Page 51 of Bailey

Tex’s thumbs flew across the screen as he typed out his congratulations and love for Joey and Adam, and then he silenced his phone so he could make the drive back to the farm with just his thoughts.

Sometimes he needed the silence to be able to hear the voice of the Lord and feel the spirit. He wanted to be able to do both right now, because God was so, so good, and Tex wanted to express his gratitude for the love and blessings He had poured out, and continued to pour out, over the Youngs.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Bailey’s stomach gave a mighty growl just as Reeves came to a stop at the bottom of the canyon. He glanced over to her, sheer playfulness in his gaze. “Good thing we’re going to dinner.”

She grinned at him, glad when he reached across the console and slid his fingers between hers. He wasn’t shy about it, and he fully seated his hand against hers before he squeezed, his grip firm, possessive, and somehow communicating to her how much he liked her. He was definitely the more touchy-feely one between them, though he said about half as much as she did.

They’d driven to Jackson Hole that day and ridden the gondola up to the top of one of the highest peaks there. They’d then hiked partway back down the mountain before taking another ski lift to the bottom. They’d had a quick lunch at a drive-through in Jackson on their way to Jenny Lake, where they’d ridden a ferry across it and done the short half-mile hike to the waterfall.

But instead of riding the boat back, they’d taken the mostly flat trail around the lake. Reeves ate every couple of hours—cashews, a protein bar, or beef jerky. He wasn’t filming anything today, though he put out new content every Saturday, and he had done a spring overnight camping video, as well as the Swain’s Creek hike, where he talked about different types of plants and flowers coming to life in the Teton Mountain region.

She hadn’t seen his last couple of videos, including the one that had gone up this morning, because he didn’t like it when she watched the videos in front of him, and being with him in person was so much better.

He continued into Coral Canyon and pulled into a restaurant only a few blocks inside the city limits. Bailey had scouted several on-the-fringe places, which she figured wouldn’t be too busy at four o’clock in the afternoon, where Reeves could start being out in public more without being downtown in the busiest steakhouse Coral Canyon had to offer. She’d presented him with three options, and he’d chosen Wild Thyme, which sat only a few minutes from the hospital, in a cute blue cottage-type building that made Bailey smile this sunny Saturday afternoon.

“Have you eaten here before?” Reeves asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s very….” She trailed off as she unbuckled her seatbelt and searched for the right word.

“Feminine,” Reeves provided.

Bailey looked over to him, and after a beat of silence, she giggled. “Yeah, that’s a great way to describe it,” she said. “I tried to choose places where women would congregate with their friends. And if there is a cowboy here with his date, he’s most likely trying to impress her and will only be focused on her.”

Reeves kicked her that beautiful lopsided grin he possessed. “Is that what I’m doing?”

“You better be,” she teased, and then she opened her own door and dropped out of his truck.

He met her at the front hood, easily taking her hand in his again. He lifted it to his lips and placed a kiss right where her thumb connected to her arm.

“Thank you for choosing somewhere safe for me,” he murmured, and then he lifted his head and faced the restaurant, a fierce look in his eyes as if he might be staring down the barrel of a rifle.

Bailey giggled again and tugged on his hand. “Come on, cowboy,” she said. “You’re a tough mountain man who knows every plant growing out here, and what’s safe to touch, to eat, all of it. You can handle a soup, salad, and sandwich joint.”

He glanced at her and nodded, and they took the first step toward Wild Thyme together.

“Besides,” Bailey said. “They have an overflow area back behind the restrooms, and I figured we could eat back there. We probably won’t even see another person.”

“From your lips to God’s ears,” he said as they started down the aisle to the cash register, where they would order.

Bailey’s heart fell a little bit in her chest, and it beat out a staccato rhythm in an unpleasant way. “If you wanted to just go home and have dinner,” she said. “We could’ve done that.”

“It’s fine,” he said, but Bailey didn’t think it was. She pressed her lips together and then dug into her purse for her chapstick, all in an attempt to distract herself from insisting they leave and go back to his place.

“Really, Bay,” he whispered as he leaned his head closer to hers. He hooked one arm around her waist and settled his hand on her hip. “I’m just a little peopled out.”

She nodded, because there had been a lot of people enjoying the mountains and lakes in the Tetons that day. It had been windy as all get-out on the top of the mountain, and she felt dried out from head to toe.

When it was her turn to order, she ordered a big bottle of water and a fountain drink to go with her soup-and-salad combo. Reeves got a sandwich and one of every dessert bar they had, as well as a cup of coffee. After they’d paid and gotten their number, he picked up the tray and turned to survey the interior of the restaurant. Bailey tried to see it through his eyes and found only a handful of people, none of them looking their way.

“The back room is over here,” Bailey said, and she led the way toward the front of the restaurant, and then across it. She passed the tables in front of the windows on the side where no one sat and continued down a narrow hallway past the restrooms until a room opened up with five or six more tables in it. It sat empty, and Bailey didn’t think they’d have anyone joining them.

Still, she went around to the side of the table that faced the hallway, leaving the chair for Reeves to sit in with his back to it. He picked everything up off the tray and set it on the table, then turned back toward the hallway.

“I can get your soda,” he said.