by Rachel Hanna
“Not lie… just maybe make it seem like Dad couldn’t stay here…”
“Evie, I’m your mother. I love you. I would never lie to you, and I thought you knew that.”
“I just thought you wouldn’t want him to stay here… at the B&B.”
Kate leaned back in her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose before looking back at her daughter. “To be honest, it’s not something I’m looking forward to, having your father in the same house. But, I know you need this, and I want you to have what you need. I want this to be a good experience for you. So, I will do whatever it takes to make this work. For you. Not for him.”
Evie smiled slightly. “Thanks, Mom. I’m kinda scared about it, but I think I just need to see him.”
“Then I’m happy for you. I really hope it goes well.”
Evie stood up and walked toward the door. “Goodnight.”
“Hey, Evie?”
“Yeah?”
“You know I’m always here for you, right? No matter what?”
She nodded and smiled. “I know, Mom.”
Chapter Three
Mia sat nervously at the cafe in town, tapping her fingernail against the side of her white coffee cup. She loved the thick, old restaurant ware cups that reminded her of retro diners. She imagined there used to be a jukebox in this place, once upon a time. Gone were the checkerboard floors and chrome fixtures, instead replaced by a trendier faux wood floor and less harsh lighting.
She loved old stuff, often spending her spare time scouring through antique stores and looking for estate sales. Garage sale season was her favorite and was something she and her mother did together a lot. There were so many parts of Charlene that she missed, and sometimes the memories crept up on her when she least expected it.
“Sorry I’m late,” Travis said, kissing the top of her head before sitting down. He grabbed the menu and started looking at it, his breath quick.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s been a busy day. Sam and I took a quick hike so I could point out some areas of interest for the project. Then I had a video conference call about the project too. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”
“And when will that be? I’ve barely seen you for two days.”
He looked at her, an apology already written on his handsome face. “I’m really sorry, Mia. It’s just that this opportunity has a deadline, and we’re trying to throw things together as quickly as possible.”
“Can you tell me about…”
“Hi, darlin’. What can I get you to drink?” Carla, their normal server at the cafe, stood there with a smile on her face, waiting for Travis’s order since Mia had already placed hers.
“Hey, Carla. I’ll take a turkey sandwich, hold the onions. And some potato salad and a sweet tea. Thanks.” He handed her the menu and turned his attention back to Mia. “So, what were you saying again?”
“I wanted to know when you were going to tell me about this opportunity, as you keep calling it?”
“Well, I asked Sam to meet us here, if that’s okay. Figured it’d be better coming from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”
“Okay…”
Travis turned his head and looked through the large window overlooking the town square. It was a school day, which meant the streets were fairly empty, save for the occasional person walking to and from the small office complex down the street.
“There’s Sam now. Let me wave at her,” he said, holding his arm in the air.
Her? When did Sam become a her? How hadn’t it dawned on Mia that Sam might be a female?
It wasn’t like it was a big deal for Sam to be a female. Women were just as successful as men in the business world, especially in the big city. No big deal…
Until Mia looked up and saw Sam in all her glory.
Goddess didn’t begin to describe how she looked. Tall, leggy, blond. Busty. Perfect skin, toned legs, a toothy white smile that belonged on a dental billboard or a toothpaste commercial. And she was smiling at Travis. She hadn’t noticed homely, short little Mia sitting at the table.
“I almost walked past this cute little place,” she said, in a very loud, very northern voice. She thought Kate had an accent, but this lady stuck out like a sore thumb around here.
Travis gave her a quick hug. “Sam, I want you to meet Mia.”
Sam smiled her broad toothy grin - seriously how did she get that many teeth in her mouth - and reached out her perfectly manicured hand. Mia forced a smile and shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mia. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Mia said, wanting to follow it up with “Really, because he didn’t tell me a whole lot about you.”
“Here, have a seat. Do you want to order something?” Travis asked.
“No, thank you. I’m still stuffed from breakfast. I had a huge green smoothie at the hotel.”
“I can’t believe that held you over on our hike,” Travis said with a chuckle.
“Hotel? Where are you staying?” Mia asked, trying to make small talk.
“In Atlanta. I just felt more comfortable there. But, Travis told me you have an adorable B&B?”
“Yes. I owned it with my mother, but she passed away recently, so now my sister runs it with me.”
“So sorry to hear about your mother. Your B&B is called Sweet Pea, right?”
“Sweet Tea, actually,” Mia said, trying not to grind her teeth to powder.
“Adorable,” she repeated.
Mia couldn’t remember a time where she felt more invisible than right now. And it was nothing that Travis or Sam was doing. She just suddenly felt inferior to this beautiful woman who was sitting there. Had Travis noticed how drop dead gorgeous she was?
“So, is anyone going to tell me about this big project?”
“Well, it’s really quite extraodinary…” Sam started to say when Carla appeared at the table again.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Oh, I would love a cup of hot green tea.”
