“Thanks for helping me out, Bentley.” He groaned under his breath at the cat as he walked outside.
But even as he argued against it, Travis secretly hoped everything his grandma said might be true somehow. For some reason, Bentley was coming to him and giving him excuses to see Caroline even more than he would have otherwise.
So maybe he was just a cat, but Travis was beginning to think he might actually be up to something. And if he did somehow manage to help him get Caroline’s attention, he would even be willing to admit he was the smartest cat alive.
Chapter Nine
Caroline pushed the long stems into the jar she’d found in the cupboard to use as a vase. Her cheeks still burned with embarrassment as she thought about the huge bouquet arriving at her new place of work. Irene had been so excited about them, thinking it was such a romantic gesture from whoever sent them. Caroline didn’t know if she suspected they were from her son, or where they’d come from, but Caroline had quickly said she was going to run them up to her apartment to get them in water.
Of course, as soon as she’d seen the card, her suspicions had been confirmed. These were the same roses Lawrence had always bought her when they would fight or if he thought she was starting to pull away from him.
“Dear Caroline,
I’ve been thinking about you so much and I hope you’re doing well in your new job. Every day I go over things in my head as I try to figure out where we went wrong. I still love you as much as I did the day I met you, and I hope you know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I know I haven’t been easy to be around the last few months we were together, so I’ve looked into getting some counselling for my anger. Someday, I hope to be worthy of your love again.
Until then, know that I’m faithfully yours.
Lawrence”
He just didn’t get it. Even moving halfway across the country wasn’t enough to show him she was serious about being done with their relationship. He never understood that some things just couldn’t be fixed.
She was glad he was going to get help for his anger, but for her, it was too little, too late. She’d spend months walking on eggshells around him, afraid to say anything that would set him off. He never hit her, but the language he used and the way he spoke to her had beaten her as hard as his fists ever could have.
It was a life she knew she couldn’t go back to. She didn’t believe he could change enough to make things work between them.
And she knew it wasn’t entirely his fault either. She’d done things out of spite just to annoy him. Plus, she was the one who’d let him treat her badly for so long, that it had become their normal.
To the outside world, he was the doting boyfriend who would do anything for her. And she always knew he would, which was why it had made it so hard for her to leave. She felt like she was in the wrong somehow and making things out to be worse than they really were.
But then he’d yell at her for something so trivial, and make her feel so small, she would start questioning everything all over again.
Finally, she broke and just couldn’t take it anymore. The constant belittling and pouting if he didn’t get his way pushed her over the edge. By the time she’d left, she realized how much she’d changed over the time with him, to try keeping him happy.
In it, she’d lost herself. She’d forgotten how to let herself be happy.
The tears rolled down her cheeks as she leaned her head onto her hands. Why did this have to still be so hard? Why did she still feel so guilty for leaving him? Deep down, she still believed he was a good person, and could be nice—just not always to her.
Why did she feel like she was the one in the wrong all the time?
A knock at the door startled her, so she quickly reached up to wipe at her eyes before turning around. When she opened the door, Travis stood there with a wide grin on his face holding Bentley.
But as soon as he saw her, his grin faded. “Everything okay? I had another visitor, so I brought him back, but Mom said you’d came upstairs to put some flowers in water.” His eyes moved past her to the large bouquet of roses on the counter. “Very nice.”
She grabbed Bentley from his hands and gave a half-hearted laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t even notice he was missing.” She wagged a finger at the cat in her arms. “You’ve got to stop escaping, Bentley. One of these times, someone else will find you and send you to the pound.”
Travis was watching her intently. “I doubt it. He always seems to come right to me.” He didn’t say anything more for a few seconds, then nodded his head toward the flowers. “Someone from back home?”
She just nodded, not wanting to say they were from the ex she’d left Florida for.
“Must miss you a lot.”
Thankfully, he took the cue from her silence and didn’t say anything else about the flowers or the redness of her eyes. For some reason, she felt guilty knowing he’d seen the flowers from someone else, but she wasn’t sure why. It’s not like they’d been dating or anything.
Deep down, though, she knew she’d been hoping for more even if she wasn’t sure she was ready for it. Travis was such a nice man and he deserved to be with someone who was sure of who they were. Someone who wasn’t carrying the baggage from her past failed relationship.
He put his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet slightly, looking down at Bentley who had jumped down to the floor. He was now weaving between his legs and purring loudly, hoping for some attention.
“So, I hope it’s okay if your mom mentioned about me possibly coming to the family wedding this weekend. She figured since I’m new to town and don’t really know anyone, maybe I’d like something to do.” Now she realized she should have said no, but the thought of getting to spend an evening with Travis, and with the entire Quinn family, had been too enticing.
He lifted his head and smiled. “Of course. It should be a good time. When our family gets together, things tend to get a bit chaotic sometimes, but I’m sure you’ve already figured that out by now. I can pick you up, if you want. Or, Mom and Dad can get you, if you’d rather.”
