by Deb Julienne
“You’re sure?” As much as she tried to act indifferent about Travis, the thought of him with another woman went through her like a dagger.
Jill carried a tray of coffee and cookies from the kitchen.
“Positive,” Kat said. “I wouldn’t lie to you. In fact, I’ll bet the real reason she’s coming is to accidently on purpose bump into Travis.”
“We’re talking about that manipulative bitch Delaney.” Jill took a cup for herself then snatched up a cookie and dipped it in the hot brew. “She’s a real piece of work. Don’t worry—it’s you Travis wants.”
“I meant to call her to say I was busy. I just haven’t had a chance because I don’t care to ever talk to her again. She’s part of the reason Travis’s drinking got worse,” Kat said. In the last sentence her tone was pure accusation.
“What do you mean?” Angel’s sudden urge to protected Travis irritated her.
“His folks pressured him to set a date. They wanted him to marry her, but obviously he wasn’t that into her or it wouldn’t have been such a chore.”
“I didn’t think you were all that chummy with her, so how’d you that find out?” Jill asked.
“Travis and I had a long conversation the day after Sabrina got arrested. He laid the whole story out for me. It took seeing how ecstatic Trent was to make him realize he could never have been happy with Delaney. She’d just become a bad habit, like the booze and working too hard.”
“Poor guy,” Jill said. “First Trent cut himself off from the family, now Travis. This won’t go over very well with their folks.”
“Too damn bad!” Kat snarled ferociously, crimson blotches covering her cheeks. “Their folks are the reason the boys never learned to speak up. They have every right to live their own lives. It’s why my folks quit talking to them before their deaths.” Kat picked up a picture of Trent, Travis, and her as children from the table beside her. “They tried to force my parents to send me to boarding school the way they did their boys, but my folks refused. My aunt and uncle constantly criticized them about everything pertaining to me. My parents got so fed up they finally told them to butt out. After my folks died they tried to take over the estate and I told them to fuck off, that Uncle Jack was my guardian—end of story.” Kat set the picture back down and harrumphed.
“Wow.” Angel wasn’t the only one with a crazy family. She couldn’t decide which was worse—families that interfered like Travis and Kat’s did or families that just cut you off for your indiscretions?
“Don’t worry about them,” said Kat. “I don’t.”
“Yeah, but if they’re that bad, and now Travis has broken with the family and I get involved with him, we won’t be any better off. I’ve already ruined my family. I don’t want to be the cause of ruining his.” Angel was going crazy. She’d spent the morning beating herself up for her involvement with Travis. At the same time, she had to keep it up if she had any chance to protect him. She fidgeted and glanced around, looking for answers.
Kat moved to a seat on the couch beside her, picked up a cookie, and dipped it in her coffee. “You didn’t do a thing. Travis has finally found his voice. He’s better off without them right now. He needs people around him to support him, not to order him around.” Kat lifted the cookie, which broke off into off cup before it reached her mouth.
“At least Travis has you now. That’s all the support he really needs.” Jill flipped her red hair over her shoulder.
What a fraud. She couldn’t face Kat or Jill. Angel was full of remorse for running out on Travis, all things considered. He would hate her, waking up to realize she was gone.
“If Delaney is here, I’ll bet my last dollar either the Prescotts or my aunt and uncle are behind it. Using her as much as she’s using them.” Kat took a deep breath. Her blouse shifted, making the V in her cleavage that much deeper.
“What if she does manage to run into Travis?” Angel chewed her bottom lip. What if she’d left the door wide open for him to go back to her? She was giving herself a headache with all the back and forth emotions.
“Not a chance.” Kat shook her head emphatically.
“I don’t know…” Angel hated being plagued by doubts. She wanted to escape. Kat and Jill would hate her, too, when they found out what she’d done. She got up and walked around the room, pretending to take in her new surroundings.
“I saw you and Travis together. He never behaved like that with her.”
Angel grabbed the back of the couch, needing the support. “Yeah, but—” Unable to finish the sentence, she avoided Kat’s scrutiny.
