The Cowboy's Summer Love

by The Cowboy's Summer Love (mobi)

“Fine,” Travis yelled and stalked back to his bedroom. Grabbing a few things, he ran out the door to his truck, not even seeing Cady and Cass sitting in the shade of the oak tree as he peeled out of the driveway and roared off.

  Driving to The Dalles, he rented wind surfing equipment and decided to spend some time on the water.

  Travis hated the man he’d become, but he didn’t know what to change or even how to change. As miserable as he felt now, he thought about re-enlisting. He had done nothing but be a surly burden to his family and friends. Now that he’d added flashbacks and violence to the mix, he had to make some choices.

  But today was not the day to make any life-altering decisions.

  Looking up at the beautiful blue summer sky and the sparkling water of the Columbia River as it ran through the gorge, Travis decided not to think about anything except having a little fun. He wished Brice could join him, although Brice never really liked windsurfing and even if he did, he couldn’t ditch work.

  Hood River generally had the best water for windsurfing, but Travis decided to start at The Dalles Riverfront Park. There was just enough wind blowing to make the water worth riding and Travis was looking forward to the feel of jumping over the waves, being carried by the air and water. He hadn’t been windsurfing for several weeks in his efforts to cut down on activities his family deemed dangerous.

  He felt guilty about not doing his fair share on the ranch. Summer was the busiest season out at the Triple T and on top of the usual work load, there was Trent and Lindsay’s wedding along with the adjustment of having Cass and Cady in the family.

  Cady was worth her weight in gold and then some and Cass really wasn’t a bother, but it was definitely different having a young bride and a small child in the house. Travis felt bad about upsetting them both at lunch and decided he’d pick up something for them on his way home as a means of apology. He needed to apologize to Trey as well. Travis knew he was only trying to help. He was pretty lucky to have family that loved him as much as his did.

  Travis realized he should have called his mother to let her know he was fine and also gotten Rick’s phone number from Tess so he could apologize to him as well. What did you say to someone whose jaw you nearly broke?

  Unable to think about Tess without his stomach tightening into a hard knot, Travis paddled the board out into the water, adjusted the sail and put his feet in the stirrups. The wind was perfect for what Travis had in mind.

  Heading out into the middle of the river, it didn’t take long for the wind to hit the sail and the real fun to begin. Travis felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as his board began to hydroplane, skimming along the surface of the water, gaining speed. By transferring his weight from where his feet rode in the straps at the back of the board, he controlled his direction on the water.

  He didn’t think the conditions had ever been quite as perfect when he’d been out on the water as they were today.

  Picking up a strong gust of air, Travis flipped a few turns, relishing the blast of adrenaline that shot through him. Trey was right, it had become like a drug for him and he had to find a way to overcome it. But for today, he was going to milk out every drop of it he could.

  Travis knew a few people were watching him from boats. There were only a couple of other people out on boards, which was fine with him. The beginners got in the way and never watched where they were going, creating a constant hazard.

  Today, he wanted to have fun and not have to worry about steering around a novice or being hit from behind by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.

  Catching another big gust, Travis felt himself flying through the air. It was a liberating and freeing experience to be gliding across the water so fast. The scenery in the gorge was beautiful on any given day and with the sun shining brightly, today it was exceptional.

  Travis remembered a boat trip he and his brothers took with the Morgan kids down the river. He couldn’t remember why they went, or even which set of parents took them. He just remembered standing between Brice and Tess, holding both their hands and staring at the water and the sky, thinking how huge the world seemed. Big and bright and so full of wonder.

  Some days, he’d give anything to recapture that innocence and sense of security he lost somewhere along the way in the last several years.

  Thinking back over his life, especially his childhood, he had so many happy, wonderful memories and a big part of them revolved around Tess. She had always been a playmate and friend.

  Letting her go was the one thing Travis couldn’t quite prepare himself to face. He knew he had to, but the pain of that was more than he thought he could bear.

