Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
As we walk into the kitchen, I squeeze his hand tighter. I swear, I will love and want this man until I am one hundred and three and ready to pass into the next life. Even after that, I won’t stop until I find him so I can love him all over again, because I wasn’t kidding.
Members of the Lucas clan have staying power.
Tillie
One Week Later
My trip went way too fast. I almost didn't get on the plane. Being back in Pine Ridge without Ryder feels wrong. I feel empty. I was able to survive because Ryder was going to come home for the weekend. That was the plan, but today those plans changed. The team is playing some makeup games and he couldn’t get away.
To make matters worse, while I wish it were easy for me to switch plans and go there again, I can't. I can't leave because I took on the massive task of making another wedding cake for a wedding in Cheyenne—this one having to be big enough to feed three hundred people. This meant, seeing Ryder soon is impossible.
Ryder's upset, rightfully so, and damn it, so am I. I miss him. Hell, I even miss Dallas. Although, my home away from home was the Lucas farm in the small town of Mason. It reminded me of home, and I felt comfortable there.
Plus, even with the Lucas bunch being completely insane, they were amazing—even the infamous Ida Sue, who—after having sex with her hot cowboy—came back out and spent time getting to know me. Mary, her friend Faye, Ryder, Slater, and two other players named Parker and Finn, all ate dinner with me, and it was a blast.
"Who knew our little Tillie would become famous?"
I look up to see Henry Simpson at the door holding a newspaper. My dad, who decided to come in, hears him and comes over.
"What are you talking about, Henry?" he asks.
Henry holds up the paper showing the article from when I visited Ryder's team. There's the picture of us standing with Coach Green, but there's a second picture. The one clicked a few minutes later. Coach called over the whole team. Ryder has us over to the side since the group was larger. This time he full-on kissed me, pulling me into him with his large hand squeezing my ass with his thigh between my legs. I'm damn near riding it.
I thought it was an intimate moment, one I hoped was private, but clearly, it was not.
That's not what makes my stomach churn. It's the headline.
“Is Mr. Break Your Headboard giving up his wild and rowdy ways to settle down?”
I yank the paper out of Henry's hand as my eyes skim over the article.
My limbs go cold as the shock takes hold of me. They even mention me by name, reporting us discussing marriage and kids.
Marriage and kids?
"Tillie, are you pregnant?" my father asks, looking at me in shock.
"No," I answer him adamantly.
"But you're talking about having kids and getting married?" he asks, looking confused.
"We've discussed it, yes," I tell him, not understanding where this is going.
"So, are you going to move out there?" I see the hurt flash across his face for a second.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I know you had dreams of me taking over the store—" I start, but he waves me off.
"Do you love Ryder, Tillie?" he asks.
"I always have," I tell him. That’s the one thing that I’m completely sure of.
"Does he treat you good? Does he make you happy?"
“Yeah,” I respond. “He really does. He loves me.”
My dad's features soften as he looks at me. "That's all that matters. I want my little girl to be happy.”
“You’re not mad?”
“No. Honestly, your mother and I have been contemplating retirement and moving to Florida. Your choice will make that easier."
I stand there staring at him with my mouth open in surprise as he continues.
"We've had offers on the store. I didn't know how to break it to you," my dad says gently.
"Offers on the store? You're selling it?" I ask, scrambling as I struggle to absorb this new information.
"I was going to keep it for you if you chose this life," he says, smiling. "But let's be honest, you're making good money selling cakes and animal treats. You could set up a shop doing that and make much more than you would here. Besides, the guy interested in buying is a good guy. I know he'll keep the store in good shape, plus he's almost family."
I frown. Almost family? "Who?"
"Me," Tucker says, holding his cowboy hat in his hands as he steps closer to the counter.
"Really?" I ask, feeling like I keep parroting everything everyone is saying to me back at them.
He shrugs, smiling at me. "Yeah. I'm never going to leave Pine Ridge. It's home, and I help Dad with the ranch, which I'll continue to do, but this is something that's mine."