“Stop being a big wimp and come on!”
They piled into Rachael’s new car and drove all of the back roads she knew. After dropping Levi off at his house, they made their way back home.
Travis’s truck was parked outside her house.
“You’ve got to talk to him sometime,” Michael said in a hushed tone.
“How do you know?”
“Word travels fast out here. Levi told me.”
“Well, stay out of it, Michael. We broke up.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t know.”
“I know all I need to. He’s a guy. Guys do stupid stuff all the time. So you dumped him. He’ll charm his way back in. It’s that simple.” Michael looked very proud of himself and jumped out of the car to say hi to Travis, who was sitting on the front steps.
“Wanna play some video games?” Michael offered.
“Not today, man. Maybe another time.”
“Okay. But if she gets too ugly with you, you know who to come to for back-up. I know how to handle Rachael.” Michael raced inside as if running for his life.
Brothers.
Rachael started to walk right past Travis, just stepping over his outstretched hand.
He slumped. “Are you going to walk right past and not even speak to me?”
“What do you want me to say?” she hissed.
“I want to work this out, Rachael. I want us to figure out a solution—together.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible.” Rachael hurried inside and slammed the door.
Racing to her bedroom, she threw herself across her bed and cried.
*
She didn’t see Travis any more that week or the next. In class they were like two strangers who never really knew each other.
The end of the school year was quickly approaching. Rachael had phoned Mr. Baxter and told him that under the circumstances she didn’t think she should continue working there. He told her to suit herself, but if she ever changed her mind, her job would be waiting for her.
She had enough money after paying JJ for her car to cover the six-month premium for car insurance. Rachael knew that by summer she would need to find a job.
*
Rachael was glad when finals finally arrived. This was one year she would be glad to finish. Her father had gone to prison, she had been betrayed by a lifelong friend, and she had lost the person who was her confidante, friend, and soul mate. Shannah came over to hang out on the last day of school.
“So, how have you been?” she asked between bites of pickles and chips she’d found by raiding Rachael’s kitchen.
Rachael just laughed at her.
“What? I’m raised by a dad only. We never have any food in the house, and I’m starving.”
“Help yourself.” Rachael loved being around Shannah. She made her feel grounded.
“So, you didn’t answer my question. How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you look bad, girl. We have got to get that hair trimmed. Maybe do your nails or something.”
Okay, if Shannah is suggesting those things, then I must really look bad! She never pays any attention to all that girly stuff.
“I know. I was stressed by finals. That’s all.”
Shannah lifted a brow. “And by the loss of Travis. You can’t fool me, Rachael. Lie to the others but don’t lie to me. You are torn up over that boy. It’s been eight weeks. Don’t you think you’ve made him suffer enough?”
“Made him suffer?” Rachael couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Wasn’t Shannah supposed to be her friend?
“Yes. He looks worse than you do. Like he isn’t sleeping or eating or even bathing. He’s grown a beard!”
“Yep. I saw the beard.” Rachael conceded that point.
“So he has a past. Who doesn’t?” Shannah asked.
“Me for one. No past. Well, not that kind of past anyway.”
“That’s just semantics, Rachael. Even you have a past. It may not be that type of a past, but it is a past. I have one too.”
“Okay, so I get your point.” She exhaled heavily. “I don’t know how to move forward from here.”
“Do you want to try?” Shannah asked.
“I love him. I do. But he really hurt me. Really disappointed me.”
“Don’t you think maybe you’ve disappointed him too?” Shannah asked.
“How would I have disappointed him?”
“After everything he supported you through, you had a chance to show him that same support and understanding. Instead, you bailed on him, and everyone knows it.”
Rachael sat there dumbfounded. Shannah was right. “What do I do?”
“Only you can figure that out. I’ve gotta run.”
Travis was usually so strong, so confident. Everyone knew exactly why Rachael had dumped him. The embarrassment of going through his tough times the first time around was probably rough. Now he’d had to relive them a second time. For the first time, she saw things from that perspective and felt horrible for her part in causing Travis pain.
Going to her bedroom, she took the card he’d left on her desk at school eight weeks earlier out of her nightstand drawer and finally opened it:
Dear Rachael,
I never meant to lie to you. I never meant to hide any of it. I had every intention of telling you about it all—all the details too, if you really wanted to know. Maybe I should have told you sooner, but it never seemed like the right time. I’m sorry. So very sorry. Let me spend forever making it up to you.
Please.
Love, Travis
Rachael went to the closet and pulled out the camouflage sweatshirt of Travis’s that she’d kept from the previous summer. She pulled it on over her head. Next she slipped on some flip flops and walked out the front door. She climbed in through her window, drove the five minutes to Travis’s house, then raced down his long dirt driveway kicking up dust and rocks in every direction. She couldn’t get there fast enough. When she parked her car and climbed out—literally—Mrs. Baxter was walking down the front steps with her keys, obviously headed somewhere.
