by Sophia Lynn
A silence fell over them, one where the world was enormous around them but the only center of it was their anger and their frustration. It was Travis who finally broke the silence.
"Usually before this point, Sheridan makes us quit, doesn't he?"
Reluctantly, Eddy laughed a little, because that was the truth.
"Where's my brother when you need him?" she joked, and Travis smiled as well. It wasn't really a peace. She suspected that there never could be one between her and Travis. They were just too different.
"Well, I didn't mind having him gone for at least some parts of the afternoon," he said, and she almost choked on a bite of her sandwich, taking a hasty swig of water to wash it down.
"Sheridan's about the best big brother than anyone could hope for, and there are just some things that he does not need to be there for, thank you."
"Agreed," said Travis with feeling.
They ate their food in silence for several long minutes, the discomfort slowly giving way to something companionable like it always had. This was something she had always been able to count on with Travis. No matter how they fought or bickered, it felt as if they would always return to center, a place where they liked each other, even if that affection was sometimes reluctant. Finally, Travis spoke.
"So... as much fun as this was, this should likely be a one-time thing," he said reluctantly. "And believe me. It was fun, it was great, it was amazing, but..."
"But doing it more than just this once feels risky, doesn't it? It was really good, good enough it could make us make decisions that we really wouldn't make otherwise. Make us compromise."
"What a terrible prospect," Travis said with a wry smile, but he nodded. "You know what I mean. So a one-time thing, and when we go down the mountain, we're back to normal."
Eddy wondered why that left her feeling oddly bereft, and she pushed that lonely feeling away because Travis was absolutely telling the truth. She knew that she would be miserable if she tried to keep up a long-distance relationship or if she tried to follow him to Chicago. She didn't like to think about what he might be like if for some reason, he decided to stay in Springwell and grew to resent it, even hate it and the reason he had chosen to stay.
No, this was the best route for all concerned.
"Back to normal," she agreed, and then he gave her a slightly heated look.
"So we're not off the mountain yet..."
"No, we are not..."
As he pulled her back into his arms, Eddy gave in to the pleasure of being with Travis, of letting everything else go and simply arching with pleasure at his touch. Nothing else mattered in this moment, nothing came before it and nothing came after it.
Of course that was six weeks before she took a hurried pregnancy test in the drugstore bathroom almost a whole month after Travis had left town...
Chapter Four
Travis
Travis didn't know what to expect when Eddy came to work bright and early the next morning, her portfolio bulging with samples for him to look at. She looked every inch the artistic professional in her vintage burgundy dress, a slender gold necklace at her throat and her sharp but sensible low heels. He must have looked a little too long because she snorted.
"Travis, Sofia actually does not hang off of me twenty-four hours a day, and I would give you notice if I was going to bring her to work. She's at daycare."
"I wasn't thinking that," Travis objected, though he wondered if he was. "Isn't she a little young for daycare?"
Eddy gave him a slightly dire look, but then she sighed.
"It sure feels that way, doesn't it? But she's not too young for school in the fall, and well, she's a little shy. I thought it would be good to put her into daycare so she could learn to interact with kids her own age rather than just adults."
"How's it going?"
"Well, I think. The folks in charge tell me she's happy and lively and engaged. She doesn't make a lot of friends, but she seems close with the ones she does make. So you know. I feel less like I'm a wretched evil mother who is sending her away forever every morning."
That surprised a laugh out of Travis.
"Really?"
"Yeah, the first week was... challenging."
"Which means?"
"Heartbreaking, traumatic, weeping, crying... and Sofia was a little scared, too."
"God, how did you do it?" Travis said. He had never thought much about kids before, but now he had seen Sofia; her big green eyes, her messy brown hair. She looked so small and delicate, it must have been hell to make the decision to let her out into the world without guidance and protection.
"Well, it had to be done," Eddy said philosophically. "As does picking out colors for your office. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can start my work properly."
Travis blinked as she went over to spread out a series of matched paint chips on his desk.
"I thought you would just charge in and whip out a design."
The look she gave him could cut glass.
"Right, and then you could walk into an office, declare you hate it and start over from scratch. No, thank you. Do you know that they do write-ups on your office spaces nearly twice a year in the local design magazines?"
"They... do?"
And you read them?
"They do. Every time, it's a gorgeous space, some designer is very proud, you always sound a little bit indifferent in the commentary, and then zip, a few months later, cycle repeats. That's disruptive, and knowing you, it's because you think you can buy design that you like without giving it any thought."
"Aren't I paying you to put the thought in?" Travis asked teasingly, but she shook her head.
"You're paying me to use my expertise to give you something that you're going to love. The truth of the matter is that you think you're buying the right to be lazy, and that's not going to fly."
Travis uttered a surprised laugh, shaking his head.
"Do you know how long it's been since anyone spoke to me like that?"
Undaunted, she gave him a level look as she took a large binder out of her bag and set it on his desk.
