Chapter 4
Chapter Four
FAITH
J ess sits in a booth at the Silver Fork, and I rush over to hug her before taking a seat.
She always looks impeccably pulled together with her blond hair in perfect curls and her nails done.
No wonder Logan, Travis’s older brother married her.
He’s eleven years older than her, but they make the most adorable couple, the kind that you swear are soulmates.
Today, she wears a mint-and-floral-printed sundress with a white shrug, and the color of the dress perfectly matches her eyes. She puts her rose-gold MacBook back in her matching laptop bag, saying, “I’m so excited to catch up. It’s been forever.”
“Way too long,” I reply feeling a little guilty. Now that Travis and I aren’t hanging out anymore, I have a lot more free time in the evenings.
It’s been great for catching up with friends, and it’s also put in perspective how much time Trav and I used to spend together. I miss him more than I care to admit.
“Have you figured out what you’re having, yet?”
She licks her ample pink lips as her eyes rove over the menu. “The Apple Spice Crumb Cake for sure. I don’t know. Can we start with dessert?”
“I don’t see why not,” I reply, knowing exactly what I’ll have. “In that case, I have to go with the famous Black Forest Cake.”
Jess scrunches her nose.
“Not your thing?”
She shakes her head emphatically, replying, “I’m a no-go when it comes to cooked cherries. Fresh I can stand. But something about cooking them and leaving the skin on makes the texture all wrong.”
“You’re a weirdo.”
“I can’t believe it took you so long to figure that out,” she teases.
“Well, not all of us can be award-winning investigative reporters for the Chronicle .”
She brushes my comment away like it’s nothing, but there’s plenty of truth in my words.
Not only is Jess an exceptional judge of character, but she also listens with an intensity unmatched by anyone else I’ve ever talked to except Travis.
She’s highly detail-oriented and a deep thinker, although people often underestimate her, thanks to her modern-day blond bombshell vibe.
“So, how have things been?” she asks, and I have to stop and really think about the question for a moment.
I open my mouth to answer when an obnoxious female voice cuts me off. I don’t have to look to know who it is: Selma Butterfield. “Faith and Jess, how are you two doing?”
Honest to God, Jess’s first reaction is to ignore her. But my years of people pleasing and customer service-oriented work kick in, and I say reflexively, “How are you?”
“Fine, just fine.”
We stare at each other, and I know my eyes dish up plenty of venom. She’s one of the many local girls who fawn over Travis, and it annoys me to no end.
Jess continues looking at me and acting like Selma isn’t there. I wish I could be more like her. Maybe Travis is right about me caring too much about what others think.
“Haven’t seen that hunky firefighter hanging around your feed store lately. Guess he finally got bored with you and realized this town has a lot more interesting things to offer him.”
I frown, taken aback by her words. But she picked the wrong table to mess with. Jess is finally paying her attention, and I can tell by the look on her face, Selma’s about to regret it.
“I’d be more worried about Travis realizing when it’s time to take out the trash.
” She purses her lips together, her eyes narrowing, and now Selma’s the one with her eyebrows stuck to the top of her forehead.
“Now, why don’t you do us all a favor and skedaddle.
You’re keeping our waitress from taking our order. ”
I can’t help but laugh as I watch Selma melt into the floor before sliding away dejected. Our waitress, Stacey, approaches the table with an ear-to-ear grin. “Well, you don’t get to hear that kind of awesomeness every day. How are you both doing?”
Jess says matter-of-factly, “Fine, thank you. I’m going to need a few more minutes with the menu, but I’d love some water.”
“And you, Miss Faith?” Stacey turns my direction.
“I’ll take a Rough & Ready Red Dog.” It’s Travis’s and my favorite beer.
“Bottle or draft?”
“Bottle, please.”
Stacey excuses herself, and Jess looks up from her menu.
“Okay, you look sad, Faith. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” I shrug.
“You do realize you’re talking to a true crime reporter, right?” Her eyes bore through me, weighing out and measuring my every look, gesture, and word. I don’t know how Logan handles being married to her, but then again, he’s never been one to hide his feelings or thoughts.
I feel like an idiot as I admit, “The Red Dog’s Travis and my favorite brew. Ordering it makes me realize how much I miss him.”
“Miss him. What do you mean? You live in the same town. And it’s not even fire season yet.”
