Learnin' The Ropes (38 page)

“I can’t believe you did all this.” Lexi smiled at Ty with eyes full of emotion as they turned off on the ranch road. “It means so much to me.”

He met her eyes with a hot blue light shining in his own. “I know, Lexi Jo.” Ty took her hand in his and kissed her palm. “Swede helped me, though, so he gets half the credit.”

The touch of his lips to her hand sent a delicious shiver coursing through her. Nothing in the world, not even half a million dollars and a restored muscle car, mattered to her as much as the man sitting beside her. “I know he didn’t do half the work. He can barely figure out how to use a wrench, let alone anything else mechanical,” she said as they neared the ranch yard. The hands ran out to admire the car and for the next several moments, Lexi let them all take turns sitting in it and commenting on the car. Swede finally herded them all back toward the bunkhouse with a wink Ty’s direction.

Lexi drove the car into the garage while Ty closed the door then helped put the cover back over the mustang.

As they sauntered out the side door, Lexi looped her arm through Ty’s and leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’re amazing, you know that?” she said as they strolled through the yard and up the porch steps.

“Nope.” Ty held open the back door for her.

“I don’t know anyone else who could have done what you did to dad’s car. It would have cost me a fortune to have someone restore it.” Lexi walked into the kitchen and poured them both glasses of iced tea.

“It was a labor of love.”

The smile on his inviting lips nearly made Lexi drop her tea. Swiftly taking a better grip on the cold glass, she held it to her throat, hoping to cool off a bit. Her insides felt like they were on a slow simmer, getting hotter and more molten by the minute.

“Want some dessert?” Ty asked, washing his hands at the sink and then sliding a foil-covered pan across the counter to her.

“Sure.” She reached for the pan. “What did you make?”

“Brownies. Special brownies.” He removed a plate from the cupboard and set it down by the baking pan.

“What’s so special about them?” she asked. Before Ty could respond, she took off the foil and set it aside, picking up a knife. With it poised over the pan of brownies, she slowly set it down on the counter and looked from the pan to Ty and back again.

“Do you mean it, Ty?” She couldn’t believe what she saw. In the chocolate frosting covering the brownies, Ty had spelled out “marry me” with M&Ms.

“Absolutely.” He pulled his hand from his pocket and dropped to one knee. Gently taking her left hand in his, he slid a ring on her finger that fit perfectly. “Lexi Jo Ryan, I love you more than anything in this world. I can’t live without you and I don’t even want to try. Will you please marry me? I don’t have a thing to offer you except my love. I  hope you’ll accept it for the rest of my lifetime.”

Lexi couldn’t speak, could barely think. She yanked on Ty’s hand, and he stood, gazing at her expectantly. Instead of answering him, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed, laughing and crying against him before covering his face in kisses.

“Does that mean yes?” Ty asked with a deep chuckle that made Lexi’s knees wobble.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, forever yes. But on one condition.”

“What’s that?” He pushed her back far enough he could look in her eyes.

“Soon,” Lexi said with an impish grin. “I don’t want a long engagement. The sooner I belong to you, the happier I’ll be.”

Ty gaped at her in surprise then pulled her flush against him, sealing the deal with a kiss that left them both breathless.

“I’d be happy to oblige, ma’am,” Ty said, in his best imitation of a drawl. “Ya’ll just tell me when and where to show up.”

“You can count on it, buckaroo.”

Lesson Twenty

Happily Ever After Isn’t Just for Fairytales

“Woohee, pard! Ya been worse than a love-sick pup

since ya set eyes on thet sweet lil’ gal.”

The last Saturday in July, a day according to Swede that was hot enough to make a cactus sweat, was a perfect day in Ty’s opinion.

At eleven that morning, Lexi would march down the aisle set up in the yard at the ranch house and vow to love him until death do they part.

At a quarter past ten, Ty paced back and forth in the bunkhouse. Jan insisted he remain there so he wouldn’t accidentally catch a glimpse of Lexi before the ceremony.

