Page 84 of All Inn Thyme
Ty comes up and stands in front of me, but his parents hang back.
“How did you do this? How did you get her?”
“I stole her when I went home last month, and my mom kept her until we could get her back to you. And I have two very important people I’d like for you to meet,” he says nervously.
“Oh, Ty,” I say as we walk toward them, holding Sassy who is licking my face and squirming, very happy to see me. His mom immediately pulls me into a hug.
“Hi, sweetie, it’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Tally, and this is Dale,” she says, pointing to her husband who has a ball cap on just like his son usually does. He nods and smiles, his eyes matching Ty’s, his almost identical beard with grey peppered through it.
“It’s so nice to meet you both, too. I can’t believe this. Thank you so much.”
“Ty asked us to bring her. The ATF flew us up here as a favor to Ty for all his hard work on his case. It was a big one, and he worked so hard on it for so long.”
“Mom…” he says, but he squeezes her arm gently, seeming nervous and embarrassed.
“Thank you so much. Really. I have worried about Sassy every day since we left.”
“It’s our pleasure, honey. She’s a good dog, and she sure is happy to see you. I bet she’ll like it here. Now, honey, show me these tomatoes I’ve been hearing about…” she says, pulling me down the path.
I look back to Ty and mouth, “Thank you.”
* * *
Ty and I don’t have a chance to talk, but I ride with them back to the inn so that he can drop his parents off there for the night. When Ty comes back out, I’m sitting by the firepit with Sassy, who is sprawled across my lap. I’m stroking her soft fur and I can’t believe she’s really here. Kase is going to be so happy.
Ty walks toward me hesitantly. “Can we talk now? Please.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go home and talk.”
We don’t say anything as I follow him to the truck, as he opens the door for me, as we drive to the bunkhouse. The only sound is Sassy’s elated panting.
We go in, and it still feels like home. He feels like home, despite everything that has happened. I set Sassy down to explore, and she sniffs and wags her tail.
I can’t even look at him, I’m too nervous. I don’t know what to say. He feels like a stranger to me right now, yet I still love him. Sometimes love isn’t enough if you can’t trust someone, though.
As always, he’s in tune with what I’m thinking and feeling.
“I love you,” he says softly.
“I feel like I don’t even really know you. I don’t know what’s real and what’s in my head,” I say honestly.
“We’re real,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “We’ve always been real. The only thing that wasn’t real was my job at Larkin. I was an ATF agent working on a Fentanyl case that turned into a long assignment. It was never meant to go this long, but I’m so glad that it did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have met you and Kase.”
I turn to look at him and he strokes Sassy’s head. “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.”
“Can you tell me everything now?”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Was Toad involved in any of this?” I ask, remembering that he worked at Larkin, too.
“No. The Eastern Bones were clean. In fact, they actually helped us. They didn’t want that crap around here either.”
“Where are you really from?”
“Alabama. That is all true.”
