Sweet Tea at Sunrise

by Sherryl Woods

  “Okay, Walter, here’s the deal. All of us can agree that you’re the most qualified candidate for this job that I’m likely to find in Serenity, but that’s not the only thing that matters to me. Sarah means a lot to this station—”

  “And to you,” Walter said, regarding Travis directly, his gaze unflinching and holding no hint of the animosity Travis had feared.

  Travis nodded. “And to me,” he agreed. “My point is that she’s very anxious for you to stick around because of Tommy and Libby. She thinks you’ve changed, that the two of you can work together without friction. I want your promise that will be the case.”

  “You have it,” Walter said. “Not to drag you into my personal issues, but back in Alabama, I let my parents run the show. They got in the middle of my marriage. It should never have happened. I should have put a stop to it, but I didn’t. I lost Sarah and my kids because I was stupid and weak. Coming here is a fresh start for me, not just with my children, but for my life. I like Serenity. I want to be a part of the town, not just for Tommy and Libby, but for myself. I’m not going to do anything to ruin my chances of staying here.”

  Travis liked what he heard, not just because Walter was saying all the right words, but because he was looking Travis straight in the eyes when he said it. He figured it took some gumption to be that candid with the man who was now involved with his ex-wife.

  “Okay, then, we’ll give this a try.” He laid out the terms of the job offer. Walter made a couple of modifications that sounded entirely fair. Travis nodded. “Then we have a deal?”

  Relief spread across Walter’s face. “We have a deal. Thank you, Travis. This means a lot. I won’t let you down…you or Sarah.”

  “I’m counting on that. Now why don’t you plan to get together with Sarah after her show tomorrow and go over all the current accounts. She’s the one who has all that totally organized.”

  Walter looked surprised. “Sarah? She was never much for organization before.”

  Travis scowled at the disparaging comment, and Walter immediately got the message.

  “No disrespect intended. I just meant it was different when we were married,” he said hurriedly.

  “Well, now she has this place running like a well-oiled machine,” Travis told him. “You’d be wise to take lessons from her.”

  “Of course. I’ll get together with her tomorrow.”

  Travis watched Walter as he left the station and wondered if he’d done the right thing, after all. But then he thought of how much self-confidence Sarah had gained just in the months he’d known her. If she could handle him—and she did—then she could certainly handle Walter. It might even be fun to watch her putting her ex-husband very firmly in his place.

  Sarah regarded Travis with disbelief. “You want me to train Walter to take over the sales?”

  “Yep,” he said. “You created the system. Teach it to him. I think it will be a good lesson for both of you.”

  “But maybe it’s not the best system,” she said, familiar doubts surfacing. “He’ll probably have a lot of his own ideas. After all, sales is what he did for his dad’s company. It’s a much bigger operation and it’s been in business for years.”

  “I think your system suits the station just fine,” Travis said, a glint of determination in his eyes.

  Sarah studied him suspiciously. “Is this even about the system we use to keep track of advertising accounts?”

  “Of course it is,” he said. “What else could it be about?”

  “Maybe you’re thinking I’d enjoy bossing my ex-husband around,” she said.

  Travis grinned. “Well, that, too. Are you saying you’d rather not?”

  “You know he’s going to pick everything apart,” she said, resigned to getting off on the wrong foot with Walter, just when they’d started to make peace.

  “If he does, I’ll fire him,” Travis replied readily. “There are plenty of people looking for jobs.”

  Sarah regarded him with surprise. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

  “Of course. We want team players around here. I’m not saying he can’t modify your system as time goes on, but right now he needs to prove to all of us he can fit in. A huge part of that is going to be showing you the proper respect.”

  She frowned at that. “Are you two going to spend a lot of time around here marking your turf? If so, it’s going to get pretty uncomfortable for me and Bill.”

  Travis gave her an innocent look and beckoned her across the office. “Sit,” he said, drawing her into his lap. “You and I, we’re together now, right? It’s official?”

  She didn’t deny it, but met his gaze. “What’s your point?”

  “That I’m not going to waste time staking my claim around a man you divorced.”

  Though she appreciated him making their relationship perfectly clear, she wouldn’t have minded just a tiny hint of jealousy. “You could have at least pretended I’m worth fighting for,” she said.

  “You are, absolutely,” he said at once. “But we both know there’s no contest. You don’t want Walter.”

  “Maybe he still wants me,” she suggested, just to stir the pot a bit.

  A dangerous spark lit in Travis’s eyes. “You think so?”

  She considered fanning that spark, but decided it was both immature and risky. She and Travis had found something amazing. Why play games with it?

  “No,” she admitted.

  “You were testing me?”

  “A little,” she conceded.

  “Just so we’re clear,” he said slowly, his gaze locked with hers. “There’s not a test you can devise that I won’t pass. You’re the woman I want and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you and make sure you’re so happy you’ll never even think about looking at another man.”

  A warm glow filled her, but she tried her best to act nonchalant. She gave him a bright smile, then said casually, “Good to know.”

  When she would have stood and walked away, he pulled her back and covered her mouth with his in a kiss that was unmistakably meant to stake a claim. She sighed when he released her.

