Travis entered the room and, to Rachel’s satisfaction, did not look happy to see Vivian.
So small, Rachel. So mean-spirited.
So honest.
“Viv,” he said, voice flat. “What are you doing here?”
Vivian stood and, for the first time since arriving, did not look cool and collected.
“We need to talk, Travis.”
His lips thinned. “We already said everything that needed to be said. There’s nothing else.”
Okay, this was uncomfortable. Rachel did not want to be here for this kind of conversation.
“Tori and I should go,” she said.
“No. I got pizza. You’re not going home without dinner.”
“This kind of conversation should be just between the two of you, Travis.”
“There isn’t going to be any of that kind of conversation, is there, Viv?”
“You’re right, Travis,” Vivian answered. “This isn’t about us.”
“Why are you here, then?”
Vivian twisted her fingers, the red of her nails an exact match to her lipstick. She bit her bottom lip for a second. “It’s about Manny.”
Everything inside Rachel froze. Manny. The criminal Travis’s sister had worked for was Manny D’Onofrio, Nadine had said. He was vicious. He vowed revenge.
“What about him?” Her hard-edged voice could cut through steel.
Both Vivian and Travis stared at her.
“He’s the criminal from Las Vegas, right?”
Vivian nodded.
“What attachment do you have to him? Who are you?”
“I’m Travis’s girlfriend.”
Travis stepped forward. “Not for well over a year, Vivian.”
“But I hoped—”
“No, Viv. There is no hope. I made that clear months ago in Vegas.”
“I thought you seemed open to starting over.”
“Telling you I was ready to forgive you for your betrayal is not the same as saying I want to start over.”
Rachel didn’t care about any of that. She had only one concern.
“Is Manny coming here?” Her granite tone rattled them. Rachel sensed Tori’s bewilderment as she watched the adults.
“He’s in jail,” Vivian said.
Rachel looked at Travis.
“He has men, employees who are loyal to him,” he admitted.
He turned his attention to Vivian. “Are they coming here?”
She nodded.
Blood frigid, Rachel scrambled to get her daughter out of this house before a band of criminals with guns landed on the doorstep.
“Mommy, I want more hot chocolate,” Tori complained.
Fingers numb, she buttoned Tori into her jacket. “You’ll have some more at home.”
“But the pizza...” Travis’s expression pleaded with her to...what? Stay? Ignore the danger?
“But what if someone shows up to...” She trailed off. She didn’t want to scare Tori.
“It isn’t going to happen this second, Rachel.”
“How do you know?”
He opened his mouth. Closed it. How could he know when these guys planned to arrive?
“I can’t stay here, Travis.” Frantic to get away, she shoved her arms into her coat and opened the door. Crossing the road, she made herself slow down for Tori’s sake.
Once inside her own home, she locked the door and shoved a kitchen chair under the knob. Her teeth chattered.
“Mommy?” Tori’s lower lip trembled. “What’s wrong?”
Rachel forced herself to get control. The very last thing she wanted was to scare her daughter. All she asked for was that her children be safe and have enough to eat.
She made herself smile. “Let’s watch TV, okay?”
Tori immediately said, “’Kay,” and ran to her favorite chair, a child-size blue plush armchair, one of Cindy’s purchases. Some of Rachel’s fear must have transferred, though, because Tori picked up her platypus and held her extra tightly.
Rachel flipped through the channels until she found a sappy Thanksgiving movie suitable for family entertainment.
Aware of Vivian across the road bringing bad news, Rachel jumped at every sound the gusting wind made. Again, she felt the full weight of her responsibility.
For the first time since Davey’s death, she let go of her grief and gave in fully to her anger. She’d loved Davey, but he should have been careful. He should have thought of his family.
He should have loved her and Tori more than he loved his fun.
* * *
ALL OF THE joy drained out of Travis’s hitherto amazing day, leached out by this lousy excuse for a woman. What the heck was Vivian doing here?
Where Rachel was comfortable in an oversize men’s gray sweatshirt, round in pregnancy and as honest as the day was long, Vivian was thin and fashionable...and the most dishonest, betraying woman on the face of the earth.
The sound of the front door closing behind Rachel and Tori angered him even as he was filled with remorse.
He should have never come here and brought his troubles with him, so close to her and her kids.
Oh, jeez. Damn it all to crap. His heart ached like he’d lost something precious and rare.
Travis turned to the woman he didn’t trust and might possibly hate more than Manny D’Onofrio—at least Manny had never hidden who he was. “Stay put,” he ordered. “I’ll be right back.”
He deposited the smaller of the two pizzas in the kitchen and carried the larger one across the road.
He knocked, but no one answered. Figuring Rachel might have been spooked, he called, “Rachel, it’s me. I brought pizza.”
He heard noise on the other side of the door, and then it opened.
Rachel stood beside a chair she had obviously slid in front of the door to protect them. The hollow, fearful look in her eyes worried him.
