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“Mm?” He swayed with her, his forehead resting against hers. “What are you thinking about us?”
“A lot of things,” he said, a completely maddening and vague answer. “You?”
“I’m thinking my little sister went to the jewelry store with her boyfriend so they could look at diamonds, and I’m thinking I’d like you to take me to do that.” Tam expected Blaine to pull away and search her face, but he didn’t. He ran his hands down her back to her waist, where he tucked one hand in her back pocket and the other through the loops on her apron.
“I can do that,” he said.
Tam stepped back and looked up at him. “Really?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“No,” Tam said. “It’s not about whatIwant. It’s about whatwewant.”
Blaine smiled down at her. “Do I propose at the jewelry store?”
“No,” Tam said, something stinging in her chest.
“Let me make sure I get it right,” he said. “We go shopping together, so you can pick out the ring you want. Then I keep it until an undisclosed time, at which point, I ask you to marry me. You’ll squeal and say yes, and then you’ll start pulling out your folders that detail the wedding of your dreams.”
Tam smiled at him, the sting completely gone now. “Yeah, that’s about right,” she said. She sobered. “How long have you been thinking about this?”
“About what?”
“Marriage. Proposing.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “You?”
“Since you kissed me at Spur’s wedding,” she said, wrapping her fingers around the back of his neck. “That was agreatkiss.”
Blaine chuckled and dropped his head. She wished he would say more, but he didn’t.
She stepped out of his arms, the familiar taste of disappointment on the back of her tongue. “You did get one part a bit wrong,” she said, picking up her tool to shave down the leather again. “I have folders with wedding plans, but I won’t be making them myself. I plan to lay them out and have a discussion with my fiancé. Thenwe’llplan the wedding we both want.”
She didn’t look at him, her focus staying on the saddle as she trimmed the outside of it so it wouldn’t chafe the horse. She took the cut and shaved leather to the warm water tub and soaked the leather.
With it nice and pliable, she folded it over the saddle tree, making sure every inch was smooth and exactly where it needed to be. She strapped it in place and said, “I’m ready.”
“I’ll call for pizza,” he said. “Trey said they need food at Beth’s place. Are you okay if we eat there with everyone?”
“Of course.” Tam moved over to the sink and washed up.
Blaine drove them to Beth’s, and Tam enjoyed the silence between them. They’d been getting along really well since the incident at The Old Red Barn. They hadn’t spoken of Hayes either, and she hadn’t heard from him or seen him any of the times she’d been to town.
At Beth’s farm, a dozen trucks had crammed into the driveway, and Tam’s heart warmed at the way the community had come together to help her. She and Blaine got out of the truck, and she saw cowboys working in the front fields, cowboys mowing the lawn, and cowboys up on the roof. There were people working the fences out front, and people sweeping the porch, and even people way out in the pasture trimming the trees.
“This is amazing,” she said.
“Come see the swing,” he said, and Blaine reached for her hand. She put hers solidly in his and let him lead her up the steps. The swing with the amazing wagon-wheel back appeared, and Tam’s whole soul lit up.
“I love this.” She practically skipped over to it and sat down, letting it swing back. Blaine joined her, taking off a couple of the pillows so he had room. She snuggled into his side, though they should go find Trey and have him direct them to what else needed to be done around the ranch.
Blaine didn’t seem to be in a hurry though, so Tam stayed right where she was. He used the toe of one foot to keep them gently swaying, and Tam said, “You’re right, Blaine. I want a swing like this at my house.”
“It’s nice, right?”
“So nice.”
His arm around her tightened, and she let her eyes drift closed. They snapped back open when she heard a man say, “It’s okay, Beth.”