"Probably not since you made your first million. You are spoiled, Travis McMichael."
"And you refuse to continue the trend?"
"And I want to give you the office space that you want," she said patiently. "Will you come here?"
He came to stand beside her at the desk, and the moment he drew close, Travis's heart sped up. He became altogether too aware of Eddy's lean grace next to him, of the way stray wisps of her dark hair escaped her bun to drift tantalizingly in front of her ears and at the back of her neck. He was too aware of how elegant her hands were passing over the paint chips she'd laid out, and how pale and creamy her skin was.
Travis was shocked at himself, and he dragged his mind away.
I have to be able to control myself better than this, he thought, and underneath that statement was the thought that it would be so easy to reach over, to cup the back of Eddy's neck and to bring her close for another kiss, one that started like the one they had shared yesterday and instead of stopping would keep going.
"—and of course, bright and sunny golds are fantastic if you are trying to put some energy into a space, but if you want to make sure that it stays calm and grounded as well, you could use some very rich reds, almost browns but warm ones, to pull it back down."
"That sounds pretty good," Travis hazarded, and she turned the full force of her gray eyes to him, a certain crystalline sharpness there that made him swallow.
"So is this how you've always gone through design meetings?" she demanded. "Have you always just said yes and that sounds pretty good?"
He gave her an irritated look because, God, was that easier than saying he wanted to take her into his arms.
"I don't make a practice of hiring people who are bad at their jobs," he pointed out. "I hire people who are the best in their fields, and then I expect them to do that kind of work for me in exchange for the money I am
paying them."
That kind of talk usually made people back off, but he suspected that Eddy had known him for too long to be impressed. That was both a rather alarming proposition and a strangely thrilling one.
"Right. That works in some places. But it doesn't work when we're getting down to something as personal as the space where you're going to be spending a lot of time. This isn't like, optimal design for a factory floor or a user interface for your clients, things that are going to be used by a lot of people who are all doing a specialized task. This is going to be for you."
It was a strange thing to think about, and some of that must have shown on Travis's face because Eddy softened a little.
"Come on, Travis, you like getting your own way, don't you?"
"Love it," he said, and he very manfully did not point out that if he was getting his own way right now, he would be nibbling his way down her neck.
"Okay. Let's try this. What do you want to feel when you first walk into your office in the morning?"
Travis snorted, shaking his head.
"What kind of question is that?" he asked. "I'm getting ready to work, not to get a massage. I want to feel like I'm ready to go, and ideally, I'd like to feel as if I don't have a hangover."
Eddy's eyes sparked fiercely, and the smile she gave him was very sharp.
"Sure, fine, it doesn't matter, so let's go with chrome and glass, utterly cold, very efficient. It'll be easier to clean, so people will be in and out. Lots of angles, lots of shine."
Before he could stop himself, Travis made a face at that, and Eddy laughed, actually pointing at him.
"See! You hate the idea!"
"I admit, I do."
"This stuff makes a difference, Travis. And I think you know that. You wouldn't be interviewing so many designers if you didn't. I wouldn't be here if you didn't."
Reluctantly, Travis nodded, and he was rewarded with a sunny smile from Eddy. He had heard people talking about captivating smiles before, and he had always thought it was a load of bull, but that was exactly what Eddy had. When she smiled, it was like she had thrown a rope around his heart, pulled it tight, and pulled it in.
"Good," she said. "Let's start small. Take a look at this series of colors here. What do they make you think of?"
In the end, it turned out to be more interesting than Travis had thought it would be. The designers he had chosen in the past were award winners with visions for what his space could be, and they had all been... good enough, he supposed. He had never thought that he would be interested in anything like the design of his office, and so he'd been fine to let other people handle it, to pay other people to handle it. It had always worked well in other places in his life, but now, as Eddy talked him through colors and textures and utility and comfort, he wondered.
Finally, Eddy straightened up from the templates she had been showing him.
"All right, that gives me a lot to work with," she said. "I'm going to be back to you with some sketches before too long."
"What are you doing now?"
Eddy gave him a wary look, and Travis realized with a little bit of a wince that it had sounded a lot like it did when he asked a woman on a date. That was... well, it shouldn't be on the table right now, what with everything else that was going on.
"I need to go pick up Sofia from daycare," she said, her voice pointed, and Travis nodded, but then, to his surprise, she continued. "Would you like to come with me? I promised her her favorite sandwich for lunch, and I can make one for you too."
There was a moment where Travis almost balked, not at seeing Sofia, which he was eager to do, but at the sandwiches. When his office space had been off Michigan Avenue in Chicago, he'd had access to some of the finest restaurants in the region. He could ask his personal assistant to send out for a three-course meal, or he could walk out the door and sit down at a world-class establishment for a leisurely meal.
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Eddy why in the world she would bother, he could just send out for something good, and then he started to laugh, making her raise a quizzical eyebrow at him.
