“He left to take a job with the railroad. We’d always struggled financially and when the job opening came up, he applied knowing that we’d be taken care of. The railroad promised benefits, more money and a retirement package – all things we needed since we were starting a family. Tyler was about five when he left and doesn’t remember much other than his dad was gone. Paul worked in Dallas and would come home on the weekends, bringing his paycheck and treats for Tyler. One weekend he didn’t come home and I got the call a few days later that he’d died in an accident. I never remarried,” Clara said softly. “There could be no one else for me. Paul was everything and he left me Tyler. My boy looks just like his father did at that age.”
“Your boy is a wonderful man,” Rachel said gently, feeling her eyes burn at the thought of what a strong woman Clara must truly be. She’d lost the love of her life and given everything in her to raising her son. “You did an incredible job with him and your husband would be proud of you both.”
“I know he is,” Clara agreed, patting Rachel on the hand. “I talk to him all the time in my prayers and ask him to keep Tyler on the right path…Paul used to call it ‘the straight and narrow’ road. I’m glad you are here for us. Tyler needs someone like you in his life.”
“I like to think so too,” Rachel concurred and started up the car to drive Clara to her new home. As she drove, she listened to Clara tell her stories of when they were younger, the three of them as a family. Apparently Paul used to enjoy fishing and they would go out on Sundays after church as a family. Tyler used to call their catches ‘tish’ since he was so little.
It brought back memories of Rachel’s own family and how she grew up. They’d help pick the vegetable garden while her father ran the combine in the field. They’d spend time canning and pickling in order to restock the basement shelves where they’d taken from their stores during the winter. Rachel found herself wanting to make memories with Tyler, to have those moments to share years from now.
As they pulled up to the house, she saw Tyler standing on the front porch waiting for them. She pulled up close to the porch, in the grass next to his truck in order to let Clara out as close to the sidewalk as possible. Tyler was at the car in a heartbeat, opening the car door for his mother. Rachel wanted him to have this moment, to show his mother what he’d done for her. She stood near the car and watched the two of them move towards the front door, before Tyler turned and looked at her curiously.
“Are you coming, sweetheart?”
“You go ahead and show your mother,” Rachel told him and saw him stubbornly shake his head. The fierce look of love and pride was there as Tyler held his ground. Clara turned and looked between Tyler and Rachel, smiling softly in approval.
“Get up here,” he chastised. “We’ll do this together.” Rachel joined them on the porch and stood on her tiptoes to whisper to him.
“This is your moment, show your mother your home –I’m right behind you.”
“You are beside me,” Tyler countered firmly, not bothering to whisper. “I want it that way always…and it will be our home. You and me. I’ve got nothing to hide from anyone. I’ll tell anyone who asks that you’ve won my heart and that I love you dearly.”
“Rachel, join us – please.” Clara said tenderly, laying her hand on Rachel’s.
“Of course,” Rachel gave in, muttering under her breath what a pushy man Tyler was at times. His bark of laughter told her that he’d heard but didn’t disagree. The trio stepped in the front door and Rachel heard Clara’s sharp intake of breath. Tyler smiled proudly at Rachel over Clara’s head as she walked slowly through the house, her mouth agape in wonder.
“You’ll catch flies like that, Mama,” Tyler teased, only to get a sharp elbow in the ribs from Rachel.
“You let her enjoy this moment,” Rachel chastised, cozying up to Tyler’s side as Clara walked forward to inspect each room. She looked simply awestruck at the warm, lush, ambiance of the house and how cozy it felt.
“Yes ma’am,” he purred, smiling down at her as she took his arm. “Anything you say, sweetheart.”
Rachel watched his mother walk down the hallway towards the door that would open to her suite. She and Tyler stood there, arm in arm, watching from a distance as she discovered the glass enclosed walkway. Her cry of happiness and a softly spoken curse word made Tyler laugh outrageously and brought tears of joy to her eyes as Rachel giggled.