Carla stared at her for a moment. “We don’t have green tea. We do have sweet tea, if you’d like that?”
Sam looked like she’d landed in a country where she didn’t speak the language. “No thanks. Just water with lemon, please.”
Carla walked away, looking back once before disappearing into the kitchen.
“Okay, so where were we? Oh, yes, you wanted to know about the project,” Sam said, smiling over at Travis. “Well, I work for a large publishing house in NYC and they want to publish a travel book for this area.”
“Really? Why?”
“It’s just a series of quaint travel books with real photos of special areas and possible tourist attractions.”
Mia laughed. “Carter’s Hollow has few tourist attractions.”
Travis looked at her, a bit of a glare on his face. “There’s a lot of beauty around here, Mia.”
“Of course. Sorry.”
She didn’t know why she felt so anxious about this whole thing. Travis had already told her he was never leaving again, but she had this very peculiar feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“It truly is a beautiful area, and our company would like for Travis to be the point person on a book about this region. Basically, he would spend a lot of time taking photos, scouting different spots that would be showcased in the book.”
“Wow, Travis, that’s a wonderful opportunity. It’s exactly what you’ve always wanted to do,” Mia said, reaching across the table and squeezing his hand.
“It really is. If this goes well, there could even be other areas that they could use me on.”
“Oh. You mean like you would travel around the country?” Mia asked, trying not to appear bothered.
Sam smiled. “Not only the country. If he does well, he might have jobs all over the world.” She grinned from ear to ear like this was some kind of wonderful news.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Travis said, his voice shaking a
bit. “One book at a time, right?”
“Of course. But don’t worry, Mia, I’m sure you could travel with him. What an adventure that would be!”
Adventure? Mia had no desire to go traveling around the world. She was a homebody, through and through. Maybe Travis had the need to travel, but she didn’t. Everything she loved was right here in Carter’s Hollow.
“I just know how hard Travis has worked at his craft and how much he has always wanted to have it showcased. I’m glad I can help in some small way,” Sam said. There was a familiarity between them that made Mia feel uncomfortable, and the very fact that she felt that way also made her feel bad about herself. She needed to trust him and their relationship, but the fear of losing him all over again had her feeling like a cornered animal.
“Right now, I think we just need to focus on this book. Sam and I have been scouting areas, and I think we have finalized most of what would need to be in the book. Of course, they want pictures from all four seasons, so I will be working on this for a while.”
“And, what about you, Sam? Will you be sticking around while Travis takes pictures for the next few months?”
She shook her head, and waved her hand in the air as if that was the craziest thought anyone had ever come up with. “No, I have plenty to keep me busy back in the city. But I will be checking in on video chat at least once a week. And of course, Travis will need to come with me to meet with my bosses.”
“Come with you? To New York?”
“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about, actually. Sam said it would be better if I flew back with her for a few days just to meet with some of the higher ups. They like to put a face with the name.”
“Oh. And that’s not something you could do on a video chat?”
“I suppose we could, but really to solidify the deal, I think they’re going to want to meet with Travis in person. I hope that’s not an issue?”
Mia shook her head. “Of course not. Travis is free to do whatever he needs to do.”
He looked at her, questioningly. “Are you not okay with this, Mia?”
“Why would you think that?” she said, trying to hide the concern that was brewing in her stomach. Concern over him traveling with such a beautiful woman. Concern over him traveling all over the world to take pictures for the books. Concerned that she was holding him back from his big dreams. Yep, there was plenty of concern to go around.
“I just thought I picked up on something,” Travis said, quietly.
“Well, when Carla comes back with my water, I think this deserves a toast,” Sam said, smiling, her teeth blinding Mia in the process. Or maybe she was being a bit dramatic.
As they waited to make the toast, Mia sat there, occasionally looking across the table at Travis, and wondering if their new start would be over before it really began.
Evie climbed high up into her favorite tree and stared out over the mountain range in the distance. She loved sitting up here, especially in the evening hours when the sun was starting to set. And today, she really needed the time to think. Her father was coming tomorrow, and she didn’t know how to feel about the whole thing.
On the one hand, she wanted a father figure in her life. She wanted someone she could count on, and her father had been that for her once upon a time. But, in recent years, he’d left her behind in favor of building a whole new family, and that had hurt Evie more than she could even admit to herself.
What would it be like to see him again?
She’d had dreams over the years about seeing her dad, running into his arms and him swinging her around like he did when she was little. She dreamed of him taking her to a father-daughter dance or showing her off to his friends and telling them how proud he was of her. So many dreams - or maybe they were wishes - and none of them had come true.
Getting his text a few months ago had been shocking, and she still didn’t really understand why he reached out again after all these years. Maybe he just wanted to see her. Maybe he wanted to invite her to meet her siblings. Maybe he realized what he’d done was wrong and he wanted to make everything right again.
