“What?” Jodie asked.
“What Hannah is worrying about. If anyone ever mistreats Sophie, they won’t live to see daylight. Cal and I will take care of it,” he said.
“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?” Hannah asked.
“I know you.” Travis smiled. “Your girls will be fine, ladies. With a lot of good nurturing from y’all and help from your families, they will grow up to be independent and smart just like their mamas.”
Donnie knocked at eight fifteen. When Hannah opened the door, he crossed the floor and wrapped his arms around Jodie. A tall, muscular man with blond hair clipped close to his head, big blue eyes, and a round face, he finally pushed her back and really looked at her.
“You should have left sooner, sis.” His voice was hoarse with emotion.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I should have never left Kentucky. I should have stayed home, had the baby, and been a single mother.”
He wiped her tears with the back of his broad hand. “We’ll move on to the future and let the devil have the past.”
“That sounded just like Granny.” She smiled through the tears.
“I haven’t seen her in three years and the first thing I see is her crying. And she was always the tough one in the family, all full of sass.” He grinned over his shoulder at Travis and Hannah. “Now, let me see Laurel, take a peek at my new niece, Bella, and get you loaded. I can’t get out of this state fast enough.”
Jodie nodded and, tucking the crutch more firmly under her arm, started for the bedroom. “I’m packed and ready. I need help with the suitcase and quilt tops. Can you take the baby? She’s crawling around in the living room.”
“Three years?” Hannah asked.
“Last time I came to Texas, I got into it with her husband. I wanted her to leave with me, but she wouldn’t. We’ve talked a few times, Christmas and on her birthday. Then that lady called and told me what had happened. I arranged for leave right then, but it took time for me to get the paperwork done and the plans made,” he said. “Thank you for doing this for her. She was a good kid who believed a man with a slick line.”
“She helped me as much as I did her,” Hannah said around a lump in her throat. “There is a check in this envelope. I want you to give it to her when y’all get to Kentucky. I would have given her cash, but you don’t need to travel with that kind of money. It’s just a little seed money to get her on her feet this first year.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Travis, will you and Donnie get Laurel and Bella situated while I help Jodie with the baggage?”
“Thank you,” Donnie said. “Not taking charity has been ingrained in us, but I’ll see to it that this gets cashed when we get home.”
Hannah wiped a few more tears away as she went to Jodie’s bedroom. The bed had been stripped and remade; the dirty sheets were on the floor beside the door. Jodie turned at Hannah’s entrance to give the room one more scan.
“I should take those sheets to the laundry room,” she said.
“Leave them. I’ll do that. You’ve got a long, long day ahead of you and possibly part of the night. Remember, no tears, no good-byes, or we’ll both be weeping all day. I’m not even going out on the porch with y’all.” Hannah picked up the suitcase with the folded quilt tops lying on top.
She carried them out to the porch, and Donnie took them to the car. When he finished he got both children strapped into their seats, then motioned for Jodie.
Jodie held back for just a moment and then hugged Hannah tightly. “I will never forget you.”
“And I won’t forget you, either. Now go and don’t look back. The future is yours, girlfriend. Make it beautiful.”
Jodie nodded.
Hannah went into the house and straight back to the bedroom, where she sat on the bed and waited. In a few minutes, Sophie came into the room and put her tiny hand in her mother’s. Without saying a word, they sat there until Travis peeked into the room and told them that the car was gone and out of sight. Then Sophie broke down and sobbed like only a child can do.
“I hate daddies,” she said. “If it wasn’t for her daddy bein’ so mean, we could have been forever friends.”
“If her daddy hadn’t been so mean, you never would have met Laurel.” Hannah held her on one side.
Travis knelt beside the bed and hugged her from the other side. “And not all daddies are mean,” he said.
“The ones I know are. Sometimes they aren’t even daddies and they are mean. Look at Aunt Liz.” Sophie sobbed harder.
“Well, you don’t know all the daddies in the world. My daddy is a pretty nice guy, and your mama’s daddy was a nice guy, and Cal’s daddy is nice. I bet a lot of your little friends at school have nice daddies,” Travis said soothingly.
