Walker Bride (18 page)

This was going to be the longest weekend of
her life, she thought with a smile.

Tyson was used to his family dynamics. His
grandfather would dictate his expectations and the family would
oblige. Of course, when Tyson thought family it meant his sister,
his mother, and his grandfather. There had never been extended
cousins, and now he knew why. But having a house full of relatives
was beyond him—and he liked it.

The rehearsal dinner had started nearly three
hours ago and yet no one had left. They were still talking,
drinking, and eating.

He would have thought Susan would have kicked
them out hours ago. Didn’t a bride need her beauty sleep?
Obviously, it wasn’t a worry.

He finished his beer and walked to the
kitchen to throw the bottle in the recycle bin. Perhaps it was fate
that Pearl was the only other person in the kitchen.

“Quite a party huh?” She was grinning at him,
and it warmed him.

“Yeah. I was thinking I should head home,
though. I still have to get up and tend to business before getting
all dolled up in that monkey suit.”

She laughed quietly. “I’m looking forward to
seeing you in it.”

Tyson wanted to go to her and just wrap his
arms around her. It was killing him to keep his distance.

Dane walked in taking the last pull of his
beer. “Mom said to recycle this.”

Tyson pointed in the direction of the
bin.

Dane dropped the bottle in with the others
and gave a big exaggerated stretch. “I’m toast. I’m heading
home.”

“I was thinking about doing the same,” Tyson
admitted. “I’ll walk out with you.”

Dane moved to Pearl and gave her a hug. “See
ya in the morning, cuz.”

She laughed and planted a noisy kiss on his
cheek. “It’s nice to have you home.”

“I sure do miss it,” he said as he headed out
of the kitchen.

Tyson stood staring at her for another
moment, but he didn’t dare cross the room toward her. “I’m heading
back to my place—the barn,” he said. “I’ll see you later.” He gave
her a wink and thought if she could read between heavily clouded
lines, she’d catch his drift. If not, then it would become a
literal term.

Pearl watched Tyson walk out of the room and
heard him say his goodbyes. Did she dare interpret what he’d said
as he’d be waiting for her? What if that wasn’t what he’d meant at
all?

She took a deep breath and decided that it
didn’t matter. They’d exchanged
really likes
. They had
argued about jealousy and petty things. That cemented a
relationship, didn’t it?

But as her cousins left, and her sisters
departed, she found that only she and Susan’s mother were left to
pick up after the party when Eric finally excused himself to check
on the horses.

“You don’t have to help me with this. I can
get it later,” Susan argued.

“Later is your wedding day and you can’t be
worrying about this,” her mother told her.

“I don’t mind staying,” Pearl added. “I have
nothing else to tend to.” She hoped she was convincing because it
was killing her not just to run to Tyson’s place.

With the three of them, the job at hand only
took a half hour. Soon she was kissing Susan goodbye and Susan’s
mother was giving her a long, spiritual hug.

She headed out onto the dark road in the
opposite direction from town—headed toward Tyson.

~*~

It had been more than an hour since Tyson had
left the party. It seemed as though Pearl hadn’t gotten his
message. Who would have blamed her? He’d been an ass to her,
apologized, then tried to secretly tell her to stop by without
using any such words.

He decided he’d better get to sleep. That
wedding was at noon, which meant he had to be at the house by ten
so they could take all sorts of pictures. There was still a lot of
work to be done before he even showered and shaved the next
morning. Eric might appreciate if his wedding pictures didn’t have
his groomsmen with bloodshot eyes.

Tyson turned off his TV and unfolded his
sleeper couch. Maybe a Murphy bed would be a better choice in time.
Especially now that this was his primary residence.

Just as he’d arranged the pillows the way he
liked them and pulled off his shirt, he heard the sound of tires on
the road headed toward the barn.

He walked to the window and watched as the
headlights grew closer.

His body began to pulse. Nothing would be
more disappointing right now than if his sister was pulling up to
his place.

