Page 10 of Loved By Tandy

Their jaws drop open, and they are silent for several heartbeats. Stunning these ladies into silence is an accomplishment.

“I figured if Joji could buy a goat farm, there was nothing stopping me from creating a place where people could fall in love.”

Lilith rubs her hands together. “Tell us more. This sounds kind of exciting. Will we get to help with the matchmaking?”

“I don’t see why not. I thought about putting an application online. Letting people submit requests. I’m still trying to work out the details, but first, I have to build everything. And I really haven’t even gotten much done on that front. And I did hire a young man. He’s helping me repair the existing barn and planning out a new horse barn. He’ll be the wrangler once the place opens. Handle trail rides and things like that. His name is Colton Reed, but he goes by Colt.”

Joji kicks off her shoes and tucks her feet up beside her. “I love this idea. So who are you going to hire to build everything?”

“Not sure about that.” I glance at Stephanie. “I already mentioned it to Blake to see if he knew of anyone. He gave me one name, but I’m still looking at other options.”

The ladies all laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

Ava points at me. “We’re laughing because we all have a pretty good idea of who Blake suggested. Matthew is kind of known for building stuff.”

“He used to. But I heard that he retired.”

She shrugs. “So did you, but that isn’t stopping you from doing fun stuff. All I’m saying is that you should ask.”

“That would require speaking to him.” I pop a stuffed mushroom in my mouth, hoping that will end this conversation.

And it does.

Joji spreads her famous cheese onto a cracker. “Back to the matchmaking stuff, you’ll have to bring people in for that because it seems like all the people I know are now romantically attached. Well, except?—”

“Dallas.” I don’t run around town announcing that he’s my nephew, but these ladies know that. “I’m not sure he’ll ever warm to the idea of love. I think he’s a bit like me and has given up on the idea, which is a shame since he’s still young.”

“You never know what cupid has up his sleeve.” Ava picks up a lemon bar. “He has all sorts of tricks.”

Joji laughs. “Cupid may have tricks, but that little cherub doesn’t have sleeves. Have you mentioned the ranch idea to Cami? I bet she’d love to help.”

Lilith nods. “Absolutely you should talk to Cami. She did everything she could to get Joji and Clint together.”

“I’ll call her and plan a lunch. But please do me a favor and don’t tell anyone else about this yet. I’ve only told a few people. And I don’t want anyone to swoop in and steal my idea.”

“I think there is zero chance of anyone doing that.” Stephanie lifts her glass. “To Tandy, whose wisdom opened my eyes to see what was right in front of me. And to her ranch.”

We clink glasses.

“Thanks.” These ladies are the best thing about being back in the town where I grew up.

When I left at age eighteen, I never expected to live here again. But time has an underappreciated healing power.

“Are you going to the barbecue this coming weekend?” Joji points out the front window in the general direction of Zach and Haley’s house, which isn’t that far from here.

“I’m planning on it. Cami invited me. Should I be concerned?” If Cami has talked to the ladies about why she invited me, it’ll show in their expressions. None of them have poker faces.

Joji shrugs. “I haven’t heard anything about that, but Cami is always trying to match people. So you should probably be at least wary of her reasons but come anyway. Zach makes the best brisket. And when he smokes one, the entire neighborhood smells divine.”

“Speaking of smells, there is a new candle place in town. Have you been there? They have one that is a combination of whiskey and leather. I bought three.” I find that talking about shopping is a great way to steer the conversation away from Matthew.

Chatting, we work our way through a bottle of wine and polish off the snacks.

I love these nights where one sentence launches us into hours of laughter and stories.

At the end of the night after all the ladies have been picked up, I tap out a text to Matthew.

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