  “I love you, Sarah,” he declared softly. “Don’t ever forget that.”

  “Very good to know,” she said, though this time her voice was a little shaky and her breath seemed to catch in her throat. The first time a man said he loved you was a moment to be savored and held onto for a lifetime.

  Walter was amazed as Sarah walked him through the system she’d set up for the station’s current accounts.

  “And over here are the files for the contacts each of us has made and our notes about why they didn’t want to advertise with us now,” she said. “If they indicated a willingness to consider it in the future, that’s in the file with a target date for getting back to them. I’ve also made a note about which of us recorded the spots for the current advertisers and included a copy of the scripts. I always ask if they want to make a change when I sign them up for a new series of spots.”

  “It’s a very thorough system,” Walter said, genuinely impressed.

  Sarah shrugged. “It just seemed to make sense. At first Travis and I were crossing paths with the same people. Something had to be done to make it more organized and professional.”

  Walter regarded her with newfound appreciation. Sarah had been an excellent student when they’d met, on the dean’s list more often than not. Why the hell hadn’t he remembered that when his mother was so busy cutting her down because she’d burned a dinner or forgotten to do the ironing?

  “I never gave you half enough credit, did I?” he asked, not for the first time.

  “You mean for having a brain?” she said wryly. “To be fair, I suppose it was hard to remember that I did when you came home every night to a house that was in chaos.”

  “Or when my mother was pointing out your housekeeping flaws to me at every turn. It never occurred to me that she’d always had help around the house to keep it spotless. Why didn’t you remind me of that?” />
  “Because I was embarrassed that I wasn’t better at it,” she admitted. “I wanted so badly to be a good wife, to live up to your expectations, but I just couldn’t.”

  “I should have seen how impossible it was to keep things organized with two little kids. Even now, when I’m with both kids over at the Serenity Inn, I have a hard time keeping the room straight. Two seconds after they walk in the door, it’s cluttered with toys and my stuff winds up being strewn everywhere.”

  She smiled at his words. “Now you know I wasn’t just making excuses.”

  “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Now I know. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.”

  “Things worked out for the best, Walter. You know they did. If I hadn’t moved here and filed for divorce, you’d still be letting your parents run your life. In some ways, I like to think I set you free.”

  “You did,” he admitted, realizing for the first time that it was true. “I couldn’t imagine you walking away from me, but when you did, it was a huge wake-up call. I started actually hearing the kind of junk that comes pouring out of my parents’ mouths. I hate to sound like I was some kind of victim, because that was you. They made your life hell, and I did nothing to stop them. In fact, I followed their lead. I’ll regret that till the day I die. You were my wife. I should have taken your side.”

  “Let it go. I have.”

  He regarded her in wonder. “You really have, haven’t you? Is that because of Travis?”

  “Partly,” she said. “Mostly it’s because I’ve figured out who I am and what I’m worth. I don’t think Travis would care about me the way he does if I hadn’t figured all that out for myself.”

  “Are you two serious?”

  Her cheeks bloomed with color. “I think maybe we are.”

  “And you’re happy?”

  Her eyes lit up. “I really am. It scares me sometimes how happy I am.”

  “Then I’m glad for you.”

  “You sound as if you really mean that,” she said, clearly surprised.

  “I do mean it. After all the mistakes I made, you deserve to be with someone who’ll treat you right.” Despite what he said, there was one thing that nagged at him. “You do know that Travis has a bit of a reputation, right?”

  She frowned. “And here it comes…” she said sarcastically. “I should have known there’d be a lecture buried somewhere in this conversation.”

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt if it turns out he’s not as serious as you think he is.”

  “You don’t need to worry about my relationship with Travis, okay? It’s none of your business.”

  He couldn’t seem to make himself shut up. “But what about the kids?”

  “They adore him, but they’re too little to understand any of what’s going on between Travis and me. It’s not as if he’s hanging around the house all the time. If things don’t work out, they’ll be just fine. You’re the one they love, Walter. You’ll always be their dad.”

  He should have been reassured, but he wasn’t. Not entirely. He feared this was just one more time when Sarah’s naiveté was going to cause her heartache. Unfortunately, he recognized that he’d long since lost any right to try to prevent it.

  “You look happy,” Annie told Sarah as they sat in the bleachers watching the boys play T-ball. She glanced toward the field. “I assume Travis put that glow on your face.”

  “He did,” Sarah said. “He’s amazing.”

  Unfortunately, she didn’t miss the little frown that Annie tried to hide. “What? I thought you’d long since stopped worrying about his reputation. You have to admit he’s been perfectly straight with me. He hasn’t looked at another woman in town. I would certainly have heard about it, if he had. He hasn’t been sneaking off to someplace else so he can cheat on me behind my back, either. He hasn’t had time.”

  “That’s great,” Annie said.

  “But? I sense there’s a but in there.”

  “I can’t help wondering if leopards ever change their spots,” she said, her tone oddly despondent.

  Of all the people in the world who might have said that to Sarah, she was stunned that it would be Annie. “Excuse me. What about Ty?”