  Lost in his thoughts of Tess, Travis didn’t notice the wind had picked up another notch until he was high up in the air. Flipping himself around, he landed perfectly and grinned. He loved the feeling of power and control he had on the board, even if it did leave him too much time to be alone with his thoughts.

  Looking around, Travis noticed a man on a board trying to catch up to a younger boy, probably about nine or ten.

  For a moment Travis wondered why in the world anyone would let a child get this far out in the river alone. If they were beginners, they might not have known the wind could quickly carry them out farther than they wanted to go. The boy was light enough that the wind was whipping him along at a breakneck speed. As he neared Travis, he could see the look of terror on the child’s face. The man behind him was waving his arm and yelling something, but Travis didn’t need to hear the words to know he was panicked.

  Evaluating the situation, Travis glanced around to see what resources were available. There were a couple of guys in a fishing boat floating along not too far away. If necessary, Travis thought he could get their attention to provide some assistance.

  The main thing that needed to happen now was to reach the boy and get him off the wildly flying board. Steering his board in a direction he hoped would intersect with the child, Travis sent up a prayer for help. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be able to make a rescue on his own.

  Realizing his chance for a peaceful afternoon was totally shot, Travis visualized his quickly forming plan. As he neared the boy, Travis felt adrenaline surging through him with a force that nearly staggered him.

  He started to think back to another small boy who needed rescued, one he carried bleeding and terrified in his arms. Instead of dwelling on that image, Travis brought his focus back to the rapidly approaching child.

  Seeing one chance to grab the board and the kid, Travis waited until the boy hit a wave and bounced back up high in the sky before he bent his knees and lunged his board upward, hoping to catch the same gust of air. Stretching as far as he could reach once he was in the air, he grasped the boy’s ankle and toppled him to his chest at the same time he heard a loud pop and felt horrendous pain rip through the backs of both his thighs.

  So intense was the pain, Travis slipped off his own board into the choppy water, still holding onto the frightened child. Swimming up to the surface, Travis pushed the boy onto his board and held onto it while the boat that was nearby hurried their direction. Dragging them both out of the water, Travis tried to stand, but crumpled to the floor of the boat and passed out into a darkness filled with crippling pain.

  ><><

  Tess should have called in sick. She thought heart sick should count. It was her day to work acute care, which meant she was treating patients in the hospital. If only today was home visits, she could have used the fresh air and solitude while driving from one appointment to the next to help clear her thoughts.

  As it was, she had a pounding headache and couldn’t wait for the end of her work day to arrive.

  After Rick took her home and assured her he would be fine last night, she went to bed and spent hours alternating between tears and prayers.

  Her heart ached for Travis, for the suffering he was forcing himself to endure on his own, and for the shame he felt unnecessarily.

  She was both afraid for him and a
little afraid of him.

  It was obvious something was bothering him last night and instead of reaching out to him, trying to help, Tess assumed he was acting like a jerk because Rick was there with her. So she teased and flirted, cozying up to Rick just to make Travis jealous.

  What kind of friend was she, anyway? She was using Rick to get at Travis and that wasn’t fair to either one of them. Maybe she should move somewhere new and start over, but the thought of not seeing Travis again made her fight back a sob.

  Sitting in the office trying to focus enough to finish some paperwork, Tess answered the phone after it rang three times.

  “Tess Morgan,” she said, trying to sound professional, if not cheery.

  “Tess, this is Sandy in ER. Two guys brought in an injured windsurfer and he’s not carrying any identification. He keeps asking for you, at least I think it’s you. He’s seems to be a little disoriented. Can you come down and see what you can do?”

  Somehow Tess knew, right to the very core of her being, the injured man was going to be Travis.

  “I’ll be right there,” Tess said, hanging up the phone and running to the nearest elevator. When it didn’t immediately arrive, she ran around the corner and down two flights of stairs to the emergency room. The entire time, she kept up a steady prayer of “please, let him be okay.”

  Racing to the nurse’s station, they pointed her to a curtained area where she could hear a familiar voice saying, “Please, I want Tessa. Just get Tess, she’ll make it better.”

