by Misty Malone
“I’m not sure I need that exactly.”
“I am,” he said unashamedly. “You need someone to look out for you and hold you accountable, give you the consequences that will eliminate your guilt when you do something you’re not proud of.” He was still talking quietly and holding her hand tightly. “But enough about them for now. If we’re both serious about this, I’ll share something with you about my background that I’ve shared with very few people, including your father and brother.”
“I’m serious. But what are you hiding, Ty?”
Chapter Seven
“I’m not really hiding anything, Cheyenne,” Ty clarified. “I just don’t offer the information to many people.”
“So should I not tell anyone?”
“I’m not ashamed of it or anything, but I just don’t see any reason to share it unless someone asks. Luckily no one in Wyoming, including your father and brother, have asked.”
“So this is something they don’t know about you?”
“As far as I know they don’t. You wondered why I understood about you and your mother not having the same values about things, and why I said it’s okay to be your own person. Well, that’s partly because I’ve experienced it personally myself, too.”
“You and your mother don’t have the same values?”
“My dad and I.”
“Oh. What do you disagree about?”
Ty sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you the whole story, because I really do think communication is very important to a relationship. I don’t want to keep anything from you. No secrets. But will you do the same for me?”
“Sure. But I don’t have any secrets I’ve kept from you.”
“Part of what I’m talking about is feelings. If something’s bothering you I want you to tell me so I can see if I can help. That’s very important to me. If you have a problem, of any kind, I want to know about it. Maybe I can help. Maybe not, but I at least want to know about it so you’re not going through it alone. Okay?”
She couldn’t help but smile a bit, and she felt tears forming in her eyes, but she fought them back. “You mean that, don’t you?”
He squeezed her hand and said, “Of course I mean that.”
“Thank you. That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s said to me in a long time, Ty.”
“Then you’ve been hanging around with the wrong people.” He kissed her hand, and just as he was about to begin his story, the waitress brought their food. He waited until they’d started eating to start. “I was born and raised in New Jersey. My dad is an attorney, and he always thought I should be an attorney, as well. He’s a proud partner in a high-powered law firm, and thought that should be my dream job, too. Only it wasn’t.”
“So how did you convince him you didn’t want to be an attorney?”
“Well, I didn’t really.”
“What do you mean?”
“I talked to him until I was blue in the face, but he didn’t understand why I would want to throw away such a lucrative career that was practically promised to me, just to work on a ranch. I wanted to try ranching first, and if I didn’t like it or it didn’t work out, I told him I’d go to college and get my law degree. He had a fit.”
“So who won?”
“My grandfather. He and I have always been close, and he talked to me about it a lot. See, there was another thing to consider here, too. I graduated from high school early, so I was underage. That would have made it more difficult for me to leave home and try and get a job that far away, and Dad wouldn’t sign anything. He and Mom didn’t think I was ready to leave home yet.”
“What did you think?”
He grinned and looked a little sheepish. “Back then I thought I was more than ready. I was ready to take on the world and there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do. Today I’ll admit I wasn’t ready yet then. I had more growing up to do. Grandpa convinced me of that, so finally I agreed to go to school first. When I was in high school, they had a program where if you had good enough grades you could take classes at the university just down the road and the classes counted for high school credit as well as college, and I did that, so I only had to go two more years to get my degree.”
“In business administration?”
“Right.”
“Then you came to Wyoming?”
“No. Then I went to law school for Dad.”
Cheyenne’s eyes grew large. “Whoa, wait a minute. So, did you finish; are you actually an attorney?”
Ty actually turned a bit red himself as he answered. “Yes, I finished, and I took the Bar exam and passed, so yes, I could be an attorney if I wanted to.”
“Did you work with your dad?”
“Nope. As soon as I graduated I came to Wyoming. I went back to take the Bar exam because my grandfather asked me to, but I’ve never worked as an attorney.”
“But you could if you wanted to?”
“I could.”
“Wow. Why don’t you want anyone to know that?”
“It’s not that I don’t want anyone to know it. It’s just that, I don’t use it and don’t plan on using it, and I was afraid if I told ranchers I had those credentials they wouldn’t take me seriously about wanting to be a ranch hand. They’d be afraid I wouldn’t stay.”
“Okay, I can see that.” She was quiet, thinking, and Ty gave her time to absorb all the information he’d just laid out for her. After a bit she looked confused as she looked up at him. “Okay, wait a minute. I thought Clay said you were about the same age as him, but you can’t be. College, law school, three years at the other ranch, three years here. You’ve got to be several years older than him, and he’s a couple years older than me. So how old are you?”
He chuckled. “You’re afraid you’re dating an old man? Actually, I’m not as old as you think. I’m a year older than Clay. You’re twenty-three, Clay just turned twenty-six, and I’m twenty-seven. That’s not that much of a difference, is it?”
“No, not at all, but how can that be?”
