The Cowboy's Summer Love

by The Cowboy's Summer Love (mobi)

“How’s he doing?” Michele asked, pushing Tess down into a chair and getting her a glass of cold water.

  “He’ll be fine. He must have nine lives or one very tough guardian angel,” Tess commented. “I don’t know how he manages to get into so much trouble and emerge with only surface wounds. One of these days, he might not be so lucky.”

  “I think God keeps a pretty good eye on our Travis,” Michele said with a nod of her head. “So you don’t think he has anything broken?”

  “No. He can breathe deep with no rattle in his chest. His arm and leg both have some road rash, but other than that he’s fine. I thought he might have a concussion and it worried me when he passed out, but I think he was holding his breath while I was cleaning out the wounds.”

  “I called Trey and let him know what happened. He said he’d be over to get him, but I thought it might be best to let him stay here tonight.”

  “He’s asleep and I think rest is the best thing for him now. I’ll check on him in a bit and make sure he’s doing fine before I turn in,” Tess said.

  Mike and Brice came in the back door, shaking their heads.

  “That boy lives a charmed life, I tell you,” Mike said, plopping down at the table. “The only thing wrong with his bike is some scratched paint. Wonder what made him wreck?”

  “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” Michele said, getting up from the table. “I’m heading to bed. There’s been enough excitement around here for one evening.”

  It didn’t take long for Tess to be the only one left up. She returned to the guest room and sat watching Travis sleep. Pulling a sheet over him, she brushed her fingers across his forehead and sat praying for a while. Before she left, she pressed her lips softly to his again and heard him whisper her name. Choking back a sob, she hurried to her room.

  Crying herself to sleep, she realized, again, her future could not include Travis. As much as she loved him, she couldn’t spend her life waiting for the next accident, the next wreck, the next crazy reckless thing he did that might be his last. She needed someone dependable and steady. Someone like Rick, who wouldn’t constantly put his life at risk just for the thrill of the adventure.

  Tess didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she had to get Travis out of her heart and head once and for all.

  Chapter Eight

  Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.

  Jules Renard

  Disoriented and feeling like he was hung over, even though he’d only been drunk once in his entire life, Travis opened his eyes and looked around the unfamiliar room. Remembering his ride and wreck the night before, Travis tried to raise his pounding head and managed to lift it enough to look down and find both his left arm and leg wrapped in bandages.

  He remembered he was at the Running M Ranch.

  Dropping his head back against the pillow, he closed his eyes and relived the dream that kept playing through his head all night. He could hear Tess crying over him, feel her tears on his face, then her soft hand would brush along his forehead, and her lips would touch his.

  Opening his eyes, he tried to remember if any of it was real and couldn’t. Things got a little hazy after Tess slit open his pant leg and started cleaning out the gravel.

  If Trey and Trent didn’t have enough to hound him about with his reckless behavior, this was sure to send them over the edge.

  Sighing, Travis didn’t know what to do. He was growing weary of the battle he seemed to be fighting with himself, but wasn’t quite ready to surrender.

  Trying to decide if he could get up without help, the bedroom door opened and Tess stuck her head inside.

  “Good, you’re awake,” she said, breezing in the room dressed in a pair of dark purple scrubs. She put her hand on his forehead and smiled when she didn’t feel a fever. “You think you could keep down some breakfast or would you rather go straight home?”

  “Home, I think,” Travis said around his thick tongue. Lifting his head, the room began to spin, so he lowered it back to the pillow.

  “Head feel a little off this morning?” Tess asked, holding up his head so he could take a drink of water.

  “Yeah,” Travis said quietly, annoyed that he couldn’t get up off the bed and walk out the door without some help.

  “You’ll be fine in a day or two. Make sure you keep your wounds dressed and clean. You don’t want to get an infection,” Tess said, helping him sit up then waiting until the dizziness passed. She heard heavy footsteps and looked up to see Brice walk in the room, followed by Trent and Trey.