Things had suddenly become so awkward between them, simply because of a bouquet of flowers he obviously knew had come from Lawrence. She wanted to tell him they didn’t mean anything and explain it all to him, but how could she even start?
Besides, she didn’t even know if Travis was interested in anything more with her than the friendship they’d already built. He was just a nice guy who was making sure she was getting settled in her new town.
And of course, returning her cat every time he wandered away.
“Well, if it’s no trouble for you to get me, I’d appreciate it.”
“I can pick you up. It’s on my way by. But I have to be there early to help with some things, so I hope you don’t mind having to hang around for a bit before anything starts. I have to be there around two o’clock.”
What was she doing? Maybe she should just decline and forget about going to the wedding altogether. It wasn’t fair to Travis to have to babysit her and if she was being truthful to herself, it was purely selfish of her to want to spend time with him even knowing nothing more would come of it.
But her heart spoke before her brain could catch up. “That sounds fine. I’ll be ready by quarter to two.”
Well, if she was going to let herself be selfish, she might as well enjoy it. Spending the day with Travis wouldn’t be a hardship, but she knew she needed to be careful.
Because right now, she could already tell her heart was headed down a path she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
Chapter Ten
Travis quickly wiped his hands on his jeans before he knocked on her door. His suit was waiting for him at the hotel where the wedding was happening, so he hadn’t dressed up yet. Apparently, Robyn and Vicki were going to make sure the groomsmen were dressed properly before the wedding, as though they weren’t perfectly capable of dressing themselves.
When Caroline opened the door, the air was knocked
from his lungs. He’d prepared himself, knowing full well she was going to be drop-dead gorgeous, but he hadn’t been quite ready for the full extent of it. He stood staring at her with his mouth partially open, trying to figure out what to say.
Her smile faltered and she brought her hand up to pat at her hair. “Do I look okay? I know they said it was a pretty casual wedding, with just family and close friends, so I thought this sundress would be all right. I can change…”
He quickly pulled himself together. “No, you look perfect. I’ve just never seen you without your hair pulled back. It looks nice.”
If he could kick himself, he would. He’d always been a bit awkward around pretty girls, but this was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was some teenage boy here to pick up his prom date. He was a grown man picking up a friend he’d gotten to know quite well the past couple of weeks. Surely, he could try being just a bit more eloquent.
She laughed nervously. “I don’t remember the last time I actually did anything with my hair. I haven’t had many opportunities to go out anywhere in the past few weeks.”
Bentley jumped up on the table by the door where he stood, then leaped into his arms. Travis struggled to hold onto the cat as he tried to close the door before he could escape. Although the way he was snuggling into his shoulder, he was pretty sure Bentley wasn’t going anywhere.
“Bentley, get down. You’re going to get cat hair all over Travis.” She brought her eyebrows together in concern as she finally noticed that he was in blue jeans and not a fancy suit or anything. “I know it’s casual, but is that what you’re wearing?”
He laughed and shrugged. “What? Don’t you think I’m dressed for a wedding?” He gave Bentley one last scratch before setting him down on the ground. “No, I’ll get dressed there after we do a few finishing touches in the reception hall. I didn’t want to get wrinkled. My sisters think I’m likely to get my clothes on backward or something, so they’ve taken my suit until it’s time to get ready where they can be there to supervise.”
“Well, that’s good because with the amount of fur Bentley just left on your shirt, I’m pretty sure your mother would have killed you if you’d shown up looking like that with your suit.”
They went down the stairs to his car, and he quickly got to her door to open it for her, sweeping widely with his hands as he pretended to bow slightly. Her laughter made his heart skip a beat as she sat in the car.
“I feel like some kind of princess being swept off to a magical ball, by a handsome man in blue jeans.”
He made sure she was settled in the car before grinning into the car at her. “Well, at least you think I’m handsome.”
As he slammed the door shut and ran around to get into the driver’s seat, he wished he could give all his attention to Caroline today. He was going to have to keep his eye on Dusty to make sure he didn’t try anything, because he knew without a doubt, she was going to be the most beautiful woman there.
“Vicki, I’m perfectly capable of tying my own tie. Why are you both fussing over me so much today? Shouldn’t you be helping Brooke get ready, and Hayley? Plus, I need to start getting Stanley ready.”
Vicki slapped his hand away and shook her head. “Just stand still. We need to get your boutonniere on too. All Stanley needs is a bow around his collar, so quit pretending you have somewhere else you need to be. We just want to make sure you look good.”
He scoffed and tried to pull away. “Well, you really don’t want me outshining the grooms, do you? Seriously, I know how to dress myself. I’ve managed just fine for many years now.”
“Travis, just let Vicki put your boutonniere on and then you’re done. Honestly, you guys, know perfectly well if we didn’t make sure you had them, you would have completely forgotten about the flowers in the fridge.” Robyn was fussing over her husband, Ben’s, buttonhole flowers. He gave Travis a sympathetic shrug. They had forgotten about them, but Travis was sure one of them would have remembered before they’d actually gone out for the ceremony. The way the women were acting, it was like they’d forgotten the rings or something important like that.
