Page 137 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

Kolby grinned. “You guys have fun – I want to hear all about it when you get back.”

She gave him a puzzled smile. He was sweet, but she didn’t get why he was so excited about their visit to the lake. Perhaps it was because they were going to drive her Tahoe back to the valley, and he liked the idea of a road trip.

Ty gave him a look that she didn’t understand. The two of them seemed to have something going on but she didn’t know what. They’d insisted on going to town this morning – even Tanner had gone with them. They said it was to give her andCallie more time to pack – but Ty had made sure that she was all packed and ready, and dropped her off with Callie before they left. Ford had driven the two of them up to town to meet the guys – and it seemed like even he was excited about something.

She gripped Ty’s hand as the plane approached the runway. She was getting the hang of flying, but she still didn’t like the landing part.

Callie and Kolby hugged them before they got off and Bear, the pilot, went to get their bags for them. Ty took them from him, and even he gave Ty a big smile – there was definitely something going on. She forgot all about it when she saw Alexis, Davin, and Booker waiting inside the building for them. Booker waved and Ty grabbed her waist as she waved back and almost lost her balance.

He chuckled. “Careful, sweetheart, or I really will put you in a wheelchair and start pushing you around.”

She laughed. “No way!” She slid her arm around his waist. “But you can support me so that we can go faster.”

Instead of hurrying her to the door like she wanted him to, he stopped dead and looked down into her eyes.

“I’ll support you for the rest of your days if you’ll let me, Shay.”

She swallowed as she stared back at him – he was deadly serious, and he wasn’t talking about helping her keep her balance.

He smiled and nodded. “But we can talk about that later; let’s go see your family.”

~ ~ ~

Ty took a swig of his beer and stared out at the lake. He could see why Shay loved this place so much. The sky had turned crimson and gold as the sun dipped below the mountains, and all the colors reflected in the lake – it wasn’t the valley, but it held a beauty of its own. He promised himself that he’d bring her back here to visit as often as she wanted to come. Maybe one day, they’d have a house here, like Chance and Hope did. They could bring their kids in the summer, get a boat …

He looked up when Davin came back outside to join him. He handed Ty a fresh beer before he sat in one of the empty chairs across the firepit from him.

“Thanks for bringing her. We needed this.”

He nodded. He loved seeing the way the four of them interacted as a family while they ate dinner. He was glad that she had this – that she hadn’t been all alone in the world before he met her.

“Yeah. Shay needed it, too. She needed to see you guys again, and ….” He met Davin’s gaze. “And I wanted to come for my own reasons.”

Davin took a long drink before resting his bottle on the arm of his chair.

“What for?”

Ty leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and gripping his bottle tight in both hands. “I have something I want to ask you guys.”

Davin smiled. “Do you want to wait until Alexis comes back out?”

He shook his head slowly. “It’d be easier to ask you both together, but I don’t always take the easy route.”

Davin waited.

“I want to marry her. So … I want to ask you guys if you’re good with that.”

Davin grinned. “Damn! I mean, first and most importantly, for what it’s worth, I’m more than okay with it. We both know that Shay’s the only one who can give you her answer, but I have to tell you, Ty, I couldn’t be happier that she met you.” His smile faded. “Well, maybe I’d be happier if you lived here. But …” He shrugged. “And we both know that I’m not her father, but you also know that I’ve come to see her as a daughter. I never thought I’d have kids, so I never thought I’d be faced with this moment.” He nodded happily. “The short answer is yes. I’m good with it. I’m happy about it. As long as you promise to bring her back to visit when you can.”

“I promise – as often as she wants to come – and you guys will always be welcome on the ranch, anytime.”

They turned to look when Alexis and Shayna came out of the house, followed by Booker – the kid had hovered around Shay since they arrived, making sure that she was okay. Ty started to get to his feet to go and help her down the stairs from the back deck – she was still wearing the braces on her knee and ankle, and if it were up to him, he’d sit her ass in a wheelchair, and get her around that way.

Davin got up and said, “Wait there. I’ll go and talk to Shay and send Alexis down here.”

He watched Davin reach them and wrap his arm around Shay’s waist. Instead of helping her down the stairs, he said something to Booker that made them all laugh and the three of them went back into the kitchen.

He didn’t appear to say a word to Alexis, but even without being told, she trotted down the steps to come and join Ty.

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