“Don’t worry, sweet pea, you’ll always be my number one girl,” Dirk said as he tilted Morgan back and expertly gave her a bottle.
A collective chorus of sighs echoed in the room as my mother, Lincoln, and my new fiancée all stared at Dirk and Morgan.
Chapter Thirty
KAYLEE
Ty didn’t drive far out of town before we were pulling up to a small cabin that was just a ways down from a larger house. I stepped out of the truck and looked at the Bitterroot Mountains and smiled. The blue sky seemed to give way to the mountain ridge. Random puffs of white clouds dotted the sky, giving it that familiar picturesque look I had come to love so much. It stole my breath, it was so beautiful.
“That’s Blodgett Canyon. You should see it in the fall. It’s beautiful.”
I turned to face Ty. “This whole area is stunning, any time of year.”
Ty’s eyes looked out over the vast land before us as he smiled. “I do love Montana.”
My heartbeat sped up slightly. It was crazy to me how much my life had changed in the last year. Simply because my best friend had decided she needed to move to another state and start fresh. I let out a contented sigh and faced Ty.
“Do you know the owners?”
He nodded. “Yes, I went to high school with Roy and his wife, Carol. They bought this fifty acres right out of college. Roy had the guesthouse built for his family on the East Coast who come out to visit. Sometimes they rent it out as well.”
“It’s beautiful. Not as beautiful as the ranch, but a close second.”
Ty beamed with happiness, then kissed me on the forehead. “Come on, I want to introduce you to them.”
“Okay,” I said, letting Ty slip his hand in mine and lead me over to the large home that sat a few hundred yards away from the cabin. A row of trees separated both houses, giving each property a sense of privacy. The smell of gardenias wafted around me. The scent instantly made me take in a long, deep breath. This was a place to come to completely unwind and relax.
Two dogs, a black Lab and a boxer, came running toward us, their tails going a mile a minute. Ty stopped and reached down to pet them both. I followed his lead. The Lab jumped and spun around, he was so happy.
“Hey, Frog! Louise! Good dogs.”
I laughed. “Did you just call him Frog?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah. When he was a puppy, he used to do this really weird bounce, like a frog. Hence, his name.”
With a gentle rub on the Lab’s belly, I gave him a little pout. “Poor baby, you’ve got a terrible name.”
His tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth, and he didn’t seem to have a care in the world. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ty! Damn, man, it’s good to see you!” A dark-haired guy stepped off the front porch with a strikingly attractive woman by his side. Her chestnut-brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and her hands were resting on a very pregnant stomach. They were a pretty couple, and if I had to guess, I’d go with football star and head cheerleader. They had that look to them.
“Kaylee, I’ve heard so much about you from Ty! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Carol said as she made her way over. She gave me a friendly hug and then stepped back and gave me a once-over. “He said you were beautiful; he didn’t say you were stunningly beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “Thank you,” I said. I wished I could tell her I’d heard a lot about her, but Ty had literally just mentioned Roy and Carol to me only moments ago.
It was Roy’s turn. He reached out for my hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kaylee. When Ty called me and asked about coming up here, I had to say I was shocked. It’s about damn time he finally met a woman who could put up with his shit.”
I smiled, and then my gaze drifted to meet Ty’s. He winked at me, and I felt my stomach flutter at the idea that Ty had been talking about me to his friends. I looked back at Roy and said, “Thank you so much for letting us stay here. It’s beautiful.”
“Just wait,” Carol said, giving me a saucy smile that said she knew something I didn’t. Then she laced her arm around mine, and we started walking up the steps of their house. “We just got back to Montana. We’ve been in Europe for over a year. So Ty had to fill us in on everything. I was stunned to hear Brock got married and had a baby. To your best friend too! It’s like something out of a romance book.”