Always Series Box Set

by Becs, Lindsay

  Chapter Four

  Travis

  Three Years After Josie

  A moving truck showed up yesterday to unload the new tenant’s belongings next door. Whoever they are, they didn’t seem to have much. Not my business though. I keep to myself, with the exception of my customers and family.

  “Daddy!” Penny screams from the bottom of the steps. Yes, screams. Like blood-curdling screaming. It’s become a thing.

  “Penny!” I reprimand. “You cannot scream like that unless it’s an emergency. I told you that,” I scold her as I pull a shirt over my head.

  “But there’s a lady in our house,” she tells me like this is normal. “She had cookies so I let her in,” she adds with a shrug.

  I turn quickly to see a woman standing inside my front door. I rush to pull my shirt down to cover myself, walking toward the stranger.

  “Can I help you?” I ask cautiously and a little annoyed.

  “I’m sorry for the intrusion. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Tilly Lane, and I just moved in next door.” I hear her audible swallow of nerves. “I made you cookies. I hope that’s alright.”

  “Can I have one, Daddy?” Penny asks, reaching for one.

  “No,” I tell her sternly, not taking my eyes off the woman in front of me.

  “I… I’m sorry,” the woman—Tilly Lane—stutters. “I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll just go then.” She turns to leave, but then I feel bad. Josie would have my ass for treating a new neighbor, one who’s being nice, this way.

  I let out a frustrated breath. “You didn’t. Bother us, I mean. I’m sorry I’m being an ass—”

  “You owe a dollar!” Penny tells me with her hands on her hips.

  I don’t take my eyes off of Tilly as she turns back to me with a smile playing at the corner of her lips. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my wallet and hand Penny a dollar.

  “I got a dollar! I got a dollar! I got a dollar! Hey, hey, hey, hey!” Penny sings as she bounces into the kitchen to deposit her new dollar into the swear jar.

  “Oh, my gosh, that’s from The Little Rascals!” Tilly exclaims, pointing at Penny as she leaves us alone.

  “Yeah… Anyway, I’m Travis. That’s my daughter, Penny,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I’m sorry about before. We don’t have many people over,” I add and then regret how that sounds.

  “Well, here,” she says with a smile, thrusting a plate of cookies at me, “I bake. That’s what I do for a living. These are my signature cookies. I hope they make up for me busting in on you.”

  “Thank you,” I reply, taking the plate.

  We stand there awkwardly for a minute before she moves to leave. “Well, OK, nice to meet you, Travis,” she says, tucking her curly brown hair behind her ear. I don’t miss the blush on her cheek as she does either.

  “Nice to meet you, too. Welcome home.” I immediately regret my choice of words. I keep putting my foot in my mouth with this lady. What is my problem?

  Shaking my head, I turn to carry the plate of cookies to the kitchen once she’s out the door. “Can I have one now?” Penny asks when I get there.

  “Only if you get out the milk.”

  I pull down two glasses and fill them with the milk she carried from the fridge. Penny and I cheers with our cookies before taking a bite, each of our eyes going wide when we taste them. They are the best cookies I’ve ever had. I don’t even know what all is in them. They are sweet and salty and tart and buttery and delicious!

  “Oh, Daddy, these are good. Please be nice to her so she’ll make more.”

  With a laugh, I choke on a sip of milk I just took. “You got it, LP.”

  “She seemed nice.”

  “Yeah, she did.”

  “Wonder if she’s got kids,” Penny ponders out loud.

  “I don’t know,” I say, wondering if she’s married or not. Then I pause when I realize what I’m thinking. And that thought pisses me off.

  Tilly Lane might have moved in next door. She might even be nice. But I have no desire to get to know her. I’ll keep my distance from her like I do everyone else. Nothing will change. No matter how good her cookies are.

  * * *

  I’m on my way to drop Penny at school and head to work when I hear the new neighbor curse with her head under the hood of her beat-up car.

