Travis (14 page)

♂♀

“Hey,
baby. What are you still doing up?”

“I
was waiting for you.”

Curtis
Walker peered down at his wife from where he stood, and he smiled. He loved
looking at her, found himself watching her every chance he got. Didn’t matter
if she was fluttering around the kitchen, or tending to the small garden she
had planted in the backyard, or brushing that ornery old horse of hers that
wouldn’t have anything to do with anyone but her. And he especially loved those
rare times when he woke before she did. He could spend hours – hell, days –
listening to her breathe softly as she dreamed. Still, after fifty years of
marriage, his heart rate still kicked up a notch every time he looked at her.

“How’d
it go?” Lorrie asked as she set her e-reader on the coffee table and turned to
face him.

“Well,
let’s just say it was a learning experience.” Curtis thrust his hands through
his hair and moved around the couch to join his wife.

It
was still fairly early, but he was exhausted. Trying to keep up with seven
rowdy boys… er, men, took a lot out of him. He wasn’t as young as he used to
be. But listening to them razz each other as grown men wasn’t much different from
when they used to chase each other around the house as young boys.

“What
did you learn?” she asked with a smile that radiated.

Curtis
eased down onto the couch beside his wife, pulling her against him and placing
his arm over her shoulder. Lorrie curled up beside him, tucking tightly against
his side just as she always did. He found he longed for the times they could sit
just like this. Whether they were watching TV or just talking about things
going on with their boys.

“Well,
let’s see,” he began, unsure where he should start. “Brendon and Braydon found
a new woman tonight, but that’s not all that surprising. She was a beauty
though.”

“Anyone
I know?”

“Hadn’t
seen her before. She’s not from here. She came in with another pretty girl who
seemed to catch Travis’ attention. From the moment she walked in the door, he
was tripping all over himself.”

“So
they knew each other?”

“That’d
be my guess,” he explained. Curtis had seen recognition in the woman’s eyes
when she had looked at Travis, but at the same time she didn’t seem all that
comfortable with him either.

“What
was her name?” Lorrie asked, placing her hand on his thigh and leaning into him
a little more as she tucked her feet beneath her.

“Kylie.
Didn’t get a last name, but her first name was Kylie,” he replied.

Lorrie
pulled away suddenly and Curtis moved back, staring down at her.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Curtis,
that’s her. Oh my goodness, that’s her.” Lorrie’s enthusiasm confused him.

“Who?”

“What
am I going to do with you? Your memory’s going fast, old man.” Lorrie’s blue
eyes sparkled as she teased him, but Curtis still had no idea what she was
talking about.

“Careful,
woman. I’ll lay you down right here on the couch and show you just how old I
am.” Just as he’d hoped, she blushed sweetly and then swatted him on the chest.

“She’s
Travis’ wife. Kylie. That’s his wife’s name.”

The
single word triggered the proverbial light bulb and Curtis realized why Lorrie
had gotten excited. That’s right. Travis’ wife – the one he had never even told
them about. How he hadn’t put two and two together in the first place, he had
no idea. Maybe he
was
getting old.

“Did
they talk? Did they say why she was here?”

Awww,
hell.
This couldn’t be good. Curtis closed his eyes as he
leaned back into the couch trying to remember all that he could because she
wasn’t going to let up on him. And the other half of the story probably didn’t
fare well for the young woman.

“What
is it, Curtis?”

He
opened his eyes to see Lorrie’s serious face staring back at him, endless
questions in her eyes.

“Well,
see, I was coming out of the restroom and well, that’s when I saw Travis.” He
swallowed hard. “And if Travis is still married to that woman, then things
aren’t looking all that great for her at this point.”

“Why?”

“Let’s
just say it looks like our boy might have found a different form of interest.”

“What
does that mean?”

Curtis
looked Lorrie right in the eyes. “Well, based on what I saw, I think Travis
isn’t interested in women much these days.”

Lorrie’s
eyebrows scrunched as she seemed to be translating what he was telling her.
When she didn’t say anything for long seconds, Curtis took a deep breath and
spilled it. “I saw Travis kissing Gage Matthews in the hallway at Moonshiners.”