“He’s out in the barn dear.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Baxter.”
“Welcome back, dear. We missed you,” Mrs. Baxter added warmly as she got into her vehicle and backed out.
Rachael ran to the barn, where Travis was sweeping out the center aisle. Rachael stopped just inside, panting, waiting for him to turn around.
“I brought something back,” she called softly. “I needed to return it to you. I believe it is yours.”
Travis turned around to the sight of Rachael in his Monster Buck Hunt Club sweatshirt. “I love that sweatshirt.” He smiled sweetly.
“If you want it back, you have to come over here and get it. It’s yours. It always has been.”
He closed the space between them and kissed her tenderly. He held her in his embrace for several minutes.
“I’m sorry for being so stubborn, Travis,” she said into his chest. “I love you.”
“I‘ve waited so long to hear those words. I was afraid I never would.” He held her chin. “I’m sorry too. I love you.”
“I think I have something that belongs to you too.” He removed her ring from his pinky finger, where if Rachael had been paying any attention at all, she would have realized he’d been wearing it for over eight weeks. “But only if you want it back. My mistakes are my own and no one else’s.”
“I most certainly do. Knowing what I know now, I need that ring more than ever. And I need you, Travis Baxter.”
19
“I THINK THAT IS POSSIBLY THE WORST IDEA I HAVE EVER HEARD.” Travis shook his head.
“Then don’t go, Travis.” Maysie stood with her hands on her hips.
Rachael walked into their kitchen. In keeping with their chaperoned dates idea, Rachael and Travis had plans of staying in tonight to watch a movie. Of course his parents would be home, as we
ll as Maysie.
“So what are we arguing about tonight?” Rachael felt more and more like a referee.
“Maysie wants to have a guy-girl campout. Thoughts?” Travis was clearly skeptical.
“Bad idea. Really bad idea,” Rachael said.
Maysie’s eyes flashed. “Well, you two are the only ones who think so. Everyone else thinks it’s a fine idea. I’ll go ask Daddy now.”
“And I hope he tells you no,” Travis said.
“He won’t, and you want to know why? I’ve asked a chaperone!”
“This should be good. I’ll give it one guess. Is it Tristan by any chance?”
“No, smarty pants, it’s not. He’s a grown-up all right, but I’ve asked JJ to chaperone. He’s a lawman. He said he would love to.”
“JJ I could see.” Travis nodded.
“See. Now even boring old Travis agrees with me.” Maysie flitted off to her father’s office to ask him.
“Since when did I become boring old Travis? We are the same age.” Travis shook his head.
Rachael grinned. “It’s her job to annoy you. You are her brother.”
“I should have known you’d side with her.” Travis popped a carrot into his mouth, then grabbed Rachael’s hand and led her to the couch.
“So, what do you think of my new car?” Rachael asked.
“I love it.”
“I still can’t figure out where he got it from. There is no way it was only five hundred dollars. No way.”
“Nope. It was his mother’s car. She loved that car. It was always parked in the garage. When she did drive it, she insisted her boys wash and wax it before putting it away.”
“His mother’s car? I’m flattered that he would practically give it to me.”
“He likes you, Rachael. Just another one of the ‘we heart Rachael’ club members.”
Rachael laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.
“So let’s go over that list you wanted.”
“What list?” she asked, raising her head.
“The detailed list I promised you.”
“Oh. That list.” She waved one hand in the air. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to know.”
“You’re sure? Because it’s an open-ended offer. Anytime you want to know, ask me. I’ll be glad to be completely open with you.”
“I know, but thank you, no thank you. What’s in the past is in the past. I feel the same way about my own mistakes. They’re in the past.”
“What mistakes?” Travis arched his eyebrow.
“The bad choices in friends, guys, and the Melinda thing.”
“Let’s elaborate on the bad choices in guys thing. There’s nothing in the past eight weeks I need to know about, is there?”
“You can’t be serious….” Then Rachael decided that, while he was paying attention, she might as well have a little fun with him. “Unless of course you include the date I had with the guy at the feed store, then there was the date with the guy in Biology, and of course the twins that asked me out last week. There were so many dates I can barely recall them all.”
“I’m not laughing, Rachael,” he said in an intense tone. “Please appease me and tell me you were miserable at home just like me.”
“I was miserable at home just like you.”
“Good. That makes me feel better. You know misery loves company.” He put his arm around her.
His father passed through the family room behind them. “Don’t forget the game cams, Rachael. I have installed them in every room in the house.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Probably not,” Mr. Baxter said over his shoulder.
“He said yes!” was all Maysie said as she went skipping behind the couch.
“That means we have to go.” Travis sighed.
“Why?”
“My dad will make me. Maysie can’t be in the woods overnight without a man from her family.”
