Chapter Five
By late afternoon, Retta was exhausted, but she was determined not to show it. She was having so much fun. Travis was wonderful company – he had her laughing most of the time, but he was more than just a joker.
He cared deeply about what he was trying to do here, and that made her like him all the more. She knew that he’d served in the Navy with his friends, and that he’d worked with them in private security since they retired. What she hadn’t realized was just how much he cared about other vets.
“Penny for them?”
She looked up when he spoke.
“You were lost in your thoughts – you had enough of me?” He checked his watch. “I didn’t mean to keep you busy all day, I only meant to show you a couple of the cabins to give you an idea of what we’re working with.”
She smiled. “I’ve loved seeing them all, Travis. You’re right, we have a lot of work to do on some of them. But now I know what we’re dealing with.”
He grinned.
“What?”
“I was going to ask if you’re still interested in helping me out but it sounds like you are.”
She nodded happily. “I’m even more interested now than I was when you told me about it. I thought you just wanted to make the cabins comfortable, but there’s going to be so much more to it than that, isn’t there.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I …” She stopped when her phone beeped with a text.
Travis chuckled. “You’d better check that – it might be Callie.”
She fished her phone out of her purse. It wasn’t Callie, it was Libby.
Libby: Do you still want to come to the bakery with me on Friday afternoon? If you do, I can pick you up from Kolby and Callie’s place around three.
She had to think about that. As much as she’d like to get to know Libby better, and it was kind of her to offer, Retta was hoping to spend as much time as she could with Travis.
“Everything alright?”
She looked up at him. “Yeah. It’s Libby.”
“Right. She’s taking you to the bakery on Friday, yeah?”
She stared at him, wondering if she should just come out and tell him that she’d rather go with him. Before she mustered the courage to say it, he gave her a rueful smile.
“I guess I can’t expect to hog all your time, can I? But if you’re going, I’ll see you there.”
She smiled. “In that case, I’ll tell her yes.”
After she replied to the message, she looked up at him again and asked, “What next?” She didn’t want him thinking that she was ready to go home.
He squatted down next to the wheelchair and smiled. “That’s up to you, darlin’.”
“What are my options?”
He chuckled. “No more work for today – we can rule that option out for starters.”
“Okay. What else then?”
Her heart sank when he said, “I should probably take you back to Callie’s.” She met his gaze, and he smiled and added, “But I don’t wanna.”
The way he said it made her laugh.
He shrugged. “I will if you want me to, but if you’re not too tired, and you don’t mind my company again, I’d rather keep you for dinner.”
“I’d love to stay – if you’re not tired of my company yet?”
He chuckled. “I don’t see me getting tired of you any time soon. In fact, I think that we should talk about that while we eat.”
“About what?”
“About how I can convince you to stay and help me out. You have so many great ideas about how we can make these cabins feel right for the guys who come.”
“Okay.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Okay, we can talk about it, or okay, you’ll stay and help?”
She smiled. “Okay, I’ll stay and help.”
“Well, damn! And here I was thinking that I’d have a fight on my hands to persuade you.”
She shrugged. “You were right about what you said – I might be stubborn, but I’m not stupid. And what you’re trying to do here? I want to help.”
He gave her a puzzled look. “Do you mean you’re going to help while your leg’s healing, or that you’re going to stay long enough to get the job done?”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get the job done?”
He shrugged. “A while. When does school start back?”
“In a few weeks.”
He held her gaze. “It’ll take longer than that.”
She stared back at him. Everything he’d said about it being stupid for her to go back home was right. Callie was here – and she wanted her mama to live close by. So far, everyone she’d met here was friendly and welcoming – ready and willing to include her in their lives. She couldn’t say the same for the people she knew at home. Sure, there were a few of the teachers at school, and a few of the parents of girls in the squad who were friendly enough, but not a one of them had even called to see how she was doing. And on the other hand, there were a few – including Jamie – who were far from friendly and who went out of their way to make her life difficult. She knew damn well that things would only get worse when the school year started again. It really would be stupid for her to go home.
Eventually, she nodded. “Then I guess I’m saying that I’ll stay.”
He frowned. “Until the job’s done?”
She smiled. “Yeah – and when it is, I’ll have to see what else I can find to do.”
“You mean, you’re going to move here?”
“I do.”
His eyes twinkled as he took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. “Well, damn! You just made my day, darlin’.” He winked. “Even if I was having fun dreaming up ways that I might be able to work on convincing you.”
She raised her eyebrows. “What kinds of ways?”
He chuckled. “I should probably keep that to myself now that you don’t need convincing.”