“You didn’t have to bring that over.”
He shoved it into her hands, not giving her a chance to resist. “Yes, I did. You and Tori worked hard. I promised you dinner. Here it is.”
“Okay.”
“Rachel, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Her backbone kicked in. “I can take care of Tori and me. You just worry about yourself and your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Rachel held up her hand. “Please, Travis, just go. I’m too tired for this.”
He could see she was. “Okay, but call me if you need me.”
“Yeah.” She closed the door firmly, and he knew she wouldn’t call him for any reason.
He stomped back across the road to confront Vivian Hughes.
He’d thought he’d loved her once, but there was a huge leap between lust and love. He’d certainly trusted her, but that was before he’d found out she was working for Manny, keeping an eye on him, hoping to find out anything about Samantha that Manny could supply to his defense team.
How on earth any of that intelligence could have helped Manny’s embezzlement case, Travis didn’t understand. Trying to find dirt on Samantha to discredit her as a witness, perhaps? Maybe he just wasn’t devious enough to figure it out.
To say he was mad put it mildly. Furious was more like it. And terrified.
“How did you find me?” he demanded.
Vivian’s gaze slid away from his. “Remember when we said goodbye last year? How angry you were?”
He nodded.
“You made me so mad. When I asked to see you three months ago to apologize for betraying you to Manny, it was really to betray you again.”
He couldn’t speak, not for the life of him, or he would spew all kinds of filth.
“I wa
s only pretending to be sorry,” she said. She looked sorry now, but he didn’t care. “I really went there to stick a tracker onto your truck. I’ve been monitoring your travels. When you remained here for a while, I figured maybe this was where you planned to settle and bring Samantha.”
“What? Why?”
“Manny asked me to.” She shrugged, and the gesture was delicate and feminine, but at the moment, he could gladly throttle her. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I told him where you are.”
“Did his men come with you?”
“No. I left right after I told Manny. He said good job, paid me and told me to leave.”
He had to warn Sammy not to come. Where could he send her? Fury flooded him, chasing out the ice with a white-hot flame. All of his work in finding this town, this house, had gone up in smoke because of Vivian.
Travis couldn’t get his phone out of his pocket fast enough. He fumbled, dropping it onto the carpet.
“Travis, I—” She approached, but he held up a hand.
“Keep away from me, or so help me God I won’t be responsible for my actions.” He dialed Sammy’s number. “Betraying me the first time was bad enough when it only hurt me. This time you’ll be hurting my sister and her boys.”
Sammy’s phone rang, but she didn’t answer. Travis cursed. “You’re lucky I’m not a violent man.”
Travis cut the connection. He dialed Cole Payette’s number.
“Hey, Travis.” Cole answered on the second ring. “What’s up?”
“I got a person here at the house who needs to be escorted out of town.”
“But—” Vivian interrupted.
Travis shushed her.
“Does this relate to the situation with your sister?”
“It sure does. I’ll call her and tell her not to come to Rodeo. In the meantime, the woman in my house is a danger to me, to my family and to everyone else in town.”
“No, I’m not.” Vivian no longer sounded scared, but she was starting to heat up. Too bad. He didn’t care about her feelings.
“I’ll be right there.” Cole disconnected. Great sheriff. Great town.
He thought of Rachel across the road, angry with him for bringing danger to her home. She was good people. The best. And he was so damned sorry he couldn’t be the type of man she needed. Instead, he was the kind who attracted people like Vivian and Manny.
He phoned Samantha again. Still no response. Where was she?
She wasn’t due to leave San Francisco yet. Maybe her battery was dead. Sammy could be impulsive. It would be like her to come early to surprise him.
He prayed to God she wouldn’t cross paths with Manny’s men.
Cursing, he turned his attention to Vivian.
“Why?” he asked.
“Why what?”
“Why did you betray me to Manny not once, but twice?” He’d thought he’d buried the hurt, but seeing her again brought it flooding back.
“For money, Travis. Manny gave me a lot of money. Tons. I’ll be secure for years to come.”
Money. Worse than the anger was the grief.
She’d killed a love he’d thought was special, strong enough to inspire the most momentous decision he’d ever made.
He’d never contemplated marriage before Vivian. He had never believed it was for him. But for a brief time, he’d thought the two of them could make it work.
Hold on. Be honest. You were leading up to asking her, but you never did, did you? Why did you hold back? Was it really love?
Had he known on some level that there were problems, with Vivian or himself or the relationship?
Travis called Sammy again. No answer. He tossed the phone onto the sofa.
Brooding, he stared at Vivian.
She watched him silently. What did she want from him?
He thought of a question he should have asked at the start. “Why are you here?”
“To warn you.” She spread her hands as though to say, Isn’t it obvious?
It wasn’t. Where Viv was concerned, nothing was as it seemed.
