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“My parents died when I was four and they took me in,” she confirmed. “We didn’t always see eye to eye.”
“Over Lonnie, for instance?”
“Oh, yeah. But they’re kind people and they meant well. And as it turns out, they were right about him.”
“How do you suppose they’d take to Texas?” he asked casually.
“Texas?” They’d reached the Menger. Across the street she caught a glimpse of the Alamo, asight that never failed to move her. She hesitated beneath a streetlight and glanced up at Ty. “What are you suggesting?”
He shrugged, opening the door to the hotel. “I have that cabin standing around doing nothing. Now that the skunkstink’s been cleared out, it would make a great little apartment for them. They could be as independent as they wanted or come on up to the main house for meals—”
“I can’t imagine Gen. Robert E. Lee riding Traveller through the lobby here,” she chattered uneasily. “I wonder if anyone gave him a hard time about it. They sure would today if somebody chose to ride a horse right through—”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
“Don’t you think you have enough guests staying at the ranch?” she asked cautiously.
He didn’t say anything until they’d reached the Victorian lobby in the older section of the hotel. “You want the truth?”
“Please.”
He paused by an old Seth Thomas dial clock. “Honey, if forcing your aunt and uncle onto Texas soil at gunpoint would convince you to stay, I’d load up my shotgun and take off for Georgia tonight.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she assured him, starting up the steps toward their rooms.
“I’m relieved to hear it, not that it changes how I feel or what I’m trying to do.”
“But it’s premature,” she explained gently.
He waited until they’d reached their suite and unlocked the door before saying anything further. “It won’t be premature for long,” he said, gesturing for her to precede him into the room. “It’s that time again.”
She tried to hide her smile. “Time for what?”
“Time to ask you to marry me.”
“Okay.”
“So will you?”
“Yes.”
He ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I mean, after tonight, if that doesn’t convince you—” His head jerked up. “Did you say yes?”
“I think so.” She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s see. You said, ‘Time to ask you to marry me,’ and I said, ‘Okay’ and then you said, ‘So will you?’ and I said—” The rest of her words were smothered beneath his mouth. “I shouldn’t have teased,” she whispered. “I should have just told you. Ilove you, Ty. Inever thought I’d say those words again, but I’d be lying if I pretended I felt otherwise.”
His smile was infinitely gentle. “We did promise to be honest with each other, didn’t we, sweetheart?”
But she hadn’t been. Not about everything. Would it make a difference to him when he found out the truth? Slowly, she slipped from his arms. “Wait here. There’s something I need to show you.”
Crossing to her bedroom, she retrieved the envelope Hutch had slipped into her suitcase. “This came for you, Mom. Good luck!” he’d scrawled across the bottom. Why it surprised her that he’d figured out her secret, she wasn’t sure. That darned kid knew everything. But her son still loved her, she reminded herself fiercely, despite learning the truth. And the fact that he’d put the envelope in her suitcase suggested that he thought Ty would, too. In a few minutes, she’d findout.
Ty was waiting for her when she returned, his long strides eating up the sitting area as he paced. “What is it? What’s wrong?” he demanded, thrusting a hand through hishair.
She’d worried him, she realized in dismay. “It’s that promise we made. Itold you I’d be honest and there’s something I neglected to tell you.” She stood before him, the most vulnerable she’d ever been in her entire life. The envelope crinkled in her hands. “There’s a couple more things on that Yellow Rose application form that we have to change.”
A tight smile touched his mouth. “Just swear it’s not the one that says ‘sex’ and I can live with it.”
“Oh, no problem,” she managed to tease. “I answered yes to that one.”