“But what? You’re white as a ghost. Okay, what did you do?” Kat asked.
“We spent last night together. This morning I was so embarrassed by my behavior, I left before he woke up.”
Kat and Jill exchanged furtive glances.
“Tell me you didn’t.” Kat closed her eyes and leaned her head back as far as it would go.
“I did.” A flush raced up Angel’s cheeks; she could feel it. The vivid memories of being in his arms, loving him, feeling treasured, flooded her senses.
“Did he hurt you in any way? I’ll gladly beat the snot out of him for you,” Kat said.
Angel chuckled. “No not at all. He was wonderful, really.” Despite her insecurities, she felt comfortable here. The girls set her mind at ease.
Kat came around the couch and pulled her back in her seat.
“Spare me the details, please.” Kat shivered, pretending to be disgusted.
“Ignore her. I want details.” Jill leaned forward, anxious to hear about her night.
“I’m so embarrassed. I’ve never slept with a man on the first date. That’s just not me.” She buried her face in her hands and then looked up at Kat and Jill. “How can Travis ever respect me?”
“In this day and age, it’s really not a big deal,” Kat said in a very nonchalant manner.
“Maybe not to you, but the way I was raised, respect is everything.” Angel closed her eyes, trying to erase the images from her mind of Travis naked. “After everything I’ve been through it’s all I have left.”
“So what? You got carried away in the heat of passion. That’s what every girl hopes for, a man to sweep her off her feet and make her feel important. That’s what I’m looking for.” Jill had a look on her face, wistfully imagining her own scenario playing out.
“You’re making too much of it.” Kat plopped into the seat beside her.
“What about Travis? He’ll never forgive me for running out on him, I’m sure.” Angel slumped back and let her head fall back against the couch.
“Do you want me to talk to him? I will.” Kat pulled her phone from her bra.
“No, please don’t.” She almost jumped out of her seat. She appreciated Kat’s offer to deal with Travis but it was something she had to figure out on her own. First she had to figure out why she had run and second, how to let go of the past. Both events had a direct correlation, the past and present fused. If she didn’t figure it out, and soon, her future, whatever it was, would be doomed. Angel rubbed her temple. Time to change the subject. “Jill, are you ready to go to work?”
“Sure. When did you want me to come into the store and show me around?” Jill asked.
“Can you come in first thing in the morning? We’ll go over the inventory, you can ask questions, and we’ll try a couple of hours a day until you’re comfortable running the place. I have to get to work on my sister’s wedding dress. I only have a couple of weeks.” Angel was relieved to the change the subject.
“When’s the wedding?” Kat asked.
“They still haven’t decided. He wants to do it over the three-day weekend in January but she wants to be a Valentine’s Day bride.”
“The three-day weekend is next week.” Kat’s eye widened.
“What’s his rush?” Jill asked.
“You got me. Also, Scott wants to go to the Justice of the Peace, since Marianne refuses to ask our folks to come. She wants a bit of glitz a
nd glamour but nothing flashy or formal.”
“No kidding. A girl wants a little romance on her wedding day.” Jill nodded then let out a wistful sigh.
“He said if they kept the wedding cheap, they could use their income tax returns for a nice honeymoon later on. That’s his logic. They can’t afford to do both. He thinks the honeymoon is more important. She thinks the wedding is.” Angel didn’t want to even think about it, except that she’d promised to make the dress.
“In that case they could run to Tahoe or Reno and have a nice, romantic wedding and still do the honeymoon,” Kat offered.
“That’s what I suggested, but Marianne doesn’t want an Elvis impersonator kind of wedding. That’s out of the question. All that added to the reasons I needed to get out of the apartment. I was tired of their endless bickering about the wedding and honeymoon.” She didn’t voice how stupid they sounded. At least they had each other and a future together.
“We’re glad you’re here.” Jill hugged her.
The rest of the evening remained laid back and relaxed. Angel fell into bed exhausted, the first good night’s sleep in years.
