The Best Bride (7 page)

Travis stood in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest. Her breath caught in her throat. She'd never seen him out of uniform before. Her gaze traveled from his scuffed black cowboy boots up the long, lean length of his legs. Worn jeans, faded with lines of white radiating out from the seams by his hips and crotch, clung with the familiarity of an old lover. A red polo shirt stretched across his chest and shoulders, emphasizing his muscles. He looked powerful, but more than that he made her think of a dependable man, a hard worker. His watch was black, some sports kind with a couple of buttons. He didn't wear any rings or other jewelry. Except for the glint in his dark brown eyes and his teasing smile, there wasn't anything flashy about him.

Solid,
she thought. That's the word she'd been looking for. Travis Haynes was a solid man.

He took a step into the kitchen. His gaze moved over her face, pausing on her mouth long enough for the tingling to start in her toes and work its way up. Last night she'd lain awake in the dark reliving the brief touch of his lips on hers. It had been nothing significant. A teasing kiss instigated by her daughter. So why did she wonder what it would be like to be held in those powerful arms and pulled hard against that solid chest? Why was her heart beating faster and her breasts tightening in anticipation? Nothing had happened and nothing was going to happen. It couldn't. She knew better than to get involved.

“You didn't answer my question,” he said, strolling over to check the coffee. The pot had stopped sputtering. He opened the cupboard above the machine and pulled out two mugs.

“I don't remember what I was smiling about.” Her voice sounded completely normal, she thought with some relief.

“How do you take it?”

“With milk, please.”

He stirred her coffee and handed her the mug, then took the seat opposite her. “How did you sleep?”

“Great. I feel better.”

“You're supposed to be staying off your feet.”

“I know. I just wanted some coffee, and I didn't know what time you got up.”

She felt a little awkward talking about the intimate details of living together. She barely knew Travis. She tilted her head toward the table, then glanced up at him through her lashes. She liked the way his hair curled slightly around his ears, and the trimmed mustache outlining his upper lip. Last night she'd felt the faint tickle of his mustache against her
skin. She wondered what that soft, groomed hair would feel like—

The back door opened, cutting off her dangerous train of thought.

“Yoo-hoo, Travis, are you up?” a loud female voice called.

He grinned. “If I wasn't, Louise, I would be now.”

A woman entered the kitchen. She was in her mid to late forties with short blond hair and a figure that could only be described as an hourglass. Her pants were a bright lime green color, her short-sleeved blouse a blend of greens, yellows and oranges. A wide gold belt emphasized her small waist, while a trio of silver chains dipped toward her generous bosom. Dark eye shadow and lots of mascara highlighted her blue eyes. Her red lipstick clashed with everything, but somehow looked all right.

“You must be Elizabeth,” Louise said, moving forward and holding out her hand. “Your daughter is the sweetest little girl.” She smiled and her eyes got a faraway look. “Maybe I should have had children.” She paused. “No, I think Alfred is more than enough trouble, don't you?”

“Alfred?” Elizabeth asked as they shook hands. “Your husband?”

Louise laughed. “No, my dog. Hi, I'm Louise.”

Elizabeth didn't know whether to be embarrassed or laugh back. She settled on smiling weakly. Louise bent over and gave Travis a kiss on the cheek, then moved to the refrigerator and started pulling out food.

“Louise is my housekeeper,” Travis said.

“I figured that.”

“She works here three days a week—”

“But I'm willing to come in more while you're getting better, Elizabeth,” Louise said, cutting Travis off. “When I heard what happened, well, I just had to rush over and do
whatever I could to help.” She set a pitcher of orange juice on the counter. “Maybe you would like to work on some crafts while you're recovering. I'm thinking of doing something with clay.”

“Absolutely not,” Travis said. “There will be no clay in this house.”

Louise mumbled something under her breath about men being pinheads.

Travis leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Louise is going through a stage right now.”

The chesty blonde glared at him. “I can hear every word you're staying and this is not a stage. I'm exploring my art.”

