AllFreeNovel
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He and Beth were in a good place, but it was a different place than where they’d been before Christmas. Somebody’s Lady was doing amazingly well, and he felt like the race and the horse were all he and Beth ever spoke about now. They went over their schedule for the day, and they talked about the horse.
He couldn’t wait until the Sweetheart Classic was over, and he hoped he could hold his patience for the next three weeks until the bell rang and the race began.
He’d been sleeping in the same room as Beth…sometimes. Half the time he fell asleep on the couch, and she left him there. Another part of the time, he read to TJ until they both fell asleep, and when he woke up, he went to the bedroom next door to his, and not across the hall to hers.
He wasn’t sure why. They hadn’t spoken about it. She’d come after him, and he’d forgiven her. There was just something about their relationship that was more…clinical now. It’s become about the race and nothing else, he thought.
“Hey, baby,” Mom said, and Trey pulled himself out of his thoughts. She bent down and put her hands on her knees. “You must be TJ. I’ve heard so much about you.” She wore a grin two sizes too big, and Trey wanted to tell her not to try so hard.
She didn’t have any grandchildren yet, as she’d been pointing out to Spur and Blaine and Trey and anyone else who would listen for the past few years. TJ wasn’t technically hers either, but he could see she liked him a lot already.
TJ pressed into Trey’s leg, and he nudged him away. “It’s my momma, TJ. She’s not gonna bite.” He looked up at her, silently asking her to stand up. She did, and Trey passed TJ’s hand to hers. “He loves strawberry lemonade.”
“Oh, well, let’s go find some of that,” his mom said. “It’s kind of cold for strawberry lemonade, though. Maybe you’d like some caramel hot chocolate?”
If she pumped him full of sugar, TJ would love her forever.
Trey followed them, hugging his father hello. “TJ,” he said. “This is my daddy. Come say hello.”
The little boy skipped back to him, all smiles now. He looked up at Trey’s father, who smiled down at him. “Nice to meet you, TJ,” he said. “I’m Jeff.”
“Trey told me,” TJ said. “My grandpa has white hair like yours.”
“I bet he does.” Daddy chuckled. “What do you want to see first? I saw a webcam of the polar bears, and they’re always out now.”
“I like the zebras,” TJ said, looking back at Trey. “Can we see the zebras?”
“I’m sure we can, bud,” TJ said, though he had no idea where the zebras were in this zoo. He hadn’t been here in years, as he’d had no reason to come and walk around while looking at animals.
His life had changed so much in such a short time, and he didn’t mind all the things that were different now. He actually liked them. He had a meeting with Spur after the Classic, in which he’d talk about his future at Bluegrass.
He did want to train horses, and he wanted to work Beth’s ranch with her. He wanted to make it intotheirranch, a place they both called home and both cared about.
They still hadn’t talked about any of that either. She was still in the middle of birthing season, and she’d been paying more and more attention to her sister and sister-in-law. She made dinner every night, but the conversation rotated around TJ or Somebody’s Lady, and Trey felt more distant from her than ever.
He let his parents handle TJ for the afternoon, and he simply trailed along in their wake, smiling when he needed to and speaking if he had to.
“Let’s go to dinner,” his mom said once they’d seen all they wanted to. That, and the zoo was closing. She clearly didn’t want to allow the afternoon to end, and Trey liked that they wanted to spend time with TJ.
“Let me text Beth. She might have dinner at the farmhouse.”
“Maybe we could go there.” Mom’s face lit up like a star, and Trey realized how far away he’d kept them.
“Let me call her,” he said, tapping to dial her instead of text. He paced away from his parents and TJ while the line rang, his pulse bobbing somewhere behind his ribs.
He wasn’t sure why he was nervous for her to spend more time with his mom and dad. His mother had done the catering for their wedding, and it had been fine. More than fine—great, even.
“Where the devil are you?” she asked instead of using the normal greeting of hello. “I’ve called you four times. We’re all waiting at The Bluebell.”
Trey’s heart skipped a beat at the anger and annoyance in her voice. “What? Why?”
“It’s my brother’s birthday,” she hissed. “How can you not remember this? I told you at least four times this week.”
“I’m at the zoo with TJ and my parents,” Trey said, frowning. “I told you at least four times we might go to dinner. You never said a word about it.” Trey didn’t normally forget things like this. The thing was, neither did Beth.
“I thought the zoo was next Wednesday,” she said.
“No,” he said. “It’s been on the calendar forever on today.”
