Larkspur Road

by Jill Gregory

  “No fears, baby.” He shot her a grim, gentle smile that belied the deadly look in his eyes when he’d entered the cabin. “That bastard’s as good as got.”

  Then he was gone, pounding into the storm after Wade.

  Mia cradled Brittany in her arms, rocking her as the girl began to hiccup with her sobs. Gently, Winny stroked Britt’s hand.

  “It’s okay, honey,” Mia said firmly. “You’re safe now. We all are. Travis will get him. You won’t ever have to worry about Wade Collins hurting you again.”

  Over the wind and the thunder nearly shaking the cabin Brittany clung to her as the shriek of police sirens suddenly filled the air, screaming down the road with no name.

  Travis tore through the trees, ignoring the rain slamming like bullets into his face, soaking his clothes. Collins was zigzagging wildly through the woods, moving fast with adrenaline and fear despite the injury to his knee. But Travis was gaining on him. Gaining fast.

  No slipping away this time, asshole, he thought as he leaped across fallen branches and plowed toward his quarry. Collins was less than twenty yards ahead—fifteen. Travis could practically hear the kid’s chest heaving.

  He couldn’t let himself think about what Collins had done to Mia and Brittany and their aunt. He forced himself to focus solely on pursuit as he single-mindedly bore down on him. He was drawing closer…and closer. His own breath was coming fast but he wasn’t winded. Collins stumbled and Travis gained another yard. Two. The wind tore at his face and he blinked the rain from his eyes, jumped over a tree stump in his path, and saw Collins start down an embankment.

  No, you don’t, pal. Travis pumped up his speed, calculated, and leaped at the kid in a flying tackle that had brought down far tougher men. He hit him with a sickening thwack and then they were both rolling down the grassy embankment, over rocks and twigs, twisting and grunting. He managed to get in one good punch before they reached the bottom. Collins tried to fight, to land a blow, but Travis pinned him easily to the ground and slugged him again.

  Blood streamed from the punk’s nose as he screamed, “Britt! I love you, Britt!”

  “Shut up,” Travis said. Turning his head quickly, he saw Teddy Hodge and Zeke Mueller behind him, tearing down the embankment. “The only time you’re ever going to set eyes on Brittany again is in the courthouse—right before they send you away.”

  And then as Collins tried once more to kick and twist, Travis hit him again and this time the punk slumped, his head rolling to the side, the fight going out of him like a whoosh of air from a deflated balloon.

  “Good…job…Travis!” Hodge called, huffing as he reached the bottom and stalked toward them, grim faced.

  Mueller got there before the sheriff. As Travis stood, the deputy flipped the dazed kid over and snapped on the cuffs.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” Mueller began, but Travis didn’t hear the rest. He was already running back up the embankment. Back to the cabin.

  Back to Mia.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  “Sure you’re all right?” Travis asked that night when the police had finished with their questions, when Collins was locked behind bars, when Brittany had let everything out in a two-hour crying jag and then gone out with Seth for ice cream—and he and Mia were finally alone.

  Travis had left Grady at the ranch with Rafe and Sophie so he could come back to Larkspur Road to check on her.

  Mia lay nestled in his arms on her living room sofa wearing clean jeans and a pink tank top, her feet bare. Her freshly showered skin glowed in the lamplight.

  “I’m good,” she assured him. “A little shaky still, but…thank God you got there when you did!”

  “If anything had happened to you—” His voice was so thick he suddenly found he couldn’t even finish the sentence. He’d never forget that godawful drive out to Abner’s place. Knowing all the while that Mia, her niece, and her aunt were trapped there with Collins and that the kid had a gun and was plenty unstable enough to use it.

  Raw terror the likes of which he’d never known had gripped him during that drive. Terror of losing Mia. Of her being hurt in any way…

  He wouldn’t have been able to bear it.

  Every muscle in his body tight, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and she turned in his arms so she was lying in his embrace, her beautiful face uplifted to his.

  “You reached us just in time.”