She sat up a little straighter in the wheelchair. This felt good – joking around with him like this. He was a good man, and she knew it. Having made the decision to stay, she felt lighter – as though a whole new world of possibilities was opening up for her.
She jutted her chin out and said, “Well, if you’re not going to tell me, I might have to change my mind.”
His smile vanished, and she felt bad.
“But only because I want to know what persuasion tactics you were thinking about using.”
His eyes widened as understanding dawned. “You really want to know?”
She held her breath as she nodded. “I really do.”
He leaned in close, and his beard tickled her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “I was thinking that maybe I could kiss you.”
She closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness of him.
“What do you think?”
“I think that might have worked.”
He leaned back so that he could look into her eyes. “Do you think it still might?”
She nodded.
He leaned in closer and as he brushed his lips ever so lightly over hers, her hands came up to grasp the front of his shirt.
When she opened her eyes, she found his big, blue ones smiling back at her. “Wasn’t much of a kiss, huh? But I don’t want to scare you off.”
She sighed. “It was perfect.”
He chuckled. “If you weren’t in a wheelchair, and didn’t have that cast on your leg, I’d throw you over my shoulder and show you my bedroom right now.”
She had to laugh at the way he waggled his eyebrows.
“But …”
Her heart sank. Maybe he was just a flirt, maybe she’d called his bluff, and he was going to back off now.
“Hey, don’t look like that. I was only going to say that I think we should take this slowly. If you’re on the brink of deciding that you’re going to move here, I don’t want to screw it up. If you decide that I’m too much and you want to leave to get away from me, I’d feel bad. The most important thing is for you to find your feet here – set up a life for yourself closer to your daughter. After that, I love the idea of you helping me get this place set up. I’d like for us to see what might happen between us, but I don’t think anything can or will until you’re happy with the rest.”
She held his gaze for a long moment, until he finally chuckled. “You’re wondering if I’m trying to be honorable, or trying to bullshit my way out of it, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m thinking that you’re good a man, Travis.”
“I do my best.” He surprised her when he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers again. It was only a brief touch, but it sent shivers down her spine. “But come on, we’ve said our bit, we don’t need to talk it to death. You still want to come for dinner?”
“I do.”
“Awesome. I don’t know what I’m going to feed you – I’m not much of a cook, but …”
“We’ll figure something out. I can help. And as soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll cook for you – it’s one of my favorite things to do.”
He grinned. “I’m not going to say no to that. Especially because it makes it sound like you really do plan to stick around when you’re back on your feet.”
“I do. It might seem as though I just made the decision suddenly, but the possibility has been floating around my head for a while. You just helped me to get clear about it.”
~ ~ ~
Travis didn’t know what to do with himself on Friday morning. He sat on the front deck, drinking his coffee and watching the mountain change color as the sun slowly rose into the sky. He loved this time of day, and until this week, he’d made the most of his mornings out here like this. He hadn’t sat out like this for the last few mornings because he’d been going to Callie’s to pick Retta up. She’d spent every day with him since that first time she’d come over – and he’d loved every minute of it. Today was the first time that he wasn’t heading over there, and he felt a bit lost.
He deliberately hadn’t asked her to come today. She was going to the bakery with Libby this afternoon, so he knew that he’d see her there. But other than that, he wanted her to have some time to herself – to have a break from him.
She’d surprised the hell out of him when she’d agreed so readily that she should move here. Part of him wondered if she was just swept up in the flow of things. From the little she’d said about her life, it sounded kind of lonely. Yes, she worked at the school, and was surrounded by people every day – kids and teachers. But it didn’t sound like she had many friends. She said she loved the beach and went when she could – but she went by herself. She’d told him about a restaurant that she loved, but again – she went by herself.
It seemed to Travis that it’d be all too easy for her to get caught up in what she had going on here. And of course, he wasn’t the only thing she had going on. Libby was bringing her to the bakery this afternoon. Candy and Ari had already been in touch and were talking about taking her out for a girls’ night. The main point of her being here was to be around her daughter. And then there was Kolby. As her son-in-law, he’d make sure that Retta was included as one of the MacFarland clan.
It was probably dumb of him to step back a little, but it felt like the right thing to do. He couldn’t explain the why even to himself. He just knew that he didn’t want to feel like he’d been the one to convince her to stay. Maybe that was all it was – if she decided at some point that it had been a bad move, he didn’t want it to be his fault.
He got to his feet and took his mug back inside. As he rinsed it in the sink, he wondered if his motivation for not inviting her over today was to give himself a break. He chuckled. Nope. It wasn’t that. He might need to check in with himself about how he was starting to feel about her, but he didn’t need a break to do it.