She squeezed his hand. “It sounds fun, and we’ll be just fine. I have a lot of faith in you, Travis Baxter.”
Travis leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Let’s watch this movie.”
*
The next day Rachael was relieved to get a call from her father. She had told him about the break-up weeks earlier but been very vague as to all of the details. She could tell he had questions but didn’t want to pry. She knew she should have emailed and updated him on everything. Mornings were always a good time for him, and she knew talking to her would set the stage for his entire day and make him smile.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, honey. So how are things going for you? Any better?”
“Much better. Travis and I worked things out.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Anything you want to talk about?”
“Yep. It all started back the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Travis confided in me that he was having some problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Problems of the guy-girl kind, Dad. You know those kinds of problems?”
“Was he pressuring you, Rachael? I may be in prison, but I could send someone over there to help him work through those problems real quick-like.”
“Dad! Of course not. You’re supposed to be thinking like my friend here.”
“Okay. I’ll try again. Wow, poor Travis. It must be awful for him. Too bad your dad is in prison and can’t straighten him out for you.”
“Da-a-a-a-d, come on.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, I’ve gone through some changes. I’m growing up.”
“I know. I saw the pictures from the dance, remember?”
“Exactly. So he loved the dress but asked me to consider some clothing options for a while that were a little less revealing and more loose fitting.”
“I’m liking this kid more and more. So are you admitting that ‘Cool Dad’s Fashions’ has found its niche among teenage shoppers?”
“Yes. Sort of.”
“So here is my final try at my earlier comment as the dad/friend. Wow! It sounds like things between you and Travis are getting pretty serious, but I think you handled that situation very well. I’m proud of you. I also think that in addition to that ring we may want to consider a chastity belt like they wore during the medieval times. Solid steel. It’s the latest in Cool Dad’s Fashions.”
“Better.” She laughed. “Except for the chastity belt part. I’m ignoring that last bit, and I thought I’d handled everything relatively well too until…”
“Until what?” The anxious tone was back in his voice.
“Until I got this awful email from Brittany apologizing for going after Colten while we were dating. She didn’t actually hook up with him until after we had broken up, but she still betrayed me. Then she included this information about Travis and his ex-girlfriend. She said they had gotten ‘pretty cozy.’ ”
“And that was before your time? Right? Before you actually started dating him?”
“Yes, but I felt like he had been dishonest with me by not telling me.”
“You would have wanted to know that?” Rachael could hear the doubt in his voice.
“Yes, but none of the details.”
“Okay, so what happened?”
“I got mad at him when he admitted it and told him our relationship was a lie.”
“Ouch.”
“I know. Then I dumped him and didn’t speak with him for eight weeks.”
“Double ouch.”
“Then Shannah came over and helped me see where I had been wrong too. I had judged him, so I went to his house and we made up.”
“Wearing the latest in Cool Dad’s Fashions, I presume.”
“A huge sweatshirt, to be exact.”
“Good girl.”
“Dad!”
“Okay, well it may come as a complete and total shocker, but your mom and I experienced something similar in our time.”
“Dad, I don’t really want to hear details about yours and M
om’s nookie days of the past.”
“No, and I’m not going to share any of that with you. Have no fear.” Her father laughed. “But one thing I will share is that I had quite the reputation, and your mom was a good girl. Things were difficult, but she stood her ground and told me no. So I married her. And the rest is history.”
“Go, Mom!”
“Boys can be really convincing. But let me tell you that Travis isn’t going to die from not getting sex!”
“TMI, Dad! This conversation is over.”
“Thank God. I’m glad too, but the offer to send someone over and beat him to a pulp still stands.”
“Bye, Dad.” She was grinning as she hung up.
So Dad was a player, and Mom was the proverbial good girl. Go figure. I’m made from pretty tough stuff.
A few minutes later Rachael received an email from her father.
Glad to hear you patched things up with Travis, but what about Brittany? Just give it some thought.
Rachael lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. She was not exactly sure what to do about Brittany. Brittany had apologized and asked for forgiveness. It had been eight weeks since she had sent the email. If she had been sincere in her apology, it must have been a grueling eight weeks for her.
Was she sincere in her apology? That was the question. What was her motive for apologizing? Had it been true guilt and sadness over the loss of their friendship? Had it been something more sinister?
Rachael couldn’t shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that Brittany had only apologized in order to be able to tell her about the Travis situation. She was probably hurt over Colten breaking up with her for Rachael. Would she go as far as to apologize in order to have an excuse to send Rachael the email about Travis? Did she hate Rachael that much—enough to want to devastate her, hurt her, and possibly destroy her relationship with Travis? Rachael wasn’t sure. It hurt to think it was even a possibility.
A light knock came on her door. “It’s us,” Maysie announced.
“Come in.”
Maysie and Travis stepped into the room.
Cowgirl Down (Redneck Debutante) Page 21
