Chapter Seven
Anna sighed and put her teacup down.
“I feel like I’m having to watch him all the time when I should be doing other things,” she complained.
Emily raised her eyebrows.
“Who? Travis?”
“Who else? He doesn’t do things to my standards, and even has the nerve to argue back to me about how he’s doing it. It’s like he doesn’t even listen.”
“But does he get the work done?”
Anna frowned.
“Yes, but didn’t you…”
“I heard you. And I would say if he was getting the work done and he’s efficient and hardworking, what’s the problem?” Emily shrugged. “Just because he’s not doing it to your high standards or how you would do it doesn’t mean he’s got to be chastised every five minutes.”
Anna gritted her teeth in annoyance. She hadn’t come to meet Emily just to be told off. She just wanted someone to vent to, and Emily was her friend.
“You’re not on his side, are you?”
“Did I say that? He seems like a nice person, and he’s working hard, so you shouldn’t have to complain at all.” Emily giggled, sipping at her tea. “He’s also very handsome. That’s why you’re upset, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“You find him attractive, and you’re embarrassed by it.”
“No!” Even as she protested, Anna felt her face getting warm. She hoped that she could pass it off as being warm in the tea shop. “I’m just… I mean…”
“Anna, there’s nothing wrong with thinking he’s handsome. He is your husband, after all.” Emily smiled. “I’m a little jealous, actually. You managed to find a good one with Travis Cooper.”
Anna recalled how Emily had been talking to Travis the day before when she came to visit. It seemed very easy between the two of them, and Anna felt a little envious. Emily had that ability to put everyone at ease, and yet she couldn’t do it herself.
It had been a week since Travis had arrived, and Anna wished she could stop staring at him. It was distracting her from her own work.
“This is just a practical arrangement, Emily,” she reminded her friend, putting another sugar into her tea and stirring it, the teaspoon clinking against the china. “Nothing more. What he looks like has nothing to do with it.”
“So why are you worked up about him?” Emily challenged. “Is it because you had to marry a stranger to keep something that belonged to you?”
“That…”
“Or is it because you think he’s handsome and you feel guilty for staring at him?” Her friend gave her a knowing smile. “I’m willing to bet it’s a bit of both, but more of the latter.”
Anna didn’t like where this conversation was going.
She wasn’t about to admit, even to Emily, that she thought Travis was handsome, and her heart kept stuttering whenever he was around.
This wasn’t a love match; she had to remember how they got into their current position. Anything else was not an option.
“Look, why don’t you get to know him a bit more?” Emily suggested.
Anna blinked.
“What?”
“Just because this is business doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. Why not learn more about him and talk to him? Find common ground, build a friendship. You might find that things are not as bad as you think, and you’ll be less tense having a stranger around.”
“Well…” Anna began, but Emily cut her off.
“I’m willing to bet that you haven’t talked to him properly since he came here, have you?”
Anna was about to say that she had, only to realize that Emily was right.
She’d kept him at arm’s length, and they didn’t talk much except when she told him what to do.
They hadn’t actually gotten to know each other properly.
The letters they’d exchanged had been simple and to the point. Did she really know anything about him?
“Why don’t you have dinner together tonight?” Emily asked, sipping her tea. “Mrs. Mason can make you a spread, and you can use that time to get to know him properly. It’s only right that you and your husband get along, even if you don’t love each other.”
It made a lot of sense, but Anna was still unsure.
She knew it was going to make things awkward between them if they didn’t say anything, but getting to know Travis made her nervous.
Anna wasn’t sure why, either; she’d never been made uncomfortable by anyone in the past. So what was different about Travis?
Whatever it was, she might as well try. Perhaps that would ease the tension in her stomach.
After leaving Emily, Anna headed back to the ranch and got Mrs. Mason on board. The cook was delighted to be helping out, and she immediately set to getting a proper meal out for them. Then Anna sent word to Travis that dinner would be at seven, and he needed to wash up before he joined her.
Then she went upstairs and looked through her dresses.
It made her heart sink when she realized she didn’t have many nice ones.
The majority of them were what she’d worn on the ranch, and they were getting a little threadbare.
She could afford to get a new dress, but Anna wanted to put the money toward something else.
Maybe she should buy a new dress at some point. Something to treat herself.
That was for another time.
Picking out a nice maroon-colored dress, Anna laid it on the bed and began to get herself ready.
She was tempted to go outside and get going on the ranch, get things in order, and make sure it was running smoothly.
Edwin was sober and working with Connor, so he was likely to make things difficult.
But Connor was a capable foreman, and he could look after everything without any problems. He would understand.
