Chapter 7
Memphis splattered a few dots of aftershave onto his hands and slapped them over his freshly shaven neck. He smoothed his palms over the short, trimmed facial hair along his jaw next, and grinned. He felt good. Confident. He had a lot to offer a woman like Ty. And if she and Lucas were a package deal, he’d like that all the more.
Sure, he might be jumping ahead of himself, but what else was dating for if not to consider marriage and family and making a life together?
Yesterday, when he’d walked Ty from the dining area to the spa, the two had exchanged phone numbers. The mere act caused Memphis’s pulse to spike and his face to warm. And when he went to spell out her name, his dang thumb kept tapping the G instead of the T. He hadn’t realized until he added the Y and his phone predicted the wordgym.It was a little funny the first time it happened, since Ty was hovered over his phone and watching the action, but when the same thing happened a second time in a row, Memphis felt more flustered than ever.
Ty’s adorable laughter helped put him at ease though, and so did the soft trace of her silky hand down his arm as she giggled over the mishap. He couldn’t even picture that laugh of hers without seeing the dimple that sank into her cheek when she smiled.
Heat flared low in his belly. Memphis shook his head. He might worry that he was whooped already, but he knew that wasn’t the case. It was the potential that had him focusing on Ty so often so soon. When someone chanced to be what you’ve waited your whole life to find, the idea of gaining or losing that person could agitate the best of them. And distract the best of them too, he realized as he glanced at the clock. If he didn’t hurry, he was going to be late.
When Emmitt and Maverick were readying to head over to the inn for dinner, Memphis told them to go ahead and that he needed to shower first. Yes, he’d been deceptive in not telling them, but he’d received this invitation alone, and he planned to attend it alone too. He couldn’t have them inviting themselves to come along. Or to start razzing him about having feelings for their new massage therapist two days after she’d started working for them.
A sigh escaped him as he climbed into his truck at last. In less than thirty minutes, he’d be knocking on Ty’s door, ready to be wooed by that smile, that face, that whole aura that was distinctly her.
He flicked open the glovebox and pulled out the small toy he’d had delivered to the inn—a model Lucas had gushed about: the cherry red sports model Ferrari. It had taken everything in him to not buy five dozen of the best models out there and a carrying case too. But there was no need to get carried away.
Memphis kept the window of his truck down as he headed toward the small town. He’d been entertaining an idea that came to him since she’d invited him to dinner—flowers. Should he pick up a bouquet? Nothing fancy, of course. Just a handful of daisies. Which probably weren’t in season since fall was nearly here.
Once sights of the city came into view, small shops, the local chapel, and the city building too, the dilemma grew bigger in his mind. A mile down the road, he’d see the flower shop. Would he stop and get some or just keep driving? And if hedidstop to pick some up, what would be the best ones to get? But then a memory came to him. A conversation, really, where Ty had said she preferred lavender. His mom used to prefer it too. That made up his mind. If the place sold lavender in bouquets, he’d get some. If not, he’d forgo the gesture and show up with just the toy car.
A streak of nerves pushed through him as the flowers lining the street came into view. Ty had said the dinner was to pay him back for his kindness, but he was pretty sure she saw this the same way he did. This was definitely a date. He just hoped it went well.
“Did you see the table, Mom?” came Lucas as he tore into the kitchen, his arms straight at either side of him like an airplane.
Ty snapped the ends off the last few asparagus stalks and moved to the sink. “Did you finish setting it?” she asked while rinsing the greens.
“Yep!Threeplaces,” he said proudly. “Three plates plus three cups plus three forks is nine.”
“You’re right.” She’d barely gotten out the reply when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” chimed Lucas.
“Wait, wait, wait.” She glanced at the clock to see that Memphis was exactly eight minutes early. “I’m the only one who answers the door, remember?”
“Unless we know who itis,” Lucas added. “And we do.”
Ty snatched a hand towel and dried her hands off. “Double check through the window and make sure it’s Memphis’s truck. The one he drove us in yesterday.”
“And the day before,” Lucas said as he climbed onto the couch and pulled back the white, sheer curtain. The excitement fell off his face. “I don’t see his truck.”
Ty hurried over to the window to get a peek herself. Perhaps Memphis hadn’t realized that he could pull into her driveway, as small as the space was in the townhomes here. But it wasn’t just the absence of his truck that pulled a furrow from her brow. It was the appearance of a gold Tesla parked along the curb.
“Knock, knock!” came an unmistakable voice from the other side of the door. A round of knocks followed the greeting, adding to the chaos whirring in Ty’s mind.
Dread, thick and horrible, clung to her as she rushed over to open the door. Her two guests stood there looking happy as clams for pulling off their surprise visit.
“Mom? Dad?”
