Chapter Twenty-Five
Travis felt a lot more confident about leaving Retta alone to work in one of the cabins on Monday morning. He kept telling her not to overdo it, but even he wouldn’t deny that she was making great progress. He’d talked to Trip on Saturday night about how slowly she would need to take it in terms of weight-bearing now that she was using the crutches more than the wheelchair, and Trip had reassured him that the kind of boot she was wearing would prevent her from doing herself much damage.
He curled his arm around her waist and kissed her. She gave him a puzzled smile. “I feel like you’re up to something.”
He chuckled. “I told you; I need to go to town.”
“You did, but what you didn’t tell me is why.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Can’t a man get away with arranging a little surprise for his woman around here?”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t…”
He kissed her again. “No worries. I’m working on a little surprise for you, that’s all. Is that okay?”
“Absolutely. You take your time,” she added with a laugh. “I’ll…” The sound of her phone ringing cut her off.
“Want me to get that for you?”
“Please.”
He fetched her phone from her purse on the end table where she’d left it.
She checked the screen and smiled. “It’s Callie.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then. Say hi to her for me and send Kolby my best. Give me a holler if you need me.”
“I’ll be fine. See you later … Morning, baby girl. Do you have any news for me?”
Travis hesitated by the front door.
“Finally!” she exclaimed. She looked up at him. “Tandy’s gone into labor – they’re on their way to the hospital.”
He grinned. “Tell them I said good luck.” With that, he headed out for his truck. If he knew Retta and Callie, they’d be talking for a while.
When he got to town, he pulled into the parking lot outside the sheriff’s department, and Deacon came out to meet him.
“Are you sure it’s all right for you to play hooky with me?”
Deacon laughed. “I’m the sheriff, I can do what I like.”
“I wouldn’t say that too loud; they might vote you out the next time around if they think you’re getting too big for your boots.”
Deacon shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’d mind if they did. I might not even run again next time around.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. I’ve had a good run. I did what I set out to do, but since Luke handed in his badge … I don’t know. I’m starting to think that it might be time for me to call it a day.”
“What would you do instead? It’s not like you’re ready for retirement, is it?”
“No. I’m not. I don’t know yet what I’d do with myself but … I have time to figure it out.” He checked his watch. “But all joking aside, we’d better get going; I don’t have all day.”
When they reached the dealership in Bozeman, Deacon made a face at him. “You really want to get her a Subaru?”
“I don’t know. I did some reading, and these came out as the best smallish SUVs – she’s going to need something that will hold the road in winter.”
“Chevy makes a whole bunch of little SUVs.”
Travis looked up at the sign on the front of the dealership and then climbed back into his truck. “You convinced me. Let’s go.”
Deacon laughed as they pulled away. “You know, while we’re looking, I’m going to see if there might be something that would suit Candy. She insists that she’s only comfortable in that little fart can that she calls a car, and anything else would be too big for her. I haven’t argued since she doesn’t go far, and if she does, she’s with me or Libby. But Ace bought Ari that Navigator, and now you’re going to get something that Retta can drive – I feel like a bad husband.”
Travis raised his eyebrows. “Husband?”
“You know what I mean. We might not have tied the knot yet, but we might as well be married.”
“Have you made any plans for a wedding?”
“She says she wants to do something quiet in the summer.” Deacon cocked an eyebrow. “Do you? Have any plans for a wedding?”
Travis chuckled. “I’d marry her tomorrow if she wanted.”
“She doesn’t want to?”
“I think she does. I just have to get a ring and ask her.”
Deacon laughed. “I should warn you – it’s become something of a tradition that we help each other out when it comes to the ring buying part. When you’re ready, you can’t just go and get one. You have to let us know. We’ll be as bad as the girls – we’ll all have to go on a shopping trip together.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Ace and Trip came with me. When it was Ace’s turn, he was holed up on the mountain with Ari, so Trip and I went and bought it for him – we had him on a video call so that he could choose it.”
“Well, I’d hate to break with tradition. I’d say that we could look while we’re here, but I wouldn’t want to leave Trip and Ace out.”
“No. We can’t. We have to include everyone who’s here in town.”
“What about Emmett?” Travis asked.
Deacon made a face. “You know what he’s like. I’d love to have him along, but I feel bad. I doubt he’d come, and just asking feels like its reminding him that we’re moving on, and he still doesn’t want to.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Travis pulled into the lot in front of the Chevy dealership. “For now, we’re focused on finding the right little SUV – when it comes to finding the right ring, we’ll figure it out.”