  Her heart sank to the floor and she had to take a moment to steel herself for whatever she was going to find. Sucking in a deep gulp of air, she straightened her spine and walked around the curtain.

  Expecting blood and gore, Tess was surprised that Travis looked fine, except for the pain that formed deep brackets around his mouth and eyes, and the sickly ashen gray tone of his skin. He was wearing a wet suit and didn’t even have on a pair of shoes. She couldn’t see any blood, any bruising anywhere. He was, however, holding both sides of the gurney in a death grip with his eyes squeezed shut.

  “What happened, Sandy?” she asked quietly of the nurse who was attempting to get Travis to calm down enough they could get the wet suit off him and determine what was wrong.

  “Apparently, he’s quite the hero,” the nurse said. “Some dummy put his son on a board and turned him loose on the water. Of course the board took off like a kite in the wind out there today. Our mystery man saw what happened and made a daring rescue before the boy got hurt. A couple of guys in a boat pulled him and the kid out of the water and they said this big guy tried to stand up then passed out in the boat. They carried him to their car and brought him in just a few minutes ago. He came around long enough to ask where he was and then he started asking for Tessa. Do you know him?”

  Tess moved so she stood close to Travis’ head and ran her fingers along his forehead. With her other hand, she unclenched his fist and held his hand in hers.

  “Yeah, I know him,” she said softly, tears filling her eyes.

  At her touch, Travis instantly calmed down, sensing her presence. Sandy gave Tess a questioning look.

  “I think you more than just know him,” Sandy said with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve been holding out on us Tess.”

  “We grew up together,” Tess said, turning her attention back to Travis. Leaning down she put her lips close to his ear.

  “Travis, it’s me, Tess. Fancy meeting you here at the hospital, you idiot. You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” she said, trying to keep her tone light and soothing. “We’re going to get you out of this wetsuit and see if we can help you, so just relax and enjoy having a bunch of women fawn over you for a while.”

  A ghost of a smile touched his lips and Tess released a relieved sigh. He seemed to have been able to hear her.

  “What can I do to help,” Tess said, still holding Travis’ hand as she looked to Sandy for direction.

  “We need to cut this thing off,” Sandy said, studying the form-fitting suit.

  “Get the scissors and I’ll help,” Tess said. Sandy disappeared and soon returned with two pairs of scissors in her hand. She started at one ankle and Tess at the other as they carefully cut the suit up both legs, across his stomach to his neckline and then cut open the arms.

  “Oh. My. Gosh,” Sandy said when they peeled the suit away. Travis was wearing a pair of swimming trunks under the suit, but all that exposed, tanned, finely muscled man was a shock to any female system. Sandy looked at Tess with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Since you don’t seem in shock, I’m guessing you may have enjoyed this view once or twice before.”

  “Just never mind,” Tess said, blushing. She told Travis to roll over so they could get the suit out from beneath him. With Tess pushing on his shoulders and Sandy on his hips, they rolled him to the side and pulled the wet suit away. Still not seeing what was causing his pain, Tess put a hand to his thigh as they started to roll him back and he yelped in pain.

  Gently pulling up the leg of his swim trunks, she gasped to see the backs of Travis’ thighs were red and swollen. Reaching out to touch one, the heat radiating from it was intense.

  “Sandy, what do you think happened?” Tess asked, pushing up the other leg of Travis’ trunks and seeing the other thigh was a matching mass of red, swollen flesh to the first.

  If she was guessing correctly, she would say he had a set of pulled hamstrings.

  “Travis, we’re going to roll you on your stomach, okay?” Tess said, as she moved to the other side of Travis and between she and Sandy, they managed to roll him over and keep him on the gurney.

  “I’ll go get a doctor, but it looks like X-rays and an MRI for this guy,” Sandy said, hurrying out of the room.

