Page 134 of Miles to Go
“Waiting on me,” Winnie murmured, and then the alarm went off on her phone. “Well, I have to get back to the brownies.”
She sighed as she stood up. She leaned over and hugged her momma, and then carefully squeezed her daddy’s shoulders.
“You guys call me if you need anything, okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” Daddy said. “Enjoy your evening.”
Winnie drove back to her house—a feat that took all of sixty seconds—and as she walked inside, the deep, rich aroma of chocolate greeted her, as did the meowing of a cat and the sizzle of something sautéing on the stove.
“Oh, you’re here.” She’d been so preoccupied with her own thoughts, she hadn’t even seen Ty’s truck parked on the street.
He flashed her a quick smile and went back to stirring with the wooden spoon. “Yep. I’m just getting these bread crumbs toasted up, and I’ve got the pasta boiling. Your brownies have six minutes left.”
Winnie stood on the cusp of her own kitchen and watched Ty work. Her feelings stormed through her, marching left and right and all around. She did love Ty, though she had never told him in those exact words.
He looked over to her, and when he found her standing there, he paused. “What’s wrong?”
She had no idea what he saw on her face, but pure vulnerability and anxiety ran through her as she thought about all the times she’d told Carver she loved him and he’d said it back. He hadn’t meant it, and Winnie realized in that moment that she hadn’t wanted to tell Ty she loved him until she knewabsolutelyforcertainthat she meant it.
She swallowed. “I love you, Tyson.”
Air burst out of his mouth, almost sounding like a scoff, and he settled his weight on his right foot, away from her. “What?”
“I love you,” she said again. “And I’ve never said it out loud, and I’m really sorry, because I know you need to hear it.”
The jitters in her stomach danced their way right out of her body, and she put a smile on her face. “It feels really good to say it. I love you.”
She liked the way the words fit in her mouth, and she absolutely loved the gorgeous man in front of her receiving them.
He still looked like she’d hit him with a two-by-four, and she took a step toward him, ignoring Rocky as he meowed at her. “I’m in love with you, Ty,” she said. “And I want to marry you and sell this house and move into the homestead with you on that little hobby farm.”
She arrived right in front of him. “I love you.”
Ty blinked, and she saw how badly he’d needed to hear those words. “I love you too, Win.”
He leaned down and touched his lips to hers, cradling her face inhis big hand, the way he did that made her feel so cherished and so loved.
She kissed him the way she had been for the past couple of months—like she loved him—but it sure was nice to match actions with words.
Ty pulled away, his breath a tiny bit ragged. He placed a kiss against her jaw and then right below her ear. “I talked to Bryan and Ellie,” he said with a huff of a laugh. “They said they don’t care how close we get married to them, but they don’t want to have a dual wedding on the same day.”
“Okay,” Winnie whispered, her eyes still closed and her body feeling a bit disconnected from the earth. She floated, her only anchor Ty’s hand on her hip, burning through the thin cotton of her shirt.
“And I know you don’t want to get married in the winter,” he said. “And I’m absolutely too impatient to wait until next spring.”
He stepped back, and Winnie opened her eyes and watched with complete shock marching through her as he gripped the handle on the fridge and got down on both knees.
“So I think I better just ask you, and we can start planning a date for this fall.”
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring that Winnie didn’t even know he had purchased.
“I love you, Win,” he said. “You’re the first and only person I want to talk to about everything—good, bad, and everything in between—in my life. I was lost before I met you, and I would be a useless man without you. Will you marry me?”
Tears pricked Winnie’s eyes, and she nodded, trying to get the lump in her throat to go down, so she could speak. She swallowed once and then twice, and then managed to say, “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you, because I’m desperately in love with you as well.”
Ty gave her that beautiful, lopsided grin, and she held out her hand sohe could slide the ring onto her finger. He took her hands in his, and Winnie used his strength to balance herself as she got down on her knees and kissed her new fiancé.
“Tell me how long I have to wait until you can be at the farmhouse,” he whispered, promptly stealing her ability to answer by kissing her again.
Winnie kissed him back and then pulled away. “Would November be too close to Bryan and Ellie? It was still pretty warm in November last year.”
“Thebeginningof November,” Ty said, a note of finality in his voice. “Sounds like an amazing time to get married.”
Winnie grinned at him and cupped his face in her hands. “I think so too, Ty.”
“I love you, sweetheart,” he said.
“I love you too, cowboy.”