“She's driving me crazy. She makes things and gives them to me.”

“It's a sign of affection, but if you'd rather I didn't, then fine.” She slammed the refrigerator door shut and turned her back on them.

“I have this drawer full of sweaters and socks.”

Elizabeth stared at him. “Why is that a problem?”

“They're not—” he glanced from her to Louise and back “—normal. Most of the socks have no heel. The sweaters aren't anatomically correct.”

Louise walked over to the table and grinned. “I'll admit I didn't quite get the hang of knitting. I never could figure out parts of the patterns, but some of the wool was real lovely.” She held two eggs in her right hand. “How would you like them cooked?”

Elizabeth blinked several times. “Scrambled?”

“Fine.” She glanced at Travis. “I know what you want, but the way you've talked about me this morning, I'm of a mind to let you go hungry.”

“Your threats don't scare me.” As Louise passed him, he reached out and patted her rear end affectionately.

“Don't you try your wild ways on me, Travis Haynes,”
she said, giving him a mock glare. “I'm old enough to be your very young and attractive aunt.”

Elizabeth couldn't help it. She started laughing. Even the sharp pains in her side couldn't stop her from chuckling.

“Mommy.”

Mandy entered the room. She was washed and dressed in a pretty blue dress with tiny white flowers. She came over to her and held out her arms for a hug. Elizabeth pulled her close.

“Are you ready for your first day of school?” she asked. Travis was going to walk Mandy to the elementary school and register her.

Mandy nodded. “Travis helped me pick out this dress to wear. Did we choose the right one?”

“Of course, Mandy. You look perfect.”

“I have ribbons.” She held them out. “Will you put them in my hair?”

“Sure.”

Elizabeth turned and Mandy slipped between her legs. When the girl saw Louise, she squealed with excitement. “Louise, you found us.”

Louise looked at her. “Morning, baby girl. What do you mean I found you?”

“Travis said you were lost.”

Elizabeth glanced at him. He'd taken a sip of coffee just as Mandy spoke and now he started to choke. Louise came over and pounded him on the back several times while he coughed.

Louise gave her a quick wink. “He probably said I was trying to find myself.”

The next thud on his back sounded a little harder. He turned to her and held up his hand. “That's enough,” he said, his voice raspy and faint. “I'm fine.”

Elizabeth wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a flush of
color on Travis's cheeks. She bit back her laughter and concentrated on Mandy's hair. When the braid was secured with the length of blue ribbon, Mandy pulled out a chair and climbed onto the seat. As Louise fixed breakfast, Many chatted with Travis and Louise about what Mr. Bear had told her in the night. Louise slid a plate in front of the girl, containing a waffle shaped like a popular cartoon mouse. Cut strawberries formed a bright collar at the bottom of the waffle. A glass of milk completed the meal.

Elizabeth looked up at the older woman. “Thank you for making that.”

Louise shrugged. “It's nothing. The first day of school should be special for a little girl. And Alfred was never impressed with my waffles.”

Elizabeth wanted to ask if Louise really did feed her dog waffles, but she didn't dare. As the smells of eggs, bacon and coffee mingled in the kitchen, she leaned back in her chair and savored her feeling of relief. She and Mandy were going to make it. In three weeks she would start her new job and move into her own place. In the meantime, they were safe here.

She glanced at Travis and found him staring at her. His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth. The sensation of being touched was so real, she wanted to touch him back. The attraction flickering just below the surface fanned to life.

He was her salvation and her greatest problem. This, this mindless reaction to him, had to stop. She knew better than to get involved with a man, any man. But he was even worse than most. She knew what his easy ways and quick, tempting smile meant. She'd already been seduced by one charmer and those results had been more awful than she could ever have imagined. The only decent thing to come out of her relationship with Sam Proctor had been Mandy—and that had been an accident.

Louise served them breakfast, then poured more coffee. Elizabeth hesitated before picking up her fork.

“Dig in,” Travis said. “Louise is a great cook.”