  Placing a hand on Travis’ shoulder, Tess rubbed gentle circles, trying to help him relax. His legs were now drawn up slightly and his face was pinched in pain. Travis still hadn’t opened his eyes, which she took as a sign of how intense the pain must be. Knowing his tendency to hold his breath until he passed out, she didn’t think that would be a bad thing right at the moment.

  “What am I going to do with you?” Tess asked, fighting back tears. “Why can’t you be a computer geek or an accountant?”

  “You’d be bored to tears,” Travis rasped, reaching a hand out to her. She sucked in a surprised breath when he spoke. Travis opened an eye and fixed his pain-laced gaze on Tess. “I’m your only source of excitement.”

  Tess grasped his hand and held it between hers.

  He knew Tess wasn’t aware of the tingling sensations her caress sent through him. As it was, all he could do was appreciate the comfort of her touch.

  “You scared me to death, again,” she said, brushing at a tear she could no longer contain. “One of these days I’ll walk in here and find you beyond saving.”

  “Aw, honeybee, I’ll be fine. Don’t cry,” Travis said, unsettled by the catch in her voice. He shifted on the gurney and a fresh wave of pain washed over him with such force he would have thrown up if he hadn’t locked his jaw so tightly Tess thought he might strain a facial muscle.

  “Travis, please don’t move. I think you pulled your hamstrings, but the doctor will be here soon. I know it hurts really bad, but please try to lie still.” Tess leaned down and kissed his cheek and her fragrance soothed Travis as much as her touch.

  “Don’t leave me, Tessa. Stay with me, please?” Travis whispered.

  “I’ll stay right here as long as you need me to,” Tess said, knowing she couldn’t leave if she wanted to. She wouldn’t be able to rest anyway, until she knew what was wrong with Travis.

  Sandy returned with a young doctor, who looked fresh out of medical school. Tess had seen him around the hospital the last few weeks, but assumed he was interning.

  “I’m Dr. Leib,” he said stepping up to Travis and looking at his legs. “We’re going to get some X-rays, Mr…” the doctor looked around for a chart or something with Travis’ personal information.

/>   “Thompson, Travis Thompson,” Tess supplied. “I can help fill out his paperwork.”

  “Okay, Travis, we are going to get some X-rays. Before we do that, I want to examine your legs and it might hurt.”

  Travis grunted in response. Tess moved up by his head and held both of his hands in hers while Sandy pushed up his swimming trunks and the doctor began examining both legs. He asked Travis to flex and extend each leg and Tess watched sweat break out on Travis’ forehead and felt his hands get clammy.

  The doctor’s probing fingers made Travis pass out, which was probably a blessing. Finishing the exam, the doctor asked Sandy to get Travis out of his swim trunks and down to have X-rays. He also ordered an MRI. While the X-ray would show if anything was broken, using the magnetic resonance imaging worked much better for showing the details of a muscle injury.

  Once the doctor left, Sandy looked at Tess and shook her head. Stepping out of the room, she nabbed another nurse to help get Travis out of his trunks. They both stared at the angry scars running across his upper thigh, right below his left cheek.

  Tess, who averted her eyes during the exposing of Travis’ backside, was surprised when she heard Sandy ask, “What on earth happened to him, Tess?”

  Tess raised her gaze and saw the scars, shocked by their wicked appearance. With wide eyes, she shook her head.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t mention having those,” Tess said, trying to swallow down the pain that filled her heart. What had Travis endured and not shared with those who loved him most? “He served two tours of duty in Iraq. I’m guessing he may have got that there. He’s only been home since Christmas.”

  Sandy snatched a sheet and quickly covered Travis, feeling a new level of respect for the man. She already admired him for saving a stranger’s child and it was hard not to get a little carried away by his raw physical appeal. Add in war veteran, and he was approaching hero status.

  Looking at Tess, she smiled. “I promise we’ll take very good care of him.”

  “I know you will, but I promised him I’d stay,” Tess said, walking with Sandy as she wheeled Travis down to get X-rays. “While he’s having his picture taken, I can fill out his paperwork. I better call his family while I’m at it.”