by Lori Wilde
Dani couldn't resist asking, “Aren't you upset that you're being dragged over here in the middle of the night because of my grandmother?”
Travis parked the car and then turned to look at her. “No, why would I be? All that matters is that your grandmother is okay. I really like Freda. I care about her and want her safe just like you do.”
Love washed through Dani. How could she not love this man? He was so caring and sweet that, as she'd told him earlier, she'd had no choice but to fall in love with him. Who wouldn't love him?
Leaning over, she kissed him soundly. “You are the most wonderful man in the world.”
Travis chuckled. “You've met them all, have you?”
“I've met enough,” she assured him. She glanced at her parents' house. She'd expected all the lights to be on, but as usual, there was no sign that a crisis was happening inside. A few discreet lights shone from various rooms, but that was all. How typical.
Pushing open the truck door, she climbed out and then walked up the front stairs with Travis.
“Do you have a key?” he asked.
Dani shook her head. “No, when I moved out and got my own place, my father asked for my key back since I no longer lived here.”
Because Travis stood under one of the lanterns mounted on either side of the door, she could clearly see his stunned expression. “Really? But you're his daughter. Was he upset that you were moving out? Is that why he asked for the key back?”
“No. He actually wanted me to move out. He's a man who doesn't like loose ends, and he felt me having a key was a loose end,” she explained. At the time, it had upset her that he'd made such a big deal about the key, but over the years, she'd forgotten about it, so it no longer bothered her.
But apparently it bothered Travis. He pulled his keyring out of his pocket and yanked a key off it. “Here. Have a key to my house. I want you to know how special you are to me.”
Dani appreciated the gesture and understood why he was doing it, but she didn't feel right about taking his key—especially under the circumstances and especially since it was his only key.
“I don't think I should—”
“Take it.”
Since he seemed adamant, she took it.
“I'm giving this back to you when we leave here,” she told him, slipping the key inside her purse. “Just so you know.”
“We'll talk about it later,” was all he said. Then he reached out and rang the doorbell.
It took almost a minute before the wide door opened. When it did, her father stood on the threshold, already dressed for the day in a subdued gray suit.
“Can you believe your grandmother did this? I have several important meetings today. I needed to get a good night's sleep. I can't do this right now,” he said.
He walked toward the living room, talking as he went and not bothering to see if they were following. Dani stared after him. How could he be the son of someone as full of life and as interested in other people as Freda was? She'd never met her grandfather—he'd died long before she was born—but Dani could only assume her father took after him.
Dani walked inside the house, but when she realized Travis wasn't with her, she glanced back at him.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
He smiled and looked almost happy. What did he have to be smiling about?
“I have an idea,” he said. “Detective's instinct. I'll be back in a few minutes.”
She took a step toward him, not wanting him to leave. “Where are you going?”
He just kept smiling. “I'll tell you when I get back. Don't worry.”
Then, without further explanation, he left, shutting the front door behind him. Dani stared at the closed door. What idea? What was he doing?
And why'd he have to leave her here alone with her parents? With a sigh, she reluctantly headed toward the living room to talk to them. Maybe she could get some information from them that would help find Freda.
“What took you so long to get in here?” her father asked impatiently when she entered the room. “And where's that man? Is he the detective your grandmother talks incessantly about?”
Dani glanced at her mother. Like her father, she was immaculately dressed for the day. Didn't these people realize it was the middle of the night?
“Yes, that's Travis Walker. I went to high school with him, remember?” She sat on the sofa next to her mother, who frowned at her.
“You brought that man here? Why?” her mother asked. “I think he's just soaking you for money, Danielle.”
“And where is he?” Her father paced in front of the fireplace at the far end of the room. “If you're paying him, shouldn't he be doing something to earn his money?”
“He had an idea, so he's gone to check on it,” she explained.
“I don't like him,” her father announced. “You should have hired someone more professional, someone who has been in the business a much longer time. That young man strikes me as incompetent.”
Dani started to tell her father he didn't know a thing about Travis and his skill as a detective, but she kept her mouth shut, as she always did when her father upset her.
“You have to watch out for people like that, Danielle,” her father said. “They may seem like they're doing a good job, but that's only because they're good at hiding their incompetence.”
Okay, that was it. No matter how hard she tried to keep her mouth shut, it refused to stay that way.
“Travis is not incompetent. He's an excellent detective and an even better person, and I love him,” she blurted out, surprising even herself.
“You what?” Her mother stared at her as if she'd said she could fly by flapping her arms.
Frankly, Dani hadn't a clue why she had told her parents she was in love with Travis, but now that she had, she wasn't sorry. She was lucky to have such a great person to love, even if it probably wouldn't work out.
“I'm in love with him,” she repeated, liking the way those words sounded as they came out of her mouth. “He's a terrific man.”
“This is ridiculous,” her father said. “You can't be in love with anyone right now. You have your job to consider. A man like that would be baggage to your career. He could destroy everything you've worked for. You can't let silly emotions get in your way.”
