Chapter 19 #2
Travis just shook his head as he hurried to the gate to let himself into Maia and Riley’s yard, casting a glance back over his shoulder at Summer a couple of times as he went.
The last time he looked back, she smiled exaggeratedly with her mouth open and waved at him.
~~~
Maia was sitting in her living room, sipping a frozen caramel latte when she heard the chimes at her front gate letting her know that someone had pulled in. She leaned forward so she could see out of the windows on her far right and smiled, knowing that Libby had arrived.
Libby wasted no time entering the entry code and getting up to the house, then up the stairs to Maia’s porch. She tapped on the door as she opened it. “Maia!”
“Girl, I’m right here. Why are you shouting?” Maia said from her recliner which faced the entry way of her home.
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know if you were upstairs or something. You’re sure you’ve seen Harper? She’s okay?”
“I have. She was pretty upset, but I think she’s okay. I even gave her my truck to leave in and I wouldn’t have done that if I thought she was too upset to drive. I’d have made her wait until you got here.”
Libby let out a tired sigh. “Thank you so much.” She let her shoulders drop and dragged her feet over toward Maia, dropping into the chair beside her. She looked at Maia’s drink as Maia sipped, then at the identical drink sitting on the side table between the two chairs. “Whose is that one?”
Maia grinned at her. “Yours, my dear.”
Libby grabbed it and sipped several mouthfuls through the straw sticking out of it. When she took a break to breathe, she leaned her head back against the chair she sat in. “God, I love you. Thank you so much.”
“Stop thanking me.”
“Oh, this isn’t for Harper, this is for making me a caramel frappe.”
“Would you expect any less?”
“Not usually. But I haven’t been around much in the last several weeks.”
“Fighting battles you shouldn’t have to fight…”
Libby nodded.
“He’s lucky you're his mate and not me, because I’d have gelded him if he tried to force his life onto my daughter.”
“It almost came to that. But after I finally stopped trying to walk the role of peacemaker, and told him what I really thought, and left to go stay with Renata and Basilio just like Harper had already done, I think he realized that castration might be next without me having to threaten it. At the very least, I know he realized that no matter what I feel for him, he’s quickly chipping away at it by the way he treats my daughter. I won’t stand for it.”
“Harper gave me enough information to make sure I understood, but I think she felt bad talking about the home situation without the two of you here to defend yourselves.”
Libby nodded again as she sipped her drink.
“I have nothing to hide. Travis is a wonderful male, loyal, protective, loving… but he’s also got an ego and a stubbornness that I’ve never seen on anybody else.
And I should have said something sooner, but I kept hoping they’d work it out.
But Harper stopped trying, and Travis started manipulating.
I didn’t realize to what extent until Harper got home from the trade show and went straight to Renata and Basilio’s house.
She even had Summer sitting in her car with the engine running when they arrived, so instead of coming inside, Harper just grabbed her bags and got in Summer’s car and off they went. ”
The back door opened and closed just as the alarm on the side gate chimed to let them know someone was coming through the gate.
“What about this business associate she told me about? Despite everything that played into her melt down, that is the one that causes me the most concern,” Maia said.
“Me, too. And I don’t know what it’s going to take to make me set it aside, but in all honesty, I don’t think Travis thought he did more than arrange a business meeting and an escort — a normal friendly one — for her time spent in Utah, while thinking, who knows?
Maybe they’ll hit it off, too. He really liked the young man.
And once he stopped trying to brush Harper’s concerns aside, and really saw what had happened, what was happening, the protective Travis surged to the forefront. ”
“Did the man assault her?” Maia asked.
“Assault who? What man?” Riley asked, walking into the living room wearing muddy wading boots and stinking of fish guts.
“Riley!” Maia exclaimed, gesturing to the waders he was wearing while tracking mud all over her house.
“What? It was this or barefoot, and barefoot has fish guts between the toes.”
“Then strip down outside and hose yourself off!”
“I would have, but I got the notification that your truck left the property, and that Libby’s car arrived, and just as I got close to the back yard I saw Travis going through the side gate so I wanted to get inside as soon as I could. What the hell is going on? And who’s been assaulted?”
“Nobody,” Libby said. “At least not assault in the way you’re thinking of it.”
“You’re sure?” Maia pressed.
