Page 83 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“Wyl talked the entire trip about Rod this and Rod that, although we did manage to squeeze in a few minutes for the Mitzi situation. And except for the scowl he gave her in the attorney’s office, a smile never left his face. He told me you got him through the events surrounding Walt’s death.”
“Well, I did what any partner would do.” I elbowed Wyl. “He makes me happy, too.”
“I’ll let you two head on home. Wyl, come by the office Monday to sign the settlement papers, and we’ll put this mess to bed.” Sam nodded.
“Thanks for all you did, Sam. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Rod. Take care now.” Sam extended his hand for a farewell shake.
“You too, Sam.” I shook Sam’s hand.
Sam entered his office while Wyl and I climbed into the Tacoma for the trip back to the ranch. I glanced over at him and realized what was different. His hair. It was short. “That surprise you mentioned in your email. Haircut?”
Wyl nodded. “Yeah. In my mother's tribe, hair was often cut when a loved one died. It’s my way of honoring Walt. I found a place in Dallas that would cut my braid and preserve it for me. I have it in my bag. We can send it to one of the hair donation organizations focused on Native Americans.”
Seeing the back of his head without the braid was different, but he was as handsome as ever. I reached for his head and rubbed my hand over the soft, short hair.
Wyl closed his eyes. “I love you rubbing my head, babe. I missed your touch.”
“My fingers love your silky hair, Wyl. And now you look like Walt.”
Wyl took my hand, kissed my knuckles, and smiled. As we drove west, the up-to-something smile on Wyl’s face told me there was more than the haircut and successful lawyer meeting in Dallas. “Okay, Wyl. What’s going on? You’re almost giddy. Marines don’t do giddy.”
Wyl waggled his eyebrows. “I had a thought, Roddy.”
“About what?”
“With the Mitzi thing settled, I figured we should go away for a weekend to celebrate.”
“Settled, huh? Do you think Mitzi will give up? She tried two different tactics. While neither worked, she doesn’t seem the type to walk away.” Rod said.
“Yeah, you make a good point. But we put legal cuffs on Mitzi, so we can ignore anything else she tries to pull.” At least, I hoped so. I couldn’t imagine what else she could do. Rod’s uncertainty stuck to me like glue. If she were persistent, we might need to employ our own legal means of stopping her. But for now, she was stopped.
“Back to the weekend getaway,” Rod said. “I’m guessing you have a destination in mind?”
“I do. Your favorite opera,Don Giovanni, is in production now at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. I got us tickets for tomorrow night.”
I gasped. “Wyl, you got tickets toDon Giovanni?” My mouth hung open. “How did you know it was my favorite?”
“We studied it in class, remember? You mentioned it the day we listened to an excerpt. Are you up for a road trip?”
“I remember,” I stretched over for a brief kiss. “And yes to a road trip.”
“I booked us a hotel in Fort Worth. We can go tomorrow and spend the weekend together.”
I reached for Wyl’s shoulder and squeezed hard. “I can’t believe you got us tickets to the opera.”
“Ow…babe. The bitch-troll-from-hell is handled, and I want to spend time with my man. And Fort Worth is perfect.”
“Perfect for what?”
“Perfect for our first out-of-town trip together.”
Rod shook his head. “We’ve been to Kerrville. Isn’t that out of town?”
“That doesn’t count. That’s our second home.”
* * *