“This is inappropriate,” her mother said, smoothing the skirt of her dress. “You have responsibilities and plans, Danielle. I thought you were too smart to let a pretty face distract you.”
Although Dani hadn't expected them to congratulate her on being in love, she still was disappointed that they were so negative.
“Travis is a lot more than a pretty face, and he's not interfering with my new job. In fact, we've both admitted that our relationship probably won't work because he needs to stay in Texas with the ranch he’s started with his brother, and I need to be in New York.”
“I'm glad to hear you're being sensible about this,” her father said. Then he glanced at his watch. “How much longer is your grandmother going to keep this up? I need to be at work in three hours.”
Again, Dani tried to keep her mouth closed and hold in the words she knew she shouldn't say, and again the words jumped out.
“What is wrong with you two? Nana Freda could be lost or hurt and all you care about is your schedules. Don't you love anyone or anything? Did you ever truly love each other?”
When they stared at her blankly, Dani asked, “Did you ever really love me?”
“You're being ridiculous,” her mother said. “You know how we feel about you.”
But she didn't.
Finally, when neither of them made the least effort to tell her that they loved her, she decided the sooner she got out of this room, the better. Who knew what she'd blurt out next?
Standing, she said, “I'm going to try calling hotels. Maybe we can find Freda before something bad happens to her.”
“Danielle, don't walk out on us,” her father said in the booming voice he used with the people wh
o worked for him.
When she'd been growing up, Dani had jumped through hoops to keep him from ever using that voice with her. But she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she was tired of trying to please parents who realistically would probably never be happy with anything she did.
So instead of stopping, she kept walking, heading toward the study. She had something more important to do tonight than fight with her parents.
She had to find her grandmother.
TRAVIS PULLED UP IN front of the small suburban house and smiled. He'd known all along his instincts were good, but tonight, he was proving it. Every light in the house was on, and even with the windows dosed, Travis could hear music playing from inside.
He climbed out of his car and walked to the front door. He'd expected them to be playing Big Band or maybe Elvis, but instead, they were playing the Rolling Stones. Really loudly.
“I guess age really is relative,” he said to himself as he rang the doorbell.
He'd barely had time to pull his hand back when the door flew open and Freda grinned at him. “I won't bother to ask how you found me since it's your job to find things. Dani said you were good, and you are.”
“Hello, Freda,” he said. “I guess you know that everyone is worried about you.”
She waved one finger in front of him. “Tsk, tsk, Travis, don't lie. The only one worried about me is Dani. My son has never worried about anything but his job in his entire life. If I hadn't given birth to him, I would swear he wasn't mine.”
“You need to go home,” Travis told her. He glanced down the hallway. “Hello, Carl.”
Carl moved forward slowly, a sheepish smile on his face. “How did you know she was here?”
“It's his job to find things,” Freda said. “And he's good at it.”
“So he knows about us?” Carl resettled his glasses on his nose, then blinked at Travis.
Travis looked from one to the other, taking in their disheveled clothing, and then held back a smile.
“I had a hunch about you two,” he said, which hadn't exactly been true. He'd known they were friends and had thought Freda had probably gone to Carl's to try to work this problem out between the two of them.
What he hadn't realized was that they were much more than friends.
“We're in love, so I don't want any comments,” Freda said, snagging her purse. “Come on, Carl. Let's go see my son and tell him.”
Carl trailed after her, a goofy smile on his face. “Isn't she wonderful?”
Travis nodded as he watched Freda head for his truck. “Yep, she's wonderful.”
“This time I'm not letting her slip away,” Carl said as he locked the front door behind them.
“This time?”
“I spent years asking Freda out, but she always said she'd already been in love once in her life and that was all a person got. Every time she said that, I got madder and madder, until finally we had the fight that led to the curse. But tonight, I made her understand that I'm serious. I love her and want her in my life, and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
With that, Carl headed toward the truck, leaving Travis trailing after him. Although Travis had known he'd find Freda at Carl's, he hadn't expected the rest.
Man, wait until Dani heard this.
Thinking of Dani, he pulled out his cell phone and had started to call her when Freda said from the back seat, “Let them wait until we get there. I don't want to give my son time to work up an argument. Carl and I will fare better if we take him by surprise.”
Travis clipped his phone back on his belt. “Okay. You're in charge.”
Freda had Carl climb into the back seat with her, and then she gave Travis a regal look. “Yes, I am.”
DANI HUG UP THE PHONE, and a smile crossed her face. She hadn’t meant to wake up her old boss, but now she was very glad she had. Just when she’d thought things wouldn’t work out, it looked like they might.
When she heard Travis’ truck pull up in front of the house, she practically fell over her own feet getting to the door. She flung it open, wanting to talk to him, but then she saw her grandmother and let out a cry of joy.