Lorrie’s
eyes went wide, her hand came up to cover her mouth as she stared back at him.
The shock only seemed to last a few seconds because then suddenly Lorrie was
smiling. “Well, I don’t care who he’s with, but hearing that he kissed someone
is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”

Her
cute little smile was infectious and he found himself grinning back at her. She
was right. They’d heard a lot of news lately, thanks to the rumor mill in
Coyote Ridge. Gossip spread faster and more often than that waitress’s legs
down at Moonshiners. And that was saying something.

But
most of the time, although their boys were often the topic of those
conversations, there wasn’t ever much about Travis. He was a private man and
Curtis respected that about him, but he knew Lorrie worried all the same. No
matter how much she wanted him to find his happily ever after, the man didn’t
seem to have many lasting relationships if he was having any at all.

Pulling
Lorrie back against him, Curtis relaxed into the couch once more. “I don’t care
either, honey.”

“Did
it look serious?” she asked as she settled against his side once again.

Curtis
kissed the top of her head and grinned. “It looked like two men kissin’,
darlin’. I wasn’t going to stand around and take notes.”

“Let’s
just hope he finds happiness sometime in the near future. That’s all we can
hope for,” Lorrie said with a sigh.

Yes,
that’s all he hoped for any of his boys. They were good men, just as Lorrie and
Curtis had raised them to be. Gay, straight, whatever. Curtis didn’t care, and
he knew his wife didn’t either. They just wanted them to be happy.

It
was the only thing that mattered to them.

As
he sat holding his wife, Curtis couldn’t help but wonder when he’d made his
sons believe otherwise. Because up to this point, neither Travis nor Ethan had
been open and honest with them about their relationships. They seemed to forget
that having seven boys meant their eyes and ears were sharper than some – even
now. They’d had no choice but to hone those senses. Turning your back on one
little rugrat was asking for trouble, but seven… That was a recipe for
disaster. Those habits were hard to break.

And
no matter how much their boys thought otherwise, Curtis and Lorrie saw a lot
more than they gave them credit for.

♂♀

If
Travis thought standing in Kylie’s house yesterday, or seeing her at
Moonshiners, had been hell, he was certain he wouldn’t survive this day.

When
he pulled up in front of her house a few minutes ago, he’d been surprised to
see her waiting on her front porch. Part of him expected her to stand him up,
which he would rightfully deserve. The fact that she looked just as surprised
to see him wasn’t lost on him either. And now her fresh lavender scent filled
the interior of his truck, causing him to swallow hard and pretend to be
unaffected – for her benefit only.

 “Where
do you want to go?” Travis asked Kylie when she buckled her seatbelt after
getting situated.

 “I
don’t care.”

Ever
since she left him standing in the parking lot of Moonshiners yesterday
evening, he had done little else besides think about her and anticipate seeing
her again.

In
fact, as soon as he left Moonshiners last night, Travis had gone straight home,
knowing that he wasn’t going to be decent company for anyone other than himself
at that point. He’d fought the urge to bring Gage back to his house as well.

Needing
some time to think, mostly about how he was going to explain to Kylie what
she’d seen, he had tried to ignore the need that had his body humming to life.
Unable to get away from the images in his mind, he’d finally given in to his
own hand in the shower.

Hadn’t
helped.

Between
alternating thoughts of Kylie and Gage – some of which overlapped into intensely
erotic fantasies – he decided to forego trying to get himself involved in a
situation that might make things worse before he had a chance to set Kylie
straight.

Travis
put the truck in Drive and pulled away from the curb. Since it was obvious
Kylie wasn’t going to give him any suggestions, Travis took it slow while he thought
about where they could go to talk. He wanted to avoid anywhere public and
thanks to the time he’d spent there when he was in the Army, Travis knew there
wasn’t much to do in the small town Kylie lived in, so it didn’t take him long
to make a decision. Coyote Ridge might not be the most logical place, and surely
Kylie would question him, but for some reason, Travis wanted to give her a little
glimpse into his world – let her see him as a person and not just the man who
hightailed it out of her life when the honorable thing would’ve been to stick
around and work it out.

Today,
taking her to his home town just felt like the right thing to do.

“Where
are we going?” Kylie asked when they entered the on-ramp to Interstate 35
South.

“I
want to show you something,” he told her, not going into detail because he
didn’t want her to put the kibosh on his plans before they even happened. When
she didn’t say anymore, he took that as a good sign.