“What's so funny?”
“I was just thinking about ordering out,” he said. “Have the options changed at all since I left?”
There was a moment, a legitimate one, where he could tell that Eddy was figuring out how she wanted to take that one. Then a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“Well, Delmonico's is still there, and Black Hen, too, if you want your daily ration of exotic coffee and baked goods all served up by a surly college student with a nose ring, but we've added some new places as well. There's now a Japanese place that I'm told is really good, and an Ethiopian place as well.”
She hesitated for a moment, and Travis started to say that sounded great when she spoke again.
“You know, if you want, we could go out for Ethiopian some time. I've wanted to try that place for a while now.”
She groaned when Travis lit up at that, shaking her head as he grinned.
“Are you asking me out on a date, Eddy Baker?” he exclaimed. “Are you asking me if I want to spend time with you in a possibly adult situation?”
“Well not if you're going to be like this about it.”
“Are you going to pick me up at six? Are we going to go up on the Overlook?”
“God, forget I said anything at all!”
She shook her head and tried to turn, but Travis took her hand, bringing it gently to his lips.
“I do. I accept. Yes. We can do Ethiopian food. I think it would be great.”
She pulled her hand away, and he noted that there was a pink blush high on her cheeks and a grin she couldn't quite repress on her lips.
“Tell me, did your flirting technique ever get better than pulling pigtails on the playground?”
Travis sighed.
“It totally did when I went to Chicago,” he said truthfully. “Believe it or not, I'm considered a catch there. Then I decided to set up offices in my home town, I came back here, and I feel like I'm reverting. Sorry.”
She gave him a long look, something oddly serious on her face. He had forgotten how pure and clear her gray eyes were, how it always felt as if Eddy could look straight through him and cut through all the bullshit.
“You're not reverting at all,” she said finally, scooping up her papers and paint chips. “Seven years ago, you would have complained about how there was no good food in Springwell, and how the businesses here need to take charge and develop a vision. Let me tell you, this is an improvement.”
Travis knew with a wince that she was right, but she softened the pronouncement with a soft smile.
“Come on. Sandwiches. My treat, and I make a good sandwich. And next time, you can take me out for Ethiopian food.”
“Sounds amazing,” he said, and he followed her out.
Chapter Five
Eddy
Eddy stopped Travis before they went into the daycare center, stepping off the sidewalk in front of the large pink bunny cutout.
“It is, indeed, an impressive bunny,” Travis said gravely, and Eddy spared him a quick glare before she spoke.
“Okay, I feel we need to talk about this real quick. I don't know if Sofia should know you're her dad yet.”
She held her breath and was ready to hold her ground, but Travis only nodded slowly.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” he said. “We don't want to confuse her or to upset her. I imagine things look a lot different when you're that short.”
Eddy stifled a laugh.
“Seriously? You think her being short is going to be what is confusing here?”
“I think that her point of view is going to be impacted by how little she's been around,” he said with a game grin. “And you're Mom. You know best here.”
Eddy must have looked a little disbelieving because he sighed, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. In the back of her mind, she noted how very good he looked in a suit, how it suited his strong body and wid
e shoulders. She tore her mind away from that quickly, because wow, that was not the kind of thoughts to be having in front of Benjamin Bunny, the respectable representative of Benny Bunny Daycare.
“Eddy, I promise you. Contrary to what you remember, I'm a reasonable guy. I want what's best for Sofia, and I'm smart enough to know that it might not be me, not yet. You're the expert, and that means I need to follow your lead.”
“Thank you,” she said, and she must have looked a little dubious, because Travis sighed, nodding at the door, and she turned to go retrieve their daughter.
Sofia was always a little hyper after daycare, and as they drove back to the house, Travis following behind in his Audi, Eddy listened with half an ear as she thought about what was in front of them.
This is family, she thought with an ache. This is my little girl's family. I could be changing everything for her here. I could be changing things for all of us. What's going to happen to us?
She didn't know the answer to that, but glancing at her daughter's happy face as she chattered away about blocks and naps, she thought they were all going to find out.
When they stopped in the driveway of the little house behind the Recollection, she turned to Sofia who, sensing a change in her mother, looked at her with wide eyes.
“Mama?”
“Hey, sweetpea. We're going to have a guest for lunch today, so I want you to be nice, okay?”
“Travis?”
“Yup. I'm making sandwiches for all of us.”
“Mama, I'm always nice,” Sofia said with a credible eye roll, and Eddy grinned.
“Rolling your eyes at a fifth grade level, aren't you advanced,” she said. “Come on. I'm making your favorite sandwich.”
“Wow, this place hasn't changed a bit,” said Travis, looking around the house, and Eddy realized he was right, mostly. The art on the wall was hers with a few contributions from Sheridan's travels, but the furniture was largely the same.
“No, my dad collected some really great pieces. I still like them, so why should I change them out?”
