Chapter Five #2
Travis had never seen someone looking that tired before, but he didn’t think she would appreciate the comment.
Besides, he was also still pissed enough about her presence in the first place to try and push away his sudden need to tuck her into a comfy bed for some decent sleep.
Travis also tried not to huff at her going to wrong way, but enough of his irritation must have broken loose that she spun on him angrily, a graceful finger poking him hard in the chest.
“I’m glad you find my missing kid so hilarious.” Her brown eyes looked murderous, and even though he could probably pick her up and carry her across the orchard several times and not break a sweat, Travis felt the slightest bit threatened in that moment.
He held up his hands and nodded the other way. “Not laughing. You’re headed the wrong direction.” Travis started off toward the outbuildings that were visible in the near distance. “Probably went up by one of the sheds or to the main house, don’t ya think?”
Parker tossed her hands up in the air. “Seeing as how my eight-year-old was able to slip out of the tent without me noticing, I don’t think much at all now do I?
” she huffed and stuffed her hands into her pockets.
“Look. What I know about apple farms could fill a thimble, so you lead the way and as soon as I find my daughter we’ll be out of your hair. ”
Travis nodded, trying not to notice how the idea of her leaving made him a little sad.
He also tried not to notice the worry lines bracketing her mouth, the tired slump to her shoulders, or the overall weariness about her.
It was obvious that she had gone through something, and he hated that he cared about what that was even a little bit when she was clearly the one in the wrong here.
After a quick search of the outbuildings including the barn that was the place most likely to draw the attention of a child, Travis steered Parker towards the main house. “If she’s not with my parents, we’ll call the sheriff, get him out here.”
Parker nodded tightly, the worry etched on her face becoming more apparent by the minute.
Travis felt a kinship in that worry, a thread of connection he didn’t want to tug at lest it snap in half.
As they walked up the steps of the back porch, a small figure came tearing around the side of the house before flying into Parker’s arms followed quickly by Travis’s mother and father.
“Mom, you’re never going to believe it.” Parker barked a watery laugh and hugged her little girl so tightly that Travis was afraid she might break her small bones. “Nolan said that I could feed the chickens with him, and Cora said that we could stay for breakfast.”
Travis’s dad ruffled the hair on top of the little girl’s head as he shrugged at the confused look on Parker’s face. “Now, I am all for respecting your elders, but hearing myself called Mr. Kemp makes me feel old as hell, so I asked your daughter to call me by my first name.”
Kit beamed up at her mom, bouncing on her heels. “Can we stay for breakfast, Mom? Please?” She turned to Travis’s mom and smiled. “Cora said we’re having pancakes.”
Parker smiled at his parents politely, though it looked strained.
“I really appreciate the invite,” she said, her eyes shooting to Travis.
She looked at him warily and while he’d given her every reason to do it, it still stung him to see that expression on her face. “But we really should be on our way.”
Travis breathed a small sigh of relief even as his chest ached.
The sooner this woman and her daughter were gone, the sooner the swirl of conflicting emotions he was experiencing would dissipate.
Part of him might long for more than the lonely life he’d built for himself, but he was self-aware enough to know he could never really handle more than he had.
Change may be necessary for him, but big changes were hard and he wanted to start small.
As much as he might wish for a woman, that didn’t mean he could handle one.
Knowing that didn’t stop the wanting, nor did it stop him from staring at Parker.
“No,” Kit whined, stepping away from her mom. “Please, Mom. Please. It’s been forever since we had pancakes. Besides, Cora says she was craving them and you can never make just one pancake. You don’t want to be wasteful, do you?”
Parker glared at her daughter, but there was more love in it than irritation. “I do hate waste.” She smiled politely at his parents again. “I don’t want to be a bother, but breakfast would be really nice.”
“No bother, truly. We would love to have you.” Travis’s mom smiled and nodded to the chicken coop near the side of the house. “Now why don’t you two help my husband feed those chickens while my son and I get breakfast ready.”
Travis huffed at the thought of having the trespassers over for breakfast as he followed his mom into the house and over to the kitchen.
“Inviting them for breakfast? Why?” Travis’s mom was a bleeding heart if he’d ever seen one, always wanting to take in stray animals and it seemed now, stray people.
“They were camping on our property, not giving two shits as to the damage.”
Travis’s mom shot him a look. “Travis Michael Kemp, don’t you take that tone with me or use that kind of language.
” She moved around the kitchen, grabbing bowls and the ingredients to make homemade pancakes.
Travis couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to the trouble of making pancakes for anything less than a breakfast with the entire family.
Dumping everything onto the counter, she turned to him and sighed.
“I know you care about the orchard, sweetheart, but people matter too. And I know you’re the one feeding that damn barn cat, so don’t try to tell me you’re this opposed to helping those who need it. ”
Travis scoffed. He did feed the mangy-looking cat that prowled their property, but he didn’t think anyone else had known about it. “That’s different.” If he didn’t take care of that cat, he wasn’t sure what would become of the animal.
“It’s no different and you would know that if you had paid half as much attention to those two ladies out there as you did the trees.
” His mom turned to him, a sad smile on her face.
“You can see tree blight from a hundred feet away, but you can’t see what’s plainly obvious even when it’s staring you in the face.
” She pointed out the window to where Parker and Kit were tossing grain to the chickens, the little girl squealing with delight as her mom looked on with a smile.
A very pretty smile, he noticed. “Really look at them and tell me what you see?”
Travis shrugged. “Obviously a good looking woman. Kid seems nice enough. Doesn’t change the fact they were on our property without permission.”
His mom pinched his side, causing him to yelp. “Look beyond that, really look and think about everything you’ve seen and heard this morning.”
Travis took another gander out the window.
After he moved past his attraction to Parker’s looks, he noticed the bagginess of her jeans, the length of frayed rope she was using as a belt, and the button down she was wearing that looked like it was from the nineteen seventies.
His gaze moved over to Kit where he noted that the hem of her pants was about four inches too high and her haircut was choppy and uneven.
The car he’d seen earlier was more rusted metal than anything else with backseats filled with boxes, and the tent they’d slept in looked a little worse for wear.
Suddenly, the reality of the situation hit him. They didn’t have a home.
Guilt and shame flooded his system as he thought back on the way he’d acted, especially toward someone who was looking after someone herself. “Fuck,” he breathed out.
His mom nodded beside him. “I’ll allow that one since it suits the situation pretty aptly.
” She started to pour flour and baking powder into the bowl, huffing at him as he stared out the window, wishing he could go back in time and act differently.
“Don’t just stand there, Travis. Set the table. We have guests.”
Travis nodded silently and kissed his mom on the cheek. “Yes, ma’am.”
As he set the table, Travis thought back over what else he’d heard that morning.
Goddamn it Parker, you literally had one job, she had said.
As he thought about the woman and her daughter who were in need of more than just a single meal, an idea started to turn over in his mind.
It was probably the worst one he ever had, and was definitely one of those big changes he’d been hoping to avoid, but even if it would make his life harder, it was the right thing to do.