7. Travis
CHAPTER 7
Travis
I stood on the back porch of the main house of Silver Hill, watching the fields slowly get bathed in red by the setting sun. Nothing had ever made me falter the way the beauty of Silver Hill did at this hour, when everything was still. The ranch going quiet for a bit, except for the neighing of the horses coming from the stables.
But today, my thoughts were fixed solely on Delilah North. As they had been ever since she walked into my bar. I hadn’t been able to stop my thoughts from wandering to the past since then.
To us.
Back to the long nights we spent together.
“Isn’t it a little late to be driving out here?” Delilah asked me for the second time since we started our drive out to the willow tree.
“You scared something’s gonna come out and get you?” I grinned as I pulled up to our usual spot and put my dad’s old pick-up truck into park .
The moon was high in the sky, casting a bright glow around us where the branches hung low, leaves shifting in the faint wind.
“I’m never watching another horror movie with you guys again,” Delilah muttered under her breath.
“It didn’t take much to convince you to watch them with us. Besides, if you should blame anyone for your nightmares, it’s my siblings. Now, get out of the truck, Delilah.”
She rolled her eyes but hopped out of the truck with me. I noticed she stared up at the tree adoringly as she often did when we’d come here. Not as often as we did when we were kids, now that we’d been gone for school.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been back here,” I told her, walking up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her waist, tugging her against my chest. She turned in my arms to face me, her brown eyes meeting mine as a small smile touched her lips. A shy expression passing over her delicate features when I bent down to kiss her.
I chuckled. “No one is going to follow us out here, Delilah. Relax.”
Ever since that first kiss we shared on the back porch of Desi’s house on her birthday, I’d found it harder and harder to not kiss her whenever the urge struck. That night had been on my mind for weeks. One second, we were sitting together and laughing, and the next we were admitting to each other how much we’d missed being together. The kiss was awkward at first, both of us highly aware that we were toeing a line friends didn’t tend to consider crossing at all.
But then…everything shifted into place.
As if we were two lost pieces of a puzzle connected from the very beginning. No need to search to find the right one when it was already meant to be.
Delilah stared up at me, the full moon illuminating the flush on her cheeks. I ran my thumbs over them as she went up onto her tiptoes, her finger hooking onto the collar of my shirt to tug me toward her.
“You’re beautiful.”
She smiled, “You said that earlier.”
“It’s still true.”
When our lips met, it was soft and searching at first. My lips barely pressed into hers, but I knew I’d never get enough of her. I was starting to think it was impossible to ever get enough of Delilah North.
I took a long swig of the cold beer currently clutched in my hand, feeling the droplets of condensation against my palm.
I didn’t have time to drown myself in the bittersweet taste or anymore memories of that summer when someone bumped my shoulder.
“What crawled up your ass on this lovely day, dear?” my brother, Finn, asked as he leaned against the railing with a shit eating grin. “I think you got more wrinkles since the last time I saw you. You should try to learn how to smile, it’d be good for you.”
I cast my little brother an unimpressed glance which only entertained him more as he clinked his beer against mine.
While I’d taken after our father with blue eyes and brown hair, Finn was all Mom. His hair was dark blonde, and his eyes were a shade of gray with hints of blue along the edge of his irises. He was three years younger than me but even at twenty-eight, I still only saw a kid who loved pranks a little too much and always had a bruise or two on his legs from all the falls he took. He didn’t have so many of those now, but he did have a considerable number of tattoos on his arms .
I sighed, not in the mood to entertain him tonight. “Nothing. Long day.”
“Isn’t that every day?” Finn teased, crossing his arms over his chest.
“The ranch never sleeps.” I shrugged, as if that should be explanation enough. It was, in a way. Ranching wasn’t easy work, even for a sage rancher like our father who has been talking about hanging his hat up soon.
It was rough, dirty, and liberating work all at once. The animals, the land, the long days, bad weather, and unexpected long nights when things came up. And yet, I loved every second of it. Now that my dad was older, the thought of taking over Silver Hill without him one day left a seedling of doubt. But I quickly swiped those feelings under the rug.
I wasn’t going to let thoughts of a life without either of my parents rule my thoughts.
Not today.
