by Emmy Eugene
“Sure.” Russ gave him a quick smile. “Sorry about your back.”
“It’s fine,” Travis said. “I’ll eat here, and the pills will kick in. I’ll do all the evening chores.”
Russ lifted his hand and waved, and Travis heard him calling the dogs to come get in the back of the truck. With everyone and everything gone, Travis didn’t have a whole lot to do. He went into one of the spare bedrooms and lay down, falling asleep almost before he’d even taken off his cowboy hat.
He woke sometime later, his phone ringing. He wasn’t sure where it was, and he missed the call from Rex. He didn’t feel too bad, though, because maybe Rex now knew what it was like to have a call ignored.
He got up and yawned, looking at his phone. It was past nine, and surely the restoration company would be open by now. Instead of calling his brother back, he called over to Oakwood Restoration and got someone on their way.
While he waited for them to arrive, he did call Rex.
“Hey,” his brother said. “Just wanted you to know that you have the whole day off.”
“What?” Travis asked.
“Russ said you’ve been stressed, and your back hurts, and we all think you should stay at Momma’s today and even tonight. Just…relax.”
Travis wasn’t even sure he knew how to do that. And laying around his mother’s wet house wasn’t his idea of a relaxing day. No, a day like that would have fishing in it, and time in the wood shop, and pizza.
Travis’s first instinct was to tell his brother he was fine. Instead, he heard himself say, “Okay. You sure you guys will be okay without me?”
“Oh, yeah,” Rex said. “Everything will still be here tomorrow when you get back.”
“Thanks,” Travis said.
“Yeah, of course,” Rex said. “Okay, so I just need to know where you hid the key to the four-wheeler…”
Travis chuckled. “I didn’t hide it. It’s hanging on the pegboard in the vehicle shed.”
“Griffin said it wasn’t there.”
“Griffin can’t find his own head sometimes,” Travis said, laughing afterward. “It’s definitely there.”
“Okay, I’ll look again.”
“Rex,” Travis said, sensing that his brother was about to hang up.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.” He meant it, and he hoped his brother could hear the sincerity in his voice.
“Sometimes we just need a day to take care of ourselves,” Rex said. “See you tomorrow, bro.”
Travis hung up, glad Rex had been able to be serious for even a moment. Then he used his phone to order that pizza he wanted. His dad would have a fishing pole, and he’d go back to the ranch and sneak into his wood shop without thinking about the dogs he should be building a home for, or the horses he hadn’t fed, or the mowing that needed to be done.
Hours later, Travis ran the sanding pad along the wood, the gentle sound of it so soothing to him. Forward and back. Forward and back. With everything smooth and cut, he could start putting the desk together tomorrow.
His fingers ached, first from being curled around the fishing pole for a couple of hours that morning, and then from all the measuring, cutting, and sanding. But it had been a good day. A very good day, with all of the things he liked most.
Except Millie, he thought. He looked at the pile of precisely cut wood. He’d put it all together and then carve it into something feminine and beautiful. He’d stain it and put on custom knobs, and it would be a stunning piece of furniture.
He did like Millie a whole lot. He didn’t want to lose her, especially not over something as stupid as a scavenger hunt kiss from a woman way too young for him. The very thought had his fingers curled into fists again, and that only hurt himself.
He really did wonder if she’d stay in town. Her mother couldn’t have much money, as Travis couldn’t remember the last time the woman had worked. And Millie barely had any income to speak of.
“Maybe she’ll come out to the ranch,” he said to himself in the peaceful serenity of his wood shop. He’d like it if he got to see her every day during lunchtime. He could sneak away from his chores to go find her, kiss her in secret, and then they’d go right back to their jobs.
He thought of her living in the homestead with him again, but there was something not quite right about that scenario. He’d always assumed Seth would live in the homestead, but he’d moved next-door to Jenna’s place. Isaac Wright had bought another house in town, and he’d be moving before the New Year.
Now, it seemed like Russ would live in the homestead, especially if things got serious with Janelle. She had a family.
“And a house in town,” Travis told himself.
Millie’s words about him doing something besides ranching ran through his mind. He couldn’t believe he was seriously considering it, but he was. He loved the ranch. He did. But he felt overwhelmed by it. Swallowed whole.
He could inherit his twenty percent and hire someone, like she’d suggested. He did have plenty of money, and he thought about his day fishing and building something he’d pulled from his imagination.
He liked woodwork. Loved it.
“That’s what you should be doing,” he whispered to himself. Seth and Jenna would be back on Sunday morning, and maybe Travis could talk to his brothers on Sunday evening. Find out how difficult it would be for him to pull back on all the ranch chores. He’d hire someone to take his place.
Because he really just wanted to build things again. He didn’t even care if he sold them. He could just give them to the people who had inspired them.
With his mind still churning, he swept up the shop and went back to the homestead. Along the way, his phone buzzed several times, and he found half a dozen texts from Millie.
At least she hadn’t cut him out of her life permanently. Guilt hit him, because while he’d thought about her a lot today, he hadn’t texted or called her. And he had a phone that worked.
Hey, she’d said.
How was your day?