Several
minutes later, with only the sound of the tires speeding along the pavement to
fill the strained silence, Kylie finally spoke up. Travis was surprised it took
her that long.

“So,
um, what was it like growing up with six brothers?” She didn’t look at him as
she asked the question, but Travis didn’t need her to. She was making small
talk, and right now, he appreciated it.

“It
wasn’t easy.” Flipping on his turn signal, Travis changed lanes, preparing to
take the next exit. “There were seven of us, and my parents, in one house. Maybe
it was easier that we were boys, and we were all into sports and such, but that
much testosterone in one place was combustible at times.”

“I
can imagine. How’d your mother survive it?”

“She’s
the strongest woman I know,” Travis told her. Lorrie Walker had a backbone of
steel, and she didn’t take any shit from her boys. With Curtis around to knock
a few heads together when needed, she managed to run a tight ship while they
were growing up. In fact, she still did. And when she spoke, they listened.

Travis
wasn’t sure how much about him that Kylie cared to know, but he wanted to share
himself with her. He would ignore the fact that he was about ten years too late
in doing so. And he was probably setting them both up, but at this point, he
didn’t know what he had to lose. As far as he was concerned, he’d lost
everything already…

“My
parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary last year. My
brother Kaleb got married not too long ago, and Zane, the youngest, is planning
to get married later this year, we hope. Oh, and we just found out that Zoey
and Kaleb are expecting,” he explained.

“Wow,
that’s great.”

“Yeah.
They’re proud. Mom’s already started turning one of our old rooms into a
nursery for when they come over.” Travis kept his eyes on the road.

“Will
that be your parents’ first grandchild? I mean… Do you have any children?”

“No,
Kylie. I don’t. I’ve never even had a serious relationship after you, and no,
before you ask, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Are
you and Gage…?”

Wow,
if that wasn’t a loaded question. Were they
what
? There were so many
ways to answer that, but none he figured Kylie would be happy about.

This
wasn’t where he thought this was going to go.
Shit
.

“Let
me explain a few things to you before you jump to the hard questions, all
right?” He wasn’t about to attempt to do that while they were driving. He
needed to be able to look her in the eye, and the least she could do was hear
him out. He didn’t deserve more than that, but as far as he was concerned, they
both deserved to hear the truth.

Kylie
nodded, but she stared out the window without saying anything more for long
minutes. Travis fought the urge to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. He
didn’t want to let her think he was nervous. He wasn’t.

He
absolutely wasn’t.

He
was
so
fucking nervous.

“Are
you the oldest?”

Travis
welcomed the questions for the first time in his life because it was easier to answer
her about his family than to dig around in his head trying to make sense of his
own irrational thoughts. “Yeah. Then there’s Sawyer, Kaleb, the twins Brendon and
Braydon. Then Ethan and Zane. Zane’s the youngest, he just turned twenty six.”

“Do
they all live in Coyote Ridge?”

Nodding
his head, Travis kept his eyes on the road. “We all live on our parents’ ranch.
Not together though. Well, except for Kaleb. He and Zoey just moved into her
family’s home on the adjacent land beside the resort.”

“They
live with her parents?”

“No.”
Travis smiled. “Her dad wants grandkids, so he moved into the guest house so
Kaleb and Zoey could have the big house. That’s the house Gage took you to.”

Kylie
got quiet again, and Travis wondered whether it was because she was remembering
that day.

“I
couldn’t imagine growing up in a house with that many kids.”

And
Travis couldn’t imagine it any other way.

“How’s
your sister?” he asked before the silence could get too unbearable.

Kylie
never had introduced him to her family, mainly because they lived several hours
away. Until last night, he’d never laid eyes on her sister, but Kylie always
talked about her. They were close, he remembered.

“She’s
good. I think she needed some time away from my dad and his girlfriend, so she
came here for a week. I’m hoping she’ll get some rest, but last night, after I
went to bed, I heard her on the phone. I think she’s talking to one of your
brothers.”

Travis
wasn’t going to correct her and tell Kylie that her sister was talking to two
of his brothers. The twins considered themselves a team. A two-for-one special
they liked to tease. If Jessie was getting involved with them, Travis was
pretty sure she’d be getting with both of them.

He
wondered what Jessie’s straight-laced sister would think of that. Did she only
see things as black and white? Was her world void of all shades of gray?

