Chapter Eight
“Relax, Mama. You know he’s not going to tell you no.”
Retta made a face at her daughter while they waited for Travis to come pick her up on Monday morning. “Exactly. If I ask him to rent me one of the cabins, I’m sure he’ll do it. But is it fair to ask?”
“Of course it is. It’ll work out well for him, too.”
Retta looked out the kitchen window. “Here he comes.”
Callie grinned. “You should just get it over with and ask him right away. If I know you, you’ll stew on it all day otherwise.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
Her heart started to pound as she watched Travis get out of his truck. She might be nervous, but she was going to do it. There was nothing else for it. She really didn’t want to go home. She couldn’t stay here with Callie and Kolby for much longer and … and what the heck? She might as well admit it – she liked the idea of staying on Travis’s property. She enjoyed being around him. She was excited about helping him get the cabins ready. There was no reason that she shouldn’t ask him to rent her one until she figured out her next move.
Callie went to get the door to let him in, and then Travis was striding toward her, wearing that big smile that she loved so much.
“Morning, darlin’. You ready to go?”
“I am.”
All her breath caught in her chest when he scooped her up out of the wheelchair. His arms now felt so familiar around her. Something settled inside her as she leaned against him.
His eyes twinkled as he met her gaze. “You ready to get to work?”
“I am.”
As he carried her outside, she realized that Callie wasn’t coming with the wheelchair. She looked over his shoulder.
“It’s all right. I can go back for the chair.”
When she was comfortable in the passenger seat, he went back to the house.
Retta frowned, wondering if Callie had done that deliberately so that she could have a word with him in private – and if so, what she might have to say to him. She hoped that she wasn’t going to ask him about a cabin for her – she’d rather talk to him about it herself.
Whatever it was, it didn’t take long. Travis came back out and loaded the wheelchair before climbing in and starting the engine. He turned his gorgeous smile on her.
“Happy Monday. I’ve missed you.”
“Aww. It is a happy Monday. And …” What the heck? Why not tell him the truth? “I’ve missed you, too.”
He grinned. “I was hoping you might say that.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
He waggled his eyebrows at her before backing away from the house. “I have a proposition for you.”
Tingles of desire rippled through her veins. It was ridiculous – he was only joking, he didn’t mean it that way, but the thought of him propositioning her had her imagination running wild.
He chuckled. “Don’t look so worried. I said a proposition – not an indecent proposal.”
She laughed. “Okay, what’s the proposition?”
He glanced over at her. “I’ll tell you over a cup of coffee when we get to my place.”
“I thought we were going to get straight to work.”
“We are.”
“Okay then. Whatever you’re up to, I won’t say no to a cup of your wonderful coffee.”
He laughed. “Note to self – must thank Trip again for the fancy-ass coffee machine he bought me, and for showing me how to use it.”
“Ah! That makes more sense. You surprised me with your fancy-ass coffee. I would’ve had you down as more of a regular, drip-brew coffee pot kind of guy.”
She felt bad when he shot her what could only be described as a hurt look. ‘Yeah, Trip knows all the good stuff.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Just … I felt a bit intimidated by the fancy machine, even though I loved the coffee. I’m more of a regular, drip-brew coffee pot kind of girl myself, and I feel so comfortable with you that I think of us as being the same.”
That had the big smile back on his face. “Yeah. I see it that way, too.”
He surprised her when he reached across the console and offered his hand. She looked down at it for a moment before placing her hand in his. He linked his fingers through hers and smiled. “I feel pretty damn comfortable with you, darlin’.”
~ ~ ~
Once they were sitting at the table with their coffee and a plate of the pastries that Trip had sent back with him from their brunch yesterday, Travis waited. He wanted to ask her about coming to stay with him, but he was curious to see whether she’d bring up renting a cabin from him first.
Maybe he shouldn’t make her ask, but he was curious. He wanted to know if she felt comfortable enough with him that she’d ask him.
He shifted in his seat when she licked her fingers after taking a bite of her Danish.
“This is so good! Is it from the bakery?”
“No. I had brunch with Trip yesterday. He sent me home with leftovers.”
She looked down at the pastry. “Wow! He made this?”
He laughed. “No. His old housekeeper came by and cooked for him. She’s more like family than someone who used to work for him. She’s also a damn good cook – as you can see.”
When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “What’s up? What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “Just that I can’t imagine having a housekeeper – or even being friends with someone who does.”
He chuckled. “Well, you don’t need to imagine it – you already are friends with someone like that. Trip’s one of your gang of friends now.”
“I guess.”
“And you need to get over that kind of thinking, too. I know what you mean – I’m the kid who grew up poor. There were a lot of folks who didn’t have much around here back then, and we were poor compared to most of them. But what you have in a material sense like that doesn’t mean a damn thing about who you are.”
“No. You’re right. And I do need to get over it.”
A rush of warmth filled his chest when she smiled at him and added, “But I don’t mind telling you that it does make me feel more comfortable with you – knowing that you get it.”
“I do.”