“What’d you say, Mama?” he called out, getting another sharp poke in the ribs. “Ouch! You are a bony little thing, are you?”
“Everyone is entitled to a little slip of the tongue when they get overwhelmed or emotional. Don’t tease your mother, Tyler.”
“Am I entitled to a little slip of the tongue?” he teased intimately, as he cozied up to Rachel and pulled her into his arms. “Ow! Ohhh, that smarts, Sugar!” he mocked playfully.
“I haven’t done anything,” she exclaimed, pushing against his chest.
“I know! That’s what hurts,” he said jokingly, putting a hand over his heart. “I asked nicely and got nuthin’”
“So melodramatic,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. “Come here,” she ordered and pulled his head back down towards her. His lips smiled against hers happily as he made exaggerated kissy-noises loudly, causing Rachel to start laughing aloud. She threw back her head giggling as he began to tickle her in his arms and she squirmed to get away. Rachel fell onto the couch she’d been leaning against and Tyler promptly joined her. Their tickling turned into breathless kissing in no time only to be interrupted by a loud ‘eh-hem!’ from nearby.
Both of their heads peered up guiltily from the sofa to see Clara standing nearby with a stern look to her face. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears of happiness, even if her mouth was turned down in a frown.
“Hi Mama,” Tyler said happily, winking at Rachel. “What’d you think of your new place?”
“I think you should have spent more insulating the rooms. I could hear you two huffing, puffing and giggling clear into my room. I guess you two are serious now?”
“Yes ma’am,” he confirmed, jumping to his feet. Rachel took his outstretched hand and quickly smoothed her hair. “I’d say it’s pretty serious between us.”
“I wasn’t asking you,” Clara addressed him firmly. “I know your heart, son, and you’ve never brought a young woman home to meet me. Rachel, how do you feel about him? Are you two an item?” Rachel looked up into Tyler’s eyes and slipped her arm easily around his waist in a possessive manner.
“Yes ma’am,” she breathed, smiling up at him. “I love him with everything I am.”
“Good,” Clara said, walking over towards them and pulling Rachel into a hug. “I knew I liked you and you were perfect for my boy. It takes a tough woman to love a Howe man because they certainly can be trying at times, but it’s well worth it. Now, how about we test out this new stove and fix dinner, just us girls.”
20
Rachel threw herself back into work, spending every day working with clients and coming up with new ideas and every evening with Tyler. They watched television together, talked about their day and dreams for the future. He went into the grocery each morning and would text her throughout the day, silly things just to let her know he was thinking about her. She loved the attention and felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
Things were good between them, even if they hadn’t gotten engaged or discussed anything of the sort. They’d talked about it there at the reveal, but he’d never mentioned it again. She trusted the feelings between them and relied on that. It didn’t take a diamond to solidify a relationship; it took love, trust and friendship – things that they had in spades.
Today was a beautiful day outside and she was a little terse at being cooped up inside. She’d bought a massive amount of iris bulbs to plant around the house with Clara. She’d mentioned that she wanted a few fruit trees but needed Tyler to dig the holes for that. Neither woman wanted to tackle that feat with the shovel. Rache
l texted him to remind him about the trees and she was surprised to have him ignore the text message. Her eyebrow curled upwards as she stared at the phone. The message indicating it had been read was present, but no response. Rachel texted Clara, “Have you heard from Tyler today?” It also said that it had been read, with no response.
Weird.
Setting her phone aside, she went back to work but for only a moment or two before it really began to bother her. She texted Tyler again with no response. This time, she called him instead of texting, hearing it ring a few times.
“Hey sweetheart,” his voice came through the speaker. “Can I call you back in a bit?”
“Of course, are you busy at work?”
“Nawww darling, I’m at the lot where we went hunting. Remember where it’s at?”
“Yes,” she said, feeling her temper rise at the casual, lackadaisical tone in his voice. She’d been worried something had happened to him. “What are…” she heard a few female voices in the background. “What are you doing there?”
