He snapped another picture and sent it to Tam.For your new porch?The words went through easily, but the picture took forever to upload.
My new porch?Tam asked, but Blaine headed back to his truck without answering. Back in the air conditioned truck, he hesitated with his thumbs hovering above the screen. How did he answer her?
“Dumbo,” he muttered to himself. “The new porch was a surprise you weren’t going to bring up until you had something ready to show her.”
The passenger door opened, and Trey climbed in the truck, interrupting Blaine before he could answer Tam. A heavy sigh came with his brother, and Blaine looked at him. “Rough talk with Beth?”
Trey kept his eyes on the farmhouse. “No, she just apologizes over and over.”
Blaine watched Trey for a moment. “You can talk on the way to the clothing store. Cayden called and said Spur was pacing.”
“Great,” Trey said. “Us being late isn’t helping, I’m sure.”
“Spur gets how things go on the ranch,” Blaine said. “How many times have you heard him say animals can be unpredictable?”
“At least a thousand,” Trey said, laughing. “I just hate being the animal.”
“You weren’t,” Blaine said. “It was TJ.”
“Yeah,” Trey said, his voice indicating that his mind was far away. Blaine glanced at him, but Trey didn’t say anything else, so he let it drop. Trey had never asked him about Tam, and Blaine appreciated the space his older brother gave him.
The phone rang, and Blaine yelped at the volume of it. He and Trey reached to turn it down at the same time, and he wasn’t sure which one of them managed it. Thankfully, the volume reduced, and he tapped the green button to connect Tam’s call.
“Hey, you’re on speaker,” he said, glancing at Trey. He had his keen eyes on Blaine now.
“You never answered my question,” she said.
“Yeah, I was at the Dixon farm, and Trey came out. We’re on our way to the tuxedo shop.”
“Does Beth Dixon have that swing on her porch?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Blaine said, noting the interest in Tam’s voice. “I thought you’d like it.”
“What did you mean by mynewporch?”
He glanced at Trey, who hadn’t looked away from him once. He rolled his eyes and waved at him, but that only made Trey smile. “I’m working on something,” he said to Tam. “I don’t want to tell you about it yet.”
“Intriguing,” Tam said, and Trey muttered the same thing.
“Okay,” Blaine said, annoyed with his brother. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“What will you be wearing?”
Trey coughed, and heat filled Blaine’s face, despite the innocence of the question. “It’s a community drive-in clean-up project. I’m going to wear the same stuff I’ve been wearing all day on the ranch.” He looked at Trey. “We’re going to be picking up trash and moving debris.”
“What are you talking about?” Tam asked.
“What areyoutalking about?” Blaine repeated.
“The drive-in clean-up is tomorrow,” Tam said, giggling. “We’re going to that line dancing class tonight.”
Trey burst out laughing, and Blaine picked up his phone and disconnected the Bluetooth. He held the device to his ear to find Tam laughing too. “My brother is being ridiculous,” he said.
“I think the line dancing class is going to be a riot too,” she said.
“I’m not going,” he said.
“What?” Tam sobered quickly. “Why not?”