Me And Mrs Jones (16 page)

“I will get it back and I’ll make sure it’s better than before.” Renee said right before the fire marshal turned and walked away from her.

Turning around, her eyes stared at the damage to her gallery and the more she saw it the angrier she became until it felt like her blood was pounding through her veins. How dare someone do this to her? She was so furious that she felt like breaking something.

Her thoughts were racing so dangerously that she had to fight down the urge to find Robert and demand he tell her the truth about the fire, but she would leave it alone for now and let the authorities do their job.

She had to get out of here and get home to Travis. He was still probably there waiting for her. It was a good thing that she carried an extra car key in her purse or she would have to ask for a ride home.

Spinning around on her heel, Renee headed over to Dana and Cruz who were still talking to Sheriff Arness. On the way over there, she noticed how the tall, handsome sandy haired man couldn’t take his eyes off of Dana. She knew Dana had mentioned during the speed dating event at her café that the sheriff was interested in her.

She wondered why Dana wasn’t willing to give him a chance. He seemed like the perfect guy for her. She made a mental note to talk to Dana about Sheriff Arness some more, but not tonight.

“Hello, Sheriff,” Renee said, stopping next to Dana.

“Hello Mrs. Jones,” Sheriff Arness answered. “I’m sorry about your gallery. I can promise you that the fire marshal and I are going to do everything in our power to catch who did this. Dana and Cruz both mentioned they thought it might be your ex-husband. I can promise if it does turn out to be him, he will get locked away for it.”

“Thank you,” she answered. “I just want the right person caught and locked up. I only came over here to tell everyone that I was leaving. I want to get home and take a long hot shower before crawling into bed.”

“Do you need a ride home?” Cruz asked.

“No, I have my car,” Renee said.

“Okay. You get some rest and I’ll talk you tomorrow more about the fire,” Sheriff Arness chimed in. “Try to get some rest. Don’t let this get you down. I know you should be able to rebuild.”

“I won’t and thanks again.” Renee touched Dana on the shoulder before walking away. She could feel their eyes drilling a hole into her back as she headed for her car. Without even being a mind reader, she knew all of three of them were wondering if she was going to break down again before she got home and the answer was no.

All of her tears were gone now. The main focus of her energy was going to be placed towards checking the damage to her gallery tomorrow and finding out how soon she could start working on hiring a crew to rebuild it for her.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sitting outside in her driveway, Renee stared at her house lit by lights placed along the edges of the yard. She was thrilled that it was still there and not burnt to the ground. The moment she’d laid eyes on this place she had fallen in love with the spacious looking Mediterranean style house. She loved the elements of Renaissance, Gothic and Moorish architecture that made it special.

Her Spanish home was more inviting than exotic in her opinion with its asymmetrical two stories high design and the low-pitched tile roofs, stuccoed exteriors, window arches and bold door, as well as the arcaded walkways and patios.

Inside she had fabulous entryways with the rugged front door which was flanked by spiral columns or ornately carved stonework. Further into the house, a beautiful sprawling Spanish style floor was illuminated by eight double hung windows with interior shutters. Some of them featured breathtaking stained glass windows adorned with decorative wood and iron grilles.

In her backyard, she’d installed fountains inside the courtyard a few yards from her recessed balconies and porches that she loved sitting on when she just wanted to relax after a long day at work with the warm breezes brushing over her arms.

The fire at the gallery tonight had ripped her heart out of her chest, but if her house had been taken away from her too she wouldn’t have been able to handle all of that in one night. Thank God, she still had a bed to sleep in tonight. Renee wasn’t even sure if she would be able to close her eyes tonight, but she was thrilled that her beloved home was still intact.

Slumping over the steering wheel, she rested her forehead against it as all of the stress from the night started to take over her tired limbs and the scent from the fire filled her car from her clothing.

Every fiber in her body had warned her Robert might try something and he did. His temper when crossed could be almost uncontrollable. He had set fire to her gallery and probably laughed while he was doing it.

Raising her head, Renee brushed her hair away from her face and snatched her purse off the passenger seat. She couldn’t stay outside in the car any longer. She needed to get inside and see if Travis was still there.

He was so great with her back at the fire and she wanted to tell him how much his support had meant to her. Getting out of the car, Renee closed the car door behind her and made her way up the steps towards her warm inviting home.

Sheriff Arness and Fire Marshall Richardson might not have the proof they needed yet, but they would get it. Robert loved bragging about anything he did and if he truly did damage her shop then she would make sure he never got another chance to hurt her.

Chapter Twenty Four

Walking into the house, Renee was greeted by the wonderful smell of good cooking coming from her kitchen. For a second or two, she stopped in her tracks stunned by the surprise. Travis was cooking for her. Tossing her keys and purse down on the living room table, she made her way towards the direction the wonderful scent was coming from.

This was something that she had to see for herself. None of the men in her past ever cooked for her and Travis doing it now after everything that happened to her tonight only cemented him a little deeper into her heart, allowing her to lower her wall even more for Travis. He impressed her by doing something new and out of the box.

Stopping in the doorway, Renee rested her shoulder against the doorframe staring at Travis as he tasted something from a pot before he added a few more seasonings and gave it another stir.

His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows displaying the muscles of his well-defined arms and his jeans hugged his ass to perfection. She almost wished that he wasn’t cooking so she could thank him in a different way for his undying support tonight.

“Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night?” Travis asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

“How did you even know I was home?” Renee questioned coming up to stand next to him.

“I can always feel when you’re around me,” he answered. “It’s the connection that we have with each other.” Lifting the spoon out of the pot, Travis blew on it before placing it against her lips. “Taste this and tell me what you think.”

Renee eyed the spoon. “What is it?”

“Just give it a taste. I can promise you that it’s good.”