Anna grimaced as she thought about her employees, wondering whether she was having dinner with her husband. Would they think she’d taken a leave of her senses? Very likely, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She had to balance everything out now as best as she could.
Her husband was a part of her life now, no matter how reluctant she was about it.
After pinning her hair up and making sure she looked presentable, Anna headed downstairs and into the dining room to lay the table.
She wondered what Travis would say when he saw this.
It was going to be strange for him, that much was certain.
After a week of being treated coldly, Anna was holding out an olive branch.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t turn it down. If he did, the foreseeable future would be incredibly difficult.
Just before seven, she was standing at the window, looking out into the yard from the drawing room.
Edwin and Connor appeared to be arguing.
Anna wondered what her cousin was upset about this time.
He was likely trying to assert his authority.
Tomorrow was the day Edwin said he was officially taking over, attempting to take charge right now.
Anna smiled. She hadn’t said anything about the marriage, choosing to keep it from her cousin for now. She wanted to see the look on his face when she told him what she’d done. After what he’d done to her over the years, it was only fair that she tormented him a little bit.
A slight intake of breath behind her made Anna turn, and she saw Travis standing in the doorway staring at her.
He looked like he’d washed, his hair still wet, and he was wearing a smart jacket.
He’d also shaved, although Anna wished that he’d kept the stubble.
It gave him an air that made her skin prickle.
But there was something devastating about him, clean-shaven, and Anna had to look away before she got too lightheaded.
“You scrub up well,” she muttered.
“I’m just doing as I’m told,” Travis murmured. He looked her up and down. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Anna felt her face getting warm, and she was sure she was the same shade as her dress. Clearing her throat, she headed toward him.
“Dinner should be ready any minute now,” she said, stepping around him and being careful not to touch him. “Shall we go and sit down?”
“All right.” Travis followed her into the dining room. “What’s brought this on? You don’t normally dress for dinner.”
“I…I thought I’d make an effort this time.” Anna ran her hand over the back of her chair before she pulled it out and sat down. “And I think it’s about time you and I started to talk. Properly.”
His eyebrows rose, and he watched her warily. Clearly, he didn’t know what to think about it, and Anna couldn’t blame him.
“What about?” he asked.
“Well, about each of us. We can get to know each other better.” Why was this so difficult? “I think we need to come to some sort of… understanding between us.”
“You mean a bit of a truce to stop us from being at loggerheads,” Travis remarked.
She bowed her head, sure that she was burning bright red.
“Something like that,” she whispered.
He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he approached the table and sat down, stretching out his arms above his head. Anna tried not to gawk at him as he did that.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he said, sitting forward, his eyes searching her face. “I don’t want to be at odds with my wife, even with the agreement between us. We might not have done this as a love match, but we could, at the very least, be friends.”
Anna felt the relief wash over him. She was glad that he understood where she was coming from. It would be too embarrassing if he saw this as something else.
“And I want to apologize,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been harsh toward you, and that’s not fair to you. It’s just… this isn’t an easy situation for me. I never thought I’d be doing something like this. Finding a husband to keep my inheritance. It’s just ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“But it’s something that needs to be done, unfortunately.” Travis’s eyes didn’t leave hers as he sat back. “You are aware of that, and you tried to do what you could to keep what is meant to be yours. That is a courageous thing to do.”
“Really?”
“It takes a lot of courage to look for a husband for a practical arrangement. You were upfront, and you knew what you wanted. It’s not often that someone would do that, and you were doing it with a great reluctance that I noticed when I first met you.
” He took a deep breath. “You’re a strong woman, Anna.
You know what you want. You’re just afraid of leaning on others in case something goes wrong, and you’re left alone. ”
Anna sat up.
“I lean on Connor,” she pointed out. “And Mrs. Mason.”
“But was it an easy thing? Or did you have to let go of some control so they could take charge? I know giving up control to someone else is not easy, and that includes the stipulation in your father’s will.
But you manage to hold onto it with enough grace and fierceness that one has to admire how you’re coping. ”
Anna didn’t know what to say to that. She hadn’t thought about it like that, and Travis seemed to have seen right into her head. She was a little thrown, unsure how to respond.
Just then, Mrs. Mason entered. She beamed at the two of them and placed bowls of soup on the table.
“I’ll just bring the bread in,” she said. “Make sure you take your fill.”
And then she bustled out. Anna picked up her spoon, glancing up at Travis, who didn’t seem to have noticed the interruption.
“I want to try,” she muttered. “But I need to know I can trust you, Travis. If I can’t…”
“You can trust me, Anna.” His voice was low, almost a rumble in his chest. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Anna hoped that was the case. She didn’t want to find out she was doing the wrong thing later on. That would be catastrophic.