Sophie shot a puzzled look at her mother. “Then why didn’t you get me one of them kind?”
“Because,” Travis said before Hannah could answer, “your mama thought your daddy was a good man, but he fooled her. When you get to be a big girl, me and Uncle Cal will make sure that no one ever fools you, okay?”
“Okay.” Sophie sighed.
“How would you like to go to the petting zoo and maybe to the movies or the park and play?” Travis asked.
Her eyes brightened. “Can we take fried chicken for a picnic and a blanket to put on the ground at the park by the zoo and then have ice cream on the way home?”
“You drive a hard bargain, but if you won’t cry anymore, I think we can do that if it’s okay with your mama,” Travis said. “It breaks my heart when you cry, princess.”
Sophie giggled. “You’ll be a good daddy, won’t you, Uncle Travis?”
“I hope so, darlin’. I really hope so,” he said.
She broke free of their embraces and ran to her bedroom. “I’ll get my shoes on and then we can go, right? Who all is going with us? Is Aunt Birdie going?”
“No.” Travis sat down on the bed beside Hannah and covered her hand with his. “But Aunt Liz, Darcy, and Cal are all going, too. And we’re taking Cal’s van so we can ride together.”
“This is going to be a wondermous day,” Sophie yelled.
“I would do anything for you and Hannah,” Travis declared.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Travis went right into the petting zoo pen with Sophie, and together they scratched baby goats’ ears, ran their fingers through the baby lambs’ wool, and even touched a skittish little fawn that barely came up to Sophie’s waist. He’d purchased two paper bags of feed from a vendor and the little animals followed them around, making Sophie laugh.
“Now, Spotty Boy, you have to share.” Sophie pushed a goat away and fed the fawn from her hand. “This is Bambi and he is hungry. His mama went to the store and she’ll be back soon with his special treats, right, Uncle Travis?”
“That’s right.” He nodded. Lord only knew where that fawn’s mama was—most likely killed on the road or back in another part of the zoo wondering what happened to the baby she’d birthed a few weeks before. Maybe at night they took the little critter to her, but he wasn’t going to go into that subject with Sophie. Right now, the fawn’s mama was at the grocery store.
That stupid Marty had no idea what he’d missed out on with his daughter. She was such a delightful, imaginative little girl who brought joy just by walking into a room. But then, if Marty had been a stand-up guy, Travis wouldn’t have a chance at spending the day at the petting zoo with Sophie.
Darcy, Cal, and Liz found a bench under a shade tree, and from the expressions Travis caught every few minutes, they were deep in a serious conversation. The way they kept glancing at Hannah, who was standing behind the petting zoo fence, her cute little chin propped on a post as she watched Sophie with the animals, it was evident that they were worried about her. But then, so was Travis. The safe house idea was good in one aspect, but Hannah had a soft heart, and whether she liked it or not, she did get attached to her guests.
Sophie steered the little fawn over toward the f
ence where Hannah was watching. “Mama, Bambi sure would like to go home with me. Uncle Travis could build a fence in the backyard and I would feed him every day and I just know Anna Lou and Nadine would like to play with him, too.”
“The zoo doesn’t let anyone take the animals home. If they did, the little children wouldn’t have anything to pet,” Travis answered for Hannah. “All of our food is gone, and I see a whole busload of little kids arriving. You think maybe we could let them have a turn while we go to the park and have our picnic?”
“Yes!” Sophie handed Travis the last empty feed sack and pumped her fist in the air. “I’m almost hungry to death.”
Travis raised an eyebrow toward Hannah.
“That’s the ultimate hunger. Hungry as a bear is a close second.” She smiled.
“Well, then I expect we’d best get to the park, send someone for chicken while we spread out our quilt under a shade tree, and feed this princess before she turns into an ogre,” Travis teased.
“Oh, no!” Sophie clamped a hand on each cheek. “I might turn into Fiona from Shrek if I don’t get fried chicken real soon. Let’s get out of here in a hurry.”
