Winter in Mason Valley

by Eliza Bennetts

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ she sang, the lip-loosening effects of the whiskey helping her to throw caution to the wind.

  Travis shoved the change in his pocket. ‘Sure,’ he said.

  ‘What’s your take on the distribution situation at work?’

  She winced, hearing the heightened tone of her voice. There was no doubt Travis would be able to detect her level of curiosity. So much for playing it cool.

  Travis straightened and looked at her through narrowed eyes. ‘My take? What do you mean, what’s my take?’

  ‘I mean, what do you think about how we do things with regard to distribution? It’s an area of concern for the company and I’ve been trying to get more details about our processes, but I keep coming up short.’

  She realised she was biting her lower lip, a telling sign of her uncertainty. It’d been a habit of hers since childhood and one her father had always detested. He’d told Dee it would give her position away, thus giving away her advantage, and that instead, she needed to stay straight-faced. As an eight-year-old, Dee had often wondered why she would need an advantage, but she’d never been game enough to call her father out on it.

  She continued, cautiously unveiling her concerns about distribution to Travis. ‘And then I find Vince and that truck driver smoking and it didn’t look right. I guess I could be barking up the wrong tree, but I feel I should have a better grip on what’s happening. Something doesn’t feel right.’

  Travis shifted his glass, rested his elbows against the bar and, when he looked at her, his eyes darkened. Dee felt the instantaneous surge of heat in her neck and the pounding of her heart increased.

  Travis’s lips hitched to the side. ‘I’ve been thinking for some time now that distribution is set up wrong. Those drivers are lazy and slow. I don’t know how much we pay that logistics company, but I know one thing—whatever we’re paying them is too much.’

  Dee rested her drink on the bar. ‘See, I don’t know how to get around it. We have to distribute our product. It’s an essential part of the business. But at the moment, the expense of doing that is eating up our profit. If we raise the cost per unit to cover transport costs, we won’t be competitive. We need a better plan. The problem is, I have no idea what that plan might be.’

  Travis opened his mouth, about to respond, but before he could, Vince’s heavy figure and presence filled the scene, squeezing out the small amount of intimacy Dee had felt brewing.

  ‘Howdy, my friends.’

  Vince threw an arm around Travis’s shoulder. But, to Dee’s surprise, Travis flung it off in an instant, his movements harsh and pointed. It was an action that said you’re no friend of mine. Dee had suspected there was no love lost between the two of them, but Travis’s actions confirmed it.

  To his credit, Vince didn’t let the act of rejection phase him. He continued right on with his attempts at witty banter. He was half drunk and waxing lyrical about some car he planned to buy.

  Dee wanted to tell Vince to go away. She’d been enjoying the shared proximity with Travis, though she couldn’t quite distinguish whether it was his thoughts on the situation at the factory or that he was as sexy as hell that had her wanting to tell Vince to go and play by himself on the highway. She guessed it was probably both. Travis made her nervous, turned on and intrigued all at the same time.

  As Vince prattled on about the expensive car he wanted to buy, Dee watched Travis and wondered how on earth that gorgeous man had ever managed to make her mad.

  12

  Travis and Dee took to the cold night air of Mason Valley to make the short walk home. They walked in silence, and the clear stillness of the night was like a shroud. To Travis, it felt more than a little weird to be heading home with the woman he was lusting after, knowing there was no way anything could happen between them.

  Once again, Dee had managed to impress him. She was already onto the situation with distribution, which was something he’d been concerned about for years. Even though the focus of his job was mainly on production, he still knew the situation with dispatch and delivery was far from ideal. In fact, more than that, Travis smelled a rat.

  It’d been a few years since he’d first become aware of the strange behaviours of some of the drivers. They stood back, watched, smoked cigarettes and arrived at odd hours. Out of the eight or so guys who worked in the dispatch area, only a select crew of three or four loaded the trucks. It felt suspicious to him, but he couldn’t figure out why. More than once, he’d considered that he might be paranoid. Maybe the drivers were just lazy, but even that needed to be addressed, and Dee might be the one to do it. He was beginning to suspect that she might be the very person to get the situation under control—but that was part of Trav’s main problem.

