The Cowboy's Summer Love (38 page)

“You sure you want to chance it?” Tess asked, looking up at him with a playful grin. The idea of having Travis stuck on the blanket next to her for an hour or two sounded quite appealing.

“Yeah, I do,” Travis said, maneuvering so he could sit down on the blanket with his back against the tree. “The thought of sitting so I can stretch my legs out sounds too good to pass up.”

Tess sat on her hands to keep from helping him. In the past week, she’d heard “let me do it myself,” more times than she wanted to count during his therapy sessions. He was making a remarkably fast recovery, but of course it wasn’t fast enough for Travis who wanted to be back at one hundred percent weeks ago.

“How about I get us some food?” Tess said, kissing his cheek then getting to her feet. “What sounds good to you?”

“Everything, honeybee, I’m famished,” Travis said, trying to look brow-beaten and abused. “Cady worked me like a slave all day and only let me have a taste here and a sample there,”

“I don’t think you were starved and you’re going to have to try harder to look mistreated,” Tess said, giving in to the urge to run her hand through his short sandy-colored hair before going to the food line. She filled two plates, took them to their blanket then went back and poured two big glasses of icy-cold sweet tea.

Settling down beside Travis, she picked up her plate and enjoyed the variety of delicious treats Cady made.

“How come you didn’t give me any of that,” Travis said, brandishing his fork at her pile of cowboy nachos.

“There’s only so much room on your plate, Tee,” Tess said with an indulgent smile. “You can have a bite of mine.”

Travis forked a bite and then snuck in two more before Tess jerked her plate away.

“Hey, those are my nachos, you pig,” she said, turning sideways so Travis couldn’t pilfer more food from her plate. The nachos were waffle cut fries, cooked until golden and crispy, topped with tender pieces of beef brisket, chili, shredded cheese, sour cream, and sliced olives, drizzled with barbecue sauce.

Tess thought they were wonderful.

Apparently, so did Travis as he grabbed her plate from her and took another big bite.

“I’ll run you through with my fork if you don’t give me back my plate,” Tess said, holding her utensil menacingly above Travis’ hand. He quickly scooped the rest of the nachos off her plate onto his, then handed her plate back with a taunting grin.

“You idiot,” she said, jumping up and going back to the table to see if there were any nachos left. She cut in line in front of Brice and took a scoop before flouncing back to the blanket. “You will not steal these. If you do, I won’t bring you any dessert.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said, not even trying to look contrite or subdued. After stealing Tess’ nachos, he managed to eat off his own plate, devouring crispy fried chicken, spicy baked beans and twice-baked potatoes. He knew Cady made a big pan of a layered coconut pudding and he would crawl over to the table on his hands and knees to get a dish of it if he had to.

“Immature, juvenile delinquent,” Tess muttered under her breath as she ate her dinner.

“You talking to me?” Travis asked as he cleaned his plate and drank his tea. When his glass was empty, he leaned back against the tree and watched Tess. Her hair was in a loose bun at the back of her head and she wore a simple cotton dress that hinted at her curves without hugging them.

She looked so pretty, with pink cheeks and rosy-hued tan skin, he could sit and stare at her for hours. The urge to pull the pins out of her hair and run his fingers through the silky strands was strong.

Reaching out a finger, he wound a wayward tendril of her dark hair around it and heard her sigh as she finished her dinner. Looking back at him over her shoulder, Travis got lost in her warm brown eyes, filled with love and longing.

Rubbing the tip of one finger against the back of her neck, he watched goose bumps pop out on her skin as a shiver slid up her spine. He grinned, flashing his white-toothed smile, as he basked in the knowledge of what his touch could do to the woman he loved.

“Travis,” she whispered, closing her eyes and resting her chin on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she suddenly spun around, picked up both their plates and glasses and jumped to her feet. He watched her walk away, surveying the way her skirt swished around her hips and fluttered at her knees.

If they were living in the 1940s, Travis was convinced Tess would have been pin-up girl material, not that his modest little honeybee ever would have been.

Returning with full glasses of tea, Tess set them down by Travis before going to the dessert table. She brought him a plate with a large serving of the coconut pudding along with a piece of berry pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream while she had a piece of chocolate cake with whipped cream and raspberries. Before she took a bite of her cake, she leaned over and spooned a big bite of his coconut pudding.

“Yum, that’s really good,” she said, yielding her spoon for another bite.

Travis jerked the dish out of her reach. “Get your own, honeybee. I don’t share my coconut.”

Tess turned a pouting smile his direction and batted her eyelashes at him. He started to move the plate closer then at the last moment, jerked it away. “Nice try. I’m still not sharing.”

“You’re impossible,” Tess said, smiling at him in a way that made his insides heat.

Most of the company had dispersed when Trent announced he wanted everyone to follow him to Lindsay’s house. Lindsay, looking as bewildered as the few remaining guests, climbed in Trent’s pickup with no idea what he had planned.

Brice and Tess helped Travis to his feet and the three of them got in Brice’s pickup and followed the entourage down the road.

As they pulled up by Lindsay’s house, a huge blue bow was tied across the front porch. Lindsay and Trent discussed staying in her rental house after they wed until they decided what to do for housing. Neither one of them wanted to live in the big Triple T ranch house, but they didn’t want to move too far away from the ranch either. Lindsay’s house was the next turn down the road from the Triple T which made it very handy to run back and forth to the ranch.