“You had us scared to death,” she told Freda as she wrapped her in a bear hug. “Don't ever do that again.”
Freda patted her cheek. “I won't, sweetie, but I had to take care of something really important.”
For the first time since the truck had pulled up, Dani noticed Carl.
Dani blinked and looked at her grandmother. “You went to Carl's house?”
Without answering the question, her grandmother headed through the front door. “Come on. I need to tell your parents something.”
Carl gave Dani a small smile and then caught up with Freda. When the older man slipped an arm around her grandmother's waist, Dani turned to stare at Travis.
“Am I missing something here?” she asked.
He came over and stood next to her. “Apparently, we all were missing something, including your grandmother. She didn't realize quite how much Carl loved her.”
Dani's mouth dropped open. “You're kidding?”
“Not a bit,” he assured her as they walked toward the living room. “They were like a couple of rowdy teenagers in my back seat the whole way over here.”
“Way to go, Nana.”
When they entered the living room, Freda was holding court. She pointed directly at her son and said, “I'm going to live with Carl, so it doesn't really matter how you feel about it. We're in love.”
“I'll tell you how I feel,” her father yelled. “I forbid it.”
Freda laughed. “You can't forbid me from doing something. I'm your mother.”
Dani watched as her father grappled with that statement. In a way, she felt sorry for him. He wasn't used to people standing up to him, and now both she and her grandmother had done it on the same day—or in the same night.
Still, he needed to let people make their own choices, and the sooner he learned that, the better. He'd gotten his way in life for far too long.
“I don't know what's wrong with the world,” her mother said. “First Danielle, and now you, Freda. Both of you are being very rude.”
Freda glanced at Dani. “First Danielle what? What sort of announcement did you make, Dani?”
Dani glanced at Travis, who raised one eyebrow. Before she could answer her grandmother, her mother said, “Just like you, she's in love with someone who is completely wrong for her. I think both of you are crazy.”
Dani looked at Travis. “Sorry. I didn't mean to tell them. It just slipped out.”
“I'm glad,” he said, leaning down and kissing her, right there in front of her parents. At first, Dani started to pull away, and then it hit her. Why shouldn't she kiss Travis? She was in love with him.
So she kissed him back, hard, and when they finally ended the kiss, her grandmother laughed.
“Good for you, Dani and Travis. I knew you two belonged together,” she said.
Carl rolled his eyes. “Don't tell me you put a curse on them?”
Freda winked at her granddaughter. “I didn't have to. They fell in love all on their own.” Then with a nudge to Carl, she added, “And they're romantic suggestions, not curses.”
“It doesn't matter what all this nonsense is,” her father boomed. “Danielle has a new career awaiting her, and she's not foolish enough to throw it away for something as ridiculous as love.”
Dani started to answer, but Travis stopped her. “She shouldn't have to choose,” he said. Then he looked at Dani. “I've given this a lot of thought, and I want to come to New York with you.”
Dani stared at him. “But what about the ranch? What about your brother?”
“Max is a believer in love,” Travis told her. “He'll understand, and he can run the ranch fine without me. But I wouldn't be fine without you.”
“Tell him yes,” Freda said.
Dani looked at Travis, love overwhelming her. As much as she wanted to tell him yes, that he shou
ld come with her, she knew it was the wrong choice to make. She looked at her parents, who despite the problems between them were her family. Then she looked at her grandmother, a person who meant the world to her.
Finally, she looked at Travis.
“All that's in New York is a job,” she said, her choice suddenly clear to her.
“And you,” Travis said. “You'll be in New York, and I want to be where you are.”
With a smile, Dani explained, “Then you'll want to live in Texas because that's where I'll be.”
“Dani, don't give up that great job because of me,” Travis said, taking her hands in his. “You've worked years for this opportunity.”
“Because I thought it would make me happy, but I know now it won't. It's just a job. I can have a great job here in Texas,” she said. “In fact, a few minutes ago, I talked to my old boss, and he’s happy to let me open a satellite office near Honey. Seems they weren’t ready to let me go. He bumped my salary and gave me a promotion. This job with my old firm is every bit as good as the New York job.”
“Are you sure?” Travis asked. “I want you to be happy.”
“The only thing that's going to truly make me happy is being with you and my family.”
“Danielle, think about what you're doing,” her father cautioned.
She looked at him and felt sorry for him. Obviously, he'd never been in love the way she was.
“I am thinking about what I'm doing,” she told him. “I'm doing what will make me happy.”
“Are you really sure about this?” Travis asked.
“Yes, I want to live here with you and with our families,” she told him.
He kissed her again and then asked, “So how do you feel about marriage?”
Delighted, Dani told him, “I really, really like that idea.”
“I can't believe this,” her mother said, walking over to stand next to her father. “Can you believe what she's doing?”
Her father frowned at her, but before he could say a word, Freda raised her right hand and pointed her index finger at them.
“Nana,” Dani said in an effort to stop her grandmother, but she was too late.