Willow in Bloom Read Online Free PDF Page B

myself,” he joked.
    Willow got to her feet, too, tagging along.
    As she did, her gaze took a dip to his derriere, and she realized her own memory hadn’t done it justice.
    But that was the last thing she needed to be thinking about, so she forced her eyes to behave, and made small talk to occupy her mind.
    â€œWhen I was a teenager my job was to make our deliveries. Mr. Harris would have me come in as far as the living room while he signed the receipt. I’ve never seen the rest of the house, though.”
    â€œI’ll give you the grand tour,” Tyler promised.“But be warned, there isn’t much to see. Before this I lived in a studio apartment, and I was only there when I wasn’t chasing rodeos. So I didn’t have a lot to bring with me to fill this place up.”
    They went through a large, empty dining room before they passed under an archway to get to the kitchen. The very white kitchen. Walls, cupboards and appliances were all sterile, hospital white, and there wasn’t a single other color to break the almost blinding, institutional effect.
    Apparently that fact wasn’t lost on Tyler. As he went to the refrigerator he said, “You just about need sunglasses in here.”
    â€œJust about,” Willow agreed.
    Tyler poured two glasses of iced tea and asked if Willow wanted sugar in hers. When she declined, he handed her one of the glasses and then they set out for the tour of the house.
    He was right about there being nothing much to see. There were four bedrooms, three baths and a recreation room upstairs; another bathroom, a den and a library to go with the kitchen, living room and dining room downstairs. But room after room was bare, except for beds in two of the bedrooms, and a few unpacked boxes here and there.
    â€œYou weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t bring much with you,” she said as they returned to the living room. Tyler had pointed in the direction of the sofa with his chin, inviting Willow to sit down again.
    â€œI know,” he said with a laugh that transported her back to that night in Tulsa, when they’d both done a lot of laughing and the sound of his deep, full-barreled chuckle had sent a skitter of delight along her spine. Just as it did now.
    Then he added, “And I don’t have any idea where to start to furnish the place. Or where to even look for things in Black Arrow.”
    â€œWe actually have a furniture store. With some factory-manufactured things and some really nice hand-crafted pieces that folks around town make,” she informed him.
    She knew this was a prime opening, but it took a moment of screwing up her courage to take advantage of it. “I’d be happy to go with you, show you where it is, give you my opinion—for what it’s worth.”
    â€œI might just take you up on that. I could definitely use a woman’s advice when it comes to decorating.”
    Not many men in Black Arrow thought of her as a woman. It pleased Willow to no end that Tyler did.
    But she tried to contain her pleasure. She didn’t want to appear too eager.
    â€œSo where are you from?” she asked, changing the subject before she got carried away. And also because when she’d found out she was pregnant she’d realized she’d actually learned next to nothing about him that night in Tulsa, and thought it was time she did.
    â€œI was born and raised in Wyoming,” he answered.
    â€œIs that where your family is?”
    â€œMy folks died in a flood up there a few years back.That left only me and my brother, Brick. Brick is still riding the rodeo circuit, and since I bought this place we gave up the apartment we shared in Cheyenne. When he needs a place to stay off the road he’ll come here.”
    â€œYour brother wasn’t ready to retire with you?” Willow asked.
    â€œNo. Neither was I, for that matter,” he added with that same regret he’d had in his voice