“I graduated from high school at sixteen, two years later got my degree at eighteen, and my law degree three years later, at twenty-one.”
“But how did you—what are you; a genius? How did you graduate so young? Wait a minute. You’re from New Jersey?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you graduate from college?”
“The local university.”
“Was that local university by any chance called Princeton?”
“It was,” he acknowledged as he again turned red.
“Whoa. So my cowboy graduated from Princeton when he was eighteen.”
He couldn’t help but grin and tease her a bit. “What; are most stupid cowboys older when they graduate from Princeton?”
Now Cheyenne turned red. “I’m sorry, Ty. I was right, though, when I said you were one smart cowboy.”
Ty turned serious. “Cheyenne, I really didn’t get upset when you called me a stupid cowboy because I understood then, and still do, that you weren’t happy on the ranch. What did upset me, though, is that you assumed because you wouldn’t want to work on a ranch, the only people who would are stupid. You’ve stereotyped all cowboys as being stupid. That bothers me.”
Cheyenne put down her fork and stopped eating, just staring at her food. When she looked back up at him, she nodded. “You’re right, Ty, I have, and that’s not right.”
“Well, now that you’ve realized it, you can work on changing the way you look at them. One thing I’d like to see you stop doing is teasing the men and then not talking to them.”
“Teasing them?”
“Yes, teasing them,” he repeated. “Wearing those short shorts, waving at them, and then ignoring them when they try talking to you. I want that to stop, honey. That’s rude, and those men are not stupid. I have a lot of respect for all of them. They all work hard, and they don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll stop, I promise.”
Ty smiled and gentled his voi
ce again. “Thank you. Now, I’ve told you my story.”
“What does your dad think now? Is he okay with you doing what you want to do?”
Ty frowned. “I don’t know. He wasn’t happy when I left and I haven’t talked to him since.”
“Oh, Ty, I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It’s his choice. He has my cell phone number and could call if he wants. He thinks I’m making a huge mistake, throwing that education away when, as he puts it, I could make a better living and it would be a lot easier. He likes being an attorney, and that’s fine, for him. He’s happy doing it and I’m happy for him. What he doesn’t understand, though, is it’s not what I want to do at all. I love ranching. I’m happy doing it. I would be miserable working as an attorney. He doesn’t understand that and he won’t try to, so there’s nothing much I can do about it.”
“But you’ve stayed in contact with your grandfather?”
“Absolutely,” he said, smiling again. “We talk at least once a week.”
“You should go visit him sometime. Can he travel? He might like to see where you live. We have plenty of room in the main house. Clay and Dad would love to have him stay with us.”
“I have an extra bedroom in my house. I’d hate to bother you guys, but I have been thinking about seeing if he wants to come down here to visit.”
“You should. But Dad and Clay would prefer he stay with us, so he has company during the day when you’re not there. But you guys can work it out. You know your grandfather better than we do. Wherever you think he’d be more comfortable will be fine with the guys, I’m sure.”
“I’ll give it some more thought. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Ty, for sharing that. Now I see why you seemed to pick up on my mom.” She grinned and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “That, and the fact that it turns out I’m not dating one smart cowboy, I’m dating a genius.”
“Now that you know my story, if you go back for your MBA, I promise I’ll help you if you need it. So are you ready to apply now?”
“You really want me to get this MBA, don’t you?”
“I told you I won’t lie to you, Cheyenne, and I won’t. Yes, I would like to see you get it.”
“Why? I’m not a genius. Do you just want to see me struggle?”
He gave her a quick look of warning, but said, “No, that’s not it at all. And I don’t believe that will happen, but if you do have problems I’ll help you. But I would like to see you get it so you can prove to yourself you can. I don’t know why you don’t see the same good things in you that I do, but if you get your MBA it will help your self-confidence, I’m sure. But the main reason, it will help a lot when it comes to running a store. You’ll learn a lot about how to start it and keep it running. It’s tough enough to start a new business or store, but if you have the knowledge you’ll get from your MBA and the added self-confidence, it will help. Trust me. And I want you to succeed, honey.”
The waitress came to take their dessert order. Once she left Cheyenne was quiet. “What are you thinking, sweetheart?”
“Nothing.”
“Cheyenne,” he warned, “we’ll try that again. What are you thinking, sweetheart? I can tell something’s on your mind.”
“It’s just, you said you want me to get my MBA to help my self-confidence.”
“Right.”
“What if I can’t do it?”
“You will, I’m sure. If you need any help, Clay and I’ll be there for you. We’ll help you through it.”
“But you’re a genius. If I can’t do this, I’ll look really stupid to you and you won’t—”
“Have we talked about you putting yourself down, Cheyenne, and what I think of it?”
“Yes, and I don’t want to upset you, but you told me to tell you if something’s bothering me, too. Well, this is, and I think it’s a legitimate concern. I didn’t do well in college. If I struggle here, I’ll be embarrassed in front of you. What if you see how far below you I am and you decide it’s too much of a difference?”