He jogged down the front steps and out to his truck. He’d had a few long-term relationships in his life, but nothing that he’d ever wanted to make permanent. He was in no rush to lock Retta down, but he knew without a doubt that was the direction he wanted to go in.
He decided to take a tour of the cabins. He and Retta had spent the last few days going through them. He’d described the kind of feeling he wanted the guys who stayed there to get from the place, and Retta had made notes in a big legal pad while he talked.
When he was done, she’d tell him the kind of furnishings she thought the place needed, right down to the kind of artwork, and knick-knacks she thought would work. He’d been less than enthusiastic about the knick-knacks at first, but when they got back to the house on the first evening, she’d asked to use his computer and shown him the kind of things she was talking about. And she was right.
After that, they’d gotten into the habit of sitting on the sofa together after dinner. She searched on his laptop and found things that she thought would add to the character of each of the cabins. He wasn’t good at imagining what she meant when she talked him through it, but when she showed him pictures, he totally got it.
When he reached the first cabin, he wandered around, trying to imagine the throw on the back of the sofa, and the painting on the wall behind it. He smiled when he could see it in his mind’s eye. She was right. He didn’t know if it was a difference between men and women – or if that was too much of a generalization, and it was just that he and Retta were different people – but she definitely had a knack for knowing what little details would make a place feel like a home.
He dug his phone out of his pocket when it rang.
“Ace! What’s up, bud?”
“Just checking in. We’re going to the bakery this afternoon. Will you be there, or are you busy?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Oh.”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
Ace laughed. “Because Ari talked to Libby, and she said that she’s bringing Retta. That made me think that you must be busy, or you’d be the one bringing her.”
“Nah. I thought she’d be better off getting to know the girls.”
“Hm. Has the appeal worn off now that she’s here, then? From what I hear, she’s been spending every day at your place with you. You had enough already?”
“No. I can see why you’d think that but no. I just … She thinks she might want to move here, so I want her to make sure that it’s really what she wants.”
Ace laughed. “You mean you don’t want her to be so caught up in you that she moves here because of you?”
“No. It’s not that – well, maybe a little bit, but damn, that’d be pretty arrogant of me, don’t you think?”
“Nah. Realistic, not arrogant. It’s easy to get swept up in something and not step back to look at the bigger picture until it’s too late.”
“Yeah, that’s it.” Travis laughed. “Or at least something like it. Anyway, what’s going on with you?”
“Not much. It’s business as usual around here. Although, how long it’ll stay that way, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Libb’s talking about moving all the horses to your place.”
Travis sighed. “I know. I’ve left Mav a couple of messages, but he’s not calling me back.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Travis laughed. “I know that, you know that – do you want to try telling him that?”
Ace laughed with him. “I’ve tried, believe me. It’s not as though he blames you. He blames himself and we all know it, but … Maybe it’ll work out for the best.”
“Maybe. If Libb’s not on the ranch anymore, Cash might finally be able to convince Mav that it’s time to come home. I got sick of waiting. I’ve been ready for a while. Cash is teetering on the brink but …”
“I know. I feel for Mav, I do. He won’t come home while Libb’s here on the ranch, but he hates thinking about the place without her.”
Travis blew out a sigh. “Something’s gotta give with those two at some point. They’re miserable without each other.”
“Yeah, but toward the end there, they were miserable with each other, too.”
“Are you saying that you think it’s really over this time?”
“No. I just don’t have the same absolute certainty that I used to that it’s only a matter of time. Time keeps rolling on by and nothing’s changing.”
“Yeah. Its’ going to take something more than just waiting this time.”
“You have any ideas?”
Travis chuckled. “None that I’d want to risk my life over.”
“That means something that’d piss Mav off big time?”
“Yeah. You know how pissy he gets about her working with vets. He didn’t like the idea of the riding program when she started it. If she’s going to move the horses up here, she’s going to be working with the guys who come to stay as well as the ones who just come to ride for an hour a week. She’s going to be spending time with men who …”
“Shit! I didn’t think about that angle. You really are risking your life just by setting things up. If she were to start seeing one of those guys …”
Travis laughed. “If she does, I’m leaving town. No, scratch that, I’m leaving the country.”
Ace laughed with him. “It wouldn’t be your fault.”
“Again – we know that, but would you want to be the one to tell Mav?”
“Nope.”
“We’ll just have to see how it all plays out. At this point, my hope is that Libb leaving the ranch might be what it takes for Mav to decide to come home. Nothing’s going to happen between them until he’s back in the valley.”
“Yeah, but once he’s here something’s going to have to happen. Either they’ll figure it out, or they’ll have to find a way to be okay around each other.”