  “If it hadn’t been for your aunt answering your cell phone I wouldn’t have known. No one would have—”

  “Shh.” Mia touched her finger to his mouth. “We’re all okay, Travis. You got him. Now all of us—me, Aunt Winny, and most of all Britt—we’re safe.”

  “You’re the one who got the gun away from him,” he reminded her, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’ll have nightmares for years thinking about how that could have gone wrong.”

  “Hey, there were three of us fighting back. We had it in the bag. Unless, of course, he’d gotten the gun away from me….”

  Her voice trailed off and Travis felt her shiver.

  His arms tightened around her.

  “It’s over,” he said quietly. “You’re safe. He’ll never get near any of you again.”

  With a smile she reached up, pulled his head down toward her, and kissed him. A long, soul-stirring kiss that soon had them both lying on the sofa, as close as two people could be, thinking how grateful they were to be alive and together, alone in this house except for Samson, who was snoring gently on the hall rug.

  “Um…Brittany and Seth…they could be back soon. They only went for ice cream….”

  “Then I guess we’d better hurry.” Travis grinned. He was off the sofa in one swift, smooth lunge, reaching down and scooping her into his arms. He loved the sound of her laughter as he carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut with his foot.

  “Lock it,” she ordered with a grin as he lowered her to the bed. “Hurry.”

  “Hey, always happy to oblige a lady.” His lips quirked and his eyes were warm as he obeyed, then moved back toward her, watching her peel that pink tank top over her head in one smooth movement and toss it to the floor. Suddenly they couldn’t get each other out of their clothes fast enough.

  But for all their hurry, once they were free of their clothing they made slow, gentle love. They kissed and nibbled and stroked. Took their time. Celebrated being alive and being together, and knowing they had tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.

  It was only when they were both dressed again, and had shared coffee and scones in the kitchen, and she was walking him out onto the porch so he could pick up Grady and take him home to the cabin, that he remembered the conversation he’d had earlier in the day with Val.

  Mia listened in shock as he clasped her hand in his and told her about it.

  “His interview’s next week? They can’t do that to him, Travis. You can’t let them.”

  Her eyes blazed into his, and Travis pulled her to him, kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I never had a chance to return Val’s call today—but tomorrow…” He sighed, and his eyes narrowed with purpose. “Tomorrow I’m calling my lawyer, and I’m telling Val that we’re revisiting our custody arrangements. If she can’t—or at this point won’t—care for Grady full-time, I sure as hell can. And I want to. Let her go to Europe or wherever she wants, or should I say, wherever Drew wants, but they’re not dumping our son at Broadcrest Academy, not for a single day.”

  “Will she listen?” Mia’s face was tight with worry.

  “I’ll make her listen. Val knows deep down this is wrong. She’s trying to please Drew.”

  “Going a little overboard, don’t you think?” Mia muttered. “Throwing her son away.”

  He touched his forehead to hers. “Believe me, I don’t understand this any more than you do. All I can think is that she’s become so caught up in this supersized lifestyle she and Baylor have going that she’ll sacrifice anything, even her own son, to hang on t
o it. To hang on to Drew. And somehow, she’s justifying it in her own mind. Who knows, maybe she’s convinced herself it will be good for him in the long run. But deep down, I think Val knows it’s wrong. Wrong on her part and wrong for Grady. I hear it in her voice. She feels guilty as hell but she’s trying to drown it in denial.”

  Mia could only pray that was true. “Travis, if he could stay with you, stay in Lonesome Way…” Her eyes searched his. “He’s been making such good progress. He’s worlds happier than he was when you first brought him here—that first day he looked like he didn’t have a friend in the world. Now he’s blooming. He’s so incredibly bright—with the right guidance and structure, he’ll not only pass that proficiency test, he’ll probably get straight A’s in sixth grade. And he has friends here already and he could have so many more—”

  Travis stroked a gentle hand across her cheek. “You don’t have to convince me, baby. Maybe I should let you talk to Val,” he added with a laugh in his voice.