~ ~ ~
By lunchtime, Retta was happy to settle on the sofa with her lunch and put her feet up. She’d had a busy morning, and she’d probably spent too much time standing. She pointed and flexed her feet and drew circles with her toes while she ate her sandwich. She hadn’t done any harm, she just needed to start being more sensible. There was a fine line between doing enough to speed up the healing process and doing too much.
She reached for her phone when it rang, expecting it to be Travis. She was surprised that he’d taken this long before checking in.
She narrowed her eyes when she saw a 478 number on the screen. She didn’t know whether it was Jamie or Marty and didn’t particularly want to speak to either one of them. If it were Jamie, she needed to tell her to stop with the harassment.
“Hello,” she answered cautiously.
“Hi, Retta. It’s Marty. I’m calling to apologize. I talked to Jamie yesterday – or more honestly, she yelled at me yesterday. I had no clue that she’d gotten this ridiculous idea in her head about… Well, you know, about you and me. I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” Retta didn’t know what else to say.
“The girls and I will be in your neck of the woods tomorrow. We’ll be driving through Paradise Valley on Wednesday. I looked at the map, and it seems that there’s a restaurant just off the highway halfway down the valley. Would you be interested in meeting us there – just so that the girls can give you their gift? I think, given the situation with Jamie, that it’ll be best if we just give you the gift, say a quick hello, and then be on our way.”
Retta pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure if even that was a good idea.
“The girls have their hearts set on seeing you.”
“Okay. I can make that work. I think you’re right; we should keep it to a quick hello and then be on our way.”
“I’m sorry. Jamie shouldn’t have called you.”
“You’re right, she shouldn’t. But you’re not responsible for her actions. And I don’t want to disappoint the girls. It’s sweet of them.”
“I don’t think you realize how much you mean to them and how much they’re going to miss you.”
“What time do you think you’ll be there? And where exactly did you mean?”
“There’s a restaurant called The Riverside; do you know it?”
“I do.”
“I think we can get there right around noon. Does that work for you?”
“It does. I’ll ask Travis to bring me.”
“Travis?” Marty sounded surprised, but she didn’t feel any need to explain herself to him.
“That’s right. Give me a call if the time changes, but other than that, I’ll see you there at noon on Wednesday.”
“Thank you. It’ll mean a lot to the girls. We’ll see you then. Bye.”
She ended the call and made a face at her phone as she put it down. It’d be nice to see the girls, but she’d be glad when this whole thing was behind her. After Wednesday, there’d be no reason for her to ever have to deal with Jamie, or Marty again. She hadn’t given much thought to Mrs. Simmons’ concerns when she’d called to say that she’d seen Jamie driving by the house. She’d put that down to the older woman wanting to call Travis – she’d even joked about it with her since she’d admitted that she had called Travis first.
She blew out a sigh. She didn’t need to waste time thinking about any of it. She’d meet them and say a quick hello on Wednesday, and then it’d be over with.
She leaned forward to look out the window when she heard a vehicle approaching. She loved that even though she was out here in the middle of nowhere, there weren’t many days that went by without someone stopping in to see her.
Libby sometimes came to eat lunch if she wasn’t too busy with her horses. Shayna loved to hang out and ask a million questions about decorating. Lately, she’d started asking about cooking as well. It seemed that she didn’t have much of a clue, and she wanted to learn. When she was back on her feet properly, Retta was planning to teach her how to make at least some easy recipes. Ty was a chef, and he did most of their cooking, but Shay wanted to be able to cook for him sometimes – and Retta was more than willing to help her learn.
It wasn’t Libby or Shayna who was pulling up outside. She didn’t recognize the little SUV. It had to be a visitor – maybe a lost tourist. The SUV was too clean, shiny and new looking to belong to a local. She liked it, it was a pretty, light-blue color. She liked the color so much that she added it to her list of things she wanted when she bought herself a new vehicle. In fact, she peered at the badge on the front, she might even have to ask whoever was out there what model of Chevy it was. It looked perfect for her – not too big, but it looked rugged enough that it’d survive on the gravel roads and in the snow.
She frowned as she waited, wondering who it could be. It seemed strange that anyone would know that she was here in the cabin – she didn’t have a car outside. She started to feel a little nervous, even though she knew it was silly – what did she have to be afraid of?
She laughed when Travis got out and put his phone in his pocket. He hadn’t seen her through the window; he must have been sitting there to finish a call.
“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted her with a big grin as he came inside.
“Hey yourself. Where’s your truck?”
His smile faded and he looked out through the window. “You saw?”
“I did. I was trying to figure out who it might be.”
“It’s me.”
She laughed. “I can see that now.”
He came to her and squatted down in front of the sofa. He leaned in to kiss her and then sat back on his heels.