For
the next half hour, they talked about inconsequential things like the weather
and traffic as they made their way back to Coyote Ridge. Based on the way she
fidgeted in the seat, it was clear that Kylie was just as nervous as he was.
And that was all sorts of fucked up because Travis didn’t get nervous. Ever.
Except apparently when he was in close quarters with this woman.

If
Kylie was surprised that they’d arrived in his hometown, she didn’t show it.
Rather than try to explain himself, Travis drove through town as though this
were just any other day, offering some details of where he grew up, taking her
on a brief tour of his old stomping ground. After driving by the high school
that he and his brothers graduated from and pointing out his parents’ house,
Travis continued on until they reached the site where Alluring Indulgence was
being built.

“Wow,
it’s beautiful,” Kylie stated when he pulled down the long winding front drive
of the resort that wasn’t quite finished.

Although
Travis didn’t respond, he tried looking at the resort from her perspective, and
he didn’t disagree with her assessment. The place was intimidating, taking up
more of the land than Travis even expected. But then again, he had added some
additions along the way which meant he’d had to venture outward if he wasn’t
building up.

The
landscape was relatively the same. They’d managed to keep most of the trees
that had been on Zoey’s father’s property originally, weaving the driveway entrance
between them and adding several more to balance things out.

Serene.
That’s one word Zoey continued to use when she referred to the effect AI would
have on people. Travis would pretend he didn’t care about anything but the
money, but truth be told, he was proud of what they’d created.

“We
should be finished with construction by early next year,” he went on to
explain.

“Can
we go in?” Kylie surprised him with the request, but Travis found himself eager
to show her around.

Leaning
over the seat he grabbed two hard hats from the back, handing one over to her.
“Put this on.”

Kylie
took the hat from his hand, placed it on her head and then looked back at him.
Damn, even with the bright yellow thing on top of her head, she was gorgeous.

“Stay
right there. Let me help you out.” There was a lot of debris on the ground, and
the last thing he needed was for her to get hurt. It had nothing to do with any
sort of lawsuit either. He just wasn’t sure he could bear to see her injured in
any way.

Opening
the door, he offered his hand and helped her down to the ground. They managed
to walk around most of the scattered boards and random nails, along with chunks
of concrete littering the walkway.

“I
thought there was going to be a hotel.” Kylie glanced around as Travis pulled
her up close to him. He kept her close while they maneuvered down a narrow
plank that would lead right up to the main entrance of the resort.

“There’s
a hotel. We’ve also got several decent sized bungalows strewn behind the clubs.
They offered more privacy than adding to the hotel would have.”

“Where’re
the clubs,” she asked as Travis stepped through the entryway that would soon contain
several sets of doors that would open automatically to welcome their guests arrival.

They
continued to move forward, and Travis slipped his hand around Kylie’s in a
casual move, disguised as him helping her maneuver through the piles of additional
materials.

“Well,
you’re standing in the guest registration,” Travis explained, turning and
signaling with the wave of one hand in the direction of a long wall. “That’s
where you’d check in if you were coming to stay with us.”

“Wow,
this is gonna be monstrous,” she said with awe.

Travis
glanced down at her, watching intently as she admired what he and his brothers
had worked so hard to design.

“Then
over here,” Travis began as he turned away, forcing himself to stay focused.
“These doors will lead into a common area. It’s sort of a pass-through where
people can congregate between the two clubs.”

Travis
led her through the oversized doors. The room wasn’t complete, only the outer
half-moon shaped wall formed by massive steel beams that went up at least fifty
feet, forming a glass dome that covered the area. From the hotel rooms that
faced this side, guests would be able to see into the space. If that was their
thing.

“Those
are the clubs,” he told her as he pointed to each end of the room.

“Nightclubs?”

“In
a sense, yes.”

“I’ve
read about the resort on the internet,” she told him skeptically. “You can be
honest with me.”

“Anything
you want to know, just ask.”

“Are
these types of clubs even legal?”

Her
question shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. “They are,” he said as he
clamped his jaw shut.

He
should’ve expected her to look down her nose at his design. In his experience,
there were often more people who weren’t willing to keep an open mind and
experience what a fetish club or a swingers club might have to offer. As it
turned out, it looked like Kylie was one of those people.