But as the car came closer and parked next to
his, relief washed over him. She’d understood his cryptic message,
and she’d come to him.

Tyson opened the front door and leaned
against the doorjamb as she parked her car and climbed from it.
Even in the dark, he knew the outline of her body and in his mind
could see her face clearly.

As she came into view, she smiled. “Was this
what you meant by
later
?”

“You have no idea how much I hoped you’d
figure that out.”

She sauntered toward him. “I’m not sure I
should stay, though. It’s been made very clear I shouldn’t have
been spending those intimate moments with you.”

“You’re right. She certainly has an opinion.
But so do I,” he said, moving to her and swiftly pulling her into
his arms. His mouth took hers as her hands went directly to his
hair. He could feel her heart beat against his chest. No part of
this wasn't consensual. Lydia was going to have to deal with it.
Tyson was going to take Pearl—and he wanted to keep her too.

As it did every time the man touched her,
Pearl’s head swam with his kisses. No man, ever, had made her feel
the way he did when he was around her.

He pulled her through the door, closed it,
and then pressed her up against it. His body was warm, and his
weight against her lit up her core.

“This is your last chance to go home. If you
stay, you’re not going to get much sleep,” he said nipping at her
neck.

“I knew that driving over here,” she said
breathlessly as he lifted the hem of her blouse and touched her
skin. The very contact made her knees go weak.

Tyson lifted the blouse up over her head and
discarded it to the floor. “I meant it when I said I
really
like you,” he grinned, but his eyes were dark.

“I meant it too. And now I think we both know
what it really means.”

“Yeah,” he said hoisting her up to his hips
as she wrapped her legs around him and her arms around his neck.
“We’ll get to that. I’m not going to worry about you kissing other
men now. I think we got that sorted out.”

“Indeed.”

“And we’ll worry about my sister later,” he
promised as he carried her to the fold out bed. “For tonight, it’s
only you and me. We can talk future tomorrow.”

He laid her down beneath him and took her
mouth with his again.

She wanted to read more into his promise of a
future, but for tonight, she’d just let him make love to her over
and over. After all, she
really
liked him.

~*~

Tyson’s breath was heavy on her neck as her
alarm on her cell phone chimed. She reached for it and turned it
off as he pulled her closer to him.

“Why is it when you sleep in my arms that
damn phone wakes us up?”

She eased against him. “Because you and I are
very busy people. But this time, it’s because I have to get to town
and begin getting ready for a wedding. You do too.”

He groaned, then pressed his lips to the base
of her neck. “Have to attend to the animals first. I guess I never
was meant for sleeping in.”

She rolled in his arms to face him. “Sleep at
my house tonight. Tomorrow I’ll help you with the animals.”

He opened one eye and squinted at her. “City
girl coming to the ranch?”

“If it means spending time with you.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Good.” She kissed him quickly on the lips
then rolled from the bed.

She gathered her clothes and dressed as Tyson
watched her. Desire had her fighting off the urge to climb back in
that bed with him.

“I’ll see you later in that well-fitted tux,”
she said as she leaned in to kiss him goodbye.

“I may need to rethink that re-measurement
opportunity.”

She nudged his nose with hers. “I’ll see you
at the altar,” she joked, but his eyes only grew darker. “I’m just
kidding.”

“Maybe give that some thought,” he said, but
she didn’t respond. What did that mean? “Go. You’ll be late for
your hair appointment, and your sister will be furious.”

She could only nod now as she pulled back and
walked out of the barn.

The sun was rising, making a grand appearance
on the horizon. It seemed fitting after a warm night.

Pearl climbed into her car, started the
engine, and drove away with his words playing in his head.
Maybe
give that some thought.

Tyson had rolled from the bed and made it to
the bathroom. He brushed his teeth as if the cows and horses would
care about his morning breath. He slipped on a pair of jeans and
went to retrieve the shirt he’d worn the night before.

