There you are.” Making his way to his grandmother who dug in the white stuff, Ty kicked at the soft snow.
“Got it.” She wrapped her gloved hands around a pinecone then stood to face Ty. Crinkles appeared around her eyes as she smiled at him. “Needed some more of these for a craft I plan for my Sunday school class. What are you up to today? Can you stay for supper?”
“Yep. Just finished with my last sleigh ride at the Elk Refuge, and my ski lessons are done for the day.”
“Good. I’ve got chicken dumplings on. Was hoping you’d stop by.”
Ty visited his grandmother several times a week between his jobs, and he usually stopped by at suppertime. Sometimes he’d take her out to the local buffet, but he hadn’t been by since he’d seen her at church on Sunday. He’d been noticeably distracted then, and she’d picked up on it, asking a few too many questions. Ty had wrestled with his failures after the fiasco meal with Hayley and her proud father last week.
Hayley loved the man too much to truly see how harsh he was, but Ty understood that. Love covered a multitude of sins, the Bible said. But the conversation had forced Ty to face what he’d tried to avoid for too long.
“It’s going to be dark soon, do you need more pinecones?” he asked.
“Just a few.”
She grabbed a couple near the surface of the snow, and Ty joined her, placing them in the bucket she’d set out for her collection. They filled the bucket then moved inside, where the aroma of her chicken and dumplings made his mouth water and stomach rumble. Warm feelings and memories of living here with her wrapped around him and brought him a measure of comfort. He’d loved how secure she’d made him feel.
He shrugged out of his coat, and took hers, too, hanging them on the coatrack, then followed her into the kitchen. She uncovered the stockpot and ladled dumplings into two bowls, handing one over to him. They settled at the kitchen bar counter.
“Milk or water?” she asked.
“Water’s fine. What are you going to make out of all those pinecones?” he asked. “Seems like a lot.”
She chuckled. “Some are for the class. But I gathered enough to make a Christmas wreath. I know it’s not Christmas yet, but I figured you could use a wreath to hang on your door when the time comes.”
He let the dumplings he’d been eating warm his stomach before he spoke. “I’m not the best at decorating for Christmas. I don’t spend a lot of time at my apartment anyway.” In truth, he preferred to visit his grandmother, or hang out at the lodge with a few friends. He’d like to add seeing Hayley at her art studio to his free-time endeavors, but he wouldn’t make a conscious effort to go back there without an actual invitation. Not after meeting her father.
Coward.
“I understand. You’re busy and you’re a bachelor. You need a good woman to do that sort of thing for you.”
Ty snorted. Nanna was so old-fashioned. “I could buy a wreath. You don’t need to make me one.”
“Nonsense. I enjoy making something out of nothing, though a pinecone isn’t nothing, it’s part of God’s wondrous creation, put here for me to do something with.”
Ty had endured enough of these conversations to know she was likely thinking about him and how he should do something important with his life. But he’d moved out to his own apartment, and she hadn’t wanted to push him further away, so she stopped talking about it.
But Ty wanted to discuss that very thing this time. He’d felt duly humbled at Hayley’s table, realizing that he wanted to do something more with his life than simply earn enough money to scrape by. Enough money to ski. He’d met a girl he liked, but why would she give him a second look when he hadn’t done anything with his life except learn how to ski and instruct others?
“What’s bothering you, Ty? This is the first time you’ve been by this week. I figured you for busy, but I see you have something on your mind.”
“Yes”—he nodded—“actually, I do.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“You’ve been right all along. I should have gone to college. Done something with my life. But now look at me. I work part-time at two different places. Sure, I get to ski until I’m sick of it, but that’s about it.”
She wrapped her mouth around a dumpling and studied him while she chewed. Took a swallow of her milk then settled against her chair back. “What brought this on?”
Ty wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her. The more he thought about it, the more painful it was. To share that with his grandmother would sink the knife deeper into the wound.
“Nothing. Just been thinking.”
She got up from the chair and searched in the cabinet, returning with the salt and pepper. She shook a little of the contents into her bowl. “Not salty enough for me. You?”
She handed the shaker to Ty, who took it from her but set it on the counter.
“So what happened? You finally meet a girl?” She winked at him.
“Maybe.” Ty shrugged.
“Those pinecones were just sitting out there, waiting for me to pick them up and do something with them. It’s not too late for you to do something with your life, Ty. Have you got anything in mind? If you could do anything at all, what would you want to do? And don’t tell me ski.”
Now it was Ty’s turn to chuckle.
He thought of Hayley and her art, and how her father appeared to stifle that, or else why would she have hidden that she’d been featured in a local gallery? “That’s who I am. I wish I would have worked to at least manage a ski resort. Something.”
He got up and rinsed off his dishes then stuck them in the dishwasher.
She sighed. “I’ve been waiting for you to step up. To see that you have so much more to offer, so now’s probably as good a time as any to tell you that you should think bigger. I have a plot of land I’ve held on to, to give to you one day. You could look into building a resort there.”
Ty laughed. “Do you know how much that would cost? We don’t have that kind of money. Not to mention permits and zoning. No. That’s way out of my league.” Only people like the Covington’s had the ability to do those kind of things. Who did he think he was, spending even ten seconds with Hayley?
