16. Travis
16
TRAVIS
T ravis tightened his grip on the steering wheel. After a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire station, the only thing he wanted to do was see Bella. Things were so out of hand, he’d already picked up breakfast for her before Anna replied to his early-morning texts.
Now, Bella was sitting next to him in his truck, and he couldn’t focus on the road ahead because he kept sneaking peeks at her.
The bruise around her eye had faded, and the swelling was mostly gone. Her light-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a T-shirt with Grady’s Feed and Seed logo on the back with faded jeans and new boots–boots he’d bought for her an hour and a half ago based on Anna’s size suggestion.
Travis swallowed hard. He’d never seen Bella wearing makeup or fancy clothes, but she could rock the natural look better than any woman he’d ever met.
He glanced her way again to find her smiling back at him.
Good grief, this was bad. Terrible. The worst.
She was gorgeous and sweet, but he wasn’t ready for another relationship. He’d jumped in headfirst with Vanessa, and there was a time when he thought she was gorgeous and sweet too.
But Bella wasn’t Vanessa. Plenty of people had told him not to judge others by his ex’s mistakes. It made sense, but every time he thought about getting into another relationship, the sting of Vanessa’s betrayal reminded him of the hurt that could be waiting just around the corner.
She’d done more than stomp on his heart. She’d torn his family apart and walked off with half of his friends too. Somehow, she’d made herself look like a saint, and it was easy to remember how she’d pulled the wool over his eyes.
Bella sat forward and rested her hands on the dash. “Is this it?”
Travis adjusted his grip on the wheel. “Welcome to Silver Falls Ranch.”
The land was flatter than some of the terrain closer to Blackwater, but the lay of the land showed off its beauty for miles. Stables stood not far from the main house, and a fence framed a green pasture along the side of the path leading to the heart of the ranch.
Pair the green grass with the blue sky, and Travis didn’t question Bella’s open-mouthed reaction. The Bensons had a little slice of heaven on earth.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” Bella said as she continued to gape at the world out the window.
“Matt and Tammy Benson both grew up around here, but they moved away for a while before coming back. They’re trying to get things up and running a little at a time. They can’t afford to hire a huge crew when they can’t even support a bunch of cattle yet.”
“So, they just have cattle? I have to admit I know less than nothing about cows.”
“They have some cattle already, and they have a few horses. They added a bunch of calves over the spring, so we’ve been managing those while we do other things. They have a barn right over there that they converted into an event center. They’ve had a few weddings out here already.”
Bella hung onto the door handle until Travis parked the truck. She was out of the vehicle before he came to a complete stop.
“Hold your horses,” Travis said as he jogged around the truck to meet her. “What’s the rush?”
“Look at that horse! It’s so pretty!”
Travis followed her to the fence where the friendly golden horse waited. “That’s Ginger. She’s a Palomino. She loves people, but let her smell your hand first.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Bella whispered as she extended her hand. “And so big.”
“You like horses?”
Ginger sniffed Bella’s hand and lowered her head, offering herself up for petting.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I didn’t know they were so tall.”
“She’s on the smaller side as far as quarter horses go. Ginger doesn’t do a lot of work, but she’s Tammy’s favorite.”
“The horses do work? I guess I never really thought about the role horses play on a ranch.”
“They’re great for moving herds and helping us get to places we can’t go on a UTV.”
“Hello!”
Travis and Bella turned at the sing-song greeting. Tammy Benson walked toward them with her hand waving in the air.
“Hey, Mrs. Benson,” Travis said as he stepped closer to Bella. She’d met so many new people over the last few weeks. It was probably a lot to process, especially with her recovery.
“Travis, for the love of all things good, please stop calling me that. I could be your mother, but Tammy is much easier to say.”
“Sorry.” Matt and Tammy were quick to take people under their wings, and the nurturing tendencies made lots of people respect the couple. “Tammy, this is Isabella Young. Bella, this is Tammy Benson.”
Tammy pulled a rag from her back pocket and wiped her hands. “I’m so glad you’re here. Travis told me a little bit about you.”
Bella shook Tammy’s hand. “I’m sorry I don’t have any skills to bring to the table.”
“You don’t need to know how to do anything. We’ll start from scratch. I could really use some help cleaning out the cabins. There are a few on the western ridge that need repairs. You and I could clean while Travis rebuilds the porch.”
“I can do that,” Bella said.
Tammy wrapped an arm around Bella’s shoulders, leading her toward a white work truck. “Good. We can gather supplies and head on over. Travis, if you’ll head over to the barn, Matt can help you load the lumber and stuff.”
Travis nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Tammy rolled her eyes as she guided Bella beside her. She leaned in to whisper, “That boy is my favorite. Don’t tell anyone I told you that.”
Travis backed up to his truck and continued watching the women until they disappeared into the main house. He should be relieved someone else was taking care of Bella for a little bit. He should be glad to be free of the hold she had on him.
Why did he want to follow her? It didn’t make sense.
