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Her son wore a dark maroon shirt with long sleeves, which meant he had to be roasting, a black cowboy hat, and as Ty went from house to deck, he found the young man in jeans. How he wasn’t a puddle of sweat, Ty didn’t understand.
He put his real estate smile on his face and held up the flowers. “Hey, baby.”
Sage grinned and stepped into him. “Hey.” She kissed him solidly on the mouth, but he didn’t take things too far or deepen anything. She took the flowers and leaned over them. “These are beautiful; thank you.”
Instead of heading inside to vase them, she stood at his side and faced her son. “Dallen, baby, this is my boyfriend, Ty.”
Dallen got to his cowboy boot-clad feet. His smile spread across his face, and he definitely had Sage’s coloring, her nose, and her quick grin. “Oh, howdy. Momma’s been tellin’ me about you.” He stuck out his hand, and Ty shook it.
“Likewise,” he said. “It’s great to meet you.”
Dallen looked from him to his mother and back. “She says you own a real estate agency here on the island.”
“That’s right,” Ty said. “And you work a farm in Sweet Water Falls.”
“That’s right,” Dallen repeated. His smile stayed in place as he sat back down. “It’s mighty nice here, though.” He took off his hat and wiped his forehead. “Hot, though.”
“It’s hot in Texas too,” Sage said. “I’ll go put these in water. Be right back.” She did leave him on the deck with Dallen then, and Ty moved over to one of the chairs at the table and sat down facing Dallen on the love seat.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-four,” Dallen said. “You?”
Ty grinned at him. “Fifty-two. I’m almost fifty-three, though. My birthday’s coming up at the end of July.”
Dallen hooked his thumb over his shoulder and then checked that way too. Sage stood at the island, arranging the flowers in a vase. “My momma won’t say much about you two. Is it serious?”
“Yeah,” Ty said, nodding. “I’d say so. We’ve been dating for about five months. I’m—I’m serious about the relationship, yeah.” He smiled at Dallen, who only nodded. He seemed like a serious young man, and perhaps his father had been more like that.
Sage could be serious, but she definitely possessed a carefree, easy-going spirit too. She was flexible, and he wasn’t getting that vibe from Dallen at all.
“What about you?” he asked. “Got a sweetheart back in Texas?” He grinned at the boy, who softened considerably. “Oh, I can see you do.” He glanced through the sliding glass doors. “And that your momma doesn’t know about her.”
“It’s…well, I can’t even say it’s new anymore.” Dallen sighed and removed his hat completely now. “I’ve been datin’ Jenny for almost a year. That’s one of the reasons I came.”
“What’s a reason you came?” Sage asked as she stepped out onto the deck again. Ty reached for her and pulled her right onto his lap, feeling a little self-conscious about the display of affection in front of her son. Sage had plenty of chairs she could’ve sat in, but she didn’t protest either.
“I came to see you, Momma,” he said. “Sweet Water Falls isn’t the same without you there.”
“Aw, baby.” She smiled at him and then Ty. She focused on her son again. “Your daddy still lives there.”
“Yeah.” Dallen didn’t say anything more about his father, and Ty sort of wanted to meet the man for himself. Get a sense of who he was and how he contributed to Dallen—and how he’d affected Sage.
“Another reason is I wanted to talk to you about this woman I’m seeing.”
Sage perked up then. “You’re seeing someone?”
“For a while now,” Dallen said. “Her name’s Jenny, and I almost brought her with me, but she couldn’t get so much time off work.”
“She could’ve come for a few days,” Sage said. “Like over the Fourth.”
“Maybe I’ll call her and tell her that,” Dallen said. He swiped on his phone and turned it toward them. “I’m thinking about marrying her.”
Sage took his device and looked at the pretty blonde woman with Dallen. They both wore smiles made of cotton candy, had shining eyes that spoke of their happiness, and looked like they belonged together. “Wow, Dall.” She tilted the phone toward Ty, but he could see it fine. He nodded, and she handed her son’s device back to him. “She’s beautiful. What does she do?”
“She’s a florist,” he said, his expression turning lovesick as he looked at the picture himself. Ty wondered what his face looked like when he saw Sage or a picture of her. Like that?
Probably, he told himself. He hadn’t been fighting his feelings, and he hadn’t been holding them back. He was too old for such games, and it wasn’t like he was trying to get Sage to go out with him on a first date.