  “Oh, man,” Trey said looking at Travis’ ashen face. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Thanks,” Travis whispered and tried to muster a smile. His feet would barely function so Trey and Trent offered their support as they helped him up and toward the door. As he passed Michele he managed a small grin. “Sorry about the mess in the guest room. Will you add it to my tab?”

  “You bet, sweetie,” Michele said with an indulgent smile. It had been a running joke between the two families of keeping a running tab of what the boys had destroyed over the years.

  While Trey and Trent got Travis into the backseat of Trey’s pickup, Mike and Brice lifted the bike to the bed of the truck, laying it on its scratched side.

  “I’d say that boy has an angel riding on his shoulder. Looks like the only thing damaged is the paint job,” Mike said, patting the bike. “Brice started it right up and rode it back to the house last night.”

  “Trav is definitely lucky considering all the scrapes he’s been in the last few months. Something has got to change, though,” Trey said, staring at Travis’ still form on the backseat of the pickup.

  “Good luck with that,” Mike said, giving Trey a slap on the shoulder as he and Trent got in the pickup and drove back to the Triple T.

  Stopping by the back door, Cady ran out followed by Cass who started to launch into a round of questions.

  “Oh, goodness, Cass. Do you see Buddy looking sad by the barn? Why don’t you run over and bring him back to play in the yard,” Cady said, sending Cass out from underfoot while they got Travis in the house.

  “Tess called and said she’d stop by on her way into work and change the bandages,” Cady said deciding the best help she could be was to open doors and stay out of the way. “She said if he was clean it would help the process.”

  Taking in the red stains seeping through his bandages, Cady thought Travis should be in the hospital.

  Instead of dropping him on his bed, Trey and Trent hauled Travis into the bathroom. Over his protests, they removed his bandages, stripped him out of his clothes and forced him into the shower. He tried to shoo them away, but the fact he could barely stand on his own feet kept them hovering nearby. Finally, with clean underwear and shorts in place, they helped ease him down on his bed.

  Travis’ jaw was clenched and beads of sweat popped out on his upper lip. Trey and Trent both stood by his bed looking grim-faced. Neither of them could bring themselves to look too closely at his fresh wounds.

  Cady came back in the room to find the three brothers engaged in a stare-down. She didn’t think now was the time or place for Trey and Trent to gang on up Travis, but knew better than to voice her opinion.

  “Darlin’, would you mind getting Trav a glass of water and a couple of Advil?” Trey asked, glancing up and giving her an encouraging smile. She knew he just wanted her out of the room, but she obliged.

  When Cady was out of earshot, Trey narrowed his gaze and looked at Travis until he felt like squirming on the bed.

  “We aren’t going to get into it right now, but soon, my friend. No more of your devil-may-care attitude. No more reckless behavior. It’s time for you to grow up,” Trey said with an authoritative tone to his voice Travis had never heard before. He was too exhausted and in too much pain to argue. “And maybe then you’d like to tell us about all those scars you’ve kept hidden since you got home. What happened to you Travis?” Trey asked, compassion softening t
he hard edge that was evident in his jaw since they went to get Travis earlier that morning. “It looks like someone tried to slice off your leg.”

  “They did,” Travis said, flatly, blocking the emotion that came with the memories.

  Trey and Trent looked at each other and didn’t know what to say. Obviously much more happened in Iraq than Travis led them to believe. They noticed the scar on his side when he first got home. What they hadn’t seen were the scars that were hidden by his underwear. If they hadn’t forced him into the shower this morning, they might never have known they were there. Deep, angry scars that must have taken a long time to heal laced across his upper thigh where his leg connected to the hip, like he’d been struck repeatedly with something wickedly sharp.

  “Here are the pills, the water, and your bandage changer,” Cady said with a cheery tone she was far from feeling. Tess walked in behind her and took in not only the sour faces of the three Thompson men, but also the tension hanging thick in the air.

