Suppressing memories of that incredible kiss they’d shared when he was injured on the highway, she forced herself to deal in generalities.
“First, let me apologize for being cold. It was an unreasonable response.”
She gathered her thoughts.
“Cindy’s had an endless string of boyfriends, mostly men passing through because she’s already dated all the eligible men in town. And some who were ineligible. Nothing good has ever come of those relationships.”
She motioned for him to eat. No sense in letting all of that good food to go to waste. “It was hard to grow up with that, seeing all of those men use my mom and then leave town. Cindy has her faults, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated so callously.”
“No, she doesn’t. She has a good heart even if she is too needy.”
“Yeah, that’s the right word.”
“So you think I might use Cindy and then leave?”
She hadn’t given Cindy a single thought.
“No. It’s just that I’ve developed a dislike of drifters.”
His spine stiffened. “I’m not a drifter. Yeah, I move on after a while, but I don’t take advantage of others. I earn my own keep. I’m a hard worker.”
“Dear Lord, I know that, Travis. I can see that. All you do every night is work on that house, and that’s after putting in a day of hard work for Udall.”
A tiny smile kicked up the corners of his mouth. Her gaze darted away because it set her nerves humming. “You’ve been talking to Udall about me?”
“No!” Okay, maybe she had run across Uma in the grocery store and had possibly asked her how Travis was doing on the ranch, to which Uma had responded with a resounding, “Boy, that man can work!” But she’d hadn’t talked to Udall, so she wasn’t lying, was she?
“My response to what Nadine told me wasn’t logical, Travis. It was emotional. I’ve seen too many men come and go over the years for me to trust a traveler.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Dear Lord, don’t let him guess how much I care already, she prayed.
“It’s just my response to all new people in town.”
He nodded.
“I’m not a drifter, Rachel,” he stated emphatically, again, as though that were all she needed to know.
Thank goodness Travis didn’t bring up how friendly she’d been on his first morning in town, giving him a ride on the carousel and all.
Her aim was to get out of this discussion in one piece without plopping her heart out on the table like a sacrifice.
A family came in for dinner, and that ended the conversation. Rachel stood to welcome them and take their orders. She’d managed to keep it general. Travis would never suspect how much she liked him, and how much she wanted him to be the staying kind.
She walked away knowing she hadn’t gained anything from the conversation. She hadn’t heard the only thing she’d wanted to, the most unreasonable, improbable, impossible thing she could ever wish for.
He hadn’t said, “I would stay for you.”
McGuire, you are such a daydreamer.
* * *
TRAVIS WAS STILL awake hours later, going over his conversation with Rachel. He was glad they’d talked, but still didn’t understand why his comings and goings mattered to her.
He wasn’t about to become involved with Cindy, so what difference did it make if he left in a year, or less?
He heard a car turn into her driveway across the road and glanced out the window, but it wasn’t Rachel’s car.
He threw on a coat and stepped outside.
Rachel approached her door as a car driven by Honey backed out of the driveway and took off.
“What happened to your car?” He didn’t need to raise his voice. In the stillness of the night, she would hear him. He walked down his driveway.
Rachel turned. “It wouldn’t start.”
“Again?” He crossed the road. “Want me to go boost it for you?”
“Not at this time of night. You need to get up early. Why are you still up?”
He wouldn’t tell her the truth. Because our talk kept me awake. Because I still can’t figure out why it matters to you if I stay or go, or why your opinion of me matters to me.
“Couldn’t sleep,” was all he admitted to. “Let’s go start your car.”
Cripes, Travis, what are you doing? You’ve got a whole shitload of crazy going on right now. You do not need to help this woman.
“Tomorrow’s Friday. Mom takes Tori to the mall for their girl-bonding. I’ll get into town somehow and get the car started then.”
“Let’s do it now.”
“Why are you pushing this so hard?”
“I need...”
“You need?”
“To know you’re safe. That you can get around tomorrow if you need to. That you have a working vehicle.”
“Travis, I’m not your responsibility.”
“I know.” Even to his own ears, he sounded confused. “Please get in the truck and let’s get this done.”
“Okay,” she said, but looked as puzzled as he felt.
The second they were both buckled in, she started to talk, all about independence and going her own way and being a capable woman, thank you very much. She didn’t need any man to take care of her. She was fine on her own.
And yet, here she was in his truck.
He figured she could give him a piece of her mind all she wanted. It beat the hell out of the silent treatment she’d given him this past week. He didn’t ever want to be on the receiving end of that again.
When she wound down a mile shy of town, he said, “Rachel, I know you’re capable.” To his surprise, he realized he meant it. He worried about her when he shouldn’t. Her business was her own.
He scrubbed the back of his neck.
