Page 55 of Loved By Tandy

I close the distance between us and give her a quick kiss. “Me too.”

She taps my chest. “Go get a shirt. We have somewhere to be. We can do more of that later.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I stride down the hall, hoping that after she talks to Dallas she’ll be just as happy. But his urgent need to talk has me concerned.

By the time I’m out of my room, Tandy has her purse on her shoulder and is standing near the door. “Let’s go. I need to know what’s got him stirred up. He’s only been responding to my texts with one or two words.”

“He always does that.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t always need to talk to me. Hurry.” Her hips wiggle as she hurries out the door. There are some things I want to talk to my family about that Tandy needs to hear first, which is what I planned to discuss after dinner.

But there’s always tomorrow.

When we walk into the mess hall, Dallas walks out of the game room. Voices can be heard, laughing and chatting.

I lean down and give Tandy’s hand a squeeze. “Unless you want me to stay for the conversation, I’m going to head in there and say hello.”

“Go visit. I’ll scream if I need you.” She winks.

Dallas extends his hand. “Good to see you, and I don’t mind if you stay.”

“Nah. Y’all talk.” I’m sure Tandy will fill me in if I need to know.

But my interest is piqued as I leave the room and hear Dallas say, “You’ve probably heard that I’m engaged.”

I know for a fact Tandy has not been informed of that development because there is no way she’d be able to keep it to herself. At least I don’t think. Just weeks ago, Dallas was dead set on staying single. Whatever changed has got to be one interesting story.

His house is move-in ready. Maybe that’s what he’s talking to Tandy about.

Clint nods toward the pool cues. “Want to shoot? We just finished a game.”

Tyler shakes his head. “I’m not sure that even qualified as a game. You wiped the table with me.”

Clint flashes a half smile. “I got lucky.”

I grab a cue and let him shoot first. This will help pass the time until I learn about Dallas’s love life.

Tandy is rubbing off on me, I suppose. Eager for updates on someone’s relationship status—other than my own—is fairly new. Even now, it’s not so much that I want to hear the nitty-gritty details. I want to see her reaction to those details.

Experiencing life through Tandy’s eyes has added sunshine to mine.

As I sink the last ball, the door creaks open, and Tandy walks in. “Howdy. Y’all behaving?”

Clint laughs. “Mostly, but you can take this guy home. He messed up my winning streak.”

She grins and tips her head toward the door. “That’s why I came in. We do need to get going.”

I drop the stick into the rack and say my goodbyes. Then as soon as we get to the truck, I help Tandy in, then run around to my side. As I’m pulling away from the main house, I ask, “How long are you going to make me wait? I thought I heard him say he was engaged.”

“Fake.” She grins. “But I can work with that.”

“You sure he wants you interfering?”

“He brought it up. But that’s all beside the point. His fiancée—that word has such a lovely ring to it—needs a place to live, and Dallas knows that I’m going to rent out my house in town. He was asking how long it will be before my place is done.”

“It’ll be easily a month or two before you can move in. It’s not anywhere near ready in its current state.”

“Oh, I know. But I told him that I’d be out of my place by the end of the month. I’ll just put stuff in storage and stay in a hotel or something.”

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