  Annie flinched at the direct question. “That’s fair. I know Ty and I are solid, okay? I know it with everything in me. It’s just that when I saw him the other night, we were out with some of the other players.”

  “And?” Sarah questioned, knowing there was something more to have put that doubt in Annie’s voice.

  “One of his teammates, a guy whose wife I’ve actually gotten to know, was all over this other woman. He wasn’t just flirting. It was clear the two of them had something going on, even though he’s been married for something like ten years. According to his wife, they’d hit a rough patch early on, but she thinks he’s been on the straight and narrow for years now. Now he’s with this other woman, not even trying to hide it. I wanted to scream at him. I asked Ty about what was going on, and he didn’t even try to deny it. He just said to look the other way, that it was none of our business.”

  Sarah frowned at the story. “So the moral is that men like that never change?”

  “Not never. I truly believe that Ty has.”

  “And I think Travis has,” Sarah countered. But the truth was, she couldn’t be sure. And unlike Annie and Ty, she didn’t have years of history as a foundation on which to place her trust. She’d only been getting to know Travis for a few months now. Was that long enough to be sure he was the honorable man she thought he was? If refrigerators and cars came with guarantees, why the heck couldn’t men? she wondered in frustration.

  “Look, I really don’t want to fuel your doubts,” Annie said. “But seeing that guy the other night, it made me realize how lucky I am that I can trust Ty now. Even though I have total faith in him, it’s still hard. I just want you to be prepared for how hard it can be. You need to understand that before you take the next step with Travis.”

  Sarah regarded her seriously. “I don’t think I have any choice, Annie. I’m in love with him. I don’t think I could walk away now if I wanted to.”

  Less than an hour after her distressing conversation with Annie, Sarah and the kids were with Travis at Rosalina’s when Trina turned up there. She was alone and her face was streaked with tears.

  “I’ve been looking for you all over,” she told Travis, pulling up a chair from a nearby table and sitting down.

  Travis regarded her with the dismay of a man who knew he was about to deal with a messy and potentially embarrassing situation. “What’s wrong?”

  “I needed somebody to talk to about your father.”

  Travis stiffened. “I may not be the best person, Trina. I spent most of my life caught between him and my mom. I don’t want to get in the middle of your drama with him now.”

  “But you have to,” Trina said, her voice catching on a sob. “I don’t know where else to turn. I think he’s going to leave me, Travis, and it’s all because of you and the stuff you said to him.”

  “Maybe we should go to the restroom,” Sarah suggested, noticing that some of the parents were starting to stare. It would be natural for some of them to assume the issue was between Trina and Travis, rather than with his father. “You can splash some water on your face. You’ll feel better.”

  “Good idea,” Travis said at once. “Meantime, I’ll try to hurry things along here.”

  Trina stood and allowed herself to be led to the ladies’ room. She took one look in the mirror and did a little yelp of shock. “I look awful. No wonder you wanted to get me out of there. I was just so upset, I got in the car and started driving. I think I cried most of the way. Do you have any makeup with you?”

  “No, sorry.”

  “Well, maybe I can manage to improve things a little,” Trina said, suddenly totally focused on her appearance. At least she wasn’t sobbing anymore.

  When the cool water had lessened the redness in her eyes and reduced at least some of the puffin
ess, she performed a few magic tricks with her comb and a lipstick. It was an impressive transformation, but there was no mistaking the sadness that lingered in her eyes.

  “Do you want to talk to me about what upset you so badly?” Sarah asked hesitantly. “What makes you think Greg is going to leave you, and that Travis had anything to do with it?”

  “Look, you’re sweet to offer to listen, but only Travis can fix this.”

  “How?”

  “By talking to his father and making things right. He needs to tell him that he was wrong, that Greg and I belong together.”

  “What makes you think Travis influenced Greg to leave you? I thought everything was on track for you and Greg to get married.”

  “It was, but now it’s all fallen apart. Greg talked to Travis the other day. I don’t know what Travis said to him exactly, but after that things between us started changing.”

  Sarah didn’t know Trina well enough to judge whether she was creating a drama where none existed or if this was real. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. Greg really loves you.”

  Trina regarded her with blatant skepticism. “Oh, really? Then why did I catch him cheating on me with another woman? Less than two weeks before our wedding, he was sleeping with somebody else. He would only do that if he planned to leave me.”

  Sarah sank down onto one of the chairs that had been tucked into a corner of the ladies’ room. She felt almost as if Greg’s betrayal was personal.

  What kind of man would cheat on the woman who was carrying his child even before the wedding? Was it really a precursor to Greg leaving Trina, a last fling, or had he simply done it because he’d believed Trina would stay with him no matter what?

  Sarah wanted to believe Travis was nothing like his father, but could she really count on that? Greg had been his role model for a lot of years, and for a very long time Travis had seemed to be on a similar path. Would he slip at the first sign of trouble in their relationship? And what if they did eventually marry? Would he turn to another woman to satisfy his ego, especially if Sarah once again gained weight or didn’t satisfy him in some way? Would he count on her forgiving him again and again?