“See, I find that harder to imagine. It’d be like the planet had shifted on its axis. Mav and Libby not being together and being … what, polite to each other? Just friends? Nah. It’s never going to happen. They either get back together or they stay the hell out of each other’s way – there’s no middle ground for the two of them.”
Ace blew out a sigh. “You’re right.”
“Anyway, listen to us, gossiping like a pair of old ladies. We’ll have nothing left to talk about at the bakery.”
Ace laughed. “Yeah, we will. It’s not as though we’d talk about this there anyway.”
“True. I guess I’ll just see you there then – unless you called for something; I forgot already.”
“Shit, I almost forgot myself. I was curious about why you weren’t bringing Retta, and I wanted to warn you that Deacon’s trying to sign us all up for a fundraiser dinner.”
Travis laughed. “I bet he’s thrilled about having to do that.”
“Hates it! You know what he’s like, but it’s for the Sheriff’s department, so he doesn’t have any choice. I wanted to give you a heads up, because it sounds like everyone already has you coupled up with Retta.”
“That’s fine by me. I’ll be happy to get her a ticket if she wants to go with me.”
“Glad to hear it. I just didn’t want you to be put on the spot if you were trying to extricate yourself from the situation.”
“Nope. I appreciate you looking out for me – and I can see why you’d think it, but I’m all in. Just trying not to crowd her or lock her in. I’m all in, but I think it’ll take her a while before she decides if she is.”
“She’d be a fool not to.”
Travis laughed. “Aw, thank you, buddy. I love you, too!”
“Alright, on that note. I’m going to hang up on you.”
“Don’t be embarrassed to say it – you know you love me, too!”
Travis laughed to himself when Ace ended the call. He was still chuckling to himself when he heard a vehicle pull up outside. Ace wasn’t too bad, but some of the guys got all prickly about him using the L word. He had no problem telling them that he loved them – he did, and he always would. Those guys were his family. They’d been through more shit together than most people could ever imagine. They’d all saved each other’s lives on more than one occasion. But still, some of them – namely Deacon, Blane, and Mav, couldn’t admit that what they all felt for each other was love.
When he opened the door to the cabin, he was surprised to see Ty walking up the path.
“Hey, Trav.”
“What’s up, squirt. I didn’t forget a meeting or something, did I?”
“Nope. I just dropped Shay at the barn, and I saw your truck, so I thought I’d check in.”
Travis frowned. “What’s she doing over there?”
“She wants to go over all the stalls before Libby brings the horses – make sure that everything’s good. I think she’s mostly just dreaming up things to do.”
Travis smiled. “You know, I really hoped that me hiring her full-time would mean that she’d get a bit of a break until we’re up and running.”
Ty laughed. “Yeah, I know what your plan was, and I was hoping the same. But she doesn’t know how to not work.”
“It’s not getting her any closer to the kind of work she really wants to do though, is it?”
Ty shrugged. “She’s still studying.”
“I know, but it’ll take her forever if she won’t put the time into it.”
“If you can make her see that, I’ll love you forever.”
Travis had to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just that you don’t mind using the L word.”
Ty smirked. “Let me guess, you made one of the guys all squirrely by telling them that you love them?”
“Pretty much. But back to Shay, I do have an idea. Eli’s making noises about moving out here sooner rather than later. We could tell Shay that she needs to get her ass into gear and get qualified so that she’ll be able to work with him as soon as possible. In fact, we could tell her that her only job is to finish getting her degree and whatever else it is she needs to do – and that’s what I’m paying her for.”
Ty held his gaze. “You’d really do it, wouldn’t you?”
Travis shrugged. “Damn straight – I will, if she’ll go for it. You want to set up a meeting with her, or you think we should scheme a bit first – come up with some good arguments to make her see that it’s what makes the most sense?”
Ty grinned. “Let’s scheme a bit – I haven’t been able to convince her yet. I’ve already used up all the arguments I can think of.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“I’m on my way over to the restaurant – still working on getting the kitchen set up the way I want it.”
“How about I come with you – we can talk while we work.”
“Works for me. No Retta today, then?”
“Nope. She’s coming to the bakery later, though.”
“Good. I like her.”
Travis gave him a rueful smile. “And that’s your way of building up to asking if I do. So, I’ll save you the trouble. I like her a lot, and I’m hoping that she’ll stay.”
“Awesome. I reckon between us we should be able to convince her. Kolby told me that Callie’s hopeful now – and that’s a major turnaround. When she first arrived, she was adamant that she’d be going home just as soon as she could.”
Travis smiled to himself when a thought struck him. Maybe going back to Georgia and going home weren’t the same thing. He liked the idea of her making her home right here – with him.