“You’re right,” he said, and meant it. “You are independent. You’re doing a great job with your daughter. You did a great job with the carousel. You are a kick-ass waitress. The townspeople love and respect you.”
Next, he said something he’d never found easy. “I’m sorry.”
She took her time, but eventually nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate the apology.”
A moment later, she asked, “What was it for?”
“I’ve been high-handed at times.”
He sensed her nodding beside him.
“Know what I need from you?”
He’d piqued her curiosity. He felt her watching him.
“No, what?”
“I need a friend. You’re the best person I’ve met in this town. We both know I’ll be leaving at some point. I have no designs on your mother, so she won’t get hurt. You’ve got a whole barrel of responsibilities that have nothing to do with me, and you’re independent as you said, so you won’t be demanding a lot of me.”
Whew, an entire speech. What was it about this woman that had him opening up and talking so much?
Something in the honest, straightforward way she dealt with people demanded no less from him.
“You want me to be your friend?”
She seemed a mite disappointed. He didn’t know why.
To his mind, friendship was the best gift a person could offer. It was worth all the gems in the world.
“Yeah. I didn’t like when you weren’t talking to me.”
There he went spilling his beans again.
“It hurt when you were cold.”
His admission seemed to please her.
“Okay. We can be friends.”
“Okay, then. Don’t friends help each other out in times of need?”
“Yes.”
“And this is a time of need.”
“For me, yes. Here’s the problem, tho
ugh.” She shifted in her seat. “When will there ever be a time for me to give something back to you?”
He cast a startled glance at her. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“The carousel ride, to start.”
“You already paid me back for that.”
“I know. I guess I can’t stress enough how huge it was. Sammy and me—”
He could feel her eyes on him.
“Sammy and you?”
“We didn’t have anything. Dad drank too much and Mom was...” He shrugged, trying to minimize what they’d gone through. He wasn’t looking for pity. “Best way I can describe her is weak. She wasn’t a bad person, but she didn’t have a lot to give. Sammy and I were on our own. Then they died.”
She rubbed one hand on her thigh. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. I just want you to understand how it was. We had nothing. No money. No stuff. I kept us together by working every waking hour I wasn’t going to school. After Mom died, I had to drop out.”
They arrived in front of Honey’s. He pulled up beside Rachel’s car.
“There were no extras, no movies, no county fairs, no music. That ride you gave me was...” He had to stop talking because he’d become emotional. He wasn’t an emotional man.
A moment later, he cleared his throat. “When I was growing up, there was no joy.” He turned in his seat to face her, desperate for her to understand. “You gave me joy.”
Her whiskey eyes looked suspiciously moist. She tucked a strand of tawny hair behind her ear. One silver cowboy-boot earring winked at him in the dim light from Honey’s front door.
“Travis, that’s the best thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“There’s more. When I felt your baby talking to me...” When her eyes widened, he amended, “I mean when I felt her moving, it was like she was communicating with me. Acknowledging me, or something. Strange, huh?”
“No, not strange. I feel the same way. Sometimes when she moves, it feels like she’s playing with me already.”
“You’ve given me two gifts the likes of which I could never repay. My point is that you have to understand why I need to help you out when I can. Okay?”
“Okay. Just be less bossy about it.”
“I can do that.”
They got out of the truck. Rachel sat in the driver’s seat of her car.
Travis boosted the battery, closed her hood and came around to her open driver’s window. “Consider scraping together enough cash to get yourself another cheap clunker. There’s got to be a better one out there.”
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled, not one of her dazzlers, but a quiet, thoughtful one. He found it no less attractive than the bright, shiny ones.
“Thank you, Travis. Thanks for explaining things to me.”
The wind picked up, and he tamped his hat more firmly onto his head. “I’m a lot more than just a macho dude, you know.”
“A bossy macho dude.”
“I’ll try to do better.”
“Promises, promises.”
Chapter Eight
Weekdays, Travis spent long hours on the ranch, collecting cattle and mending fence before the snows set in.
Weeknights, he’d spend longer evenings working on the house, getting it ready for his sister and her boys.
Sometime before Christmas, they would be driving in from San Francisco. He didn’t want them here while he renovated. He wanted to give them a perfect house.
Friday and Saturday nights became a pleasure for him, a break away from the endless work. He’d spend them at Honey’s, getting to know his neighbors and dancing up a storm.
That Rachel worked there was an added bonus he didn’t look at too closely.
Cole Payette was becoming a good buddy. More often than not, Travis found himself on a stool beside Cole at the bar getting to know the man better. Saturday mornings found him having breakfast with the guy on stools at the counter in Vy’s diner.
It might seem like they had little in common, Cole being a one-town man and Travis a nomad, but they never lacked for conversation. And their quiet moments were companionable.
It had been a long time since Travis had had a good friend, someone closer than a mere acquaintance.
