Chapter Ten #2
Parker rolled her eyes and started to eat her own lunch, enjoying the cool, crisp vegetables and the creaminess of the sauce Cora had added to them.
It was delicious and also nice to not have to make something for herself.
Another luxury she was trying to enjoy but not get too used to.
As Cora regaled the two of them with stories about her sons as little boys, Parker noticed that she didn’t share many anecdotes about Travis unless it was of him as part of the group.
Pushing away her empty plate, Parker leaned forward. She was slightly afraid to ask the question, but too curious not to. “You don’t have many stories of Travis.”
Cora looked over at Parker with a sad smile on her face.
“Travis has always been a little different from his brothers.” She passed some more chips to Kit, either as a means of feeding her or keeping her occupied while the two women talked.
“Aiden has always been my most ambitious son, Beckett and Felix have always been the most outwardly friendly, and Nate has always been a mix of those two qualities.”
“He’s the mayor, right?” Parker sipped her water, unable to imagine being in charge of a whole town at the age of twenty-nine.
Cora smiled proudly. “He is, though I sometimes wished he took a little more time for himself. He’s always on the move, but that’s a whole other topic.
Travis, on the other hand, has always been someone who was only ever at peace when he was out there in those trees.
” Her head turned to look out the dining room window that opened up toward the orchard.
When she faced Parker again, her expression was thoughtful.
“He’s never been big on people for a lot of reasons, some of them justified and others born of hurt, but those are his stories to tell, not mine. ”
Parker tried not to demand more information from the woman since she’d already done so much for her, but that small admission felt like the biggest tease of Parker’s life. “I see.” She nibbled on her bottom lip, the curiosity of why Travis was so quiet and solitary eating at her.
There had never been a person other than her daughter who had captured Parker’s attention so completely.
Even when she’d had stars in her eyes for Trent, there was nothing mysterious about him.
He was a rich kid with a lot of friends, but there wasn’t a whole lot of depth to the man.
Ultimately, selfishness and money were the only things that motivated him.
By contrast, even after knowing Travis for only a couple of weeks, Parker could tell that he was driven by things like care, attention, and love.
At least when it came to the orchard anyway.
“Should we have some pie?” Cora asked.
Kit sat back in her chair, one hand on her slightly bloated belly. “I don’t have the room, but I’m going to make the room. Especially if it comes with ice cream.”
Parker chuckled and nodded to Cora who had looked at her for approval. “There’s always room for pie.” The older woman winked. As she plated it up, she pulled aside a small storage container and slipped two slices inside as well as a couple of forks. “Maybe you could take this out to my son.”
Parker nodded. “Sure. Is the other slice for Nolan?” She had seen the older man out moving some things around in the storage shed and assumed Cora was taking care of him as well.
Cora smiled at her knowingly and started to push Parker toward the back door. “It’s for you, dear.” Parker sputtered for a moment, but ended up taking the pie anyway. “Don’t worry about Kit. She’s going to help me do some mending I’ve been meaning to get to.”
Parker nodded, knowing very well the woman was teaching her daughter skills Parker just didn’t have the time to. “Thank you.” With a smile and nod, Cora went back to enjoy some pie with Kit as Parker made her way out into the orchard.
The air was thick with heat and the back of Parker’s neck beaded with sweat after only a couple of minutes, but she didn’t mind it.
There was enough shade provided by the trees to shield her from the sun which was the biggest culprit of her discomfort, but beyond that, it was nice to be working outside for a change instead of in a diner, shop, or office.
Dry soil kicked up with each step she took, dirtying the new boots she’d gotten with one of Lottie’s gift cards.
It was quite the welcome change to have something on her feet that wasn’t almost as old as her daughter as well as clothes that fit better, though her jeans were starting to feel a little snug from the inches she’d accrued on her waist. As it turns out, Parker put on weight pretty quickly when she was actually able to feed herself.