He took a bite of his own pastry to stop himself from talking – he’d been about to ask if she felt comfortable enough with him to come and stay here with him.
She took a sip of coffee and set her mug down. “I … since you are so understanding, I’m going to ask you something. But before I do, I want you to promise me that you’ll say no if you don’t like the idea, or if it’d be an inconvenience for you in any way.”
He smiled. “I promise.”
She cleared her throat. “You know I’ve been talking about staying?”
He nodded.
“Well, I don’t need to be under Callie and Kolby’s feet for much longer. I’m starting to get around better on the crutches.”
“Yeah.”
“And … I … I can’t afford to buy myself a house here until I sell mine. And I can’t sell mine until I go back and put it on the market. And … well, I don’t want to go back yet. I want to stay and help you with this place, but that leaves me …”
He felt bad making her say it when he knew exactly where she was going. He held his hand up to stop her.
“I’ve been thinking about that. You need a place to stay, that isn’t their house, right?”
She blew out a sigh of relief and nodded eagerly. “I do. So, I was wondering if …”
He grinned. “If I’d want you to come stay here at the house with me? Of course I do. Should we go and get your stuff right now?”
“I … what? I didn’t mean … I …”
He had to laugh at the way she sputtered. “I know you wouldn’t ask if you could stay here with me – you’re thinking about the cabins, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “But you’re not mobile enough yet to be by yourself. I don’t like the idea of you falling, getting your crutches caught up on something and …” He gestured with his arm, taking in the dining and living area. “There’s plenty of room here for both of us. The way things have been going, we spend all day together at the cabins, then have dinner together in the evening. The only thing we do by ourselves is sleep and …” He chuckled. “I’m not going to talk about changing that situation just yet, but …”
Her eyes were huge as she stared back at him.
“But there’s the two bedrooms back there. You’ll have your own bathroom. Everything’s on one level, and you’ll have me around if you need anything.”
“But …”
“But you can’t stand to spend that much time around me?”
“No! That’s not the problem.”
“Then what is, darlin’?”
“I … I couldn’t impose on you like that.”
“It’s not imposing. It’ll be easier for me than having you in one of the cabins.”
“How?”
He winked. “If you’re in a cabin by yourself, I won’t be able to relax. I’ll be worrying about you the whole damn time. And on a practical note, I’d have to take you there and pick you up. It’d be easier for me to just bring you home with me.”
When he saw the corners of her lips turn up in the hint of a smile, he stopped talking and waited.
After a few long moments, she asked, “And you don’t think it’d be … inappropriate?”
He chuckled. “I do not. In fact, I think it’s more than appropriate for two people who feel the way we do about each other to spend as much time as possible together – so that they can figure out what they want to do about it.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“We’re not kids, darlin’. You know how I feel about you. I’ve told you that I’d like to see what can happen between us. Unless you don’t want to do that, then it makes all the sense in the world for us to be under the same roof.”
She sucked in a deep breath, and just when he thought that she was about to launch into all the reasons why they shouldn’t, she nodded as she blew out a big sigh.
“Is that nod a yeah?” he asked. “Yeah, what?”
“You’re right.”
He grinned. “I thought it’d be harder to convince you.”
She chuckled. “I feel like it should be. But you’re right, Travis. We’re not kids. There’s something there between us – an attraction. And as scary as it seems, I would like to explore it.”
He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “There’s nothing to be scared of, darlin’.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she held his gaze. “I’m scared of messing this up. I’d hate to lose your friendship.”
“Then relax, because you won’t. I like the idea of us seeing what might happen. I’d love to reassure you that we can ride off into the sunset together, but I can’t. We both know that there are no guarantees, but I promise you that I’ll put our friendship first. If things don’t work out – if we don’t get along in a coupley kind of way, I’m not going to turn my back on you. Right now, we’re at the friendship level. If we can move up a step into something more, awesome. If that doesn’t happen, we can stay the way we are. Okay?”
She nodded. “And can we take it slowly?”
He chuckled. “That’s my plan. I’m offering you one of the guest bedrooms, not inviting you into mine. It’ll take some time before either of us knows if that’s what we want.”
She gave him a rueful smile and patted the cast on her leg. “And it’ll take some time before we can do anything about it even if we decide we want to go in that direction.”
“True.” He squeezed her hand. “So, what do you say – keeping it simple for now, do you want to come stay here instead of in one of the cabins?”
“Yes, please.” She smiled. “And thanks, Travis.”
He leaned across and brushed his lips over hers. “I feel like I’m the one who should be saying thank you.”
~ ~ ~
After spending the day in the first three cabins and making comprehensive lists of what they’d need, then having dinner together, Retta was tired. She felt bad relaxing on the sofa while Travis cleaned up the kitchen. She wasn’t used to having anyone around to do things for her – let alone someone who wanted to do everything.
She stared unseeing at the laptop. She’d been looking at heavy duty rugs. The cabins needed to feel warm and welcoming, but everything they put in there needed to be robust. For one thing, the guests would be men who she didn’t imagine would be too careful. For another, this was Montana. Callie had told her all about tracking snow inside the house in winter, and mud in the spring.