  “I’d be glad to,” she shot back, chin up, a martial light in her eyes.

  There on the porch, with misty moonlight streaming down and only the faint howl of a faraway coyote and the hum of a thousand insects breaking the deep silence of the Montana night, he stared at her. At her lovely upturned face, at the care and willingness to fight for his son that shimmered in her eyes.

  He was overwhelmed by the generosity of her heart. By the light and kindness that seemed to flow effortlessly from her, like the purest water cascading from a falls in the wild.

  Something hard and almost painful swelled and tightened in his chest, in his throat. Every muscle in his body clenched. He tugged her closer, into the circle of his arms, breathing in the clean, flower-light scent of her, feeling that gorgeous, sexy body pressed to his, hardly able to believe his good fortune—that he’d somehow been granted a second chance with her.

  “Do you have any idea—any idea at all—how much I love you?” His voice was low, almost fierce. The words seemed to come of their own accord from someplace deep within his soul. He saw the smile curve her lips even as a glaze of shock softened her eyes.

  “No…but I’m listening.” Her arms slid around his neck. Her voice was slightly unsteady. “Feel free to tell me in great detail.”

  “I can do that.” His mouth brushed hers and his eyes glinted in the moonlight. “How much time you got, Ms. Quinn?”

  “Enough to tell you that I love you, too.”

  Pulling his head down toward her, she kissed him. He gripped her waist and their mouths made silent promises their bodies yearned to answer. But just as he tugged her back toward the door, their lips and hearts locked together, the sound of a car’s engine turning into the drive drove them apart.

  Travis groaned. Was this some kind of a joke? He wanted to kiss her all night long. It almost physically hurt to let her go.

  “Damn.” The growl came from his throat but it seemed pitifully unequal to the situation as Britt and Seth got out of the car.

  “Hi, Aunt Mia, hi, Travis.” Mia’s niece sounded quiet but calm. Her face was pale, Travis noted, watching the teens’ approach, but after the explosion of tears earlier, she seemed to have remarkably pulled herself together.

  “To be continued,” he vowed in Mia’s ear as Samson barked, demanding to be let outside to join the group.

  “You know where to find me,” Mia whispered, longing filling her as his words—Do you have any idea how much I love you?—circled through her head.

  And the heat of his kisses singed her heart.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “Dad, is Mom really coming here to see me before she goes to London?”

  Travis stood at the kitchen counter in the cabin, pouring himself a second cup of coffee. He and Grady were finishing their breakfast before heading to Sage Ranch for a ride.

  Outside the window, an early morning rain had stopped, and the sun peeked out above the mountains in a clean-washed sky the color of a denim shirt fresh out of the dryer.

  “Absolutely. Your mom promised she won’t go overseas without seeing you first.” He returned to the table with his steaming mug and saw that Grady had polished off his fried eggs and hash browns and wore a trace of a milk mustache. His son was oblivious of this, though—oblivious even of the buttered biscuit still on his plate as he studied Travis, his eyes big and worried.

  “She misses you, buddy. She’ll come. And if for any reason she can’t make it out here,” he added carefully—because who knew if Val might for some crazy reason decide ultimately she didn’t have time for a trip to Montana?—“then I’ll take you to L.A. to see her before she leaves. That’s a promise.”

  “I don’t have to stay in that house, though, do I, Dad? I hate that house.”

  I know you do, Travis reflected, a pang twisting through him at the thought of how much time Grady had already spent in Drew Baylor’s home. Way too much time. “If we end up going to L.A., we’ll stay in a hotel. One with a swimming pool,” he added, eyes twinkling.

  “Awesome!” With a satisfied grin, Grady suddenly noticed his uneaten biscuit. He popped it into his mouth. “And if we don’t have to see Drew, even better,” he said, chewing. “That guy’s a jerk.”

  I know that, too, Travis thought, but he didn’t say it aloud. “You’ll have to see him and stay at that house sometimes, remember, but not this time,” he warned the boy, who already knew the score.

  Travis and Val had talked extensively in the past weeks—almost as extensively as their lawyers had.