“All right.” Opening her mouth, Renee tasted the sauce and moaned as soon as it touched her tongue. She could barely stop her eyes from rolling to the back of her head from sheer pleasure. She had always been a foodie and Travis’s sauce just might send her over the edge.

“Oh my God!” she purred. “That is so good.”

“Thank you.” Travis laid the spoon on the black tray next to the stove. “My grandmother was a fantastic cook and she taught me how to cook whenever my parents had to work late. She was the most amazing person in the world. I almost didn’t think you had everything here I needed to fix it, but you’re so organized that I found everything pretty easy in the kitchen and pantry.”

Crossing his arms, Travis moved away from the stove and stared down at her. “How did everything go after I left you at the gallery?”

“I don’t want to talk about the gallery anymore,” Renee answered, moving away from Travis. She had come home to get away from her problems not bring them up again.

“Renee, you have to talk about it. You loved the gallery and all of the paintings in there. Now it’s gone. Are you telling me that you don’t have anything to say about what Robert might have done at all?”

“No, I don’t!” Moving away from the counter, Renee tried to storm past Travis. However, his hand shot out and wrapped around her arm preventing her from moving one step.

“Yes, you do and I’m not going to let you leave this room until you get it all off your chest. I know you’re close to Dana and Cruz, but I bet you didn’t even tell either one of them how you truly felt about what happened tonight.”

Loosening his grip on her arm, Travis tugged her back until the side of her arm was against his chest. The warmth from his body eased into hers. “Renee, I’m here for you, Talk to me.”

“Travis, I can’t. You just wouldn’t understand.”

“Are you saying that because I’m younger than you, you think I can’t stand next to you while you deal with this? I thought we were building something here, but if you aren’t willing to work on this with me than why am I wasting my time?”

Letting go of her arm, Travis turned off the food on the stove and stormed toward the kitchen doorway. “The food should be done. I hope you enjoy the meal I cooked for you. When you’re ready to open up to me give me a call.”

Watching as Travis was about to leave her alone when she needed him the most, Renee swallowed with difficulty and found her voice. “Travis, wait!”

Stopping in his tracks, he paused in the entrance way to the kitchen but didn’t look back at her. “What is it, Renee?”

Renee noticed how the unwelcome tension stretched even tighter between them and she hated the feeling it gave her. Outside, she had been so ready to come inside the house and tell Travis how his support tonight pulled her through everything, but she ended up ruining it by backing away from him.

Well, she wasn’t going to allow what happened tonight to tarnish what Travis was starting to mean to her. “I want to talk you. You’re right. There are some things that I need to tell you.” Walking up to him, Renee placed her hand on Travis’s forearm and the muscles tensed beneath her fingers.

“Will you stay and listen to me?”

Turning his head, Travis’ blue eyes held her brown ones. He studied her face feature by feature and she watched the play of emotions cross his face.

“Renee, if you aren’t going to open up to me I’m going to leave. I can’t keep trying to move forward alone. I want to get closer to you. We’ve made love and that should have bonded us, but instead you’re acting like it pushed us further away from each other.”

Moving away from Travis’ side, Renee stood in front of him. She didn’t want him to leave. Something good was happening between her and Travis and she wanted things only to get better.

“I’m going to open up to you. I’d planned on doing it tonight while we were camping, but the fire happened and everything rushed downhill from there. Let’s eat and I promise that I’ll let you know what is going on with me. Just understand that I’m still trying to process everything that has gone on tonight. I’ve been through a lot.”

Lowering his head, Travis gave her a quick kiss. “Of course, I’ll stay here with you. I actually don’t think I would have been able to leave you tonight anyway. I would have been too worried about Robert coming here. Now, let’s get something to eat and we can talk on the couch after we’re finished.”

Standing up on her tiptoes, Renee wrapped her arms around Travis’ neck. “I can’t wait to dig into the delicious meal you have fixed for us.”

Placing his hands on her waist, Travis tugged her against his body. “If you’re a good girl, I might still give you the surprise I have for dessert. Do you think that you can be a good girl?”

Oh, she loved surprises! Renee could only imagine what Travis had in store for her. Well, the sooner they got finished with their dinner the quicker she would find out.

“I can be more than a good girl, if you give me the chance,” Renee flirted back before kissing Travis on his full lips and then walking away.

“Hey, where are you going?” Travis called after her.

“I’m starving and I’m ready to eat. Aren’t you hungry?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry...but it isn’t for food.” Travis ran his hand across her butt as he followed behind her before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him. “God, you feel so good in my arms. I could be like this for the rest of the night.”

“Weren’t you just pissed off at me only a few moments ago?” The sudden change in Travis’ attitude surprised her.

“Yes, I was but I don’t believe in staying mad over small things.” Resting his chin on the top of her head, Travis ran his hands across her stomach. “You agreed to open up to me more and I believe that you are.”

Spinning around in his arms, Renee placed her hands in the middle of Travis’ chest as she looked up at him. “I want you to know that once I make a promise I keep it. Now, why don’t you let me taste that scrumptious meal you fixed for us? Afterwards I can tell you what you want to know.”

“You’ll tell me everything I want to know, even things about your marriage?” The question was asked in a manner that Renee could tell Travis wanted to know everything he could about her past.

How could she not open up to him after he had broken through the thick wall surrounding her heart since the divorce? She wanted to walk into this relationship with her heart wide open.

“Yes, like I said earlier I will tell you everything.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Placing her drink down on the table next to the padded lounge chair, Renee folded her legs underneath her as Travis got comfortable on the matching seat next to hers on the patio. She’d suggested they come outside to talk instead of staying inside. Travis wanted to know everything about her, so she felt more comfortable out here. It seemed to relax all of her fears and centered her. This was the best place for her to be.