With the park less than fifteen minutes away, Cal, Darcy, and Liz all volunteered to go for the food while Hannah, Travis, and Sophie staked out a claim with the quilt. They drove away, and Sophie bounded on ahead, checking out three spots before she found the right one closest to the swings.
Travis flipped the quilt out, and it fell right into place. “There you go, ladies. This is our home for the afternoon. You get to pick the first room, Sophie, in our new home.”
Sophie sat down in the middle of it and fell back to stare at the sky. “Silly Uncle Travis. This is a quilt, not a house. But if it was, I’d want this room right here in the middle. I can see the clouds. Look, Mama.” She pointed up to the sky. “It’s a lullaby sky today. Let’s sing ‘Twinkle.’”
Without hesitation Travis led the song in his deep voice. Sophie giggled and then joined him on the second line, and Hannah’s sweet soprano came in on the chorus.
“Hey, hey,” Aunt Birdie called out from behind the tree. “The song brought me right to you.”
She and Miss Rosie carried a cooler between them and set it down on the edge of the quilt next to the gnarled oak tree trunk. Wearing jeans, sneakers, a ball cap, and a T-shirt with palm trees on the front, Aunt Birdie looked like she’d just gotten off a cruise ship. Miss Rosie, in her floral muumuu and a straw hat with silk daisies glued to the brim, looked more like she’d just flown in from Hawaii.
They eased down onto the quilt, removed their hats, and fanned almost in unison.
“Goin’ to be a hot one, but we shouldn’t burn if we stay under this shade tree,” Aunt Birdie said. “Last time I went to that damned skin doctor, he tried to fry my whole nose right off my face.”
“Quit your bitchin’,” Miss Rosie chided. “If he didn’t burn them precancer things off you, then you’d get the real thing and it would eat your nose plumb off. We brought a cheesecake, water, and soda pop. Y’all can go on and push Sophie on the swings and we’ll hold down the camp.”
“Aunt Birdie and Miss Rosie! Now the day is perfect.” Sophie inched back a foot so she could lay a hand on both their knees.
“Yes, it is, baby girl.” Aunt Birdie nodded. “And I brought your favorite—cherry Coke.”
“Yay! Fried chicken and my favorite pop. I didn’t think this would be a good day, but it is. Mama, come and swing with me until our chicken gets here,” Sophie said.
“Go on, Hannah. We’ll keep all intruders out of this house until you get back,” Aunt Birdie said.
Sophie giggled. “It’s not really a house but a ’tend house, Aunt Birdie.”
“Well, then we’ll keep the pretend critters out of it. You won’t find a single dinosaur or ogre on it when you get done swinging,” Aunt Birdie said.
Hannah rolled up on her knees and then popped up to her feet. “I thought y’all would be at the church most of the day.”
“We got our meeting over with at the church and decided to join y’all,” Aunt Birdie told her.
“I’ll be over there in a minute and push both of you,” Travis said.
Aunt Birdie waited until Hannah was out of hearing distance and said, “Is she going to be okay with all this? The only concern I had in the beginning of her taking in abused women was that she’d get too attached to them.”
“It’s a sad day, because she and Jodie really bonded this week. These women are bringing closure to her, though,” Travis answered.
“Well, she needs that, for damn sure.” Miss Rosie settled the hat back on her head. “You go on now and push them. Hannah needs this day as much as Sophie does.”
The last time Hannah remembered swinging was high school graduation night. All five of them had wound up at this same park, swinging and playing on the slide, drinking beer and having one last night together.
Liz was going to college in Gainesville, Hannah had gotten a full-time job overseeing the volunteer organization at the Gainesville hospital, Cal was off to New York to study design, Travis had decided to go into construction with his father, and Darcy had been offered a position at the bank where she’d been working part-time in the summers. Change was in the wind that hot summer night, but not as much as it was this day.
Travis gave Sophie a high push first, and then he moved over and put his arms around Hannah’s waist, pulled her back, and let go. His touch and the warm summer breeze stirred emotions that both scared and exhilarated her.