His grandmother frowned. “It’s something to start with, Ty. You create a business plan and get venture capitalists. Look into it. But I’ll give you one even better than that. There’s a man been trying to buy that from me for years to build another ski resort. The mountain is perfect, he says. I kept that for you, Ty.”
“Why? Why would you keep it for me like that when you think I haven’t done anything worthwhile? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I believed you had it in you. You just needed to realize that for yourself. Or at least want it.”
“I don’t even have a business degree.”
She eyed him, while tugging out a map. “You’re full of excuses.”
Ty watched as she fingered her land. It was near enough the Covington Ranch, he wondered if it didn’t back right up to the property. Hayley’s father would just love to have a ski resort next to his ranch, since he thought so highly of the activity.
Hayley exited the Blue Mountain Art Gallery and climbed into her vehicle parked at the curb. She’d gone in to browse and watch when and if anyone stopped to look at her pottery.
There’d been only a few people inside, and her pottery hadn’t caught their attention. Oh well, she’d try not to let that discourage her. But one thing that had discouraged her was that Ty hadn’t returned her call.
She started the ignition and turned up the heat, rubbing her hands together. Granted, she’d left a message last night, inviting him back out to look at what she was doing for his grandmother’s teapot. But since he hadn’t called her back, she started to worry. And it wasn’t just that.
She hadn’t stopped thinking about how she had unintentionally embarrassed him by thinking he was one of the art gallery employees, when it turned out he was something much different. Daddy had played on that, of course. Though she’d tried to apologize to Ty, clearly that hadn’t been enough. She’d run the guy off.
Hayley glanced in the rearview mirror. When the traffic was clear she pulled from the curb. She hoped Ty didn’t think she was a stalker or anything, but she really wanted to make up for last week. She’d already looked up his grandmother’s address and now debated whether or not to follow through with her plan. Meeting the woman would go a long way in helping Hayley create this piece. Though it really wasn’t the best way to conduct her little test of commissioned work, she wanted this to be perfect.
For Ty.
He seemed like a thoughtful and kind guy. After all, who would put so much thought into a gift for their grandmother, thinking about it weeks ahead of time? She hadn’t been able to get the image of him at the potter’s wheel out of her head. Boy was he awful, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell him. Besides, it took a lot of training. She hoped he would come back to practice. At the very least, he was supposed to teach her to ski. She would probably be awful at that.
She smiled to herself.
Steering through Jackson, she passed by the Aspen Hill Cemetery, onto Pine Drive that curved around the base of Snow King Mountain. She drove slowly up the steep road, reading the addresses until she found the cozy cabin, tucked back in the woods. Pulse hammering, Hayley pulled into the abrupt driveway that spiraled down to the cabin. Fortunately, she didn’t see Ty’s vehicle. She hadn’t thought about what she’d say if she ran into him at his grandmother’s.
Coming here had been impulsive and lacked any sort of good judgment. At least she could admit that about herself. She could admit she’d made a mistake.
Hayley shifted into reverse to back from the drive. A knock on her window startled her. Looking at the older woman standing on the other side of the glass, she shifted into PARK and lowered the window.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked.
Hayley’s throat constricted.
“Are you lost?” The woman’s eyes crinkled with concern.
“No, actually. Um … I was hoping to meet Ty Walker’s grandmother. I’m Hayley, by the way.” She left off the Covington name, just in case the name set the woman off. Some folks didn’t necessarily like the cattle ranches, namely Covington Ranch.
“I’m Clara Walker, Ty’s grandmother. It’s nice to meet you, Hayley. Would you like to come in for some coffee or hot cocoa and get warmed up?”
Hayley spotted the bucket of pinecones in the woman’s hand and smiled. “I’d love to.”
Maybe this hadn’t been a bad idea, after all.
Half an hour later, Hayley finished her third cup of hot chocolate, her mind reeling with all that Clara had told her about Ty. She’d been right about him—he was definitely a good guy. And she already had in mind what she would create for his kind and friendly grandmother.
“Clara, please promise me you’ll keep our meeting between the two of us. I don’t want to mess up my surprise. I hope I haven’t been too presumptuous in coming here.”
“Nonsense. I’m glad to know my Ty has met a sweet girl like you. Of course, this will be our secret, but you won’t mind if I invite you to join us for an evening meal now and then, will you?”
Definitely, Clara’s statement was presumptuous. Hayley and Ty weren’t there quite yet, if they ever would be. Hayley hoped she hadn’t overstepped by coming here, but Ty would understand—he had a soft spot for his grandmother. Surely he couldn’t fault Hayley for wanting more information to make her present the best it could be.
“Of course not. But has Ty even mentioned me?”
“He’s let on that there might be someone special, dear. He is never one to give me too much ammunition, you see.” She chuckled.
Hayley found the sound endearing. She was a family girl, and could see that family was important to Ty, as well.
“Hayley, I don’t think I got your last name.”
Here goes. “Covington.”
Clara’s eyes widened slightly. “As in …”
Heat warmed her cheeks. “Covington Ranch.”
Clara pressed her fingers over her mouth just as Hayley’s cell phone rang.
Hayley glanced at the caller ID.
It was Ty.
Hayley answered, his grandmother watching. Awkward.
“Hey. I can stop by this evening to see your work, if that’s good for you,” he said.