Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she looked up at him. “You’re having two large cones?”
“Hey, I could handle it, but I meant one of those for you.”
“Make mine small,” she said.
“Is that because it’s really all you want, or because you’ll feel guilty if you eat a large one?”
“I’ll feel guilty,” she admitted.
“Well, I’ll feel guilty if I have a large cone and get you only a small one, so you’re just going to have to humor me this time.”
She seemed to struggle with herself for a heartbeat, then shrugged. “Well, if I have to, I have to.”
He grinned. “That’s the spirit.”
He bought their cones and they walked to an unoccupied bench in the shade. Watching Sarah run her tongue around the soft ice cream was almost his undoing. He hadn’t heated up that quickly in months. He blinked and looked away.
“Thanks,” she said eventually.
“For?”
“The whole afternoon. I never take time for myself like this anymore. If I have spare time, I think I should be home with Tommy and Libby. I’d forgotten that quiet pleasures can be good for the soul.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “And you’ll be a better mom to your kids if you’ve taken some time to relax. You’ll have more patience.”
“I know you’re right, but that guilt thing kicks in and I run straight home.”
“It has to be tough being a single mom,” Travis said thoughtfully. “I know it was for my mother, and she had a lot of support.”
“Now that I’m back here, I have plenty of support, too,” Sarah said. “Raylene, whom you haven’t met yet, she’s staying with me and she adores the kids. She pitches in around the house, too. The situation’s a little complicated, but I love having the company. And, of course, you know how the Sweet Magnolias like to meddle in my life.”
“First hand,” he agreed. “They’re a scary bunch.”
“Not once you really get to know them. They’re just protective.” She sighed. “Then there’s Walter.”
“Your ex-husband,” he said, his tone disparaging.
“He’s not as bad as you’ve probably heard,” she said, jumping to his defense in a way that stirred Travis’s annoyance.
As if she sensed his disapproval, she quickly added, “Oh, he was awful, believe me. That’s why I left Alabama. Lately, though, he’s gotten away from his parents’ influence and he’s almost human again, the way he was when we first met back in college.”
Travis tensed. “With all this self-improvement, are you planning to give him a second chance?”
“No,” she said with conviction.
“But you said he’s more like the man you met, which means he’s more like he was when you fell in love with him, right?” Travis persisted, not quite sure why he wanted so badly to pin down her feelings for the guy.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget how he was after we were married,” she said. “Our marriage was broken beyond repair. It’s not as if it could be fixed at this late date. I don’t think I could ever trust him not to revert to that kind of behavior. At least, it’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”
She sounded dead-certain about that, but in Travis’s experience women could be fickle. And men could be slick. If Walter Price wanted her back and set his mind to winning her over, it just might work. There were two kids to consider, too.
Maybe he really did need to take a step back, not just for Sarah’s sake, but for his own as well. Why put his heart on the line for the very first time for a woman who might not be free of her past?
Of course, that was the sensible, self-protective side of his brain talking. He usually ignored it.
And, as he looked over at Sarah, saw the concentration furrowing her brow as she tried to keep up with her melting ice cream, and felt his libido kick in, something told him this was going to be another one of those times.
On Saturday evening, Travis and Tom settled into comfortable chairs on the patio after dinner, beers in hand. Jeanette had driven to Charleston with Maddie and her kids to see a movie, leaving the two of them with a rare guys-only night.
“I need to start looking for my own place,” Travis said. “I’ve been intruding on you and Jeanette long enough.”
“It’s fine. You’re not around at night, which gives us time together when we need it. You don’t leave your dirty socks and underwear all over the house, so Jeanette’s not complaining.”
Travis grinned. “That’s her standard for a house-guest?”
“Pretty much. She’s a low-key kind of woman these days. And she’s very big on family, now that she’s reconciled with her parents. She even tolerates my folks and, believe me, they got off to a very rocky start.”
Travis didn’t have to feign his shock. He knew how impossibly stuffy Tom’s folks could be. “Jeanette must be a saint,” he said mildly.
“Tell me about it,” Tom said with feeling. “Look, if you find your own place, fine, but there’s no rush about it. We’re not going to need that room for a nursery for a while.”
Travis turned to find his cousin with a broad grin on his face. “Don’t tell me! Jeanette’s pregnant?”
Tom nodded. “It caught me by surprise, too. We’d been talking about it. We’d even decided to start trying, but it took, like, fifteen seconds apparently.”
“That’s those potent little McDonald guys,” Travis said. “They’re great little swimmers.”
Tom’s expression sobered. “Which should be a warning to you.”
“Not to worry,” Travis replied. “My guys are not allowed in the pool. There will be no unprotected swimming. I’m not sure the world needs any more McDonalds from my side of the family.”
“That’s crazy,” Tom said. “I’ve seen you with your sisters’ kids and with all the children running around at the picnic over at Dana Sue’s on the Fourth of July.”
“I love kids,” Travis admitted. “But I don’t think I’m cut out to be a father.”