As he folded up the bed and pushed it back
into the frame of the couch, he heard tires on gravel, a door
close, and footsteps. The door opened, and he joked as he folded
the blankets, “I thought we were in a hurry. I don’t think I have
time for another…” he stopped as his sister walked through the
door.

Her eyes were red and filled with tears. That
much he could see in the dim light.

“Lydia, what’s wrong?” He moved to her, but
she threw her hands up as if to stop him with some force.

“You are a damn liar! Promises to me mean
nothing!”

He took a breath to ask her what she was
going on about, but he stopped. Suddenly he knew why she was mad.
“Lydia…”

“Don’t Lydia me. You promised me you wouldn’t
act on your feelings for Pearl. You said you’d choose family. You
said you’d choose me.”

“I know what I said.”

“And it meant nothing to you. My businesses
are very important to me. You can’t just go around sleeping with my
business partners especially when I asked you not to.”

Tyson scrubbed his hands over his face. “This
is ridiculous. Let’s sit down and have some coffee and…”

“Are you kidding me? I’m not going to sit
down and discuss this with you. I asked for one simple thing.”

“It wasn’t simple.”

“It should have been.” She turned and pulled
open the door.

Tyson moved quickly and pulled her back in.
“We’re grownups. We can discuss this as such.”

She yanked her arm from his hand. “Buy me
out.”

“I didn’t want to buy in, remember?”

“You had all intentions of being with her the
whole time, didn’t you?” She studied him. “You have been with her
the whole time.”

“This doesn’t have to be a problem.”

The tears were back in her eyes, and they
hurt more than her yelling at him. “You’re no better than Grandpa
or our parents are you? Keeping secrets is a way of life for you.
It’s no wonder none of you can be happy. You don’t understand what
it means to be true to your word about anything.”

Then she turned, walked out of the barn, and
slammed the door behind her. He let her go.

He’d been so wrapped up in himself all, this
time, he never realized that the secrets his parents and his
grandfather had kept had hurt her too.

Lydia was an honest person. All she’d asked
for was honesty. He’d owed that to her from the beginning.

He heard her truck speed away. He shouldn’t
have broken his promise after he’d made it. But when he said he
really liked Pearl, he’d meant it. Maybe the words should have been
different, but they were the ones he could use.

But Lydia—Lydia was all he had. She’d never
failed him, and all he’d done was fail her.

Tyson searched for a shirt. He had work to do
and then his brother’s wedding. This couldn’t have come at a worse
time, he thought. They all respected Susan and Eric too much to
ruin their wedding with their problems.

~*~

Making sure she early for her appointment,
Pearl walked through the door of
The Haven
, checked in with
the receptionist, and then poured herself a cup of coffee from the
complimentary coffee station.

She looked at the shelves of fancy shampoos
and nail polishes. Pearl was a sucker for a new nail lacquer. Just
as she’d chosen a color she liked best, her sister appeared.

“I’m ready for you. I have Lydia right after
you. Clare is doing her makeup. Joyce is working on Bethany right
now.”

“Wonderful.” Pearl set down the bottle of
polish she’d been admiring and followed her sister back to her
station. As they passed Bethany she gave her a little wave. Oh,
what she’d give to have beautiful, red hair like Bethany. Then it
made her wonder. “What are you going to do with Lydia’s hair? It’s
short.”

“We worked on curling it and putting some
cute clips in it to match the rest of us.”

“Very creative,” she said as she sat down.
“I’m lucky to get my hair to look good just to go to work. You do
have a way of making people look fabulous.

Audrey smiled at her in the mirror. “Thank
you. That means a lot.”

The last few times she’d been around her
sister Audrey had been snippy. Perhaps there was a story there.
She’d like to ask, but why ruin a perfectly good morning?

After all, she’d awakened in the arms of the
man she loved and—she stopped thinking about it and gripped her
hands tightly together under the cape her sister had just flung
around her.

She most certainly wasn’t going there in her
head. Love was a big commitment for her and for Tyson. They liked
each other. That’s what they’d said.
Really liked
each
other.