  After Travis had made it clear he wanted full-time custody of Grady and that he’d fight full-out in court if Val refused to let the boy stay in Lonesome Way, it hadn’t taken anywhere near as long as he’d expected for her to throw in the towel.

  He’d guessed she wouldn’t have the time or the will for a protracted legal battle and all its entanglements. And that Baylor didn’t have the patience for it—or the willingness to spend an exorbitant sum of money trying to retain custody of a boy he had no interest in and who didn’t measure up to his standards.

  So with a quickness that filled Travis not only with relief but also with disgust, she’d agreed to drop the whole Broadcrest Academy notion and to let Travis take over custody. All in return for generous visiting privileges.

  Obviously Val and her new husband had decided she had better things to do than to be saddled full-time with the raising of an adolescent son.

  She could see Grady on prearranged weekends and on spring and winter breaks, and she had the right to visit him in Montana once a month if she chose after she returned to the States.

  “I know what you must think of me, but I’m not abandoning my son,” she’d insisted to Travis the last time they talked. Defensiveness had bristled in her tone. “I’ll see him a lot—as often as I can. It’s just that all of these opportunities have opened up for me. Things I could never dream of before. And after everything I’ve gone through, being a widow so young, a single mother…” Her voice wavered. “Travis, that was all so hard. My therapist says I deserve this. And I do. It doesn’t mean I don’t love Grady with all my heart. I’ve always been a good mother, you know that, don’t you?”

  “I know you love him, Val.” As much as you’re capable of loving anyone besides yourself—and Baylor—right now. But Travis hadn’t said that aloud. He’d chosen his words carefully and left it at that.

  She didn’t need to know that Grady had been overjoyed when he learned he didn’t have to go back to school in L.A. Or that he’d been thrilled at the idea of living full-time with his father in Lonesome Way, only a stone’s throw from his aunt and uncle and cousins.

  He hadn’t been able to stop talking about being able to ride Pepper Jack whenever he wanted and learning from Rafe and Will Brady how to start horses.

  Not to mention his excitement about going to school with Evan and Justin—a school where Mia taught, where he already had a teacher who was an ally and a friend.

  He was a little torn about not
seeing his mother regularly, but for the most part he’d taken it so much in stride it made Travis wonder just how little time Val had been spending with him once she married Drew. During all the weeks he’d been living with Travis, the boy had talked more about Drew and the housekeeper than he did about Val.

  “Can we take Evan and Justin camping with us when we go?” Grady took a last swig of his milk. “They want to see the planets, too. And Evan said he checked out a library book about the stars. We need to go on a really clear night so we can see as much as possible.”

  “I’ll speak to their parents, and if they give the go-ahead, it’s a plan.”

  Grinning, the boy snagged another biscuit. As he broke it in half, a serious look came over his face. “There’s something bothering me, Dad.”

  That hint of worry still hovered in his eyes.

  “What is it?” Travis asked, bracing himself.

  His son leaned forward, his face earnest. “I can’t make up my mind. About what I want to be when I grow up,” he explained.

  A grin broke across Travis’s face. He tried to hide it by taking a quick swig of coffee.

  “Some days I want to have a horse ranch like Uncle Rafe’s. I want to start horses and raise them and ride them all the time. But other times I think I want to be an astronomer or maybe even an astronaut.” The worry left his eyes. They began to gleam. “I want to learn everything there is to know about the stars and the sky and the planets. I want to go to Mars. Wouldn’t that be cool? Or maybe Mercury. What would it be like? I could be an explorer and find out all kinds of new stuff. But on the other hand, I love horses and riding. So what should I do? I can’t pick.”

  “Well.” Travis studied him calmly. “Seems to me you don’t have to pick anything yet. You can learn about both. See where it leads. There’s no rush.”

  “But Justin wants to be a football player. His mind’s made up. And Evan knows he wants to own a hardware store because he loves being around tools and making things and stuff. I’m the only one who can’t decide. I think there must be something wrong with me.”