“Why? You betrayed me to Manny, twice now, and all of a sudden you’re on my side warning me?” He startled and headed for the door. “Are they here? Are they waiting outside for me to lead them to Sammy?”
She rushed after him and grabbed his arm. “No, they aren’t anywhere near here yet. I was telling the truth.”
He stared at the well-manicured hand on his sleeve. “I don’t understand.”
“All along I felt bad about the way I was using you.”
“You slept with me. Did your job description include whoring for your boss?”
She shrank from him. “No. I liked you. I was attracted to you. I wanted to sleep with you. Manny gave me hell for it after you left, along with a black eye. He was jealous.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”
“No. Just understand. I truly cared for you, Travis. You’re a good, good man.” Her voice deepened with intensity. “You’re a better man than Manny will ever be. After I told him where you were now, I was so ashamed. Your sister did the right thing when she testified against him. You’re innocent. Your sister had no idea what she was getting into when she went to work for him. Neither of you deserve Manny’s revenge.”
Was she telling the truth? Hard to say. She’d seemed sincere in the past, too.
The sound of tires on gravel alerted Travis. He peeked through the window and breathed a sigh when he saw it was the sheriff.
Had it been Manny’s people, he would have fought to the death rather than tell where Sammy was, but then who would be left to protect her and the boys?
A split second before Cole knocked on the door, Travis opened it.
“Thanks for coming.”
Cole nodded. “No worries. This her?” He gestured toward Vivian.
“Yeah. Vivian Hughes. She works for Manny D’Onofrio.”
Cole turned a cold eye on her. “I did some research after our talk. He’s a nasty piece of work. You work for him?”
Vivian lifted her chin. “Not anymore. I quit. I came to warn Travis about his men coming here.”
“I have no way to verify whether you’re telling the truth. Travis says you’re a danger to the town and its people. I believe him. I’m going to ask you to leave.”
Vivian turned her gaze to Travis. Her eyes shimmered like jewels behind her tears.
He wasn’t moved. The thing about trust was that once broken, it couldn’t be repaired.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“What were you expecting?”
She shrugged, but this time he wasn’t fooled. She wasn’t indifferent. She wanted him back. She’d actually thought this would be enough to fix things between them.
She’d thought she could take Manny’s money and have Travis.
There wasn’t enough glue in the entire state of Montana to fix what Vivian had broken. She just didn’t understand that.
“It’s over, Vivian. There’s nothing between us. Are you telling the truth about the people coming to town?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I thank you for that. You did the right thing. But I hope to God I never see you again.”
“Fine.” She swallowed hard. At the front door, she looked back once before heading to her car.
Cole said, “I’ll see that she leaves. I’ll follow her for a while to make sure she doesn’t double back.”
Travis shook his hand. “I appreciate this, Cole. We don’t need her kind in Rodeo.”
The sheriff turned up his collar against the rising wind. “Batten down the hatches, Read. There’s a major storm moving in.”
“Will do.” Travis agreed, recognizing that the menacing sky on the horizon was a
harbinger of more than just bad weather. It also represented the havoc Manny had let loose in sending his men to Rodeo, Montana.
Chapter Ten
With the weather forecast on her mind, Rachel bundled up Tori and took her into town to buy groceries.
There was a storm coming in, due any minute. Rachel wanted the fridge and pantry as full as she could afford.
She owned a small wind-up radio in the event of a power outage so she could keep on top of news and weather reports. In her bedside table, she kept a flashlight.
When she got home, she’d pile the bed with her blankets and all of Cindy’s, in case of a power failure. She and Tori could snuggle together, and Cindy wasn’t home to use them anyway.
Rachel still hadn’t seen her mother since the dance. She’d called and had left a message, but Cindy hadn’t returned her call.
It hurt that her mom wouldn’t even check in to see how they were doing. Sure, Rachel had always been independent, and possessed more common sense than the thimbleful rolling around in Cindy’s brain, but why couldn’t Cindy exhibit the least bit of motherly concern?
Rachel bought mostly dry goods. If they lost power, she wouldn’t be able to cook anyway. She stocked up on bread and rolls, peanut butter and jam, and cartons of shelf-stable almond milk. Dry cereal would do for now.
They drove home with Tori warbling away with the songs on the radio. Rachel never tired of her sweet high voice.
In the unrelenting dull gray of the day, the trailer looked abandoned when Rachel drove up.
She carried the groceries inside with Tori trailing behind.
She didn’t bother jamming a chair under the front doorknob. What were the chances of anyone coming to her crummy little trailer after finding Travis in his own house?
Last night’s panic had given way to common sense.
She set the bags on the kitchen counter.
Rachel got Tori set up in front of the small TV and put away the groceries.
After every last item was in its proper place, she headed to her bedroom to put away the three pairs of thick socks she’d gotten on sale for Tori.
In a space as small as the trailer, everything had to be put away the second after you were finished using it.
Rodeo Father Page 13