Ty patiently looked around, assuring their privacy before leaning closer to her and speaking softly. “That went too far, Cheyenne, and right after I warned you. You’ve now earned a spanking. Your behavior from now until we’re alone and you receive it will determine how severe it will be. Arguing would not be a good thing. If you would have told me your concern without the little comment about how far below me you are, we would simply be discussing this like adults now, with no spanking hanging over your head.”
“But Ty—”
He listened but the expression on his face was also a definite warning. She thought better of the argument she had in mind and said, “I’m sorry.”
He quickly smiled and patted her hand. “Much better, sweetie. Now, let’s discuss this like adults. I’ve been around you enough to know you pretty well. If you struggle with classes in school, it’s not going to change my feelings for you. I’ll help you, and if you stick with it and give it your best effort, it will impress me that much more. Your book knowledge has nothing to do with whether I’m attracted to you or not.”
He could tell she was listening to what he was saying. “If you set a goal and go for it, that is one of the most attractive things a woman can do, in my opinion. If you look at an MBA as not just a piece of paper saying you accomplished something, but as a way to gain the knowledge that will be helpful to you in running your business, I think you’ll do fine. And if you need some help, be a big enough person to let me or your brother help. That’s what’s attractive to me. Not your IQ.”
He reached over and gently pulled her chin up so she was looking at him. “Do you understand what I’m saying, sweetheart?”
He could tell she was fighting back tears as she answered quietly. “I do now.”
“Good.” He reached over and kissed the tip of her nose. He tried to lighten the mood so she could control those tears she was struggling with. “Now, you haven’t even tried that chocolate explosion in front of you. Is it not what you expected?”
She looked into his eyes, which seemed to be smiling at her somehow, and couldn’t resist smiling. “It’s just so huge, and I’m so full.”
“Yeah, me, too. How about we take that home with us. Maybe we can share it later?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Knowing she wasn’t thanking him for the dessert, he winked. “You’re certainly welcome, Cheyenne.”
They spent the next ten minutes enjoying some coffee and talking about much lighter topics while the waitress boxed up their dessert. When they left, Ty led her out of the restaurant with his hand on her lower back, and she was a bit taken back by that simple act. It was such a simple thing, but she found herself almost overcome with emotion from it. It felt absolutely wonderful.
By the time they reached his truck and he helped her in, she had tears in her eyes from it, which he immediately noticed. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Not able to find her voice right away, she shook her head. He looked at her sternly, with a look of warning. “Cheyenne?”
She held up her finger in an attempt to buy herself a few seconds, and he watched as she gathered her strength. She finally looked at him and said, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong.” When he still looked confused she added, “But there are a lot of things right. I’m not upset about anything, Ty, honest. I’m just kind of emotional right now for some reason. But emotionally happy.”
He looked into her eyes and could easily see the truth in her words. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Let me get in the truck and we can talk.”
Once he was seated in the driver’s seat he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re sure you’re okay, darlin’?”
“I’m positive. For some reason I was just a little overcome when you put your hand on my back.”
“Is that something you—”
“I loved it. I really don’t know why it hit me like it did, but it did.” He looked at her, trying to understand he
r feelings. She tried again to explain. “When you put your hand on my back, gently leading me, somehow I could feel how much you care for me. Then, feeling that, I realized you care that much for me every time you lead me.”
He smiled at the little lady who was quickly stealing his heart. “I do, darlin’. I want to lead you to be the best person you can be because I know you well enough already to know that that’s when you’ll be the happiest.”
She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. He leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers. When she didn’t shy away from him, he moved one hand to the back of her head and kissed her more passionately. When she returned his passion, he was elated. His fingers were moving through her hair of their own accord, and before he could stop himself, his tongue was seeking entrance into her mouth. She allowed it, and he soon had to pull back, before he lost the ability to. They were both breathing deeply. He leaned his forehead against hers, almost resting, catching his breath.
When he’d finally regained control of his senses, he said, “Wow. I’m sorry, Cheyenne. That went further than a first kiss should have.” After a moment, he looked into her eyes. “But wow, what a kiss.”
Cheyenne was still trying to catch her breath herself, but agreed. “Yeah. What a kiss.”
He chuckled a bit as he seemed to be thinking out loud. “They say you can tell a lot by a first kiss.”
“So what did that one tell you?”
He looked at her and winked. “That maybe this relationship is just what we both need.” He loved seeing the smile on her face at those words. “At the least it says there is definitely something between us and we need to explore that.”
“Oh, yeah,” she moaned as he leaned in for another kiss.
Hearing her moan those words was almost his undoing. But after another very passionate kiss, he reminded himself that he is a gentleman and this little lady deserved the best this cowboy could give. With that thought in mind, he pulled away. “Oh, yeah, we’ve got some exploring to do.”
She chuckled and leaned against him, nodding her head.