“Remember the last time we were here, all together?” Travis asked as he gave her a gentle push each time the swing took her back to him.
“Graduation night,” she answered.
“Life has made a big circle.”
“Boy, has it ever. You guys followed your dreams. Darcy kept moving up in the bank. Liz came back to teach in Crossing, and me—well, enough said,” Hannah said.
“I’m glad we are where we are right now. And speaking of today, you look every bit as beautiful now as you did that night we graduated,” he flirted.
Hannah’s pulse quickened. “You are making me blush.”
“And you look adorable with pink cheeks.” He gave her another push.
“Uncle Travis, I’m getting real slow,” Sophie called out from the swing beside Hannah.
Travis took a couple of long steps to the side and sent Sophie flying so high that her giggles could be heard all over the park. Then he went back to Hannah’s swing.
“Is it all right if I stay on at your place one more night? Seems like late Saturday night or Sunday morning is the time for womenfolks to walk away from bad situations.”
“Seems that way. Must be the Saturday night drinking that causes some of it. You can live at my house as long as you want,” she answered. “In my case it was Friday afternoons.”
“Friday?” Travis asked.
“That’s the day Marty came home, if he did. He always left on Sunday night or early Monday morning, so those weren’t bad days. On Fridays I still wake up, realize it’s what day it is, and get an anxiety pain for a couple of seconds until I realize it’s all over and done with.”
“My turn again,” Sophie yelled.
Travis pulled back on the chains until she was chest level. “Yes, ma’am. High as last time?”
“Yes, yes, yes. If there were stars out right now, I could touch them.” She sang part of “Too-Ra-Loo” and then segued off into the chorus at the top of her young lungs as she soared in the air.
“We may have to play that song at her wedding.” Travis chuckled.
“We won’t talk about that today.” Hannah frowned.
“It will arrive before we know it. Today we’ll just enjoy her being almost six and talk about something else,” he agreed. “I hated Fridays, too, Hannah.”
“Why?”
“Because I could tell that you were nervous about him coming home, and I hated thinking about you over there with him. Miss
Rosie kept telling me that the end was in sight, but I have to admit, I thought it would never get here,” Travis answered.
“How did she know?”
“She and your aunt Birdie know everything,” he said seriously. “Do you realize I’ve been back in Crossing one year this month and Marty was only home three times the whole year? And I wasn’t in your house until the divorce, because I knew that it made you nervous for anyone to be inside.”
“But you came over all the time,” she said defensively.
He nodded. “I was over there nearly every day that Marty was not there, but we always sat on the porch. Same with Darcy and Liz.”
“I have a confession. I didn’t want any of you in the house,” she said. “At first I thought it was fear that someone would move his lamp a quarter of an inch or that they wouldn’t dry the sink in the bathroom after they’d washed their hands and that would set him off. But I have thought about it—I felt comfortable with you all. I didn’t want to spoil that by exposing the feelings in my house at that time. Thank God I did.” Her shoulders twitched in a shiver. “I’m sorry if I hurt any feelings.”
He reached across the distance and wrapped his hand around the swing chain, bringing it closer to him. “Nothing to be sorry about. And darlin’, if you ever have a gut feeling about something, you follow it down to the letter. That sure kept you alive.”
“Look, Mama, there’s our fried chicken. I want a leg and a wing. Oh! Oh! Uncle Cal is carrying a box of doughnuts, too. I hope he got a chocolate one.” Sophie jumped out of the swing, landed on both feet, then took off in her usual run mode.
“You think they’ll make it all the way to the altar someday?” Hannah nodded toward Darcy and Cal.
“Oh, yes, I do. They’ve been in love since high school, but it’s their time now. I’ll bet you ten bucks and a steak dinner that they tie the knot at Christmas.” Travis stood up and offered her his hand.
She took his hand and shook on the deal. “I bet you the same that it’s at Thanksgiving or before.”
He kept her hand in his. “Either way, I win.”
The Lullaby Sky Page 23