  If Travis were only contending with Dee making him hot under the collar, it’d be bad enough. But the fact that he was beginning to respect and admire her was … troublesome. Troublesome and disabling.

  He needed to get control over these burgeoning feelings and the sooner the better. If he didn’t, he could end up doing something crazy like having an affair with his boss. That was a complication he did not need in his life. He needed Annie, his mum, his job and his house. That was all.

  After Kim had died of an overdose, he’d sworn off starting anything real with a woman. It wasn’t that he’d lived a chaste life since Kim had passed. He’d had his fair share of Friday night hook-ups, safe in the knowledge that Annie was staying at his mum’s, but relationships had been a no-go.

  Assuming he even could seduce a gorgeous woman like Dee, it wasn’t something he wanted to do. First, Dee was his boss, and that alone would make things complicated. Second, she was living in his house, and he’d long appreciated the adage “don’t shit where you live”. Third, and possibly most importantly, he wasn’t sure he wanted Dee to be a Friday night conquest. If something were to happen with her, he didn’t want it to be a meaningless fling, regardless of how bad his balls tingled when she was nearby.

  ‘I’ve got my keys,’ he said, stating the obvious as they walked up his driveway.

  Her teeth had begun chattering when they’d turned into his street and he had to reign in every cell in his body to stop from reaching out and pulling her to his chest.

  ‘G-g-g-good,’ she said. ‘It’s fucking freezing.’

  He caught himself smiling as he unlocked the door. He liked that she’d used the f-word. She was such a lady most of the time, so hearing her use that word only served to shock and delight him.

  ‘Sorry,’ she whispered as he kicked the door open. ‘It’s just …’

  ‘Really fucking cold,’ he finished. ‘I tell you what. I’ll put the heaters on and warm the place up a little. You can go and have a shower.’

  ‘Ah, that’d be so great,’ she said.

  He’d intended to put some distance between them so that he could get a handle on his feelings, but then he realised she would be in the shower, which meant the entire time the water was running, he’d be picturing her … in the shower.

  Her voice trailed off as she wandered towards her room. ‘Where’s Annie tonight?’

  Relief washed over him. She’d picked one of the few topics that would automatically douse his desire.

  ‘She’s at my mother’s,’ he said, realising he’d just picked another. ‘She stays at Mum’s every Friday night. They have time together and I get to socialise for a bit. Annie loves it. Actually, Mum does too.’

  Travis had turned on the old gas wall heater and was warming himself in front of it when Dee came into the lounge room. She’d removed her blazer and heels and put a hoodie on over her shirt. She looked casual and natural, and the way she sat on the sofa, looking relaxed and comfortable, gave him pause.

  He found himself picturing her here, not just as a guest because of a human resource blunder, but living here, with Annie, with him as his partner. He liked the way his fantasy felt at first, but it was short-lived, just like a sugar high. It had made him feel good for a m
oment, but then he’d crashed and burned. For all the reasons he’d been tossing around in his mind for why things were never going to end up that way, Dee was also heavily into her career. He knew that her gig at the factory was just a stepping stone to something bigger in someplace much more cosmopolitan that Mason-frigging-Valley, but as parochial as Mason was, it was his home and he planned on staying here forever.

  ‘I didn’t know your mother lived nearby,’ Dee said, curling her feet beneath her bottom.

  ‘She does,’ he told her. ‘She lives in the Mason Hills, just of Mudgeeduck Road.’

  Dee’s face brightened. ‘Oh really? Those hills are amazing. Not pretty, exactly, but hauntingly sparse, and … impressive. I’ve been to the restaurant up there with Vince. The Hill Above, I think it was called.’

  Travis let out a breath. Ignoring that Dee had been out for lunch with Vince and that he didn’t care much for the restaurant, it annoyed him that a public place had been set up in the hills that he’d always felt had belonged to him.

