Travis (30 page)

Travis
cuddled closer to Kylie, partly because he wanted to be close to her, partly
because he was hoping she would stir. He wasn’t about to leave without saying
goodbye, but he needed to get going.

“Baby,”
he whispered against her ear and she stirred a little more.

“Hi,”
she said with a smile, her hand clutching his chest and making his heart
squeeze a little more. Ten years without this made it damn hard to want to go
without for even five minutes.

“I
need to head out. I’ve got some things to take care of today.”

“Ok,”
she mumbled, but then she jumped, as though she just remembered something. Her
warmth disappeared as she flipped over, facing Gage.

“Before
you leave, I wanted to tell you that I want to take the job. If you’ll still
have me, that is.”

“Baby,
I’ll take you any way I can get you,” he replied, his voice hoarse from sleep.

The
topic of their conversation reminded Travis that Gage’s house was now crispy,
and he’d lost everything he had worked so hard for. All of his material
possessions gone. It also gave him an idea, and he made a mental note to stop
by his parents’ house once he was back in Coyote Ridge.

Shit.
And that meant he had to go dig his truck out of the ditch. Realizing that the
day was going to get away from him fast if he didn’t get a move on, Travis
rolled out of bed, once again pulling on his clothes, this time getting his
shirt although he’d much rather see Kylie in it.

Then
again, he had plenty more she could choose from. Especially when he invited her
to his place.

♀♂

Kylie
thought her heart would shrivel as soon as Travis and Gage walked out her front
door, but with so many things to do, she hadn’t had time to think about
anything other than getting things in order.

She
had a few more days with Jessie in town, but then she was going to go stay in
Coyote Ridge so she could start working on Gage’s house. They’d had a brief
conversation before he left that morning about plans. Since he didn’t offer for
her to come stay with him, she figured she would have to seek out a hotel in
the area so she’d be fairly close. She’d been so busy finishing up the plans
for the house that she hadn’t had a chance to call any.

Now
that she had a few minutes to spare, she figured she’d reacquaint herself with
her friend Google. A good friend who never let her down, she pulled up the
search engine and got ready to search for hotels in the area when her cell
phone rang.

“Daddy!”
she greeted her father with the same excitement she always did when he called,
which had seemed to be less and less lately.

“How’s
my little girl?” She found it amusing that he still referred to her as his
little girl, although she had a younger sister. Since he referred to Jessie as
baby girl, Kylie figured it was only fair. And endearing.

“Better
now that you called. Where are you?”

“La
Guardia.”

Her
father was an airline pilot, and because he had moved to Dallas a few years ago
to be closer to his then girlfriend – now fiancé – she didn’t get to see him as
often as she would like. Although she got along brilliantly with Melissa, the
lovely woman who had walked into her father’s life three years earlier and
effectively changed him for the better, there were times when Kylie was just a
tad bit jealous of the woman.

Not
quite to the extent Jessie was, but she still longed for the times she’d spent
with her father when she was younger. Mostly after her mother abandoned them
not long after Travis had shattered her heart to pieces. Needless to say, that
hadn’t been a good year for her.

Not
that she would ever let her father know that she had any concerns whatsoever.
He deserved to be happy and Melissa apparently made him very, very happy.

“Will
you be home soon?”

“Tomorrow.
Why? You coming to see your old man?”

“Not
yet. Remember that job I told you about? Down closer to Austin? Well, I’m
taking it so I’m going to be busy for a few weeks.”

“Refresh
my memory. What kind of job?”

Kylie’s
father was incredibly protective of both of his daughters, and she was well
versed on the round of questioning that was coming. Come to think of it, Jessie
must’ve inherited their father’s inquisitive genes.

“It’s
a fairly extensive restoration. The guy I’ll be working for is legit. In fact,
he’s a police officer.” She wasn’t sure that would make her father feel any
better, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.

“Where’s
this house?”

“Coyote
Ridge.”

There
was silence on the line for a moment before Kylie filled the static with
anything that would take his mind off of the fact that she was going to be
where he couldn’t necessarily find her on a moment’s notice. Not that he had
ever tried, but she knew he worried.