The flurry of nerves about that not lasting forever started as they always did each time her mind would flash back to the awful pain that came with an empty stomach.
If Parker was going to make sure that she and Kit were well taken care of in the future, she really should ask Travis about that more in-depth training, but that was easier said than done.
The man was intimidating on the best of days, and since he’d gone non-verbal with her, she was even shier around him than she had been.
Determined not to let his demeanor unsettle her and do what needed to be done, Parker marched through the orchard, searching every corner until she finally found Travis lying on a blanket near the base of one of the trees, a ball cap covering his eyes.
Unable to stop herself, Parker took in his prone form.
Travis was pretty tall, and looked even more so stretched along the ground.
His shirt lay flat against his taut stomach, but had ridden up to leave about an inch of tanned skin exposed.
Parker’s eyes zeroed in on the small expanse like a bloodhound searching for prey, her breath catching as she spotted a bit of fuzz that led straight into his blue jeans.
Moving up to safer territory, she saw that his head rested back on one bent arm, causing the bicep to pop pleasantly while also revealing that the skin near his shirt line was as golden as the rest.
Parker wondered how he got away with not having a farmer’s tan, suddenly understanding that at some point in the day, he must work shirtless.
Shadowing him all the time now seemed even more important if only to satisfy that curiosity and feed her dormant libido with images of his undoubtedly muscled torso.
She wouldn’t do anything about it of course, but she might as well give herself some things to fantasize about when she was alone in bed.
“You need something?” Travis asked gruffly. Tossing his ball cap off, he sat up in such a smooth, quick movement that Parker nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Shit!” she exclaimed. Her hands fumbled with the pie for a second, but she managed to save it from falling to the ground.
The forks were not as lucky, missing the flannel blanket Travis was laying on and landing straight into the dirt.
Kneeling down to pick them up, she looked over to Travis to see him already staring at her.
“Now we don’t have anything to eat with. ”
Travis leaned over and plucked a slice of pie up with one hand while holding it over the other. “Never stopped me before.” He took a large bite before licking his lips clean.
Parker tracked the movement, wanting to suck that tongue into her mouth more than she should.
She’d never really been an overtly sexual person, but it seemed Travis brought out that side of her.
A few small pieces of the crust dusted the hair over his chin, and before she could think about what she was doing, Parker found herself reaching over and brushing them away with her thumb, his beard soft to the touch.
Halfway through the action, her hand froze when she realized the boundary she’d just crossed. “Sorry,” she mumbled, pulling her hand away. “Must be the mom in me.”
Travis stared at her and nodded slowly. “Must be.” He ran his hand along the place she’d touched reverently a moment before brushing off his beard and taking another bite of his dessert as he gingerly leaned his body against the thick trunk of the tree. “Thanks for the pie.”
Parker nodded, still kneeling rather awkwardly.
If she asked to join him, he might say no, so she took choice out of the equation.
Sitting her body next to his, she leaned back, the rough bark of the tree trunk scratching her back through the thin cotton of her shirt.
Picking up the other slice of pie with her fingers, Parker took a small bite, enjoying the tart cherry flavor as it burst onto her tongue.
As she chewed, she inspected him carefully. “How did you know I was there anyway?”
Travis looked over at her, seeming totally unbothered with her presence despite his clear avoidance of her. “Heard you coming.” He shrugged and polished off his pie with a monster bite before brushing his hands off on his jeans. “You weren’t exactly quiet,” he mumbled.
Parker frowned slightly. “I wasn’t exactly loud either,” she argued.
Parker had never been dainty, but she also wasn’t someone who clomped around all the time like an elephant.
That tended to draw people’s attention and that was something she’d always wanted to avoid if she could help it.
Seeing pity in people’s eyes when they looked at her was something she hated more than being in the situation that garnered that pity to begin with.
“You must have super hearing or something.”
A bit of pain flashed in his eyes, but he turned away before Parker could be sure of what she saw. “Kind of.”