“Because your dad was so lousy at it, I assume,” Tom said.
“To be fair, he was a lousier husband than he was a father,” Travis said. “Other than disagreeing vehemently with just about every decision I ever made, he wasn’t all that bad as a dad. In some ways he was just an irresponsible, overgrown kid himself.”
“My father certainly wouldn’t take top honors in a daddy competition, either,” Tom reminded him. “But I’m hoping I learned from his mistakes.” He fell silent for a minute, then said, “That reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
“Cal Maddox and I have started a Little League program in town. It was just a couple of teams last year, but there were so many kids who turned out this spring, we really want to add more teams so all the kids will have a chance to play a fair amount instead of warming the bench half the time.”
“And you want me to coach one of them,” Travis guessed.
“If you’re willing and have the time,” Tom confirmed. “You’d be great at it. And it would give you another way to become a part of the community. What do you think?”
“Count me in,” he said at once, immediately excited by the idea. “The radio station can sponsor the team, too. It’ll be good PR.”
“We haven’t actually had sponsors so far,” Tom admitted. “Cal and I have just picked up the financial slack when it comes to uniforms and equipment.”
Travis frowned. “Well, I could do that, too, but it seems to me it increases community involvement to have businesses participate. That’s the way it worked back home,” he reminded his cousin. “How about I try to find a few other sponsors? How many teams are we talking about? Four? Six?”
“Let’s say four for the rest of this season,” Tom told him. “You sure you want to take on trying to drum up sponsors, when you’re trying to get a new business on solid ground?”
“I’m out soliciting for advertising, anyway,” Travis
said with a shrug. “I can always offer a package deal…ads on the radio station in return for team sponsorship. It’ll be an introductory win-win all around.”
Tom regarded him with surprise. “You might have a knack for the whole broadcasting thing, after all. You’re actually thinking like a smart, creative businessman.”
Travis grinned. “Thanks for the grudging support.”
“You know I support you. I just thought you were taking on too much in an area in which you had absolutely no experience.”
Travis’s grin spread. “Do you actually know what my degree is in?”
Tom looked flustered by the question. “No. I figured physical education, maybe. Wasn’t that the plan when you left for college?”
“Sorry, pal. It was always broadcast journalism. I thought if my name got big enough, I could wind up calling games on TV once I retired. I even did a couple of nights on the air with the team’s local radio guys in Boston when I was out with a sprained wrist last season.”
Tom appeared to be genuinely impressed. “Well, why on earth didn’t you pursue that when the Red Sox let you go?”
Travis shrugged. “I thought about it, but then I realized I’d be on the road constantly and a part of me wanted more than that. I love the game, but I hated sleeping in hotel rooms night after night, not even knowing where I was half the time. I wanted a place to call home. To be honest, it surprised the heck out of me that I felt that way. I hadn’t been here with you more than a week when I realized I’d found it. And once the radio deal started to fall into place, well, it seemed like fate.”
“Who knew?” Tom said, his expression still disbelieving. “Okay, then, you’ll find the sponsors for our teams and take on coaching the older kids. You’ll be a real role model for them.”
“Who’s been coaching the older kids up till now?”
“Cal.”
“Then he should keep doing it,” Travis insisted. “I’d like to take on the little kids, teach ’em to love the game along with working on the basic skills. That’s what’s lacking for too many of these kids. They get into sports because their dads are trying to relive some childhood fantasy. They never get to play just for fun.”
Tom shook his head. “You’re just full of surprises. It’s okay with me. I’ll run it by Cal.”
“That only gives you three teams, though. Who’s going to take over the fourth?”
“Cal’s trying to get Ronnie Sullivan to do it, but he has to ease him into the idea. Ronnie’s business has taken off, and he likes being available in case Dana Sue needs him to pitch in at Sullivan’s. Cal’s had him helping out regularly, and he figures in another week, he can point out that Ronnie’s at the ballfield all the time anyway, so why not just take on his own team?”
“Smooth,” Travis said approvingly.
“Once he says yes, we can schedule more games,” Tom said. “There are half a dozen teams in neighboring towns in each age bracket.”
Travis thought of Sarah’s little boy. Just four, he was a little unsteady on his feet, but in Dana Sue’s yard on the Fourth of July, Travis had seen his enthusiasm for throwing a ball around and even swinging some lightweight little bat someone had given him.
“What about T-ball?” he asked. “Maybe I could organize a couple of teams for that, too. We’d just need a few dads to keep order, since they’re not exactly going to be skilled players at that age.”
To his surprise, his cousin regarded him with immediate suspicion. “Any particular reason you’d want to do that? It wouldn’t have anything to do with Sarah Price’s boy, would it?”
“What if it does?” he responded defensively.
“Don’t play games with her,” Tom warned. “And you definitely don’t want to involve her children in them, especially if you even think you could wake up one morning and decide Serenity’s not for you.”
“An ironic thing to say coming from a man who’d once intended to use this town as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things,” Travis said testily. “Look, the only game I’m interested in is T-ball. I told you I knew right away I wanted to settle down here, and I meant it.”
