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“There are a lot of details to work out,” Beth said, her courage fading fast. “I thought I’d bring it up today and you can take some time to think about it.”
“Hmm.” He nodded, looked at the ground, and started walking again. “Let’s get these horses inspected. My mother wants me to come to lunch at her place today, and I said I would.”
“Okay,” Beth said, scampering after him. They worked through the rest of the horses, and Trey didn’t say another word about the Sweetheart Classic.
He laughed with TJ at the farmhouse while they washed up, and he sent her son back outside to get his shoes, which he’d left by the woodpile and the kittens.
“I don’t know what it is with that kid and his shoes,” Trey said with a smile in his tone. He turned away from the back windows and faced her, the grin slipping from his face. “I’ll bring the guys sometime this week to get the garden cleared,” he said. “I’ll think about what you said, and I’ll have an answer for you then, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, glad the word was only two syllables. “Take your time.”
He nodded, touched the brim of his hat, and came toward her. He stopped in front of her, his dark eyes blazing with desire, hope, and danger. So much danger.
He leaned down, and Beth tipped her chin up. Every fiber in her body beat with her pulse, and Trey slid his hand along her waist. His lips brushed her cheek and continued toward her ear. He held her in place, his mouth at her ear, and whispered, “I like you, Beth Dixon.”
Trey stepped back, and Beth reached for the counter behind her so she wouldn’t fall. The nearness of him made her muscles weak, and the whispering buzz of his voice in her eardrums rendered her breathless.
“See you soon,” he said, and he left the farmhouse. Beth stared toward the back windows, only moving a few minutes later when her son came skipping into the house while he sang one of his favorite songs from the shows she let him watch on TV.
“Did Trey leave?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Beth said, clearing the emotion from her voice. “Yes, he had to leave.” She flashed a smile at her son, noting his disappointment.Join the club, she thought.
If he’d agree to marry her, though, then he might not have to leave…
23
Tam sat on the front steps of the homestead at Bluegrass Ranch, sheer will holding her in place. A box of cheesy garlic knots from Mindie’s rested beside her, and she scanned the dirt lane leading up to the house constantly.
Spur had said Blaine would be back in time for work on Monday morning. Cayden had confirmed it. When Tam had showed up at the house, Trey had said they expected to see Blaine any time now.
That had been an hour ago.
The garlic knots were cold, and Tam’s patience and willpower were wearing thin. “Where are you?” she asked, clenching her fingers into fists inside the front pocket of the hoodie she wore.
It was almost October, and a cool wind had arrived in Kentucky. The sun went down, and the door behind her opened. “Still out here?” Cayden asked. He came to sit beside her on the steps, and he sighed as he let his hands hang between his knees.
“Maybe I should just go,” Tam said. If he confirmed it for her, she’d take it as permission and get the heck out of there. She had nothing prepared to say to Blaine, though she’d had plenty of time.
She’d finished four more saddles this week, a piece of her heart etched into each one. Part of Blaine was too, and she wanted to tell him. She needed to apologize for saying she hated him. She needed him to knowshewanted him, and then he could decide if he didn’t want her.
“Maybe give him a few more minutes,” Cayden said.
Tam nodded, her jaw clenching.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asked.
Tam took her eyes from the empty road and looked at Cayden. He seemed unsure and pretty nervous. “Sure.”
“If you sent a text to a man that said you were just so busy right now, but you’d like to get to know him in the future, what does that mean?”
Tam wanted to know who the woman was, because context was important. She’d seen Cayden circling Virginia Winters at Spur’s wedding, but that was months ago. Blaine hadn’t said anything about him dating, but they didn’t spend their time together gossiping about his brothers.
“I don’t know,” Tam said, her brain misfiring. “Probably that I was really busy right now, and when things at my job or in my family slow down and life feels easier for me, I’ll go out with you. But right now, it just makes me more stressed, and I don’t want to be stressed when I meet up with you.” She sucked in a breath and met his eyes, which had widened during her monologue.
“I’d want to feel relaxed and ready to have a good time. I’d want to feel sexy and flirty, and make sure you knew that all of my attention was on you, not whatever project or assignment I’d left at work, unfinished.” She shrugged and looked back out to the road, though she’d have heard Blaine’s truck if he’d arrived. “That would be what I would mean.”
“Okay,” Cayden said.