“Do you like it?”
She frowned.
“Your little SUV.”
“Mine?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I bought it for you. You can tell me if you don’t like it – the dealer’s a friend of Deacon’s. He said if you don’t like it, we can call this an extended test drive and bring it back.”
“Oh, Trav! Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. I …”
He cupped her cheek in his hand. “I wanted to. You’ve been so stuck for so long. And I talked to Trip about it. He’s said there’s no reason that you can’t drive even while you’re still wearing your boot – since it’s on your left leg.”
She stared at him wide-eyed. “And you’re okay with that?”
He chuckled. “It might take a while before I relax about you driving around by yourself. For the time being, I reckon you can just tootle around here – from the house to the cabins and back, and I’ll come with you.”
She laughed. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I do. I’ll get used to it after a while, but I need to know that you’re comfortable driving, and that you’re going to be able to get in and out by yourself.” He gave her a stern look. “That’s part of the deal, okay?”
She leaned in to kiss him. “Okay. I’ll take it as slowly as you want me to. You’ve done so much for me, the least I can do is try to make sure that you’re comfortable.”
“Thanks, darlin’.” His eyes twinkled as he dangled a key in front of her. “Want to give it a try?”
“I do!” He helped her to stand, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his eyes. “Thank you. I … it means more than you know.”
He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Thank you, for not arguing about it, for accepting it.”
She smiled up at him. “It’s the most wonderful gift I’ve ever received in my life; I’m not going to spoil it by fussing about you buying it for me.” She winked. “And besides, I’ll get my revenge somehow.”
He laughed. “I buy her a car, and she wants to get her revenge?”
“You know what I mean – I’ll surprise you with something.”
“You don’t have to do that, darlin’.”
“I know, but I want to.”
~ ~ ~
Travis couldn’t stop smiling while he helped Retta make dinner that evening. She’d been doing more and more around the house since she’d gotten the cast taken off, but he still didn’t like to leave her by herself in the kitchen.
She smiled over her shoulder at him as he passed her the dish she’d asked for. “You could go and sit, you know. I’m perfectly okay in here.”
He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I know, but I wouldn’t be okay if I was that far away from you. I want to help. Apart from your leg, I don’t want to leave you in the kitchen while I sit on my ass. I don’t want you waiting on me.”
“Why not? You’ve waited on me ever since I arrived.”
“Only because you couldn’t do for yourself.” He kissed the back of her neck. “I’m here, and I’m helping. There’s nothing more to be said on the matter, so we may as well talk about something else.”
She laughed. “Okay, I know you – once your mind’s made up, there’ll be no talking you out of it.”
“Are you saying that I’m too bossy?”
“No. I’m saying that you’re a man who knows his mind – and I find that sexy.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Oh, and there is something else I want to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?”
“Marty called me while you were gone – while you were out secretly car shopping for me.”
He frowned. “And what did he have to say?”
“He apologized about Jamie calling me, and we arranged to meet at The Riverside at noon on Wednesday. Not to have lunch, just for the girls to give me their gift. We’ll say hello and then they’ll be on their way.”
He held her a little closer with her back to his chest. “You want to go?”
“I … it’ll be nice to see the girls, and I think once they give me this gift, it’ll all be over. I won’t hear from any of them again.”
“And you know I’m going with you, right?”
She looked up over her shoulder at him. “I hope so.”
“You don’t need to hope. I’ll take you.”
She smiled. “I want you with me, but I was wondering if I could take us.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“You know, since I now have my lovely new SUV, I think I should start driving it – especially if you’re with me.”
“We’ll see. I was thinking that you could just drive it around here for a while – till you’re used to driving again and you feel confident before you go out on the roads.”
“You mean so that you feel confident before I go out on the roads?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
She laughed. “Travis Duke! Are you pouting?”
He shrugged again. “Maybe. I just …”
She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “How about you ride around here with me tomorrow and I’ll prove to you that I’ll be fine out on the roads?”
“I’ll ride around here with you, and we’ll see – how about that?”
“Okay. That’s a start. And have you heard from Zeke again yet – do you know when he’s arriving? I can’t wait to see what he thinks of the cabin.”
He smiled. “I haven’t heard yet; he’ll let me know.”
“Okay.” She turned back to the stove. “Do you want to set the table? This is almost ready.”
“Do you want to go and sit down, and I’ll take it from here?”
“No. I don’t.” She waved a spatula at him. “I promise you that I’m fine. Go and do as you’re told.”
He laughed. “So, you’re feisty when you’re back on your feet, are you?”
She nodded happily. “I am.”
“I like it.”