  “Well, boys, don’t run off too far, I may need your help with my impatient patient,” Tess teased as she started unrolling some gauze. Trey shook his head and stormed out of the room, but Trent offered his assistance. Part way through veterinary school when their dad passed away, he gave up his career aspirations to return home and help run the ranch. Because of the training he did have, Trent did most of the doctoring on the Triple T of both cattle and humans. Cady watched so she could help Trent later with the bandages. She handed Tess and Trent sterile pads, antibiotic ointment and the rolls of gauze as they went through the process.

  “I’m not a doctor, but I’d say keep bandages on another day or two until the wounds stop seeping then let them get some air. Or better yet, get some medicated transparent dressing. It will help him heal up faster. What do you think, Trent?” Tess asked as she tidied up the medical supplies.

  “Sounds right to me. I’ll run into town and get some later,” he said, gathering up the medical supplies and setting them on the dresser.

  “Maybe you can stay out of trouble for a day or two,” Tess said, patting Travis on the foot as she followed Cady out of the room. Travis closed his eyes and didn’t say a word as she left.

  “Did he tell you what happened?” Cady asked as they walked down the hall and back to the kitchen.

  “No, he was in pretty bad shape last night and he was barely awake when Trey and Trent charged in this morning. I hope they don’t go too hard on him. Brice said he thought the road by our house was wet. Our neighbor runs his pivot so close to the edge of the field, it soaks the road. He might not have seen the water until it was too late,” Tess said, waving away the cup of coffee Cady offered.

  “Thank you for coming by, Tess, and for taking care of him last night. I hope it will be the last time you have to doctor him.”

  “I hope it is, too,” Tess said quietly. “I’m not sure how many more times I can patch him up.”

  As they walked out to Tess’ car, Cady gave her a hug. “Travis is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

  “He’s just plain lucky,” Tess said, climbing in her car. It made her heart ache to wonder when that luck would run out.

  ><><

  It was bad enough to have Tess and the rest of the Morgan family take care of him last night, but Travis was mortified when his two brothers stripped him down and threw him in the shower like they used to when he was four. He never wanted them to know about his scars. He didn’t want to remember the circumstances that put them there.

  Travis couldn’t blame his brothers for being angry.

  He was angry at himself and felt weak. So weak and tired of needing that release, that rush, that kept him going from day to day.

  Well, there would be no rush for the next few days until he could get himself out of bed and fully dressed. How could he consider wanting a future with Tess when he couldn’t even handle living in the present?

  Closing his eyes, a deep sigh escaped him and for the first time since his father died, he felt like crying. Clenching his hands into fists, he wanted to yell, to pound something. Instead he tried to take a deep breath, then another.

  A cool hand touched his head and made him jump. He looked up into Cady’s hazel eyes and sweet face.

  “Hey, didn’t mean to startle you,” she said quietly. “Can I get you anything? Do you feel like eating something?”

  “Not now, but thank you,” Travis said. “Guess I really messed up this time.”

  “Do you remember what happened?” Cady asked, sitting carefully on the bed next to him and placing a cool washcloth on his forehead. It felt soothing and good.

  “I was on my way home and driving past the Running M. Looking at the house, I could see shapes out on the porch but couldn’t tell who was out there and when I glanced back at the road, a deer was right there in front of me. I swerved and would have been fine, except the road was all wet and I lost control. I remember going down and sliding. The next thing I remember was Tess and Brice helping me into the house. She cleaned me up and I think I passed out at some point. She told me I was lucky to be alive. I guess yesterday just wasn’t my day to die.”

  “Are you trying to hurry that day along, Trav?” Cady asked, holding his hand. “We’d really like to keep you here with us for a long time, but you seem bent on destruction lately. Anytime you want to talk about it, know I’m always ready to listen.”

  “Thanks, Cady,” Travis said, swallowing down the lump in his throat. Cady was a lady who couldn’t begin to understand the demons that were chasing Travis. The last thing he’d ever do was burden her with them. He loved and respected her too much.

  Cady stood up and walked to the door. “Why don’t you try to get some rest? If you need anything, just call for me.”

  Travis nodded his head and closed his eyes.