Momma is driving me nuts. I’ve started looking for another job. Want to talk me through it at dinner tonight?
He had no idea how much time had elapsed between each text, because the next one said, Okay, so you must be out on the ranch somewhere without service.
Call me when you come in for lunch.
Never mind. I can’t do dinner tonight.
That was all, and Travis looked up into the darkening sky. He wanted to see Millie, and he didn’t. Or maybe he did.
He wasn’t sure, and he hated the confusion the most.
Sorry, he thumbed out quickly. I was working in my wood shop. Too late for dinner?
I’m in a meeting, her response read. Call you later.
Travis entered the homestead, glad it was just him and Russ, who had made omelets for dinner. He didn’t ask him how his day was, or seek to know more about Millie. They just ate, and then Travis went upstairs to shower. He waited for Millie to call and tell him about the meeting she was having in the evening, but she never did.
Chapter Twenty
Millie had just stepped out of the shower when her phone rang. She hurried across the slippery tiles to get the call before it went to voicemail. Yesterday had been an exercise in frustration, first from not being able to communicate with Travis to having a two-hour long meeting that didn’t end with her getting a signed contract.
But maybe this call was Chris and Kayla, saying they’d love to hire her to be their wedding coordinator.
The screen said Ramon Pedraza on it though, and Millie swiped the call on. “Ramon,” she said, a bit out of breath. She’d already taken Momma on their walk, and the next item on her agenda was to get out to Chestnut Ranch and ask Travis for that job he’d mentioned.
His question about her status in town had hurt, for a reason she couldn’t name. But she also had to face facts, and the fact was, she had no way to support herself in Chestnut Springs. The wedding planners in the area worked all over the Hill Country, and she couldn
’t travel that much. At least not right now.
“Millie,” Ramon said. “Our admin meeting was last night, and I’m sorry, but we can’t close the entire trail to Chestnut Springs for a private event.”
Millie wanted to argue, but she knew she wouldn’t win. “All right,” she said. “Thanks for bringing it up.”
“Sorry,” he said again. “I mentioned the pool, like you said, but the rest of the team didn’t think we could close a mountain.”
The trail to the springs was hardly a mountain, but Millie kept that biting remark under her tongue too. “It’s okay,” she said. “Thanks for letting me know.” Sighing, she hung up. She didn’t bother to get dressed before she called Diane Toolson and relayed the unfortunate news.
“Then I don’t need a party planner,” Diane said. “What do I owe you for checking on that for me?”
“Nothing,” Millie said, though she could use twenty bucks just to get a coffee and put gas in her car.
“Thank you, dear.” Diane hung up, and Millie hated that she’d lost a potential client. This one was completely out of her hands, but still.
She dressed, put on her makeup carefully, making sure each line of eyeliner was exactly right, and curled her hair.
“Where are you goin’ all dolled up?” Momma asked from her near-constant perch at the kitchen table.
“I’m going to get a job, Momma,” she said. She could help her mother around the demands of the ranch, she knew that. Her heart wailed at the idea of going to her boyfriend and groveling for a job, but she’d done worse.
“What about Serendipity?” Momma asked.
“It’s not really a job,” Millie said. “I can do almost all of it online, and it’s mostly just a title I have to make sure the other independent contractors who want to use Serendipity’s facilities are scheduled and have what they need. Mildred has a staff for that, so all I do is communicate with the contractors so Mildred doesn’t have to.”
“You get paid, though, right?”
“Not until January,” Millie said. “Everything is taken care of until then.” And she’d wanted the coordinator contract, so she could use the facilities without having to go through a middleman. But she hadn’t been able to get anyone to hire her for a fancy party or wedding that required the beautiful wildflower farms at Serendipity.
She swept a kiss along her mother’s hairline, though the woman could be absolutely maddening, grabbed her keys, and headed out. She sighed from the safety of her car. She couldn’t stay home with her mother for another day. Yesterday had been horrible, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Millie had been tempted to make something up just to get out of the house.
She loved her mother, but she wanted to talk about the same things over and over, and she watched game shows from decades past. Millie needed something to do, and while she thought the work around the ranch might kill her, she knew she’d get used to it.
Her boots pinched her toes as she drove out to the ranch. She parked in the driveway and gathered her courage as close as she could get it. She managed to walk to the front door and ring the doorbell, but no one came to answer it. She could just see the Christmas tree she and Travis had set up, and its presence made her smile.
She turned around and faced the ranch. “Maybe he’s out working on the dog enclosure.” She knew where that was. And the chicken coops, the goat pasture, and the vehicle sheds. If Travis wasn’t in any of those places, Millie couldn’t very well start tromping all over the ranch.
No one was working on the dog enclosure that day. In fact, the entire ranch seemed to be asleep, and Millie wondered where everyone was. Because it was almost lunchtime, she went back to the homestead and sat down on the front steps. Surely she’d know when someone showed up.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, she heard someone laughing inside the house. It wasn’t Travis, but it was male, and that was good enough for Millie. She rang the doorbell again, and this time Rex Johnson answered the door.
“Oh, hey, Millie,” he said, leaning into the doorway like he owned the world. He was so arrogant, but he actually wore it well.