“Yes. He tried to be overbearing, tried to coerce her into complying with what he wanted. Even insinuated that her lack of cooperation didn’t look good for any future business between his company and her father, but when she pushed him away and walked away, he didn’t follow,” Libby said.
“Are we talking about Harper?” Riley asked.
“Yes. She’s been staying with Summer because she and her father are in a stand off over several things, not the least of which is the man whose behavior Libby just described, and the fact that Travis didn’t believe her and invited the bastard to come stay in their home.”
“The fuck is wrong with him?”
“So much, Riley. But you’ve always known that,” Libby quipped. She caught herself and looked up at Riley wide-eyed. “Not that I don’t love my husband. But sometimes I wonder if maybe more than his leg was damaged overseas.”
Someone knocked on the door as it was opened, just as Libby had done. “Hey! Anybody home?” Travis called out.
“Yeah. Get your ass in here!” Riley said, still dropping little puddles of muddy water in the entrance way of his and Maia’s home.
Travis stepped inside, his eyebrows raised in surprise at Riley’s comment. “Hello to you, too.”
“Yeah, why do you have this asshole staying in your house despite the fact that your daughter ran when you invited him to stay? Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Travis sighed and pointed to the living room. “May I?”
“Yeah,” Riley said.
Travis sat on the sofa nearest to the chair Libby sat in. He looked at her with a beaten puppy look on his face. “I came as quickly as I could.”
“Mmhmm.”
“You going to talk to me at all?” he asked. “Where’s Harper? Summer said she’s safe, but wouldn’t say anything else other than she’s hanging around so she can keep sending Clay out to look for her even though she knows she’s actually safe now.”
Maia started laughing and couldn’t make herself stop. When her laughter finally died down, she looked around at the others watching her. Only Libby was wearing a smirk. “What? I can’t help it. I love that girl. She’s something else.”
Libby chuckled a bit as she nodded and sipped her latte.
“Libs?” Travis said.
“I don’t have to talk to you anymore. Harper’s safe. I haven’t decided about anything else. I might talk to you, but then again, I might not.”
“I know I was wrong. I do. I’m doing anything I can to make it right. But I can’t make it right if the both of you are living elsewhere.”
“Sounds like you have a problem to solve. How to make either of us want to be home again.”
“I admit I was wrong. I kicked him out. I called his company. I’ve done everything I can to make sure that everyone I know in the industry is aware of his actions, I sent out mass emails to all my contacts, details about his comments, and his behavior.
He won’t have many friends when he tries to make the rounds again.
Since there was nothing illegal done, there aren’t any charges that I can press, but I can make sure that nobody forgets any time soon, and I plan to. ”
“So Harper wasn’t actually assaulted?” Riley said, asking for confirmation.
“No, just harassed, and put into repeatedly uncomfortable situations that she felt she couldn’t just walk away from, or even make her own wishes clear without disappointing her father.”
Travis lowered his head and started rubbing his forehead.
“Yeah, I hope you feel like shit over that for the rest of your life,” Libby said.
“Sounds fair. But I don’t have to organize a hunting party…” Riley said.
“No, but thank you. It’s been handled,” Travis said.
“Maybe you could go organize a shower,” Maia said.
“It’s just mud,” Riley said.
“No, it’s not. It smells like several fish crawled into your boots and died while your feet rotted off and it’s all in there stewing inside those waders,” Maia said.
“So, where is our daughter?” Travis asked.
“Why? So you can go lecture her about how she should want to be you for the rest of her life?” Libby snapped.
Travis shook his head as he realized his mate was not going to make this easy at all. “No, because I want to make sure she’s okay. What did Clay do to upset her so badly?”
“Hold on, what’s Clay got to do with any of this?” Riley asked.
“They’re mates, and she was going to tell him that she thinks they’re already mated and that she loves him, and he was with another woman.”
Riley’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s impossible! Richie was just telling me how he bought the Bigsby’s land and horses and everything for her so they can set up their own equine business there and build a life together.”
“He what?!” both Libby and Travis asked at the same time.
“Yeah. It was supposed to be a secret until he got a chance to see her personally once she got home, but if she saw him with someone else and thought he was ‘with’ them, I’m telling you right now, she misunderstood.
He loves her. There’s no way he’d jeopardize a relationship with Harper for anybody or anything. ”
“Are you sure?!” Maia asked, sitting forward in her chair.
“More than.”