“Waiting for you?” he told her in a jovial tone, “I gotta go sweetheart. I will see you later.” He abruptly ended the call and Rachel about threw her phone across the room. She trusted Tyler, however she didn’t trust a bunch of women hanging out with her man. Jumping to her feet, she stormed out of her office towards the front door.
“Reschedule the rest of my appointments, Julie,” Rachel gritted out between clenched teeth and nearly took the front glass door off the hinges. Her Mustang skidded as she peeled out of the parking lot into traffic to see exactly what was going on for herself.
Julie picked up the phone and dialed the number on the slip of paper she’d been given. She heard a man’s voice pick up on the other end. “Mr. Howe, Rachel is on the way and if her face was any indication…you, sir, are a dead man.”
“Nope,” he told her easily. “I will be a happy man when she gets here.”
“Whatever, it’s your funeral,” she shrugged uncaringly.
“Watch the news tonight, you’ll see.”
21
Tyler was certain that Rachel was in a fine snit of a temper right now. The woman was amazingly possessive for someone that played so well at being calm and collected. Her nonchalant attitude was all an act for work and he knew deep down inside was his beautiful farm-girl that was ready to hog-tie him. He’d been planning this for weeks and it had been hard as could be to keep it all a secret.
They were getting married, if she didn’t kill him first.
He knew he had a way of getting under her skin and decided to use it to his advantage. It was the only way he could think of to keep her mind occupied to where she couldn’t think clearly or wouldn’t suspect a thing. He’d contacted her family first to ask permission for her hand, assuring them he would fly them down for the wedding.
Originally, he was going to try to have it all arranged in a church there in town but when he realized that the gossips would have a field day with it and ruin the surprise – he chose to have it in the place where he first fell in love with her. That day he’d kissed her at the deer stand. He’d been infatuated at their first meeting in her office, but he’d fallen hard for his beautiful girl in camo with marshmallow all over her fingers. That moment had stuck with him and he felt like a sentimental sap every time he thought about it.
Tyler wanted Rachel to have the dress, the church, the bells and whistles, but then realized that it was all for show and the only thing he wanted was her heart. Marrying her under the heavens seemed so appropriate because he was certain that God had allowed him to win the lottery in order to put Rachel in his path. You never prayed for money, but you could pray to find happiness and love.
Looking down at his watch, he saw that he should have about ten more minutes until she arrived. He heard the sound of a car squeal tires as it came around the bend and swallowed hard. She was really early, which meant she was really fired up if she’d sped the entire way.
“Mrs. Thorpe, does Rachel keep a gun in her car?”
“Why? Are you suddenly scared?”
“Ma’am – I’m honestly terrified,” Tyler admitted, feeling his knees turn into Jell-O at the sight of the green mustang pulling onto the shoulder of the road with the other cars. “I know you pack heat, but seriously – does she?”
“She is my little girl,” Carolyn Thorpe said with a wry smile that turned into a Cheshire cat grin as Tyler cursed aloud and turned white as a ghost.
Rachel saw the group of cars on the side of the road long before she ever saw anyone. She was madder than a firecracker thinking that Tyler must be throwing a party out here without her knowledge. Was he drunk when he answered the phone? She’d never seen him drink nothing more than a beer before but something was definitely going on up ahead.
Her high heeled shoes sank deeply in the mud, making her even madder. They were brand new and she adored them. Her pale beige business suit was sure to be ruined to match the shoes, but she didn’t care. Sure enough, as she stomped down the trail mud splashed up on the hem of her pants, making her see red in her vision. That irritating man could just buy her a new pants suit for what it would cost the drycleaners to remove all the stains she was bound to have. Coming around the bend, she came to an abrupt halt and stared.
“What is going on out here?” she blurted out, confused at the sight ahead of her. She thought she might be hallucinating because her mother was standing there in a pink dress next to Clara, who was also wearing a lovely dress and some wellies because of all the mud. It had rained for days on end and this was the first beautiful weather they’d had in a week.