Taking Lindsay’s hand as he helped her out of the pickup, Lindsay looked at Trent and he smiled at her with his heart in his eyes.

“With the help of Trey and Travis, I wanted to give you my wedding present, our wedding present, to you a little early,” Trent said. “I know how much you love this little house so it’s yours, Princess. We can keep it like it is, remodel it, expand it, but it’s yours.”

“Oh, Trent,” Lindsay said, throwing her arms around his neck before kissing him on both cheeks and planting a solid kiss on his mouth. “You’re the best!”

Trey and Travis each received a hug as well and Tess looked at Travis, impressed.

“I thought Mr. Drexel didn’t want to sell the house,” Lindsay said, taking Trent’s hand and staring at the house she rented for the last three and a half years. Although it was small, she loved the little cottage. She felt at home here and really didn’t want to leave.

“He didn’t,” Trent said, nodding at Trey and Travis. “But he was willing to sell his whole ranch. Turns out he was more than ready to retire and move to The Dalles. Now that his wife is gone, he said being out here alone was just too much for him.”

“You mean you bought the whole ranch?” Lindsay asked in surprise as she looked from Trent to Trey to Travis.

“We sure did,” Trey said, patting Lindsay on the back. “So if you decide you’d rather live in the other house, you two are welcome to it. With Mr. Drexel being our closest neighbor and bordering our property, it just made sense to expand our holdings this direction.”

“But, goodness, Trey, you just don’t go around buying ranches every day,” Lindsay said, bewildered by the idea that they bought the neighboring ranch just so she could keep her cute little house.

“No, ma’am, we sure don’t. Which is why we’re celebrating the purchase of this one in fine style,” Travis said, leaning on his crutches and grinning at Lindsay. “From what I hear, there’s quite a party planned tomorrow night to commemorate the occasion.”

“You Thompson boys are just too much,” Lindsay said, brushing at the happy tears that were trailing down her cheeks.

Trent pulled her to his chest and kissed her forehead. “I think that means she’s excited about our present, guys.”

Lindsay let out a choppy laugh and nodded her head.

“I, for one, am pretty excited that you’ll always be this close by,” Cady said, squeezing Lindsay’s hand.  “And should we find that we need a third house, well, we’ll have one ready.”

Cady shot Travis a knowing grin and a sly wink. Travis felt his neck grow hot and was grateful for the fading light to hide the redness creeping up to his ears. He might have thoughts of marrying Tess on his mind, but that didn’t mean anyone else needed to know what he was thinking.

He was happy, though, they could offer this gift to Lindsay. Trent proposed buying the Drexel ranch right after he and Lindsay became engaged.  They all liked the idea of growing their spread and it made sense to buy the neighboring ranch. It was an added bonus that it came with two houses.

Although Travis preferred the main ranch house that sat on a hill far from the road, Lindsay seemed to like the little cottage-style home nestled in the grove of trees not far from the highway. Maybe someday he’d take Tess up to the Drexel house and see what she thought of it.

As if sensing his thoughts, Tess gave him a look that made blood surge through his veins. He would be glad when the festivities were over tomorrow and things settled down so he could have time to court Tess properly.

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With his limited ability to move, Travis grudgingly accepted the fact that he was going to spend the day answering the phone, overseeing deliveries, and keeping an eye on Cass.

By 10 a.m., the feisty little red-head had nearly worn both of them to a frazzle with her questions and wanting to be everywhere at once. When Tess showed up fifteen minutes later, she took over and Travis sighed in relief.

While he manned the dozens of phone calls that came in, Tess kept an eye out as deliveries arrived. She somehow managed to keep Cass entertained while directing florists, a truck full of rental chairs, the band, and the caterers in the right direction.

At noon, Lonnie and Maren arrived with pizza for everyone. An hour break was a welcome relief before resuming the frantic activity.

Tess finally took Cass down to the pond to see the transformation from rural watering hole to magical fairy land.

The day Trent proposed to Lindsay, hundreds of white twinkle lights were strung in the trees and bushes around the pond. Liking the effect, no one removed them, which was part of the reason the happy couple decided to get married at the pond.

During the summer, Cady and Denni worked hard, along with Lindsay’s help, to transform the area from a place the cows liked to wallow to a thing of beauty. Dozens of shrubs, hundreds of flowers, new pathways made from crushed gravel and a profusion of lights turned the area into something amazing.

White paper lanterns hung in the trees and the newly constructed arbor was twined with greenery and an abundance of white flowers. Big white topiaries stood on each side of the arbor. Small bouquets were fastened in big luxurious bows at the end of each row of the two hundred white chairs that stood in a semi-circle facing the arbor and the pond.

The front, back and side yards at the house were also transformed to a backdrop fit for a princess. Gauzy tents were set up filled with tables draped in white linen. White floral centerpieces and white candles highlighted the tables while baskets and vases of white flowers filled every available space of the lawn. One corner in the back yard was reserved for the band and a portable dance floor was positioned in front of the make-shift stage. More white lights draped the bushes with white paper lanterns hanging from trees and the porch. Garden stakes would add more light and a special white wicker couch filled with plump white cushions sat in the big main tent where Trent and Lindsay would have a place of honor while visiting with their many guests.