He didn’t bother to tell the woman that he’d talked to his bride-to-be five times already that morning and she’d sent him three text messages.

Finally sitting down with a glass of sweet tea and a cookie, Ty mused over how much his life had changed in a few short months. He’d gone from being homeless, desperate and without a plan for his future to working at a job he enjoyed in a place that he never wanted to leave with a woman who whispered to his soul.

A firm slap to his shoulder jerked him from his thoughts and almost made him choke on the cookie.

“You ready for this?” Nate asked as he took a cookie off the platter on the table and helped himself to a glass of tea.

“Absolutely,” Ty said with a grin. He was so glad Nate, Beth and baby Jax were able to attend the wedding. Nate would serve as his best man while Beth stood up with Lexi. The ceremony was going to be small and intimate with a larger gathering of neighbors and friends for the reception that would immediately follow.

Large tents were set up around the ranch yard with plenty of room for everyone. The reception was to begin at noon, giving the bridal party time for photos to be taken before all the guests arrived.

There would be a catered barbecue meal and a dance floor had been set up, even if Ty couldn’t imagine anyone would be foolish enough to dance in the sweltering heat. Although large fans blew air inside the tents, Ty figured they’d better have plenty of beverages and ice on hand because people were going to get overheated.

When he proposed to Lexi a month ago, he wasn’t sure what she meant by wanting to get married soon. He had no idea he would be anxiously await the moment he said ,“I do” just four weeks later.

She tackled the wedding with the same organized, get-it-done attitude she brought to everything. Of course, she included him in the plans, but he didn’t care what she wanted to do as long as the end result was them being married.

Keeping his hands off his very tempting fiancée had been an excruciating challenge, but he made it.

No matter who was there or what was going on, they were leaving for a four-day honeymoon in Sisters, Oregon at three that afternoon. He’d reserved a romantic cabin right on the edge of the Deschutes National Forest. While wildlife lingered just steps away from the patio door, the property where they would stay offered a resort complete with a spa, movie theater, and restaurant. Should they feel the need to leave their room, they wouldn’t suffer from a lack of things to do.

Thoughts of the honeymoon must have made him flush, because Nate grinned at him and slapped his back again.

“I see you’re concentrating on all the really important details of today,” Nate said with a teasing grin. “You sure you’re grown up enough to be a fit husband?”

Ty glared at his brother-in-law and friend.

Nate laughed and helped himself to another cookie. “You know I’m kidding. Your sister is about to bust her buttons. She is so proud of you and excited for you. We both are.”

“Thanks, man.” Ty leaned back in his chair. “Of all the places I thought I’d end up, I never imagined it would be here.”

“Who could have predicted you’d be a homeless man living in your pickup, move to the middle of nowhere, fall in love with a beautiful cowgirl, and somehow talk her into marrying you?”

“Why does it sound bizarre instead of fantastic when you put it like that?” Ty chuckled. “Lexi likes to make it sound like a fairytale. You know, happily ever after and all that.”

“I know,” Nate said. “Of all the people who deserve to be happy, Ty, you are at the top of the list.”

“Don’t go getting all mushy on me like the girls,” Ty said, imagining the female emotions on the rampage up at the ranch house.

Not only was Beth there with baby Jax, but also all of Lexi’s female cousins, aunts and grandmother Sunny.

Sunny flew to Redmond three days ago. Lexi and Ty picked her up at the airport. Ty wasn’t sure what to expect, but he would have known the older woman even if she and Lexi hadn’t been waving to each other, laughing and crying. They looked exactly alike. With a smile, he realized his soon-to-be-wife would be a very lovely woman in her old age, Ty waited for Sunny to finish hugging and kissing Lexi before she turned her attention to him.

“Well, good gracious, girlie, you certainly picked a looker, didn’t you?” Sunny studied him for a moment. “Give your new grandma a hug, sweet thing.”

