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A smile burst onto Tam’s face, and she left her needles on the workbench. “Hey,” she said, laughing as her sister ran toward her. They embraced, and Tam closed her eyes as she held Cara. “It’s so good to see you.” She stepped back and held Cara by her shoulders. “What are you doing here?”
Tam wasn’t a tall or thick woman, but compared to Cara, she felt like both. Another person entered the shop. Cara turned toward her boyfriend and extended her hand toward him. “We wanted to see what you were doing, and you weren’t home.”
“If I’m not home, I’m here.”
“Or at Bluegrass, and we drove by there. Your truck wasn’t there.”
“You can’t miss that new truck,” Tam said with a smile. She’d told Blaine last week that she was glad she’d let him talk her into getting that electric blue Velociraptor, and he’d laughed and laughed.
Tam smiled just thinking about him, but she played it off like she was thrilled her sister and her boyfriend had come to see her. She hugged Chris hello and watched as he and Cara exchanged a private glance between them.
“You don’t have to stop,” Cara said. “I want to see how you do this. Talk as you go.”
“It’s boring,” Tam warned. “You can tell me to stop anytime.” To her, it wasn’t boring. She loved what she did, especially when she got to create custom designs. “This saddle is for Jamie McGrath out at Cattle Ridge,” she said. “I’ve cut all the pieces, and I’ve started to put them all on the saddle tree.”
She indicated the semi-saddle shaped apparatus on the workbench. “I’ve just finished the saddle horn. Sort of. I have to sew it and cut off the excess leather around it there.” She picked up her double needles again and looked at Cara. “How was the first week of school, Chris?”
“Good,” he said. “Busy.”
“Third year of law school,” Tam said. “I can imagine.” She couldn’t really, because Tam had never formally gone to college. She’d taken several community classes on accounting and how to run a business. She’d gone to farrier school, but she very rarely shoed horses these days. Sometimes Blaine would ask her to come look at one of their horses in a pinch, but that was all. She’d taken her leather-working courses for certification, and she’d apprenticed for the best saddle-maker in Kentucky.
Nowshewas the best saddle-maker in Kentucky, and she listened as Chris talked about his classes, and Cara told them about what was new at the bank where she worked full-time as an assistant manager.
She’d gotten her degree in finance, but Tam knew her goals and desires were a lot like Tam’s. Marriage. Family. Stability. Cara was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and she and Chris liked to spend their weekend on dirt bikes and four-wheelers, ham sandwiches in insulated bags and cans of cola that got shook up too much.
“Why aren’t you guys out in the Cumberland Plateau this weekend?”
Cara put both hands on Chris’s chest, her smile wide and playful. “Someonedidn’t get up on time.”
“I’m adjusting to my new schedule,” Chris said with a smile. “Besides, Cara wanted to look at diamond rings.”
Tam dropped her head knife, her surprise instant. She gaped at Cara and Chris. “Did you get one?”
“Close your fishy mouth,” Cara said with a laugh. “No, we haven’t even gone yet. He slept so late, and we came straight to see you.”
“I see why you’re down this way now,” Tam said, bending to get her knife. “The diamond shop.”
“You’re an added bonus.” Cara grinned at her sister. “Chris really did want to see what you do. I’ve told him it’s pretty amazing.”
Tam focused on her sewing, her fingers moving quickly as she’d done this countless times in the past. “Once it’s sewn, I trim the leather with that forked knife there.” She had a whole table of tools she used, and Blaine had once said she could easily operate a torture chamber from her shop.
“We also want to hear about your hot cowboy boyfriend.” Cara giggled. “Is he any closer to proposing?”
“I’d like to hear about him too,” Blaine said, and Tam dang near bobbled her needles. He grinned at Cara, who squealed and ran to greet him too. He laughed as he swept her into a hug, and his smile stretched across his face as he shook Chris’s hand. “You’ve got a whole audience this morning,” he said to Tam, placing a kiss on the back of her neck as she bent over and kept sewing.
“Mm,” she said. “I can’t leave until I have the saddle seat strapped to the tree, so if you want me out of here anytime soon, you won’t distract me.” That was already happening, as he kept his hand on the hip opposite of Cara and Chris.
Tam had mentioned to Cara once—onetime—a couple of weeks ago that she wasn’t sure what Blaine was waiting for. They’d known each other for a very long time. He obviously liked her. He’d even said he was falling in love with her at Spur’s wedding, and that was three weeks ago now.
He kissed her like a man in love, and Tam knew she was kissing him like that. She fell for him a little bit more every time she saw him, and she’d started to see him living with her in her grandmother’s house.
He’d helped her paint the kitchen and living room last weekend, and this weekend, she was helping him at Bethany Dixon’s farm. Beth had cut her hand yesterday, and Blaine and Trey had organized a large group of men and women to go help her get caught up on the work around the ranch.
Blaine had said they wanted to help her get ahead, and that he planned to go over every few days to make sure Beth was doing okay. Tam loved his giving and generous heart, and she was more than willing to sacrifice her weekend for someone like Beth.
She was good people around Dreamsville, and Tam didn’t think she’d have any shortage of people to help her.
“What are you doing now?” Cara asked.