  ‘Those hills were the best place to grow up,’ he confessed. ‘You could walk for hours, and because there were barely any trees, you could always find your way home. On school holidays, my brother and I would head out straight after breakfast and stay out all day until dinnertime. We’d explore and run and feel the wind in our hair. We could spend all day out there without laying eyes on another human being. We always felt like we were in our own rugged, windswept universe.’

  Dee looked mesmerised, although she might have been tired. Her eyes had that glazed look about them, so it was hard to tell. This was probably as expressive and articulate as she’d ever heard him; he hadn’t exactly been friendly and chatty since she’d moved in.

  He felt a pull in his chest, that irresistible and magnetic attraction that had her driving him crazy. He wondered if she felt anything even remotely similar to the way she made him feel.

  Their conversation paused for a few beats while they stared at each other. The way she looked at him gave him reason to believe that she was feeling something for him just then. Her blue eyes were swimming, and then, acting to further confirm his suspicion, she stood hastily and spoke in a shaky voice.

  ‘I … better have a shower and go to bed.’

  Dee showered quickly, slipped into her winter PJs and hurried to her room. Crawling into bed, she stared up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes at the situation. Here she was, wearing PJs covered in unicorns, tucked up in bed on a Friday night, staring at the ceiling and thinking about a guy. What the hell? Was she forty or fourteen?

  She could picture Travis and his newly mentioned brother wandering the expansive Mason Hills. When he spoke about those hills, she’d felt the magic, the eeriness she’d discerned for herself during her trip there earlier that week.

  Travis had begun unlocking things in her that she’d kept hidden away for years. She was wondering about a boy again—well, the last time she’d felt this way she’d been wondering about a boy. But Travis wasn’t a boy. He was all man, from the way he held himself in a room, to the way he walked, confident and unaffected, right down to his … well, that particular part of his manhood she was unfamiliar with, but she guessed that was all man too.

  So, here she was, all face cream and unicorn pyjamas and thinking about a man’s penis. To be fair, she wasn’t just fantasising about his penis.

  She was curious about him, intrigued by the way he thought and acted. Like, why had he been so abrasive during the first half of the week? And, why did she get the sense he was smarter and more articulate than he let on? Then, there was the question she dwelled on the most, the age-old pondering that never became less pertinent, no matter your age—did he like her? Like, did he like her?

  She decided to text her best friend, Jo, and reached for her phone. It was eleven-thirty, but she knew Jo would be awake. Friday nights were usually busy at the lodge that Jo ran, the lodge Dee used to run. She knew her sister-from-another-mister would be wide awake, either due to just finishing work, or because she’d just finished shagging her incredibly hot, rich fiancé, Christian Olsen. The Christian Olsen, the heir to the Olsen empire.

  I like a guy. She punched out the message and hit send.

  She’d known Jo since they were kids and could picture the exact expression she would be wearing as she read the message.

  The reply came within a minute.

  Already? Really? You don’t mess around! Tell me about him. FYI, I don’t even need to ask if he likes you back. He’d be insane if he didn’t, and thus, not worthy of you.

  Dee chuckled and typed back.

  I’m living with him.

  Her phone rang and she answered right away.

  ‘What!?’ Jo’s shriek was ear-piercing.

  ‘Human resources messed up,’ Dee said.

  ‘I know,’ Jo shot out, her tone telling of her excitement and impatience. ‘You told me you were going to live with a single mum.’

  ‘Well, I am living with a single parent, but not of the female variety.’ Dee was careful to keep her voice down. The last thing she needed was Travis overhearing her juvenile, albeit exciting phone conversation. ‘The single parent is a he,’ she whispered.

  ‘Ahh,’ Jo breathed. ‘So, you’re in love with a hot, single daddy? Perfect. Go you.’

  ‘I don’t know if he likes me?’

  Jo scoffed. ‘Hun, you’re you. Let me save you the anguish of wondering. He likes you.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Dee whined. ‘It’s hard to tell. Plus, even if he does, I’m quite sure he doesn’t want anything to happen, and neither do I for that matter.’