He had a moment of panic as he wondered where those had gone, but then he remembered he’d moved them into his vest pocket for safekeeping.
He leaned forward and peeked around the curtain that had been set up for the ceremony in the family hotel. His uncle Bob owned the Quinn Valley Hotel, and his cousin Roxie was in charge of events. She was so pregnant, Travis wasn’t quite sure how she’d managed to put this all together on such short notice, but he knew that when it came to family, the Quinns did what they could to make things as perfect as possible.
The guests were all sitting there waiting for the ceremony to start. They were chatting and laughing, excited for the special event that was about to take place. His eyes scanned the room until they settled on Caroline, sitting beside his Grams on one side, and Dusty on the other.
He groaned out loud, making Vicki and Robyn both peek their heads around too.
“What is it? Please, tell me Stanley hasn’t gotten loose out there.”
“Robyn, Stanley is still in the back with Joel. He’s been given strict orders not to let him out until it’s time for us to pretty up his collar.”
“Oh, so he must be looking at Caroline beside Dusty.”
Travis stood back and glared at his sisters who were whispering back and forth between each other as though he wasn’t even standing there anymore. It took them a moment to notice, and they pulled back and smiled at him.
“Don’t worry about that. She’s only going to have eyes for you tonight. Why do you think we were making sure you looked perfect? Trust me, there’s just something about a man in suit pants, vest, and a nice tie that draws a woman’s eyes.” Vicki grinned at him as she reached over to give his tie one last tweak. “Now, we need to get back to the brides, and Joel will be out soon with Stanley for you to get ready. So, I guess we’ll see you out there. Try not to get wrinkled or messed up before it starts.”
Travis looked at Ben in disbelief. “The ceremony is starting in less than fifteen minutes, and they don’t think we can keep ourselves clean between now and then.”
Ben came over and put his arm over Travis’s shoulders. “Well, to be fair, at my wedding I seem to remember you spilling an entire glass of lemonade down the front of your shirt before we’d even finished our vows.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “I was hoping no one had noticed. And besides, it wasn’t my fault. Stanley rushed past and bumped into me.”
As though the dog knew he was being talked about, he came bounding over from the open door that Joel was coming through. Travis grabbed his collar before he could get out front.
“Joel, I don’t know why you insist on this dog going everywhere with you, especially your wedding. I’m going to spend the entire ceremony trying to keep him from getting away and destroying everything. I’ll be lucky if I don’t get dragged along behind him.”
“I have to have him with me, you know that. Besides, now that you have that special bond with Bentley, I’m sure you can understand how much these little furry friends can mean to us.” Joel was grinning from ear to ear as he mentioned the cat.
“Very funny. I promise you, I wouldn’t be having that cat at my wedding, that’s for sure.”
“What if Caroline wants it there?”
Travis squinted his eyes in annoyance as he stared at Joel. “I see you’ve been talking to our sisters. No matter what everyone thinks, there is nothing going on between me and Caroline, and I’m pretty sure me marrying her isn’t something we should all be betting on.”
Joel shrugged. “Trust me, sometimes you have no choice over matters of the heart. If it’s meant to be, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
The other groom, Jared, walked up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder. “I knew the minute I met your sister that there was something special about her. But sometimes it just takes a little convincing to get them on the same page as you.”
Travis looked at the men who were about to be married and shook his head. “Wow. You guys are heading down the aisle in just a few minutes and all of a sudden you think you’re some kind of love experts. I know what I’m doing with Caroline, and right now, we’re just friends. Whether or not anything else becomes of it isn’t something I plan to stand here and discuss with anyone, especially when you both have a lot more important things to be thinking about. Like the fact that you’re each about to sign your lives away to a woman.”
They both just laughed and shrugged as they waited for the minister to call them out. “Trust me, when you’ve got the right one, you’ll sign your life over to them in a heartbeat.”
When it was finally time to step out in front of the guests and wait for the brides to come down the aisle, Travis’s eyes moved to Caroline. She was smiling at him, and he forgot for a moment that he was supposed to be holding Stanley’s leash tight. Thankfully, he was able to grab onto it before being hauled to the ground.
As he stood and watched his brother and sister each marrying the partners they’d chosen to spend their lives with, Travis couldn’t keep his eyes off the beautiful brunette sitting beside his grandma. When he saw Dusty lean over and whisper something to her, he had to fight the urge to let Stanley go and cause a distraction.
He might not be sure where things were headed with Caroline, but one thing he did know was that he wasn’t about to let Dusty get in the way if she was the one for him.
Because when her eyes met his once again, he was almost certain he’d be willing to sign his life over right there and then if she asked him to.
Chapter Eleven
“Well, two more Quinns are married off. At this rate, we’re going to have to start renting the hotel reception hall for all family gatherings. And look at Grams over there. She’s almost beaming with happiness more than the brides.” Travis chuckled as he pointed at their grandma standing across the room talking to their parents.
Calico Cupid Page 5