She knew that him coming to the B&B was going to be hard for her mother. How couldn’t it be?
“Am I interrupting?” Cooper asked from below.
“Oh, hey, Coop. I didn’t know you were here today,” she said. She really liked Cooper. He was good to her mother, and that was important. But, he’d also rescued her from trouble a couple of times already. She felt safer with him around.
“Mind if I come up?”
“Sure, come on up!”
The tree limbs on the large oak tree were plenty strong enough to hold them both, but Cooper ambled up onto the limb across from her.
“Whatcha doing up here?”
“Just thinking. You know it’s my favorite spot on the property.”
“I know. It’s got the best view, for sure.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“Last I saw, she was watching YouTube videos about beekeeping, so I had to get out of there. She’s obsessed,” he said, laughing.
“Yes, she is. I think she’s excited to make something with Grandma’s name on it. Maybe it makes her feel closer to her?”
“You’re very astute, Evie. I think you’re right about that.”
“You know my Dad is coming tomorrow?”
He nodded. “I heard. Are you excited?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I want to be, but I also don’t want to be disappointed.”
Cooper eyed her carefully. “Are you nervous about seeing him again?”
“I think so. I just don’t know why he’s coming. I don’t know what he wants from me. And I know it’s going to upset Mom when he gets here.”
“I know you must be really freaking out about this, but remember you’re just a kid. None of this is your fault or your responsibility. The way your dad has acted isn’t a reflection on you.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “That’s what Mom said but why would he leave me like that? I mean, if he really wanted me, wouldn’t he have stayed in touch?”
“You know, adults are weird. We don’t always make a whole lot of sense, especially us guys. We have a hard time showing our feelings, and sometimes we make mistakes.”
“I guess so. I won’t really know what to think until I see him. I have had all these dreams over the years about having a dad again.”
“I bet. It’s hard, I’m sure. But your mom loves you, your aunt Mia loves you. Everything will work out fine.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Cooper. You’re always so nice to me.”
“Everybody should be nice to you. You deserve that. You’re a good kid.”
“Sometimes…”
“Let’s not talk about it…” he said, laughing.
“You know, it’s getting harder and harder to sit up here in this tree.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“I think I’ve rubbed most of the bark off of this limb, and I’m starting to get splinters on my rear end.”
Cooper let out a loud laugh that echoed off into the distance. “I bet that feels great.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t. But I love being up here. I don’t know what to do.”
“I suppose you could build a treehouse,” he said, offhandedly.
“You really think so?”
“Well, I was sort of joking, but you could do something like that. Maybe not an enclosed treehouse because you’re not eight years old…”
“But some kind of treehouse?”
“What about some kind of large deck area? You could come up here, lay down and read a book? Listen to music? Look at the clouds and dream about boys?”
Evie giggled. “What makes you think I dream about boys?”
“Because you’re a living, breathing teenage girl?” he said, pointing at her.
“So maybe you’d help me build something?”
“Of course! As long as your mother is okay with it. I certainly don’t want to be in the doghouse
with her. She might send those bees after me.”
“Cool. Thanks, Cooper. I can’t wait!”
Cooper started scooting back toward the trunk of the tree so he could climb down. “I’ll start drawing something up. Well, I better get back before your mother notices I’m missing.”
“Thanks for the talk. It made me feel better.”
He looked up at her and smiled. “I’m glad. See you tomorrow!”
As she watched him carefully make his way to the ground, Evie couldn’t help but be thankful for the new people in her life. Her aunt Mia, Cooper and even Travis, although she didn’t know him too well. Her friend Dustin at school. Some of her teachers that she actually liked. Her school bus driver who always pretended not to notice that she had an open container of Coca-Cola in her hand every morning.
She would’ve never imagined that Carter’s Hollow could have felt like home, but now she couldn’t imagine any other place would feel that way. And her biggest concern was that her father was coming to try to take her away from there. And on that point, she would fight.
Chapter Four
Mia sat out on the back deck, her cardigan sweater pulled tight around her. Even though they were heading into spring soon, it was still pretty cold outside, especially up in the mountains.
It was her favorite time of day, the sun starting to disappear behind the mountains beyond, leaving in its wake wisps of orange and pink across the sky. Ever since she was a little kid, she had adored watching the sunsets in the mountains. Each one was different, no matter how many times she saw it. It was like God created a brand new painting night after night, and it just never got old.
Since her lunch with Travis and Sam, she hadn’t been able to think about anything else. Dinner had just been going through the motions, as she wondered where Travis was. He normally came over for dinner, but he had been so wrapped up in Sam’s visit that she hadn’t seen much of him lately.
As a grown adult woman, she tried her best not to allow petty jealousy to creep into her heart, but for some reason she just couldn’t help it. All of those years apart from Travis had been painful, as much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself at the time. The thought that this woman, who he was apparently going to New York City with, could come between them made her sick to her stomach.