  “Go get buckled up and I’ll be there in a second,” I tell Penny, turning to see if Tilly needs any help.

  “Need a hand?” I ask, making her jump.

  “Shit! You scared me,” she says with a hand on her chest.

  “Sorry,” I mumble, rubbing the back of my neck. “You having car trouble?”

  “It won’t start, and I’m late for work.”

  Pulling out my cell, I dial my tow guy, Sam. “Hey, I need you to tow a car to Pretty Girl for me. It’s my neighbor, so house next to mine. 2000 Camry,” I tell him. He agrees and we hang up. When I turn back to Tilly, she’s staring at me like I just went streaking by. “What?”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “No big deal.” I shrug.

  “It is a big deal and thank you, but I can’t afford a tow or a mechanic right now. I need you to cancel all that,” she tells me, waving her hand at me.

  I give her a small grin. “I’m a mechanic. I own Pretty Girl Garage. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.” I shrug again.

  “I…” she starts but stops. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Maybe one day I’ll need a cup of sugar or something. It’s really not a big deal,” I say again.

  “I really appreciate it.”

  We stand there, each of us waiting for the other to move first. Then the horn of my truck blares, and Penny hangs out the door. “Daddy! We’re gonna be late!”

  My eyes drop to the ground, and I chuckle. “I need to go.” I look back up at her then, catching her eye. “Do you need a ride?”

  “I hate…” she starts again, but I raise a brow at her. “Yes.”

  I tilt my head toward the truck. “Let’s go then.”

  We both get in the truck and everyone is silent, well, except for Penny, who rambles on about her class turtle on the way to school. After I drop her off, I head toward the grocery store where Tilly told me she works. Pulling up to the curb, I put the truck in park.

  “Thank you, Travis. I really appreciate you helping me today.”

  I reach up into my visor and pull out one of my business cards and hand it to her. “If you need a ride home, call me. And I’ll need your keys.”

  Handing me her keys, she takes the card and smiles at me but doesn’t say anything more as she climbs down from the truck. “Thanks again. Let me know if you ever need that sugar,” she says before closing the door and walking into work.

  I let out a breath of air as I watch her. Was she flirting with me?

  Her car is at the garage by the time I get there, and I get to work right away finding the problem and trying to fix it as fast as possible for her. I’m exhausted by the time I get home, and I’m thankful that Tatum was able to get Penny from school for me today. I stayed late at work to finish Tilly’s car, so I missed dinner with the girls, but Sam followed me to bring her car home.

  I don’t want her to get the wrong idea, and I don’t want her in my truck again tomorrow. No matter how nice she is.

  Tatum is already getting our Friday night routine going, popcorn and a movie, when I walk in. I run up to take a shower before I join her.

  “Tilly dropped off some cookies again,” Tatum tells me with a knowing look when I come back down.

  I let out a groan. “It’s not like that, Tate.”

  “Maybe not for you, but that woman wants to feed you into a sugar coma so she can have her way with you,” she teases.

  “She can feed me whatever she wants, but I’m not going there.”

  “Aww… and here I thought you’d be a giver, Trav.”

  “Not as much as Ollie apparently since he got Bex to marry him
,” I chuckle. “You still owe me, by the way.”

  She rolls her eyes as she fishes a twenty out of her purse. “I can’t believe she puts up with him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. I’ve lived with him. He’s gross.”

  “Can’t be worse than me.”

  “Are you kidding? You’re like Mr. Clean compared to him.”

  “I’m glad he finally got his head out of his ass and was honest with her and himself.”

  “Yeah,” she sighs, “they are happy together. And I do like her. She’s not at all like some of the other girls he used to bring around. I hated that one girl. What was her name? Oh! Sara! She was like a walking STD.”

  I try to ignore her, but either I give myself away or she remembers me hanging with Sara in high school.

  “Ew! Please tell me you never slept with her.”