Tom still looked worried. “And Sarah’s part of that?”
Travis nodded slowly. “It’s entirely possible that she could be.”
“Well, all I can say is be careful, because if you do anything to hurt that woman, you’ll be dealing with the wrath of the Sweet Magnolias.”
“Trust me, I’ve already had one brush with them.” Travis described the fallout from the kiss. Tom was chuckling by the time he’d finished reciting all the different angles they’d used to come after him.
“Then you obviously know they’re the most loyal, intimidating group of women on the planet,” Tom said. “I’m married to one of them, but only because there was consensus from the group that I passed muster. Like I said, you don’t want to mess with them, okay?”
Tom sounded so serious, Travis had to fight the desire to laugh. Then he thought of the evidence he’d seen of Jeanette’s fiercely protective streak, Annie’s guard-dog belligerence and the way Helen had threatened him with a sexual harassment suit, and it wiped even the faint beginning of a smile from his face.
He supposed the good part of what Tom was telling him was the confirmation that Sarah really did have fiercely protective backup. From what he’d been hearing about her marriage and what he’d seen of her skittishness around him, she needed it. He felt better knowing she had women who were there for her. He’d always had male friends, guys he hung out with, and some—like Tom—to whom he could tell anything. He understood the importance of friendships.
In the case of the Sweet Magnolias, he just had to make sure he didn’t do anything more to tick them off.
12
Sarah was starting to settle into a routine at work. Once she was off the air, she’d have a quick lunch, which was sometimes supplied by Travis along with a few flirtatious remarks that she basically ignored. Then she made phone calls to schedule guests for upcoming shows. If there was time after that before she needed to be home, she’d make a few calls to potential sponsors or straighten out the office. Or she’d update the master schedule she’d created on a giant erasable board so that she, Travis and Bill weren’t approaching the same potential guests or advertisers.
For a woman whose household was generally chaotic, discovering that she could keep things at the station on track had been a revelation. Certainly Travis didn’t bother with details. Bill was better, but he had less to organize. Used to years of being on the air alone and simply talking to listeners, he didn’t book a lot of guests. Nor was he covering more than a handful of accounts.
Sarah had also taken Travis at his word and called regular staff meetings for the three of them so they could plan shows and brainstorm ideas. She’d even pestered Travis to buy a file cabinet so they could keep neat folders on their advertisers. Of course, the folder for accounts Travis handled tended to be stuffed with Post-its, while Sarah’s held detailed notes and even scripts for the commercials she or one of the others recorded.
She was alphabetizing files after Travis had haphazardly stuffed things back into a drawer, when he came up behind her. He didn’t have to say a word. Her whole body went on high alert the second he even walked into a room. The faint citrus scent that lingered on his skin after shaving was like an aphrodisiac. She automatically wanted to turn and bury her face in his neck and breathe deeply.
“Can I help you?” she asked without turning around.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said. “Let’s take a break and go get some coffee.”
“I don’t have time for a break,” she said automatically. Turning him down for the most innocuous things had gotten to be second nature. It made it easier to say no when he tossed in a request for anything that sounded remotely like a date.
“I don’t think I asked if you had time,” he said testily.
She did turn then and frowned at him. “Travis McDonald, are you or
dering me to take a break?”
He returned her challenging look. “Why, yes, I believe I am.”
She might have argued with the man, but she knew better than to fight with him when he was in this particular mood. He rarely pulled rank on her, but when he did, she found it exasperating. Most of the time she believed they worked as partners. Maybe not financial partners, but two people who were attuned to anything that was good for the station. She basked in the respect he showed for her opinions. That meant more than the flattery he doled out without thinking.
Despite her annoyance, she forced herself to respond with indifference. “Okay, then. You’re the boss.”
“Wharton’s okay?” he asked, obviously still miffed.
“If that’s where you want to go.”
He gave her an equally exasperated look. “Are you planning to be a pain in the butt while we’re there?”
“I believe I am.”
He shook his head. “Okay, then. This should be fun.”
They crossed the square in silence, Travis walking a few paces ahead of her as if he were some sort of royalty and she his subservient minion. Trotting to keep pace, though, would only make her feel more foolish, so she deliberately dawdled. If it hadn’t been against the law to pick the flowers on the green, she’d have paused to do just that.
At Wharton’s, he held the door until she got there, then walked to the closest booth and sat down. Sarah slid in across from him, then folded her hands primly on top of the table and waited.
“Are you trying to tick me off?” he asked. “You look like a kid who’s waiting outside the principal’s office expecting to be punished.”
“Really? I thought I was behaving like a dutiful employee, eagerly awaiting the word from on high.”
His scowl deepened. “What is wrong with you?”
She sucked in a deep breath, then decided to tell the truth. “I don’t like your attitude.”
“Since when?”
“Since about fifteen minutes ago, when you started treating me like some low-level employee you get to order around just because you’re in a snit.”
Sweet Tea at Sunrise Page 15