She’s made good points, and now I have some explaining to do.
Great. “You know how kind he’s been helping out at the feed store.
Well, over time, it led to us hanging out more and more, and before I knew it, we were working on cars at his garage regularly, including my Cougar.
Remember I told you he bought it from me on the condition I’d help him fix it up? ”
“Yes, and he’d give you first dibs on it before auctioning it off.”
“Yes. Well, we got to the point where we were hanging out almost daily. And talking on the phone late at night. I really enjoyed his friendship, but then he kept asking me out, and I kept saying no. It was really cute, and he’s adorable. But you know, not my type of guy?—”
“Okay, hold it right there. Why do you think he isn’t your type?” I should’ve never started confiding in Jess. I realize my error too late. After all, she’s Travis’s sister-in-law now and must have a bias.
“Oh, you know what everyone says. That he’s a player and all.”
“Who cares about what everyone says? I thought you said you were hanging out with him almost daily. Wouldn’t you be a better judge of his character than anyone else?”
Her words stun me into silence. She isn’t wrong, and a wave of guilt washes over me. Why would I let the opinions of others influence how I see Travis when I’m his friend—best friend—as he’s pointed out more than once? “That’s a good question.”
“Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Go on.”
“So, a week ago, he was helping out like usual and kept asking me out. Looking back on it now, it was actually pretty sweet, although I assumed he was flirting with me the way he does with all girls. Anyway, we kissed, and it was amazing. Like really amazing. But then he said the stupidest thing in the world, and I kind of kicked him off the feed store property … in a nice way.”
She raises her eyebrows, and a smirk lights up her face. “Really? I have to ask. What did he say?”
I take a deep breath, thanking Stacey as she puts my beer on the table. Jess thanks her for the water. I lower my voice so others don’t hear. “He asked me to take a ride with him and told me I had the rest of my life for repenting.”
“Oh no,” she giggles. “And knowing, Trav, he thought he was being smooth.”
“Only I didn’t take it that way.”
She laughs. “Yeah, you could call it presumptuous, although it’s kind of a fun invitation if you’re into that kind of thing.
When I met Logan, you would’ve cringed at half of the stuff that came out of his mouth.
” She rolls her eyes. “He had the cheesiest pickup lines, but he was so damn cute, I couldn’t help myself. And I’m glad I didn’t.”
“Really? Like what kind of pickup lines?”
She looks up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment.
“At Alex and Maksim’s wedding, I was the maid of honor, which meant I needed to stick around to make sure the caterers got paid and all of that.
So, I was making sure the caterers had everything they needed to wrap up, and he came up and said, ‘They’ve got it covered.
Now it’s time for me to cover you.’” She says the last part, lowering her voice and furrowing her brow like Logan .
I cover my mouth in shock. “Oh, that’s so cheesy. What did you say to that?”
“Honey, I flat-out ignored it because the rest of the package was too drool-worthy to resist. Guys say stupid stuff, especially when they like a girl. It’s part of the whole birds and the bees thing.”
“Really? So, you don’t think Travis was just trying to get in my pants?”
Jess laughs, “Oh, Faith, you’re too innocent for your own good.
Of course, he was trying to get in your pants, and there’s nothing wrong with that if you want to get in his pants, too.
” Her eyebrows lift with a question I’d rather avoid.
She’s the wild woman I could never be, but I revel in her logic for a moment.
It would make life so much easier and so much more fun to think and act a bit more like her.
She continues, “Besides, I haven’t seen Trav bring any girls around the ranch in a long time.
And he talks about you all the time, finding the stupidest ways to inject your name into conversations.
I’d say he’s smitten, and I can tell by the way your face just lit up that so are you. ”
“But it’s not that simple. I mean, he’s got such a bad boy reputation, and everyone thinks I’m such a good girl.
” He’s hot as you-know-what and look at me.
I don’t say the last part because of how obvious it is.
Besides, the last thing I need is to draw attention to my plain Jane looks when sitting across from a city girl who slays like a plus-sized supermodel.
“Yes, you two getting together would likely rock the polarity of Hollister. But it might be for the better. This town could use a little shaking up. Besides, what do you care what other people think?”
I look at my beer, watching droplets of condensation slide down the side. I can’t deny the fact I think about him all the time .