  “I never slept with her…”

  “Travis!” she scolds me. “Did my mom know about that? Did you get tested after? Ew. Just gross.”

  I can’t help but laugh at her dramatics. “I took her to prom to make your mom jealous and after I asked her, she gave me head.”

  “What?! That doesn’t even make sense!”

  I shrug like it was normal and no big deal. “It was after I had told your mom how I felt about her. She kept pushing me away, but I knew she felt something too. I tried the immature approach to make her jealous.”

  “Did it work?” she asks, looking stunned.

  “Fuck no,” I laugh. “I accepted the blowjob to try to get Josie out of my head, but it didn’t work. That’s as far as we ever went. Sara and I hung out a few times, but nothing more ever happened.”

  “Boys are gross,” she scoffs at me, grabbing another handful of popcorn as we get ready to watch a movie.

  “I’m not denying that.”

  “I can’t wait for Penny to start dating. You’re going to shit a brick when she brings home a boy for the first time.”

  “Well, Penny is never dating and will live at home until she is ninety-seven.”

  “Good luck with that, Trav.”

  * * *

  I open my eyes and sit straight up in a panic.

  How did I do that? How could I do that?

  I didn’t think about Josie at all yesterday.

  It was a busy day at Pretty Girl, and now that Tatum is gone working, it makes things at the garage a little more hectic. But how could I not think of my girl once throughout the day?

  Her fucking nickname is on my shirt and everywhere where I work, yet I didn’t give her a second of my thoughts.

  Am I losing her? Am I losing my memory of her?

  No. I can’t. I won’t. Not ever.

  Jumping up from the bed, I bring my box back and open it, pulling out the letter I needed today. I didn’t think I’d ever read it. “You Didn’t Think of Me Today?” I actually laughed when I saw it in here, yet here I am.

  Deep breath, Travis. It’s OK, baby. In fact, I’m glad. It means that life is going on. It means that you aren’t dwelling on me anymore.

  I want you to be able to move on and move forward. Don’t hold yourself back because of me. I don’t want that for you. I want you to keep going and living your life to the fullest. You have so much to offer. More people should be blessed to be able to see that and experience your greatness.

  I know you’ll never fully forget me. But it’s OK to have days that are busy and happy and full without me with you. Don’t feel guilty about it.

  Live. It’s my greatest wish for you.

  Always,

  Josie

  Chapter Five

  Travis

  Four years after Josie

  “Penny!” I yell out the back door for her to come inside for dinner. Normally she listens and comes running, but it’s the third time I’ve called her and nothing.

  Walking outside, I scan the field behind our house for her mass of red hair. “Penny!” I yell again, jogging around outside in search of her.

  I walk to the front of the house, and that’s where I find her, hiding behind a tree. “Penelope Gellar! I’ve been looking for you, yelling your name. You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Look,” she says through a laugh, pointing her finger toward Tilly’s house.

  I follow her finger to see a boy banging on the front door, kicking it and yelling at her to open the door. “What is going on?”

  “Tilly told me the other day her nep-hew was coming to live with her. That must be him,” she tells me, covering her mouth to smother more laughter.

  “You mean her nephew? Is Tilly alright?” I ask, a little concerned with what I’m seeing.

  “Yes. She pushed me out the door and told him he could come back in when he showed her respect,” she tells me, mimicking Tilly’s stern tone and making me bite back my own laughter.

  I had no idea Tilly had a nephew or that he was going to live with her for that matter. Guess I should check in with her to see if she needs anything.

  Since Tilly moved in next door, we’ve been cordial but have kept our distance. It’s just her who lives there and she works in the bakery at the local grocery store, but that’s about all I know about her and her life. I like it that way.

  “Come on. Dinner is ready. Go in and get cleaned up. I’m going to go to the back door and check on Tilly real quick, OK?”

  Penny nods her head while walking in the front door to get ready for dinner. “If only he’d say sorry,” she mutters as she goes.

