind the invitation.”
“You rescind it?Rescindit?” Winnie had never even heard a regular person use that word in normal conversation before. “You can’t justrescinda wedding date invitation. It’s out there. It’s scinded.”
A pause filled the line while Winnie’s pulse stamped through her body. Then a low sound entered her ears. It took her a few seconds to even recognize it as laughter.
Ty waslaughingat her.
“Scinded is not a word,” he said, still chuckling.
Winnie held her head high, though he couldn’t see her.A really beautiful woman.
Had she really heard that? Or had her tired brain simply made it up?
He quieted, and Winnie made her decision. “I can go as myself,” she said. “Not a physical therapist.”
“Okay,” Ty said.
“Is there a color scheme I need to adhere to?”
“A color scheme? It’s a wedding in Three Rivers.”
“Yes, and I’ve heard that some brides, even in small towns, want things a particular way,” she said dryly. The moment she said the word “brides,” Winnie’s chest collapsed. How could she have forgotten thatsheshould’ve been a bride only eleven months ago?
How could she possibly go to aweddingwithout thinking of the one she’d planned for and never got?
“I can find out,” Tyson said. “But I highly doubt it. Any dress you have will be gorgeous.”
“What if I don’t own any dresses?” she asked.
He scoffed. “You don’t own any dresses?”
She thought of the many she’d left behind in Redwood, Oklahoma. Carver had told her once that he preferred her in a dress, and she’d worn one on every single date they’d gone on since then.
“I own a great many of them,” she said matter-of-factly. “But I left them all in Oklahoma.” Sherescindedthe part where she’d burned a couple of them. Better to save that crazy tidbit for when she knew Ty well enough that he’d understand.
“Well, what would you wear if you couldn’t go get a dress?”
“I’m absolutelynotgoing to go get a dress.”
“Ohhhh-kaaay,” he said, drawing the word out. “Am I picking you up and you’re going to the wedding in scrubs? What are we talkin’ here?”
Winnie smiled at the very idea. “I own an amazing black jumpsuit,” she said.
“I’m not even sure what that is,” Ty said. “And I’m also not sure black is appropriate for a wedding.”