Gently, Ty hugged the vivacious woman, inhaling the soft scent of roses and absorbing her welcoming warmth. Before he could let her go she pulled his head down and whispered in his ear. “You’re going to take good care of this girl of mine, aren’t you, Tyler?”

“Yes, ma’am. I plan to cherish her every day for the rest of our lives,” he whispered.

“Good boy.” Sunny kissed his cheek and looped her arm around his. Squeezing his bicep, she glanced up at him with a saucy grin Ty had seen on Lexi’s face. “Nice guns.”

“Grandma!” Lexi exclaimed, shaking her head at her grandmother.

“Oh, hush, girlie,” Sunny said stepping away from Ty. She walked in a circle around him, surveying him like she would a prized bull. Dressed in Wranglers, a snap-front shirt, polished boots and his Stetson, Ty looked like he belonged on a ranch. Anyone unaware of his background would never know he wasn’t an authentic born-to-ride cowboy.

Approvingly, Sunny nodded her head. “I do believe, Tyler Lewis, that you will more than do, especially with a tushie like that.”

“Grandma!” Lexi’s face flamed bright red as she grabbed her grandmother’s arm and dragged her out to Ty’s pickup. Ty picked up Sunny’s luggage, hiding his embarrassment, although he was pleased that he had passed the older woman’s inspection.

In the few days she’d been at the ranch, Ty had felt a connection to Sunny. Maybe it was because he missed having a grandmother or because they shared the same sense of humor. It could have been because she and Lexi were so much alike. Whatever it was, they hit it off and had spent many hours laughing and joking, much to Lexi’s enjoyment and dismay when the teasing turned to her.

Now, as he and Nate waited for the signal it was time to assemble in the yard, Ty couldn’t help but wonder what Sunny was saying to Lexi.

“Aren’t you nervous, girlie?” Sunny asked as she helped Lexi settle the veil on her head. Standing before the full-length cheval mirror in the master bedroom, Lexi sighed with contentment as her grandmother leaned over her shoulder and peered in the mirror.

For Lexi, it was like looking into her future. For Sunny, it was a chance to see into her past. Warmed by the moment, they both smiled.

“Why would I be nervous?” Lexi adjusted the veil so it rested more firmly on her head. Her grandmother had chased everyone else out of the room so they could have a moment together. Lexi appreciated the quiet after having her aunts and cousins flitting around her all morning.

Sunny fussed with her skirt then stood back and surveyed the picture Lexi made in her white taffeta mermaid-style gown. With cap sleeves and a simple bodice, the skirt was made of crisp individually sewn pieces of taffeta in a layered pattern that hugged her trim figure before belling out at mid-thigh. Lexi’s luxurious raven hair was piled high on her head in a profusion of curls with tendrils escaping down her back. A diamond necklace that belonged to her mother encircled her neck. It had been the gift her dad gave her mom on their wedding day. Her bouquet was a simple bunch of coral roses.

“I’d be nervous if I had a man as fine as that Tyler Lewis waiting downstairs to wed me,” Sunny said, fanning her face with a lace handkerchief. “My stars, but he is a handsome thing. And such a big man, to boot. Now your grandpa, he was quite a catch in his day, too. I was more wound up than a prize heifer in the bull pen the day we got married. I suppose you already know what you need to know about the honeymoon. If not, I’ll give you some pointers.”

“Grandma!” Lexi tried to hide her smile. If she’d said that word in that admonishing tone once in the last few days, she’d said it a hundred times. Her grandmother had a habit of saying the most shocking things, or at least they were supposed to be shocking. Secretly, Lexi was amused much more than she should have been. Especially by the way her grandmother and Ty got along so well. That pleased her more than anything.

“Honestly, honey, are you scared or nervous?” Sunny took Lexi by the shoulders and stared at her.

“No, Grandma,” Lexi said. Dreamily smiling, her thoughts shifted to her groom. “I can’t wait to marry him. We’re going to be wonderfully happy together.”

“I quite think you will be, sugar. You couldn’t have found a better man to marry.”