“Hey,” she said. “Is Travis here?”
“Nope,” he said, really popping the P.
“Do you know where he is?” Millie felt like this day was turning out to be worse than yesterday.
Rex looked over his shoulder, as if he needed someone to tell him where Travis was. “Yeah, he went to town,” he said. “Something to do with Gabby or Greta or something.”
Millie’s mouth dropped open. “Gabby or Greta.”
“Yeah, just a sec.” He backed up and called into the house. “When is Trav gonna be back?”
“Any time now,” Russ said. “I hope. He’s got the drinks for lunch.” He appeared in the doorway that led into the kitchen, and he stalled, clearly surprised to see Millie. “Oh, hey, Millie. You can come in and wait for him.” He glared at Rex. “Why you makin’ her stand on the front porch?”
“I dunno,” Rex said, opening the door wider. “C’mon in, Millie.”
Millie did, feeling a bit like she was entering the lion’s den. “Thanks.” She ran her hands up and down her arms.
“Are you hungry?” Russ asked. “We’re just having lunch.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll just wait here.” She sat down on the couch where she and Travis had kissed last week, hoping the other Johnson brothers would just go away. Thankfully, they did, with Russ reprimanding Rex under his breath. An argument ensued, but they took it into the kitchen.
Gabby or Greta.
Millie couldn’t help the jealousy running through her the way the Chestnut River ran and ran and ran. Travis didn’t return “any time now,” but at least twenty minutes passed before she heard him come in.
A moment later, he entered the living room. “Mills?”
She got to her feet, suddenly so nervous to face him. “Hey.”
“What are you doin’ here?” He started toward her, like he’d take her into his arms and kiss her. Only a couple of days ago, that was normal for them. Everything felt like it had changed now.
“Who’s Gabby or Greta?” she asked, stalling his progress toward her.
“Who?”
“Rex said you were in town with a Gabby or a Greta.”
Confusion ran across Travis’s face, and Millie wasn’t sure if she should be relieved he didn’t know what she was talking about, or angry. Honestly, she was both.
“I was just in town to go over some stuff with the restoration company,” he said. “My mom and dad’s house flooded.”
“Oh.” Foolishness filled Millie. “Where are they staying?”
“Here,” he said. “Right here.”
She couldn’t tell if he was happy about that or not. “I rang the doorbell earlier, and no one came.”
“Okay,” he said. “Maybe they were out back.”
Millie wanted to say his dad never went very far, very fast, but she wasn’t sure what she was accusing him of, exactly.
“You never called me last night,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t I want you to?”
She shrugged, though her insecurities from last night were as fresh now as they’d been then. “You never responded to my text.”
“You said you’d call.” He shook his head and held up one hand. “Okay, it doesn’t matter. I feel like we’re on two different pages here. Why don’t you tell me why you’re upset?”
“I’m not.”
“Millie, I’m not blind, and I’m not the only bad liar in the room.” He cocked one eyebrow at her, but his beautiful smile was nowhere in sight.
“Fine,” she said, letting some of her anger rise to the surface. “I want to know who Gabby or Greta is.”
He blinked at her, and Millie hated this weakness inside her. “I don’t think you’re cheating on me, but—”
“Yes, you do,” he said. “That’s exactly what you t
hink.”
“I don’t know what to think,” she shot back. “Because you never answer my texts.”
“I was in the wood shop,” he said. “It has bad reception.”
Millie folded her arms and looked at him.
“I’m working with Oakwood Restoration,” he said. “Maybe the woman’s name is Gabby or Greta? I honestly don’t know. She was just at the house this morning, and I had to be there to go over everything. That’s all.”
“Oakwood Restoration,” Millie said. “Yeah, the Kline’s own that, and they have a daughter named Gabby.”
“There you go,” Travis said, but he was clearly not happy. “Can I go eat now? Did you want to eat?” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, but Millie felt rooted to the spot.
She shook her head, needing to ask him about the job here before she put anything in her mouth. Travis sighed and took a step toward her. “Okay, look, Millie. I really like you, but I think we need to take a step back.”
“A step back?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
“Because you thought I was in town seeing another woman, for starters,” he said. He spread his arms wide. “Millie, this is all there is. The ranch, and my family. If I’m not working on one of those problems, I’m asleep.” He frowned at her. “I really don’t like being judged for something I didn’t do, and I don’t need to answer to you for where I am or what I’m doing.”
“I never said—”
“This is all my life is. It’s boring, and it’s mundane, and sometimes there’s no service to get texts.” He drew in a deep breath. “So you know what? I think I need to take a step back.”
His words rang with awful finality in her ears. She didn’t know what to say to get him to stop glowering, and she really missed the smile she knew could transform his face.
“Okay,” she said, because what else was she supposed to say? He watched her march over to the front door and open it, but he didn’t follow her to close it. She stepped onto the porch, the wind nearly knocking her down.
She made it to her car and backed out of the driveway, beyond glad she hadn’t asked him about the job. She couldn’t even imagine working around the ranch if they weren’t together. She slowed as she approached the cabins, and she felt like something she hadn’t even known she wanted and needed had been ripped from her.