“I don't doubt that, it's just…”

He leaned across the bleached oak table and laid his hand on top of hers. Heat flooded her fingers, warming her blood and making its way up her arm. She told herself to ignore it, and him, but she couldn't seem to look away from his dark gaze.

“It's just nothing,” he said. “Everything is going to be all right. I'll make it all right. I'm the sheriff. I can do anything.”

“I believe you,” she said and was rewarded with a smile. She
did
believe him. That was the problem.

She picked up her fork. It was only for a few weeks, she reminded herself. She just had to stay strong and resist the powerful charm of Travis Haynes. She could do it, she had to. Her life depended on it.

* * *

Elizabeth sat in the family room and stared at the television. The screen was blank. She picked up the remote control, then tossed it down. She didn't want to watch television; she wanted to be with her daughter on her first day of school.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat, but the pressure didn't go away. Her eyes burned and she wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. Little Mandy had gone off with Travis an hour ago. She'd waved and smiled, and promised to make her mom something pretty in class.

“I should have been with her,” Elizabeth said softly, fighting the frustration. She touched her side, feeling the bandage under her shorts and panties. There was no way she could have made it from here to the school and back. It took all her strength to walk from the kitchen to the family room. But she'd so wanted to see Mandy's classroom and meet
her teacher. Her daughter would only enter the first grade once and she'd missed it. What kind of mother did that make her? It wasn't enough she'd taken Mandy away from everything she knew in the world, but now the girl was going to a strange school, escorted by a strange man. It wasn't fair.

“Television is generally more interesting when you turn it on,” Louise said.

Elizabeth looked up at her. The other woman stood in the doorway to the family room. She had a mug of coffee in each hand. “I wasn't really planning on watching,” she said.

“Would you like some company?”

Elizabeth nodded. “That would be nice, if you have the time.”

Louise handed her one of the mugs and plopped down at the opposite end of the butter-soft leather sofa. “I've got plenty of time. That boy hasn't even furnished most of the rooms in this monstrosity. There's not that much cleaning to do. I suspect he hires me so that he can have a taste of someone else's cooking and a friendly face to come home to a couple of days a week.”

“Are you saying Travis is lonely?”

“Could be.”

Louise fluffed up her bangs with her fingers. Elizabeth noticed she painted her long nails a bright red and had thin stripes of gold dotted on the tips.

“So what do you think of him?” Louise asked.

That was certainly subtle, Elizabeth thought, fighting a grin. “He seems very nice.”

Louise's eyes narrowed. “Now I don't think any of the Haynes boys would appreciate being called ‘nice.' Ladies' men, maybe. Irresistible, certainly. But nice?” She shook her head and smiled. “You'd better keep that opinion to yourself.”

“I guess I'll have to.” She took a sip from her mug. “Travis mentioned he has three brothers.”

“That's right, and his daddy is one of five.” She leaned her head back against the leather sofa. Her expression got soft and dreamy. “That means there are nine Haynes men walking around on this earth tempting women with their wicked ways. When I was in high school, Earl—that's Travis's father—came to speak to my class about drinking and driving. I don't remember a word he said, but I do remember how handsome he looked in his uniform. When he smiled, I about melted in my seat.” She straightened and shrugged. “I was barely seventeen, and my boyfriend and I had just broken up. Earl Haynes looked mighty good. Of course he was a much older man.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth murmured. Louise was certainly a little left of center, but Elizabeth found herself liking the other woman.

“And his uncles. Hell-raisers all of them. I don't think they were ever faithful longer than a minute. Heaven help the women who tried to tame 'em. Of course the Haynes men did give this town something to talk about. Then when Earl went ahead and had four more boys of his own, there was even more talk. Do you know there hasn't been a girl born to the Haynes family in four generations?”

“Travis mentioned that.”

Louise laughed. “Travis is the most easygoing of the four boys. Not like Jordan. That one's always been a mystery. But Travis knows what he wants and gets it.” She winked. “Maybe he'll decide he wants you.”