When he arrived home after a night out, he would say, “Come on, Ghost,” and walk into the house, followed by the newly clean cat.
As it got colder, Ghost took to spending more time inside than out.
She became a permanent resident and his new companion. He sure hoped Sammy wouldn’t mind keeping the cat.
“Who would have thought,” he murmured to her one night, “that I’d take on not only a house, but also a pet.”
He shook his head and kept on stripping the floors. Later, while enjoying a beer in front of the fire, Ghost jumped onto the sofa and curled up beside him. He liked the feel of her warm weight against his leg.
In mid-November, the town held a Thanksgiving dance in the elementary school auditorium.
Brown, orange and red construction paper leaves covered the walls along with the obligatory rows of hooks for cowboy hats. He’d come to learn the town took its hat hooks seriously.
Good thing, since Travis took his hat seriously.
In the middle of the evening, five women took to the stage.
Rachel stood in the middle, with Honey to her right and Violet from the diner to her left. Standing beside Travis, Cole leaned close and identified the other two for him.
“Nadine and Max. The official park committee. They’re the ones who’ve spearheaded the revival of the amusement park.”
“Think they’ll get it done on time?”
Cole grinned. “No doubt in my mind at all. They’re driven.”
They were an attractive bunch, all in their late twenties. Honey wore her trademark turquoise and silver jewelry. Her mass of blond hair hung in curls to her waist.
Violet wore her distinctive forties and fifties retro style. In the diner, she pinned her hair up beneath a kerchief, but tonight her straight blue-black hair hung down her back in striking contrast to her violet eyes.
Nadine had beautiful red hair every bit as straight as Vy’s.
The last woman on stage, Max, stood out by how boyish she looked compared to the other women—Rachel womanly in her pregnancy, and Honey with her masses of curls, Vy with her hourglass figure and Nadine with her perfect manicure, makeup and sparkly party dress.
Max wore a boxy plaid shirt, torn jeans and broken-in cowboy boots.
“Folks,” Rachel began, “you all know who we are and why we’re here tonight. We’re the reason you paid for tickets to the Thanksgiving dance for the first time ever.”
Her microphone squealed, and someone adjusted the sound.
“I love this town,” she continued with an emphasis on love. “I don’t want it to die. Our young people are leaving in droves. If we get the rides fixed and offer great deals on unique entertainment, we can bring in tourists. We’ll top it off with a first-rate rodeo. Our goal is to open for three weeks next August and later expand into something that will last longer.”
Her passion for the project shone through, and Travis saw a glimpse of the woman he’d met on his first morning in town.
The world would be a pretty awesome place if all of Rachel McGuire’s burdens could be eased and this Rachel could be present all the time. She was magnetic.
“We thank you all for your generosity,” Honey said. “Many of you bought more than one ticket, and it’s appreciated. The money will go a long way toward revitalizing both the amusement park and our town.”
Travis heard something that sounded like a sigh from Cole, who stared at Honey. He nudged him with his shoulder.
�
�How many did you buy?” Travis asked.
“Only ten.”
“Only?”
Cole shrugged. His cheeks turned suspiciously pink.
“Let it go, Read.”
“Sure thing, Payette.”
A moment later, Cole asked, “How many did you buy?”
“Only a dozen.”
The corners of Cole’s mouth kicked up. “Only?”
“Let it go, Payette.”
“Sure thing, Read.”
They stood in companionable silence throughout the speeches.
When they ended and music started up for dancing, Travis sought out Rachel.
“Tell me about the women you’ve teamed up with to resurrect the fair.”
“You know Honey. She’ll be in charge of entertainment.”
“She’d be good at that.” Travis grinned. “What will Vy be doing?”
“Food.”
“Makes sense.”
“And Nadine? I haven’t met her. What will she be doing?”
“Promotion and hospitality.”
“And last, the one on the far end. What was her name?”
“Maxine Porter. Max. She’ll resurrect the rodeo that started it all and gave the town its name.”
“Sounds like you have everything covered.”
“I think so. We’ll have to work hard, but we’re all up for it.”
Rachel glanced around the room.
“I love this place and these people.” She turned her gaze to him, her eyes luminous and sad. “I couldn’t possibly ever leave. I love my friends. I want my children to grow up here. My own childhood might not have been ideal, but the town is. It’s worth preserving.”
“What is it, Rachel? Why so sad?”
“I feel like this is our last chance. What if we can’t make this happen? What if tourists don’t come? There’s nothing else here. No industry. No manufacturing. The ranching is good, but it can’t keep the whole town afloat. Beef prices rise and rise and people eat less and less of it.”
Someone bumped into them, and Travis pulled her close. They ended up slow dancing with the flow of the crowd.
“I’m afraid we might fail. Then where will the town be?”
“Why wouldn’t you succeed?” he asked.
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