* * * *
Monday morning arrived with a torrential rainstorm, which meant a slow day.
The bell signaled and Jill shrugged out of her coat, shook it off outside under the awning then asked, “Where can I hang it?”
“In back, with mine.” Angel pointed to the curtains leading to the back room.
Jill was back in a moment. “I told my boss I’m taking a leave of absence to help take care of my mom, which is partially true. I’m tired of the crap, never getting a real story. At least working here I’ll be contributing something honest and real.”
“I’ll take whatever time you can spare.” Angel was grateful and understood how disillusioned Jill was. Her store was the positive reinforcement that she was helping people in some small way.
The mailman stepped in and handed her a thick stack of mail.
“Thank you,” she said.
He nodded and tipped his hat to her.
The mail included an envelope from her landlord. She opened the letter. They wouldn’t be renewing her lease. Her chest constricted. “Oh no, not now.” Angel rushed to her calendar.
“What’s the matter?” Jill asked.
“My lease runs out at the end of March. My landlord is selling the building.”
“What? He can’t do that, can he?” Jill’s mouth hung wide open.
“Yes he can, but the problem is bigger than that. It means I have to start looking for another place and that means money. All my money is tied up here.” She gestured, arms out, to the room around her. It would be no cheap or easy feat to pack the place up and move.
“No reserves?”
“No. Last year I sold my designs to a major lingerie company and used the money to pay off my school loans. I have the money from the sale of Sabrina’s dress, but I had planned to use it to expand my stock and hoped to reopen the bridal salon soon.”
“That sucks. I know all about student loans. I’m still paying mine off.”
“Just what I need on top of everything else.” Angel sagged against the counter, looking around, trying to imagine what it would take to pack and move the entire store.
“Hold off on the pity party. We’ll toss some ideas around with Kat tonight, and she’ll come up with something. She’s great with money issues. Don’t stress on it now, just show me around.”
She spent the morning giving Jill the lesson of a lifetime, Sex and Toys 101, at times laughing at Jill’s shocked expressions.
Jill soaked up every ounce of information like a pro.
Angel was grateful Jill had taken up her offer to come to work for her. She’d need the support more than ever with the move.
* * * *
The next day, Angel was a wreck, more exhausted than ever, but at least she had two new wedding dress designs to show Marianne, who was bugging her for ideas. She watered her plants, went into the back room, brought out a box full of samples, and set them on the counter.
Mitzi and Vera, from The Time of Your Life Retirement Home, would be in by nine. She’d promised to have some samples ready for them as well as some new products she’d ordered specifically for them. Jill would be in once she talked to her mom. After the doctors scheduled her mom’s chemotherapy, they could decide Jill’s schedule.
The bell over the door tinkled.
“Morning, ladies,” she said over her shoulder, but when she spun around it was Travis. “What are you doing here?” Even to her it sounded like an accusation.
He stepped into the store and looked around. His ears turned red, and he shuffled his feet the way Trent had the first time he came in. Travis stood on the other side of the counter watching her furtively, his lips pressed together, and his eyes narrowed, burrowing into her. “Why did you leave? And why you turn your cell phone off?”
Guilt ate at her. If only she could go back and have a do-over and talk her fears out rationally with Travis. But there was no such going back. She had to look away rather than blurt out her confession that she’d run and made a mistake. “I was busy and didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Disturbed? Am I bothering you that much already?” Travis pawed his hair. He eyed the vibrator aisle; his eyes widened, and his cheeks turned pink.
Seeing his discomfort released a great deal of Angel’s pent-up stress. This was her home turf.
His shoulders slumped and he drew in slow, steady breaths. Even with a frown on his devilishly handsome face, she’d acknowledge the attraction.
“You don’t understand.” All she could think to do was shrug.
“I never will unless you talk to me.” He took a step closer and leaned on the counter.
