AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure,” he said easily, glancing at Beth with plenty of nerves in his gaze. “Do y’all say grace?”
“Yes,” Beth said. “Get ready, TJ. You want to say it?”
“Okay.” TJ knelt up to the table and rested his elbows beside his plate. He leaned his head against his hands and said, “Dear Lord, thank you for the food. Thank you for the ice cream at the mall. Thank you for the dogs. Thank you for the farm. Thank you for Mommy. Thank you for Uncle Hugh. Thank you for Grandpa.”
Beth smiled at his gratitude, but a hint of embarrassment started to creep through her as he continued to name Aunt Sally, Aunt Kait, his teacher, and then Thunder.
She looked at Trey, who was staring at TJ with his eyes wide open, clear surprise there. She wasn’t sure which was funnier—TJ’s lengthy prayer or Trey’s reaction to it.
“TJ,” she whispered. “Wrap it up, bud.”
“I’m almost done,” he said right out loud, looking up at her quickly. She nodded, and he pressed his head against his hands again. “Thank you for Trey. Bless Grandpa. Bless me at school. Bless Thunder.”
Oh, dear, Beth thought. How had she forgotten that TJ could go on and on during a prayer?
“Bless Trey to be my dad and mommy’s husband. Amen.”
Beth’s heart rammed into her throat, and she couldn’t even repeat theamen. Trey certainly didn’t, and she didn’t dare look at him to see what he was thinking.
TJ had no idea what he’d said, and he stood on his chair, reaching for the tongs in the pot. Beth blinked and got her senses back to a certain degree. At least enough to know she couldn’t allow her son to try to dish his own spaghetti.
“Sit down,” she said, trying to make her voice as commanding as Trey’s. “Let me get it for you. It’s too messy.” She knocked his hand away from the tongs and took them into her good one. She put the spaghetti and meatballs on his plate that he wanted and then she served herself.
Only then did she look at Trey. He wore a mask, everything he was thinking and feeling carefully concealed behind it. When their eyes met, Beth knew he could see all of her nerves, all of her worries, and all of her humiliation.
She didn’t know how to hide it the way he did.
He took the tongs from her and looked back at TJ again. “That was a good prayer, bud,” he said, and as he put spaghetti on his plate, he added, “We got a new horse you should come see at Bluegrass.”
“Can I?” TJ asked, his enthusiasm off the charts.
Trey chuckled, which caused Beth to relax. She supposed he better be ready for anything if he was going to marry her. The farm wasn’t up to snuff. TJ could be a challenge. She knew she wasn’t perfect either.
Danny had been gone for a while now, but Beth hadn’t forgotten how hard marriage could be. There were highs and lows, and she hoped Trey was ready for it. He seemed like the kind of man who could handle anything, but if Beth wanted this marriage to last longer than five months, she should probably talk to him about a few things she hadn’t mentioned yet.
Buoyed by the flirty glance he threw in her direction, she determined to do just that before he left tonight.
Chapter Seven
Trey could hold Beth in his arms forever and never tire of it. Coming in off the ranch to dinner, a beautiful woman, and a movie night with her son had Trey thinking things he hadn’t in a while. He was thinking long-term—longer than five months. He was thinking family—not just TJ as his and Beth’s child. He was thinking about where he’d really work for the rest of his life.
Bluegrass Ranch? Or Dixon Dreams?
Beth had just put TJ to bed, and Trey should probably head back to the homestead real soon. He had to get up early to receive a pair of horses Spur had purchased as leads.
“I want to talk to you,” Beth said, her voice almost a whisper.
“Okay.” Trey wasn’t worried, because Beth had curled right into his side and currently had one arm draped across his stomach. He’d put his arm around her, and his fingers lingered near her waist. Eight days had passed since his prayer and his declaration that he’d marry her, and Trey could honestly say he’d enjoyed every one of them.
“You should know…marriage is hard, Trey.”
He nodded, because he didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d never been married, and while a couple of his brothers had and had said that sometimes things just fell apart, he couldn’t comprehend what being married to someone would really be like.
“Parenting is hard.”
“I know that,” he said quietly.
“You really don’t,” she said. “TJ listens to you. He worships the ground you walk on. He doesn’t even hear me.” She sat up, and Trey looked into her anxious eyes. “There will be times when he won’t listen to you either. You’ll be frustrated and angry. He’s a child, but you’ll have to discipline him. He’s not perfect. He could grow up and become a real jerk to you, and to me, and to everyone. It’s what teenagers do.”