  Walking to the back and looking in the glass door, I see Tilly sitting at her kitchen table with her head in her hands. She jumps when she hears me knock. I offer a small grin and wave at her. Standing, she opens the door for me with tears in her eyes.

  “Hey, Penny told me what was going on,” I say, lifting my eyes to her front door on the other side of the house. “You alright? You need anything?”

  “I don’t know what in the hell I’m doing, Travis,” she groans, exasperated, as she sits back down.

  “He’s going to be living with you?”

  She nods her head, biting her lip. “He’s my nephew, Jesse. He’s ten and angry.”

  “Why is he living with you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “His parents, my sister and her husband, died in a car accident a few days ago. They left me as guardian. Although I have no idea why!” she adds, throwing her hand up. “My parents kicked me out after high school and disowned me years ago, and I haven’t talked to my sister in almost as long. When their lawyer called me, I about fell off my chair. My dad died ten years ago, and my mom has MS and lives in an assisted living home. Joe, my sister Jill’s husband, didn’t have family. So, I’m it apparently!” She swings her arms out. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. This is a mess! He hates me, and yet I’m his only option.”

  I listen to her and soak in everything she just told me. “He’ll be alright. He just needs time. I was an angry fucker when I was younger. Just be there for him and show him that you aren’t going anywhere. He’ll come around.”

  “I hope so,” she sighs.

  “If you need anything, to kick his ass or to teach him where his testicles are, I’m just next door.” Why did I say that?!

  “Oh, my gosh! I didn’t even think of that stuff!” Her head hits her table with a thud, making me chuckle.

  She sits up then with a small smile. “Did I just hear you laugh?”

  I grit my teeth. “Nope.” I walk out her back door and head home to have dinner with Penny, trying my best to forget about the fact that I was in Tilly’s kitchen talking about testicles.

  Two hours later and the damn kid is still outside yelling and banging on the door. I’ll hand it to both him and Tilly; they are both stubborn as fuck.

  I can’t take it anymore though, so I go out the front door and head in his direction.

  “Hey!” I yell, but he doesn’t know I’m talking to him until I’m right behind him. “Hey, you little shit!” I yell right in his ear.

  He ju
mps a little but stops to turn. His eyes widen when he sees me and the look of annoyance on my face. “Look, kid, you have to stop. Tell her you’re sorry. Kiss her ass and show your appreciation. Then, if she accepts and lets you in, you can make it up to me by mowing my lawn tomorrow. Got it?”

  “What if she doesn’t take my apology?” he asks with his chin lifted. Little fucker has balls.

  “She’s a good woman. Treat her that way and you’ll be fine. But no more banging on that damn door, you hear me?”

  He shakes his head and then the door opens behind him. He looks to me for a second before turning around. Eyes on the ground, he speaks to Tilly. “Sorry, Aunt Tilly,” he grumbles. Not exactly heartfelt, but it’s a start.

  “Jesse, I want us to work together. We aren’t enemies here, OK?”

  He nods his head, and Tilly opens the door for him to enter. “There’s some food on the table for you.”

  “Thanks,” we hear from somewhere inside.

  She looks back at me and smiles. “And thank you.”

  I shrug my shoulder. “No big deal. He just needed someone to put him in his place. And apparently being a stubborn ass is a family trait.”

  “Suppose so,” she chuckles.

  “Alright, then. Night.”

  “Goodnight, Travis.”

  * * *

  “I can’t believe my sister is having a baby,” Ollie says, still in shock. He came over to get away from his house where Bex and Tate were busy talking babies. We’re sitting out back enjoying the night sky.

  “I can’t believe your girlfriend sucked you off to try to soften the blow—no pun intended,” I laugh. taking a swig of my beer.

  “Fiancée,” he corrects.

  “My bad.”

  “But seriously, I can’t believe it. She’s so young, dude. What is she going to do? And she doesn’t want to tell the guy so he can focus. What the hell is up with that?”