Prying his attention from the door where Bella had disappeared, he got in the truck and drove over to the barn. Matt Benson waited in the breezeway and directed Travis as he backed up to load the materials.
Tammy’s truck was parked in front of the small cabin when Travis and Matt pulled up.
“Thanks for bringing Bella,” Matt said.
“Thanks for giving her a chance. She’s more than ready to get to work.”
Matt chuckled as he got out of the vehicle. “That’s a rare thing these days.”
Travis jerked his head toward the cabin. “I’m going to check on her before we get started.”
“Go on,” Matt said with a wave as he rounded the truck to the tailgate.
The worn boards on the porch creaked beneath his boots, and he slowed his steps. Inside, Tammy swept a broom back and forth in front of a stone fireplace while Bella wiped down cabinets in the small kitchen.
“Everything okay in here?” Travis asked.
Bella rested back on her heels and beamed up at him with a megawatt smile. “Great. I know this sounds weird, but I think I’ve done this before.”
“Yep. She has some great tricks for deep cleaning and knows what products work best on different surfaces,” Tammy added.
“You think this could have been your job?” Travis asked.
Bella shrugged. “Could have been. I’m definitely enjoying it.”
This was better than he’d hoped. Bella was starting a new job, and even though it wasn’t considered glamorous, she was happy to do it.
“That’s a great start. Sounds like this match-up was meant to be,” Travis said.
Tammy propped an arm on the top of the broomstick. “She also told me about some other things she’s remembering, and it sounds like her memories might come back soon at this rate.”
Bella’s shoulders sagged as she relaxed. “Yeah. Maybe talking through things will help.”
“Well, we have all day to chat,” Tammy said.
“I did remember something else last night before bed. At least, I think it’s a memory. It might have been a dream. It was an apartment with white walls and brown carpet.”
Travis’s shoulders tensed. Had that been her home? If so, where was it?
“I bet it’s difficult to separate dreams from memories,” Tammy said. “Don’t rush it. You’ll be fine here until you remember.”
Bella dipped her rag into a bucket of water with a sigh. “You’re right. I’m feeling much better about things now that I have something to do.”
“Oh, I’ll give you plenty to do,” Tammy said. “Just let me know when you’re feeling tired. I heard you need to take breaks often.”
Bella got to her feet and grabbed the bucket handle. “Yeah. I’m fine for now, but thanks.” When she stood, lifting the bucket off the floor, her eyes glazed over and her body swayed to one side.
Travis was beside her in an instant, wrapping one arm around her and taking the bucket from her with the other. “Are you okay?”
Bella pressed a hand to her forehead and leaned against his chest. “I just got dizzy.”
Travis put the bucket down and lifted Bella into his arms. Her frame was small and light, even as her body sagged against him.
“There’s a bed in there,” Tammy said, pointing toward a room off the main area.
In just a few strides, Travis was in the bedroom and lowering Bella onto the old, bare mattress. “Bella, talk to me.”
She blinked rapidly but her body slumped onto the bed. “I’m okay. I think I just stood up too quickly.”
Unwilling to let her go yet, Travis sat on the bed beside her. “Do you feel nauseated? Does your head hurt?”
“I’ll get her some water,” Tammy said as she darted out of the room.
“Can you bring the first-aid kit too?” Travis asked as he lifted Bella’s wrist. He felt for the thrumming pulse and timed the beats.
He’d felt hundreds of heartbeats in his line of work, but he’d never focused so intently on the rush of life in another person’s veins as he did Bella’s. The steady confirmation beneath his fingertips anchored him to her. It was a direct path to her heart, and a solace to his worries.
“I’m fine,” Bella whispered.
Satisfied with her heart rate, he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. “You’re hot.”
“I’ve been working. The doctor said I would have dizzy spells.”
Travis leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He should check his own heart rate. Each pump in his chest banged against the cage of bones that protected it. “Has this happened before?”
“A few times,” she admitted.
“How many?”
Bella shrugged. “It’s usually when I stand up too quickly. I just forgot.”
Travis lifted his cap and pushed a hand through his hair before covering the tousled mess again. “What if you passed out and hit your head again? I think we should call your doctor and let him know this is happening.”
Bella’s soft hand rested on his arm, and he turned to face her. “He said it was fine. I promise, I’ll call if I feel like it’s necessary.”
Tammy’s quick footsteps drifted through the cabin moments before she appeared in the doorway. “Found the kit.”
Travis reached for it, pulled out a pen light, and turned to Bella. “Can you follow the light?”
He checked her pupils, then moved the light from side to side. Satisfied with the results, he turned it off and placed it back in the kit. Her blood pressure was fine, and she didn’t have a fever. “I think you should rest for a bit.”
“But I just got started,” Bella pointed out.
“I know, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
She let out a deep exhale, and her gaze stayed trained on him.
Man, he’d do anything to keep those beautiful green eyes looking at him. The heat spreading in his chest said he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It was becoming more difficult by the minute to ignore how much he cared about Bella.
Ready or not, he was falling for the mysterious woman who’d quickly become the center of his world.