The nurse from the rehab center and her boss waved at her, as well as several of her cousins and men she didn’t know. A tall man walked up to her and held out his arm.
“My name is Mr. Singleton and Tyler is my boss at the store,” he explained and smiled sympathetically at her confused expression. Rachel’s mind was utterly boggled as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on.
“Where’s Tyler?”
“Right where he should be,” he answered evasively, walking her from the muddied grass to a mulch pathway. She saw a man in a suit standing next to Tyler where he stood proudly. He was dressed in his worn-out wrangler jeans and had a dress shirt tucked in neatly. His worn-out boots very nearly matched her heels as she got closer and he had a camouflage trucker cap perched on his head. He nodded his head off to the side, just past Rachel, which had her turning and looking over her shoulder to see a news crew and cameras coming up the trail behind her.
Rachel’s knees gave out and she caught herself on Mr. Singleton’s arm as her mother rushed over to help her back up before she sprained an ankle.
“You’re fellow is a really good man,” her mother whispered. “Smile baby, you are on camera.”
“What? I am?” she whispered, mortified, and saw Tyler walking towards her.
“Hey beautiful,” Tyler told her softly, taking her hand as Mr. Singleton stepped back. Rachel glanced up at him in shock to see three rings whip stitched to the bill of his trucker cap where he normally had a massive fish hook instead. “I know it’s short notice and I wanted to surprise you…”
“You have done just that,” Rachel breathed, gawking at the group of friends and family members gathering around them. “Is this what I think this is? Why in the world are there cameras here?”
“If you’ll have me,” he said with a warm smile. “It’s not every day a billionaire gets married in Eureka to the love of his life and I want everyone to know it. I wanted to come to the place where I first fell in love with you. My beautiful, rifle-toting, camo-wearing, fantasy woman. You are better than anything I could have imagined in a genteel lady. I wanted to marry you in front of the most important things in my life…”
“God, Country and your Mama…” they repeated together and he smiled tenderly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“…and you,” Tyler amended. “You are one of the most important things i
n this world to me and I can’t imagine another day passing without you becoming my wife. Will you marry me, Rachel? Make me the luckiest man in this world…a second time around?”
“I thought you’d never get around to this,” she admitted.
“She said yes!” he hollered over his shoulder to everyone that had been trying to listen in to their silent conversation. The pastor stepped forward and joined them to begin speaking until they got to the part about their vows. Reaching up, he yanked the trio of rings off his hat with a shy smile at her, taking her hands in his.
“Honesty always between us,” he began as a silent hint to her, causing her to smile instead of panic at the lack of planning. “I’m a redneck through and through… but I can love you like no other in this world if you’ll have me. It’s always been family first with me – and I want you as part of my family, our family,” he swallowed hard, his eyes shining with all the love she knew he felt right now. Rachel was surprised to see him actually looking humble where she thought that there wasn’t an ounce of him that ever could be that way.
“Marrying me is a long project, it’s sure to be ungrateful at times but well worth it in the end- I promise. I love you Rachel Thorpe more than I ever dreamt was possible and would be honored to become your husband. Through sickness and in health, for richer…and preferably not much poorer -and never, ever will we part,” he said firmly, as he sniffled and blinked several times. Awww, she thought, he’s such a soft man on the inside just like a big ol bear.
“It’s a project I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” Rachel admitted tenderly, looking into his dark, hazel eyes that shined with adoration. “I just didn’t know it yet until you strutted into my office wearing those tight wranglers and that barely-there T-shirt. I about swallowed my tongue that day when you smiled at me. I love the way you make me laugh or blush, the way you watch me when you think I’m not looking…and the way we eat s’mores together,” she said boldly, winking at him. She grinned as she saw his knowing smile and his neck flushed with embarrassment at the reminder of their first real kiss. “I promise to love you forever regardless of whether or not you’re rich because having your heart is priceless to me and I will treasure it always.”
Winning the Billionaire Page 15