“Jessie’s
here.”

“I
heard.” His reply sounded both worried and sad. “She tell you why she came
down?”

Kylie
glanced toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms as though she could see through
the walls and confirm her sister wasn’t eavesdropping.

“She
just wanted some time away. I’ve missed her, and I think she knows it,” she
said, hoping her answer would appease him.

“They
got in a fight, Kylie.”

Well,
that she didn’t know.

“When?”

“A
few weeks ago. She moved out.”

“
What?
”

Her
sister hadn’t told her that part. In fact, her sister hadn’t told her anything
whatsoever.

“She’s
staying in a hotel right now because she said she wasn’t sure she wanted to
stay in Dallas.” There was a long pause, and then her father cleared his throat
before continuing, “Talk to her, Kylie. She trusts you.”

“I
will, Dad.” Just as soon as Jessie crawled out of bed.

“So,
where is this Coyote Ridge? You know I’m going to look it up on the map, don’t
you?”

Kylie
smiled. She hadn’t heard of the small town before Gage showed up on her
doorstep either, so she wasn’t all that surprised that her father hadn’t.
Considering her soon to be ex-husband was living there, she figured she should
give him very few details. Not that her father even knew she was married. At
least not yet anyway. As long as Jessie kept her mouth shut, that would last a
little while longer.

Their
marriage had been a spur of the moment decision, and Kylie knew her father
would never have given her his blessing to get married at nineteen, especially
after how unhappy he had been with her mother all those years. They’d married
young, and their marriage had been rocky at best ever since Jessie was born.

As
though their mother was avoiding having to pay child support because Kylie was positive
neither of them would’ve agreed to live with her, she’d stayed until Jessie’s
eighteenth birthday. Then walked right out the door and never looked back
before the ink was dry on Jessie’s high school diploma. Since Kylie and Travis
hadn’t been married long enough to validate it, she’d managed to keep her
secret all these years.

“Just
north of Austin. Don’t worry, it’s only for a month, and I promise to call you often.”

“Every
day,” her father commanded, making Kylie laugh.

“Probably
not every day, Daddy. But, I promise, I’ll call you. I’ll be fine. I can take
care of myself.” She’d managed for this long, she figured it wasn’t much of a
stretch to believe she’d be able to survive whatever roller coaster ride she
was signing herself up for where Gage – and Travis – was concerned.

“Well,
I gotta go, little girl. I expect to get a text at the very least to let me
know you’re all right. And talk to your sister, please.”

“Will
do, Daddy. Love you.”

“Love
you too, honey.”

With
that Kylie hung up the phone and stared down at the receiver.

A
fight, huh? And why hadn’t Jessie mentioned that she didn’t have a place to
live. Not that moving out of their father’s house was a bad decision
considering Jessie was twenty seven years old. But, she should be seeking
something permanent, at the very least.

Kylie
set her cell phone on the desk, torn between letting Jess sleep a little while
longer or running and jumping on her sister’s bed and insisting that she wake
up and chat. She glanced at her computer screen, then toward the hallway that
led to the bedrooms. Before she could make a decision, her cell phone rang
again.

Snatching
it up, she glanced at the caller id. She didn’t recognize the number, but she
hit the talk button anyway.

“Hey,
baby.” The sound of Travis’ voice sent a soothing warmth through her entire
body. He’d called her.

“Hey.”

“You
still at home?”

“I
am.”

“You
have any plans for tonight?”

Kylie’s
smile couldn’t have gotten any wider without splitting her face right in two. She
looked down the hall once more and swiveled in her chair so she faced her desk.

“I’ve
got some things to take care of this afternoon, but I’m free tonight. Why?
What’d you have in mind?”

“Ok,
but you’ve got to keep it quiet. Think you can do that?”

“I
think I’m pretty good at keeping a secret, Travis,” Kylie joked.

There
was suddenly a sad inflection in his tone, “Don’t I know it.” He cleared his
throat and then continued, “Ok, so here’s the deal.”

Kylie
listened to what Travis had to say and by the time they got off the phone ten
minutes later, she was stunned silent. Travis had gone into lengthy detail
about something he was working on for Gage. She had a hard time believing he’d
pulled together something of that magnitude in just a few hours. And now he was
asking for her help.