She’d lost interest in what she’d been looking at – she was all caught up in thinking about what it would be like to stay here with Travis. She liked the idea. So far, they got along well. She didn’t see that changing, but she wouldn’t know for sure until they tried it. She’d been on her own a long time. From what he’d told her, so had Travis. He said that he’d lived with a couple of women over the years but hadn’t ever wanted to make a permanent commitment. Not that they were talking about a permanent commitment.
She startled when he rested his hand on her shoulder.
“Penny for them?”
She shook her head. “I just spaced out.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you nervous?”
She shrugged. “A little. It’s like I told you this morning – I’d hate to spoil things between us.”
“And it’s like I told you – we won’t.”
“I hope not.”
He perched on the arm of the sofa. “We should think about getting you back to Callie’s place – it’s getting late.”
“Right.” She smiled at him. “Do you want me in the morning?”
A rush of desire coursed through her veins when he winked and said, “I want you now, but we’re going to have to wait a while before that’s a possibility.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You know what I mean.”
“Sure do, darlin’. And you know what I mean, too.”
“I do. I’m not sure that I’m ready to even talk about it yet but …” She met his gaze and held it “I … I’m looking forward to that part.”
He grinned. “Good to know.” He tapped on the cast. “That thing might have done us a big favor.”
“How so?”
“If you didn’t have that thing on your leg, I’d be moving a damn sight faster. But I think this way’s better.”
“Yeah.”
He chuckled. “You sound disappointed.”
“Honestly? I am. I … I haven’t even dated anyone in years, Travis. I just wasn’t interested. I didn’t feel like I was missing out, but now … with you … I …” She could feel the heat in her cheeks, but he was right – they weren’t kids, and sex was an integral part of a healthy relationship. There was no reason that they shouldn’t talk about it.
He ran his fingers down her cheek. “It’s been a long time for me as well. I thought maybe I’d lost interest.” He chuckled. “Thought maybe I was too old – that my libido had ridden off into the sunset.”
She laughed. “Are you bullshitting me? You’re such a big flirt.”
“Nope. I’m deadly serious. I wasn’t joking when I told you that flirting’s usually as far as I go.” He shrugged. “I used to make the most of any opportunity that came my way when I was younger, but over the years … it started to feel … hollow, you know?”
“I do. For me …” She met his gaze. “I don’t know how this will sound but for me, it’s felt kind of hollow ever since Callie was born. I know that’s a long time but … It’s just how it is for me. I was so young when I had her. I had a few relationships when she was small, but I ended up feeling like I was supposed to be alone.”
He smiled. “I thought the same thing for most of my life. Some of the guys met women and settled down – and even after they got divorced or whatever, I still thought of them as people who were supposed to have a woman by their side. Like Trip – he’s been divorced for years, and to say that it ended badly would be an understatement. He’s happy enough by himself, but he’s not the kind of guy who’s meant to be alone.”
“I can see what you mean about him. He doesn’t seem like a lifelong bachelor – more like someone who doesn’t have a lady in his life at the moment.”
“Yeah. I’ve tended to think of myself as the lifelong bachelor type.” He smiled. “But I wouldn’t be upset if you wanted to prove me wrong.”
She took hold of his hand. “I wouldn’t be upset about it, either. I … We’ll just have to see how it goes, won’t we?”
“Yeah.”
“Can we keep talking to each other like this, Travis? Keep being this honest with each other?”
“We can, and I hope we will. It gives me hope.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I like this. I guess I’ve always felt like I couldn’t be this honest with a woman.”
“Me too – with a man, I mean.” She frowned. “I don’t think I’m usually this honest with anyone.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I can see that.”
She gave him a questioning look.
“You’re not usually this honest with yourself, are you?”
She swallowed. He had a point. “No. I tend to just do whatever it takes to get through the day, the week, the season at school, and beyond that … well, beyond that I try not to think too much about anything.”
He nodded. “I won’t say that I’m glad you broke your leg, but I am glad that it’s given you the chance to pause and take a look at your life and be honest with yourself. What do you think, is it time to take you back to Callie’s so you can be honest with her that you want to move in with me?”
She let out a short laugh. “I suppose it is – but now I’m nervous.”
“Why? You don’t think she’ll approve?”
She relaxed. “Actually, I imagine that she’ll more than approve – she’ll be happy. I need to stop immediately expecting the worst, don’t I?”
“That might not be a bad idea. Do you want me to come in with you and we can talk to her and Kolby about moving you in here with me?”
She checked her watch. “It’s getting late. How about you drop me off, and I’ll talk to them tonight? Then if you want to, we can both talk to them in the morning when you come to pick me up.”
“Okay, but if you want me with you …”
“I do, I will, but … I’d like to talk to Callie by myself first.”
Rather than being upset that she was leaving him out, as she’d feared he might, he smiled.
“Makes sense to me; mama bear’s gotta make sure her cub’s going to be alright with it.”
She laughed. “Exactly.”