21
Tam’s heartbeat pulsed super fast in her chest as she made the turn onto Bluegrass Ranch. She wished it wouldn’t, but she couldn’t seem to control her heartbeat. It did what it wanted, no matter what directions she gave it.
She breathed in slowly, because that sometimes worked to help her calm down, but no amount of deep breathing was going to settle her.
She was picking up Blaine Chappell for dinner, and that was simply outrageous. Part of her hoped he’d be sitting on the front steps, waiting for her. All of her hoped that, actually, because she didn’t want to go up to the front door and ring the doorbell. If he wasn’t outside, she’d just go in the garage entrance, because Tam couldn’t remember the last time she’d used the Chappell’s front door.
If his driveway wasn’t so dang long, Tam would know what she had to do already.
Her phone blitzed out a bubbling sound, and she looked at the radio screen in her truck. Just text me when you get here. I’ll…
From Blaine.
“Even better,” Tam muttered. She could text him that she was waiting outside, like he’d done for her when he’d picked her up for high school for the few months they’d carpooled. The real problem was she didn’t want the same relationship with Blaine now that she’d had then. She didn’t want a ride-share friend she texted when she got to his house.
She’d never actually done that, because she hadn’t had a phone back then. Only the rich had beepers and the earliest cell phones, which meant that Blaine had definitely had one. Bluegrass Ranch screamed of the wealth the Chappell’s had, and Tam had never asked Blaine how much would be his. He’d never volunteered the information either, and Tam found herself wondering.
There were eight brothers. How much would they each get? How much of the ranch did they own? Or did one of them own it, and the others got paid a salary?
Tam arrived at the house, still no closer to a solution for her new relationship with Blaine. She didn’t want to text him, so she parked and got out of her truck. She glanced around the front yard and headed for the garage, her step sure.
She’d showered in the mid-afternoon, and she’d put on a clean pair of jeans. She saw no point in opting for a skirt or a dress, as she literally only wore such things to church. She didn’t want Blaine to think she was trying too hard. She didn’t want Blaine to think she wanted him to kiss her again, though she did.
She’d put on a pale pink blouse with big, splashy sailboats all over it, and she’d paired her clothes with her cowgirl boots. She’d curled her blonde hair, but that was nothing new. The makeup she wore was a little new, because Tam saw no point in brushing foundation and blush on her face only to sweat it off as she wrestled with leather.
She sometimes wore makeup to church, but she sometimes woke too late and rushed out the door with her earrings in her hand. She’d put them in on the drive to the chapel, and she’d sit on the side with her mom, who always had a warm smile for her—and the question about who she was seeing.
Tam hadn’t been to church in a while, to say the least.
She went into the garage and up the steps to the door that led into the house. The Chappells had a mudroom that was more like personalized storage for the men that lived there, along with a laundry room right off the entrance. Sometimes they came in from the ranch mighty dirty, and Blaine’s father had been smart with the design of the homestead.
Down the hall sat the kitchen, and Tam went that way, hearing a few men’s voices echo back to her.
“…that’s all I’m saying,” Duke said.
“I know what you’re saying,” Trey said. “But I don’t believe it.” He turned to put something back into the fridge, and his eyes caught on Tam’s. “Oh, hey, Tam.”
“Hey, Trey.” She smiled and coached herself not to reach up and tuck her hair behind her ear.
“Blaine’s on the back deck. Our mother called.”
Tam looked right, where the back deck was. “Could be hours.”
“Nah, he has a date tonight,” Trey said with a grin. “He said he can’t be late.”
“A date?” Tam’s pulse raced again, and she glanced at Trey. “Blaine?”
“Right?” Trey laughed and picked up his bowl of cereal. “He wouldn’t say who it was with, but when Ma called, he rolled his eyes and said, ‘I don’t have time for this.’”
“He still answered.”
“Yes, he did. Blaine is such a momma’s boy.”
Tam knew that, and she actually found it charming and endearing. He cared about his mother, and out of all the boys, he was the one who stuck up for her the most.
“You look nice,” Duke said, scanning Tam as he went past her. “Blaine’s all dressed up too.” He continued down the hall, calling, “I’m headed out with Alli. Don’t wait up for me.”
“You don’t even live here,” Trey called after him, but Duke just went out the door without another word.