Page 179 of We Redeemed the Rain

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yep!”

He approached me. He had to be Bea’s younger brother, Ben. The guy wasshredded. “Hey, Tag. I’m Ben.”

“Ben, pleasure to meet you.” His grip was strong.

Holy hell.I was sweating.

I looked beyond him to see the entire family watching, waiting to meet me. Jackie sidled up next, a smug look on her face. She came up and gave me a side hug. “Good to see you finally coming around, cowboy. Bea is going to faint.”

I gave a nervous laugh and gently hugged her back. “Hey, Jackie.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the center of the room, stopping me in front of her parents. She held out her words, almostflirtatiously. “Mom, Dad. Meet the cowboy Bea has beenhankerin’for”—she emphasized the word with a put-on accent—“since she was eleven.”

Hankering for? The red hot heat at the base of my neck traveled upward.

“Tag, meet our parents Cal and Lynn.”

Lynn was already pulling close, lifting her arms to hug me. She had dark hair with shimmery gray streaks, cut at the chin. She was dressed professionally—black pants and a tucked in white shirt with a white sweater tied around her shoulders.

My response time was delayed with surprise, but I leaned down to accept her hug. “Tag, it’s so good to finally meet you.” She squeezed my neck, gently patting me on the back of the shoulder. She smelled like flowers. “We’ve heard so much about you the last few weeks.” She pulled away but gripped my shoulders and looked me up and down. Moisture lined her eyes. “We had no idea Bea had a friend at Meadowbrook until she told us recently. We’re so happy you came.”

“Thank you,” was all I could manage.

Cal reached out his hand. “Tag, great to have you with us.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After that, a young woman with dark curly hair scooted next to me. She lifted her arm to hug me, too. All the hugs made me feel kind of uncomfortable, but clearly this was how the Thompson women said hello. She gave me a side squeeze. “Oh mygosh.” She squeaked and talked a million miles per hour. “I am so happy. Bea is going to seriously freak out. I’m Estelle. You are socute!”

Jackie said, “Now you see why Bea wanted to stay in Texas forever.”

Estelle playfully squeezed my arm and wiggled her shoulders in excitement. “You got any more eligible cowboys at your ranch?”

“Uh, well?—”

“He’s got a brother, Stell.” Jackie said.

She gasped. “Is he cute, too?”

Jackie wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “Meh. Not like Tag.”

I stifleda laugh at that.

Lynn hissed, her voice low. “Girls,stop. He’s turning red.” She turned to me. “Sorry, honey.”

Cal stepped around the gaggle of women. His tone was tired and gruff, but welcoming. “Jackie said you’ve got your Class As. What kind of rig do you drive?”

And just like that, I found my tongue again. For a few minutes, we chatted about driving and diesels.

He asked, “So, do you just haul horses?”

“Yes, sir. I—” My words trailed off as movement in the studio caught the corner of my eye.

Bea.

She swept into the room like a burst of light. For the first time ever, I saw her in something other than the clothes she brought to the ranch. She had a long, colorful skirt on—almost gypsy-like in its pattern. The navy shirt she wore was cropped, exposing the graceful curve of her hips.

Her voice always had an indie-folk style sound to it. And she looked the part.

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