Winnie wore a loose pair of wide-leg pants that mimicked a skirt but weren’t a skirt, and Tyson remembered their conversation about how she didn’t own any dresses. Her pants shone like navy water, and she wore a silver shirt underneath a matching jacket.
Ty narrowed his eyes as Cross stood and pulled out her chair for her, as if they were on a date. Was she seriously on a date with that guy a couple of hours after agreeing to go to the wedding with him? Ty felt frozen, his feet stuck to the veranda and both hands gripping his dish cart.
“Hey, man,” Burt said. “We’ve got some stuff you can clear away here.”
“Burt,” Winnie said, clearly chastising him. “We’re not even done eating yet.”
“I’m done with mine,” he said in a loud voice.
Ty fixed a mask on his face as he walked over to the table. “Yeah, sure,” he said, his voice a monotone. “Let me clear this stuff away for you guys.” He picked up Burt’s empty plate and put it in his bin. “You guys off today at Lone Star?”
“Just until this afternoon,” Cross said, and he was definitely the nicer of the two of them.
Ty worked with them a couple of times a week, but he wasn’t a farrier. He moved horses from one stall to another, or hooked up equines to a walking circle, or brushed them down after their workout.
He loved nothing more than his time alone with a horse, making it feel good, getting it clean, and securing it somewhere safe, warm, and dry. The sense of accomplishment that came with taking care of an animal appealed to Ty’s protective nature, and he loved training the dogs at Mitch’s academy and taking care of the horses for Henry and Angel.
Sometimes, he got paperwork for the farriers and helped them clean their tools, and he definitely knew his role at Lone Star was subservient to both Cross and Burt, though Henry and Angel made sure every person there understood their role was critical, no matter how small it was.
He picked up a couple more plates and surveyed the table. Taylor hadn’t even eaten a third of her breakfast yet, and Winnie had a fewbites of eggs left, a little pile of hash browns, and all of her bacon. He could barely meet her eyes but managed to do it.
“Anything else?” he asked.
“No,” she said quickly. “Thank you, Ty.”
He nodded and shuffled his feet to turn around and get the heck out of there.
Thankfully, Julie caught his eye and held up three fingers, and he headed toward the other side of the veranda, feeling the weight of the world on his back, as if everyone at table ten was still watching him.
He made it to table three, where a sense of relief moved through him as he reached for the first plate. He tossed a napkin on top and picked up a bowl that had once held hollandaise sauce when someone arrived at the table beside him.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Winnie said, and she picked up two glasses and put them in his plastic bin.
He straightened and stared at her. “What are you doing?”
Winnie pulled her hands back as if just now realizing she’d started to bus the table but didn’t actually work at the restaurant. Her hands twined around themselves, and she finally dropped them to her sides, as if they’d suddenly had bricks tied to them.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just—Burt was really rude to you, and I’m really sorry about that.”
“I can handle Burt Hallahan,” he said. “I work with him. It’s fine.”
He picked up one of the glasses she’d put in his bin and emptied the few swallows of liquid into the other one, then stacked them. He looked at Winnie and pulled in a breath, her beauty making it catch in his throat. He didn’t want to fight with this woman. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“How long are you working here?” she asked.
“Brunch just goes until one,” he said. “It’s usually about an hour cleanup after.”
Colt had fed them the stuffed French toast that morningfor breakfast, and he had his momma’s soup to look forward to that afternoon.
“What about you?” he asked. “Enjoying your date with Burt?”
“I’m not on a date,” Winnie said quickly. “Taylor—” She blew out her breath and looked over to table ten. “I’m just trying to keep my sister from getting herself into too much trouble.”
“Ah, so she’s your sister,” Ty said. “You know we didn’t actually meet last night.”
Winnie’s gaze flew back to him. “No, I know.”
“You don’t like your sister?” he asked.