That
meant she needed to tackle the things she had scheduled for the day. Starting
with her conversation with her sister which was the most important. After that,
she had an appointment she didn’t want to miss and then she’d be on her way to
Coyote Ridge.

The
sound of her sister’s footsteps on the hardwood had Kylie twisting in her chair
to look at her. Even fresh out of bed the girl was beautiful. She was even more
so because she didn’t flaunt it and she had a personality that people flocked
to.

“Hey,”
Kylie greeted as her sister passed her by on the way to the kitchen. Deciding
to pull the same stunt her sister had pulled on her just that morning, she
jumped right into the conversation. “I just got off the phone with Dad.”

“That
didn’t sound like a conversation with Dad,” Jessie muttered, although she did slow
her stride somewhat.

“Well,
that was actually Travis, but I talked to Dad before that.”

“Good
for you. What’d he have to say for himself?”

Kylie
decided she needed to be standing for this discussion, so she headed to the
kitchen behind her sister, going for the refrigerator. It was past lunch, but
since neither of them had eaten, she decided to make her sister’s favorite.

“Sit,
I’ll make grilled cheese.”

A
beaming smile lit up Jessie’s face, and she quickly detoured back around the
island to the bar and plopped down on a stool.

Kylie
pulled out the necessary cooking utensils and then grabbed bread, cheese and
butter before setting everything up in front of Jessie. “Dad said you moved
out.”

That
seemed to get Jessie’s attention, but she didn’t say anything. Kylie proceeded
to butter the bread after turning on the stove and putting the frying pan on
the burner to start heating.

“He
mentioned that you and Melissa had a fight. Care to tell me why?”

“Not
really, no.”

“Tough,”
Kylie made eye contact briefly before returning to her task.

She
worked in silence for a couple of minutes, but if her sister knew anything
about her, she was well aware Kylie was not planning to back down. She gave her
some space, figuring she was putting together her explanation. Once the two
grilled cheese were browning in the pan, Kylie leaned up against the counter
and faced her sister. “I’m waiting.”

“It
was nothing,” Jessie hedged.

“Not
buying it, Jess. If it was nothing, why’d you move out?”

“I’m
twenty seven years old, Ky. Don’t you think it’s time I got my own place?”

“I
do, actually. But a hotel does not qualify as your own place.”

“It’s
temporary. I’m looking.”

“So
why are you really down here?” Kylie got the impression that her sister wasn’t
just visiting because she had vacation time and needed to get away.

Kylie
turned away so she could tend to their lunch, and when she turned back, Jessie
had her head in her hands. The sight of her sister upset broke her heart right
in two. “Jess, what’s going on?”

“I
quit my job,” she sobbed. “I just up and quit and here I am, homeless and
jobless, and I don’t know what to do.”

Kylie
turned down the heat on the stove and went to her sister’s side, wrapping her arms
around her. She didn’t ask any more questions because it was clear her sister
needed a minute. If she pushed, Jessie would just shut her out, and it was
obvious she needed a friend right now.

She
had no choice but to pull away a few minutes later when the smell signaled
their lunch was about to set off the smoke detectors. Kylie hurried through
finishing the sandwiches, grabbed two plates from the cabinet and a package of
Doritos from the pantry before serving their meals on the bar. Retrieving two
cans of lemonade from the refrigerator, Kylie joined her sister.

“Dad’s
going to marry Melissa,” Jessie said some time later when they were both
eating.

“I
know.” That wasn’t news because her father had proposed to Melissa some time
back. They lived together and from what Kylie knew, they were extremely happy.
“Do you have a problem with Melissa?”

Jessie
turned her head to the side, her eyes scanning Kylie’s face as though she were
trying to read where the question was leading. Either she was satisfied with
what she found, or she wasn’t planning to answer because she turned her
attention back to her food.

“No.
I don’t.”

Kylie
was surprised by her honesty. Then again, Jessie had never been the type to lie
about anything. She was too honest at times as a matter of fact.

“So
why’d you move out?”

“It
was time.”