  ‘Why on earth do you not want anything to happen? It sounds to me like there’s two hot, single people living under the same roof. It’d be negligent if something didn’t happen. You owe it to the world.’

  It was Dee’s turn to scoff. ‘I owe it to the world.’

  ‘Listen, babe. I know you care about being successful and having a career, but you need to create some balance in your life, especially now that you’ve moved beyond managing restaurants and hotels. You need to spread your wings in all the ways.’

  Dee frowned. ‘Spread my wings?’

  ‘Wings, legs, whatever. The point is, you can have a little fun while you work on your career and take over the world. I know how much energy you’ve invested in your work, but maybe you need to invest in other aspects of your life too. You don’t need to marry the guy, just … enjoy what he has to offer.’

  Yes, she was well and truly due to get laid. Yes, she was beyond hot for Travis, but something about the hit-it-and-quit-it scenario didn’t feel right. Also, she couldn’t have sex with a subordinate … could she?

  She asked the question. ‘I can’t sleep with one of the employees, can I?’

  When Jo didn’t respond immediately Dee clamped a hand down over her mouth realising what she’d said. Jo had slept with their boss. It had turned out fine, better than fine actually, but she’d still slept with him. Dee didn’t judge Jo or Christian for it, not one little bit, but the situation she was in was different.

  Eventually, Jo laughed. ‘I know, right. What kind of loser sleeps with their employer?’

  ‘Please tell me Christian isn’t with you,’ Dee begged.

  ‘He’s in the next room. It’s fine. Listen, do me a favour. Don’t rule out sex with hot daddy, okay?’

  Dee sucked in a huge breath.

  ‘Dee?’

  ‘Yes, I’m here, and okay, I won’t rule it out.’

  Dee gave the promise, but it was really only so that the topic could be dropped and the conversation could be moved on to a less stress-inducing subject.

  Jo updated Dee on the Blaxland Falls gossip, about how her relationship with Christian was going and that they were even toying with the idea of a trip to Norway for Christmas.

  ‘Wow, I’m so happy for you JoJo,’ Dee said. And it was true. She was happy that her lifelong friend had finally found joy and love in a relationship.

&
nbsp; After she’d hung up, Dee rested her phone on the side table and let her mind drift to lazy, luxurious thoughts. Like the crease that formed beneath Travis’s stubble when he smiled, the relaxed and confident way he walked, those blue eyes and those arms, all strength and pictures. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so hot for a man. Then, without so much as a turn signal, her mind wandered down a different road, and she found herself wondering if, like Jo, she might like to find joy and love in a relationship too.

  13

  Dee awoke to the sound of light tapping on her bedroom door. She roused herself from the fog of sleep, and as soon as she realised it would be Travis knocking, her body stiffened. Hot panic spread over her when she considered how she must look—unicorn pyjamas, bed hair and a sizeable hangover, all working together like a cluster of clouds to create the perfect storm of dagginess.

  She flung back the covers and shot to her feet, swiftly becoming aware of the headache that promised to dog her all day long.

  ‘’Ello?’ she ground out, her voice papery dry.

  Travis’s voice was unaffected by the beer he’d drunk the night before or the early hour. In contrast to Dee’s, it was annoyingly smooth.

  ‘I thought you might like to come for the drive, to pick up Annie … from my mother’s house?’

  She paused, not from deliberation but because she found it difficult to process his words.

  ‘Yes, that’d be great, actually,’ she said as soon as her brain allowed.

  She caught a glimpse of herself in the wall mirror. She looked like crap warmed up. No, actually, that description implied she looked better than cold crap, and that simply wasn’t true. Her hair was a mess of creamy yellow, like a cluster of used, bleached steel wool. She had panda eyes, the pallor of an old goat and … the PJs. It wasn’t the look she wanted to present to Travis—or anyone for that matter—so early in the morning, especially not if the poor unassuming soul had already had breakfast.