  Tess didn’t come back out to check his bandages, but Trent and Cady did a good job of taking care of him. By mid-morning the second day, he was sitting in the office doing book work. Trey was behind, as usual, so it helped Travis feel useful to get the ranch accounts up to date.

  “Uncle Travis, I missed you,” Cass said as she ran in the room and launched herself toward him. He spun his chair around and caught her on his good side.

  “I missed you, too, kiddo,” he said, breathing in her little girl scent along with the smell of dogs, hay and chocolate. “Were you playing out at the barn with Buddy?”

  Cass looked at him like he was a mind reader. “How did you know?”

  “I have magical powers, but you can’t tell anyone,” he said, trying to look serious.

  “Okay, it’ll be our secret,” Cass whispered. Looking at the computer, she started to jiggle her foot. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Your daddy’s bookwork,” Travis said, saving the work he’d done before Cass hit a key she shouldn’t on the keyboard.

  “That’s no fun. Want to play fairies?” Cass asked, brightening at the idea of getting to play online in the fairy chat room Trent helped her find when Cady and Trey were on their honeymoon.

  “No, he doesn’t want to play fairies,” Cady said, hurrying into the office and standing with her fists planted on her hips. “Cassidy Marie Thompson! What did I tell you about bothering Uncle Travis?”

  “Not to bug him and not to jump on his lap,” Cass said, her lip drooping into a pout and her big blue eyes filling with tears. Even she knew when Cady used full given names, it meant trouble. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

  “That’s right. Now carefully climb off his lap and you, young lady, will be doing some extra chores to make up for not minding,” Cady said sternly.

  “Yes, Mama,” Cass said, her head hanging down as she slid off Travis’ leg.

  Before she ran off, Travis pulled her against him and gave her a one-armed hug. “Maybe we can play later.”

  “Okay!” Cass said, her pout disappearing when she realized her uncle wasn’t upset with her. Throwing her little arms around his neck, she squeezed tight. “Love you, Uncle Travis.
”

  “Love you, too, kiddo.”

  Cass ran out of the room and Cady stood shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Travis. She’s been dying to see you but I was afraid she might be a bit rambunctious for you.”

  “She’s fine. I was tired of staring at numbers, anyway,” Travis said running a hand along his jaw. “How long is Trey going to avoid me?”

  “You know your brother, Travis. You can answer that question better than me,” Cady said. “All three of you need to sit down and talk, but I’m staying out of it.”

  ><><

  Travis was recovered from his accident and trying to walk the straight and narrow when Brice called one hot afternoon and asked him to go fishing after dinner.

  “How strenuous can holding a fishing pole be?” Brice teased. “Just meet me at our old fishing hole. If Cady has cookies, you could bring some along.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Travis said, looking forward to getting out and doing something. Since his accident, he managed not to do anything his brothers would deem dangerous and he felt like he might explode at any moment. Going fishing would be fun and in his efforts to keep so busy he was constantly exhausted, he hadn’t spent any time with Brice.

  After dinner, he put on clean cargo shorts, a T-shirt and slipped on a pair of old sneakers. Finding a couple of fishing poles in one of the storage sheds where they kept sports equipment, he told Cady he was meeting Brice to go fishing. Accepting the bag of cookies she packed, he enjoyed the freedom of heading down the road to their old fishing hole.

  Arriving before Brice, Travis set out two lawn chairs, a cooler of pop, the bag of cookies and his iPod attached to a portable speaker so they could listen to music. Brice said he’d bring the bait, so Travis sat down to wait. He barely had time to get settled into the chair when Brice pulled up. Travis was surprised to see he wasn’t alone.

  “Look who I found wandering around the turnip patch,” Brice teased, tugging Tess toward the fishing hole.

  “Good grief, BB, why didn’t you tell me you were meeting Travis to fish. I would have made you take me home first,” Tess said, still dressed in her scrubs. Turning back toward the pickup, she reached in the door for her purse. “I’ll have Dad come get me.”