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“I guess we’ll see you at dinner this weekend.”
“You’re not invited,” I growled. “My date will be with Perry, no one else is allowed.”
“Hey, if I want to take Pete and Nick out to dinner, that’s my business. You can’t stop me.”
“Rory,” my mom scolded again. Then she turned to me, her gaze softening. “Are you going to let Perry know about Ton yet?”
My gut tightened. I shrugged. “The subject hasn’t really come up. But I suppose I will have to let him know sooner or later.”
“You can give him Ton as a wedding gift,” Rory said.
Well, this conversation with my brother had given me a headache. A glare wasn’t going to cut it this time. But if my mother caught me punching him in the shoulder, she’d likely scold me. I went with ignoring him. I picked up my water glass and took a long drink.
“I noticed you didn’t argue about that,” he said.
“Nothing to argue,” I said. Perry was it for me. Whether he knew it or not, that was the way it was going to be. Rory might as well learn that too.
Rory raised an eyebrow. “You’ve known him for four weeks and the idea of marriage isn’t scaring you away?” Rory shot me a knowing smile.
I picked up my fork and returned to enjoying my lunch. Momma seemed to have joined Rory’s quest to find out just how I felt about Perry, and she looked at me expectantly. I assumed my feelings for him were obvious. The man lived in my house. I’d kept his horse for the past five years.
“Perry is… He’s my… He’s special. Okay?” He was the be all, end all of my world, but I couldn’t say that out loud. “We’re taking things slow.”
My mom rolled her eyes. “Any slower and you’d go backward, Reese,” she said. “I’m not getting any younger, and grandchildren would be nice.”
“It’s been four weeks, Mom. And you know that neither Rory nor I can bear children.”
“Adoption exists, as well as surrogacy. You have options. Now, unless you tell me that you don’t want children and that Perry doesn’t either, I’m going to continue to bring up the subject.”
She damn well knew I’d love to be a father someday. Rory would too, he was just being patient with his partners.
“All right, Momma.”
Chapter 10
Perry
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The minute I was done with work, I hopped in the truck that Reese had kindly allowed me to drive. My car was fine for short trips, but it overheated easily and wasn’t safe to drive. I’d never had a vehicle this nice. I learned to drive on a brand new vehicle, but my mom hadn’t allowed me to buy one to drive to school. I had been chauffeured to my high school and when I went off to college, I had been left without a vehicle or any money to buy one.
Like I did every night when I got home, I parked my truck in the stall next to Reese’s and ran directly to the barn to see Blossom. Though she’d liked to be on pasture, most of the time she was brought up to the barn in the evening to have her grain ration. I was told that she had been much more cooperative to the practice now that I was around. The hands here all had the routine down to a science and even though she was a one man horse, she knew where her food came from.
I was petting her nose when a large truck and trailer worth more than anything I’d ever earned in my life pulled into the drive. It was the type of vehicle that screamed money. It gleamed in the sunlight like it had just gotten freshly waxed. The blue diesel truck pulled a white horse trailer that had living quarters and the Triple R ranch emblem on it.
A man hopped out of the passenger side of the truck, wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a hat. The large belt buckle drew my eye. It was the size of a dinner plate. I wanted to make myself scarce. I didn’t need to embarrass myself or Reese in any way with his clients or the professional riders who rode under his brand. I knew the Triple R ranch was very successful and some very rich people kept their horses there to train with Reese. This must be one of them.
The man helped a beautiful Quarter Horse mare get out of the trailer and led her to the barn. I had no way to escape now. I needed to just blend into the background until I could escape. The man came in and one of the other hands spoke with him, directing him toward one of the larger stalls that was directly across from Blossom. The man got his horse settled and came out. He looked at me with a question in his eyes.
“You new here?” he asked.
I nodded. “Sort of. I’m Perry.” I held out my hand.
He shook it. “Travis,” he said. “If you’re thinking you’re going to attain that there mare, you’ve got another think coming. I don’t know why the hell Reese keeps her around. She’s a waste of space if you ask me.” He said the words matter of factly, his voice not full of malice, just stating facts.
I grimaced. No way was I going to correct him and tell him who I really was then and embarrass Reese further. My gut churned though. I needed more of a backbone if I was going to defend my horse. It was one thing for Rory to go on about how crazy it was to keep Blossom, but to hear it from a stranger was disconcerting.
Blossom nudged my arm as if she could understand his words. She probably could.