“I’m heading out after dinner to check the fences along the south side of the property. Make sure we don’t have any surprises again.” Last week we had a fence down along the highway and I spent days hunting down heifers. Not something I wanted a repeat of anytime soon.
“I’ll go with you,” Finn offered. I grunted in thanks, not feeling up to forcing a conversation. Unfortunately for me, my brother had no problem talking. “Should have known you’d be in a mood. Dad warned me.”
“What does that mean?”
Finn shrugged with that grin again. “I heard Lila is working at the bar now.” Before I could ask him how he knew that, he said, “Dad said he ran into her yesterday and they talked for a bit. I’ll admit it was very interesting that you hired her so suddenly when we’d agreed that I was going to fill in for a while. Not that I’m complaining. I get enough of you barking orders at me while you’re on the ranch. I’ll miss getting free beers, though.”
“Because you always pay for your own drinks,” I said dryly. “You and Dad gossip too much.”
Finn, never missing a beat, said sarcastically, “Oh, I’m sorry, should I talk about something more interesting? I can talk about the massive dump that Sable left for me in his stall if you want. You’re so welcome by the way.”
That made me grin. Sable’s an American Quarter horse and a bit of a handful, and he was also mine. When I worked at the bar, Finn usually took care of him for me. Today, I’d make sure to give him a nice reward for making my brother work for his money.
The sound of gravel crunching around the front of the house interrupted our conversation, and we walked along the wraparound porch in time to spot a black Ram parking beside my truck.
“Hey, Dad. Want a beer?” Finn asked our dad as he trudged up the steps.
“Boys.” My dad smiled at us both. In true Desmond Adler fashion, his eyes crinkled the way they always did when he saw one of his kids, and a big dimpled smile stretched across his face. “I think I’ll just head in and join your mother before we eat dinner.”
As he said that, the front door opened, and the rich scents of mom’s cooking wrapped around us. Warm and familiar like a hug.
“Well, look who it is.” Mom stepped out to greet Dad with a kiss on his bearded cheek. “Welcome home, honey.”
“Milly,” Dad said tenderly, soaking up every second just like he always did, hugging her until she patted his back. I smiled down at my beer, more than used to seeing them dote on each other this way .
“So, what did the doctor say this time?” Mom asked, narrowing her eyes.
Where Desmond was all heart and hard work, Amelia Adler was all determination and fierce loyalty—the backbone of this family. It’s what made Silver Hill so special to us. She always knew how to make you feel welcome while also knowing when to give some tough love. We liked to make jokes that somewhere along the way they switched personalities. She brought down the hammer whenever we got into trouble, while Dad teared up during the holidays and family gatherings or pretty much anything that made him emotional. One time I caught him wiping away tears after watching that depressing Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercial. I didn’t let him live that down for weeks.
Dad sighed. “I’m fit as a fiddle. I can have all the red meat I want and a bottle of whiskey to go with it.”
“Nice try.” Mom gave him a tight-lipped smile, noticing the way Finn and I rolled our eyes at each other. “There’s a plate of chicken and fresh salad with your name on it. Doesn’t that sound delicious?”
“Yeah…delicious,” Dad grumbled as they started to head into the house. “Honey, did you manage to talk to Lila?”
That instantly piqued my interest.
“I did. She called me this morning and we chatted for a bit. She’ll be bringing River over tomorrow before her shift.”
“What’s all this about?” I asked before they could walk into the house.
“Lila mentioned she needed a babysitter yesterday, so I told her I’d ask Milly if she could watch River while she worked at the bar. He’s a lively little ball of energy, that one,” Dad said, and Mom smiled as if she already knew that.
I nearly dropped the bottle in my hand. “What?”
Dad let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know about you, but I am starving,” he said before opening the door for Mom. “Why don’t we put the chicken back in the fridge and go to the steakhouse for a change? Make it a date night.”
“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Adler. Your tricks don’t work on me.”
“I remember they used to work like a charm before these kids came along,” Dad muttered.
They both disappeared into the house without another word, leaving me with a dumbfounded look on my face that made Finn spit his beer out through his nose. I gave him a look of disgust, narrowly avoiding the mess he made.
“Oh, man! The look on your face is priceless.” He started losing it, and I smacked him upside the head, which only resulted in him howling louder with laughter.
He was the only one laughing.