Page 56 of Loved By Tandy

“A hotel? No. The only places along the highway this far out aren’t great. You didn’t even want Colt living there. Are you really going to put your poor cats in that kind of a place?”

Her eyes go wide. “Chip and Dale! What am I going to do with them?”

“You need a place that’s close to Matchmaker Ranch. Some place where the cats have ample space to do cat things.”

“Dallas already told Beau that he’s moving out, and since Dallas and his fiancée barely know each other, it would be awkward for them to share his house, even though he has more than one bedroom. And I get that. I’m not going to move in with Colt. His dog would stress out my cats. And I’m not going to live with Dallas because he might end up quitting.” She grins. “I can be hard to live with.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

Her smile falls away. “What?”

I pull over so I can look at her without worrying about the road. “You can move into my house until yours is finished.”

“I don’t…” She shakes her head. “That sounds like a really bad—” She slaps a hand over her mouth, then turns to look out the window.

It’s obvious her wheels are turning, and I wait until she’s figured out what she wants to say.

After a minute, she looks at me again. “Live with you how?”

“The house has four bedrooms. I sleep in one of them. You get your pick of the other three. I don’t have any dogs that will stress out your cats. You spend so much time there. Why not sleep there?”

Her shoulders visibly relax. “Maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

“It makes sense, Tandy.”

“You’re right.” She nods and worries her bottom lip. “If you want to check with your family, I understand.”

“I don’t. It’s my house.” I hold out my hand. “Nothing else has to change.”

“Good.” She laces her fingers with mine. “But if I get to be too much, tell me before you hate me, okay?”

“Deal.” I kiss her hand before easing back onto the road. “I’ll work on hiring some help for my place temporarily so that we can get you packed up.”

She waves her hand. “I’ll just hire people to do that. But if you can find someone to help with chores at your place, you should. You’re tired, Matthew. You aren’t as young as you once were.”

“My joints remind me every day about my age.”

The conversation I wanted to have with Tandy can wait. I can’t imagine living out the rest of my years without her. But I know better than to say that right before she moves in. She may have forgiven me for crawling out the window years ago, but there is still part of her that’s walled off because of it.

While I love the companionship and the Tandy who shows up decked out in sparkles, I find myself craving more. I want all of her. But seeing how flustered she got with the idea of moving in tells me she’s not ready to hear me say that.

So I don’t.

CHAPTER 23

TANDY

After a hectic couple of weeks, I’m fairly settled at Matthew’s. The cats still spend large chunks of the day slinking around, mapping out the house. They’ve gotten lots of extra treats the last few days.

Matthew is on the phone with his son, so I carry my tea out to the back porch to give him some privacy.

The old metal chair creaks as I sit, but thankfully, it doesn’t collapse underneath me. The summer heat is clinging to my skin long after the sun has sunk below the horizon. I think Mother Nature is angry at Texas because it feels like she’s trying to cook us to death.

The door opens, and Matthew steps behind me and massages my shoulders. “You don’t have to leave, you know?”

“Leave? I just came out because… You aren’t going to buy that I wanted to enjoy the evening, are you?”

“Nope. Come on inside.” He takes my tea, knowing I’ll spill it if I try holding it while I stand up. “I found a guy to take care of chores. He starts tomorrow, and we’ll try it for a week. That gives him time to see how he feels about the work, and me time to see how I feel about his work. But I’m hopeful he’ll be good.”

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