When Single Riders Come Together (COMPLETED)

Chapter 15

"So, Tylee, how many horses do you have?" Sam asks as everyone sits in the living room, Daisy laying at her feet.

"I have 12." She answers her voice soft.

"Dad! You have got to see her Clydesdale team. They are so big and beautiful." Dan declares finding the picture on his phone.

"You have a Clydesdale team?!" Susan exclaims with excitement.

"Yeah." Tylee answers quietly her head resting on Dan's shoulder.

"Oh my gosh! Mom would be in heaven."

"Oh, but it gets better. You want to tell them the details?" He asks peering at Tylee she shakes her head 'no' and he chuckles. "She has a sled to go with them and they are ride able."

"Really? Are they bumpy like I've always imagined?" Susan questions.

"You want to answer that question?" He whispers to Tylee. She glances at him and he gives her a reassuring smile.

"They are actually pretty smooth." She smiles as she replies.

"Really? I wouldn't have thought with how big they are." Sam joins the conversation once more.

"I thought she was crazy when she asked me which one I wanted to ride. Then when we got going it was surprisingly smooth."

"You didn't think I knew what I was doing?" Tylee asks poking him in the side wearing a smile.

"Well I wasn't sure you weren't trying to jar every bone in my body loose." He laughs as she shoves him off the couch. "I was just kidding." He sticks his bottom lip out making the 'puppy dog' face.

"Not working Teddy Bear." She fixes her gaze on Daisy who had moved to her lap.

"Man!" He declares smiling as he climbs back on the couch beside her. His dad and sister laugh at how dramatic he is. Tylee rolls her eyes slowly warming up to his family. He kisses her forehead and slips his arm around her shoulders.

"Lunch is ready!" Katherine calls from the kitchen.

"I'll be in there in just a second." Dan tells Tylee as they stand up. She nods nervously before following Susan into the kitchen.

"Picked a good one, son. She's just a little shy." Sam tells Dan in a low voice.

"She starts snow ball fights when it's the two of us." Dan smiles as he answers.

"No way." His dad looks at him quizzically.

"Serious." Dan nods before heading to the kitchen/dining room taking a seat between Tylee and his mom. Susan sat on the other side of Tylee.

After Sam says the blessing everyone digs in to homemade mashed potatoes, brisket, and green bean casserole. The only sounds heard are the clinking of forks against plates as everyone consumes the food.

"How have things been here?" Dan breaks the silence glancing from his dad to his mom.

"Good, things are coming right along. Cline will be ready to put with Waylon soon". Sam replies with a smile at the mention of his prized stud.

"That's good. What is your prediction this year?" Dan inquires with a raised eyebrow.

"I am hoping for a male this year, but the way this have been I am predicting a filly."

"I guess I will take the other side then. We always have a bet on what the foal is going to be that year." Dan explains when he gets a puzzled look from Tylee. She nods in understanding.

"I think it is a ridiculous idea since it doesnt matter what you think it is going to be what the Lord wants it to be." Katherine joins the conversation with a shake of her head.

"I think it is fun, but there are only two sides and Dan always seems to show up in time to take the side Dad doesn't." Greg comments.

"I dont even think about it." Susan adds her two cents with a shrug.

"You are the only one left that hasnt voiced their opinion." Dan whispers to Tylee with his arm slung around the back of her chair.

"I used to do it with my grandfather, I guess I'm used to the idea." Her voice soft as she gives him his wish.

"You didnt tell me that you used to raise horses."

"You never asked." She shrugs.

He sighs with a smile. "How many did yall raise a year?"

"About ten until the last couple of years then it was only about three." She tells him her mind drifting back to the debates she and Papaw would get into over the gender while Granna watched shaking her head.

Dan knew that she was referring to the last couple of years before her Papaw passed away. He squeezed her shoulders and smiled at her letting her know that he was there for her. She returns his smile and their eyes lock. Dan breaks the gaze to keep from enveloping her lips with his. 

"If everyone is done I will clear the table." Katherine's voice drags Dan's mind from how beautiful Tylee looked in that moment. Something about the hat crease in her long light brown hair that is following down her back makes him turn to jello.

Everyone nods or grumbles their answer lazily. Full bellies and the warm rays of sun make the eyelids droop.

"Would you like to go nap with me?" Dan whispers to Tylee as the others make their way to their napping spots.

"In the barn? Of course!" She whisper yells.

"Fawn, you are going to make me have laughing fit. I was actually meaning like in my horribly decorated room." He smirks as she raises a eyebrow. "Come on I'll show you."

She lets him take her hand in his slightly bigger one and lead her up the stairs.

"Close your eyes."

"Dan! You always make me close my eyes before you show me what exactly you are showing me." She whines, but complies. She hears the door creak open and he gently tugs her forward, running her into the wall. "Ouch!"

"Oh my goodness, Tylee are you okay?" He asks laughing at her face as she squints out of one eye. Her eye starts to water. He uses his thumb to wipe her cheek dry.

"I think so." She mutters laughing herself.

"If you can still see, this is my room." He motions his arm around as if making it appear as magic.

"Not too bad. I can see that you haven't made a effort to come out of the little kid obsession of Chuck Norris." She giggles.

"Excuse me, that is not a kid obsession!" He gruffly asserts with his hands on his hips trying desperately to keep his smile from showing.

"Don't smile Teddy Bear." She laughs while throwing a pillow at him.

"Hey!" He exclaims catching it and throwing it back to her. She catches it and lays her head on it wrapping her arms around it. "That pillow doesn't have a steady heartbeat that will lull you to sleep."

"How would you know that the sound of a heartbeat puts me to sleep?"

"I don't know, maybe because you have fallen asleep on my chest half way through a movie more than once." He whispers sitting on the bed and pulling her into his lap.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, but it does. I'll make you a bet. If you can make it through all of 8 Seconds while you lay on my chest then you don't have to come out of my room all day tomorrow."

"You are on. Oh, and if I you win then I will push you off the bed." She giggles as his face changes into hurt expression.

"I don't think so."