All it took was seeing him again to stir up hurricane-force issues inside her. What she wanted was his lips on hers, his arms around her, and his glorious hot fudge eyes to smile at her… and for him to forgive her. She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself, get over old pains, and have an adventure to beat all adventures that would make her forget everything before him. The coward in her won out. “I can’t. It’s too complicated.”
“What happened, Angel? I thought we had a nice evening.” He looked haggard and his clothes were a tad rumpled as well. “I woke up and you were gone.”
She’d never seen him any other way but—well—perfectly polished. “How’d you find me?” Angel hadn’t told him the name of the store, and neither Kat nor Jill would betray her, not after she admitted her fears to them, of that she was sure.
“Trent.” He wavered slightly then opened his mouth only to close it.
“I should’ve known.” She wished to be anywhere but here because if she remained, she’d have to deal with her issues. All of them, and she wasn’t ready.
“Why did you leave?” He’d spoken in a monotone then tilted his head and blinked.
The bell over the door tinkled.
“There she is. There’s our Angel. We brought a friend today, hon.” Vera pointed behind her.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got customers.” She pushed past him to greet the ladies and tried to pretend he wasn’t there, but felt him watching her every move.
Mitzi and Vera came to the counter. A third woman stood just inside the front door, eyes wide, mouth open, and looking ready to bolt. A woman who had forgotten how it felt to be young and in love, forgotten the excitement of sex, forgotten all about romance. They required a delicate touch. Angel suspected the same thing about herself, but she refused to dwell on that topic.
“Hi there, handsome. Where’s Sabrina?” Mitzi cackled at Travis and rubbed all five feet six inches against him before winking at him. “How was the honeymoon?”
Travis stiffened, frowned, and took a step back. “Excuse me?” He flinched and rubbed his chin as his gaze slid from Angel to the older women. “Wait a minute. Is this the Blue-Haired Brigade?”
“Who the devil are you calling blue-haired, buster? Ar
e you looking for another lesson?” Vera took offense to the name. She was slimmer and taller than Mitzi and appeared ready to do battle if it came down to it.
Angel was too busy anticipating how this scenario would play out to hide her amusement. She hoped the girls wouldn’t let her down. She could use a laugh about now. “Mitzi, Vera, this is Travis, Trent’s twin brother.”
“Lordy, th-there are two of you?” Mitzi fanned herself. “If you’re anything like your brother, we’re going to have fun with you.”
“He’s leaving,” Angel said.
“Uh-oh, Hazel’s going to run, Mitzi.” Vera raced to the woman by the door.
Mitzi followed, and then each took the woman by an arm.
“Come on, Hazel. Meet our Angel,” Mitzi said.
The woman pulled her sweater tight, hunched her shoulders, and eyed the products as if she expected them to leap off the shelf and attack her. Hazel was between Mitzi and Vera’s height, thin, and as bashful as she was scared.
Angel stepped toward the woman. “Hazel, is it? Welcome. I understand entering my store can be a bit intimidating a first, but I promise you’re safe in here.” Angel touched Hazel on the arm. Hazel flinched. Angel took a step back. “No one will jump you. No one will make you look at or do anything you’re not comfortable with. Feel free to look around while I help Vera and Mitzi. You’ll see. It’s just a shop with unusual products on the shelf.” Angel gestured around the store.
“Just a shop she says.” Vera clucked like a hungry hen.
“Don’t you believe her, Hazel Calvin. She’s a miracle worker. I’m telling you, if it wasn’t for our Angel here, George would still be acting like a constipated old fart and not the fun rascal he is in bed now.” Mitzi boomed laughter.
Angel stifled a giggle. If only Mitzi and Vera had been at Trent and Sabrina’s wedding. The visual of the havoc they would have wreaked made her cover her mouth because Mitzi and Vera had no filters, which was part of their charm.
Travis coughed then stepped nearer the door.
Angel was dying to know what was running through his head right now. Thank God, he appeared to be leaving. She didn’t have the energy to deal with him now. Truth be told, she didn’t have the energy to deal with herself, not Travis.
