Coming Home to Texas

by Victoria Chancellor

“Goodbye, Hank.” Travis hung up the phone, then picked up his pencil and drummed it on the desk. Where was Jodie right now? What was she doing out in sunny California? And why wasn’t he with her?

  Chapter Ten

  Gwendolyn placed the platter of beef next to the steaming kidney pie on the table and smiled. “We’re so glad you were available tonight. Having this meal with you to celebrate your wedding is very special to us.”

  “Thank you so much for inviting us. Sharing this meal in your home is wonderful,” Jodie said. “I’ve eaten in so many different restaurants lately that I forgot what home cooking tastes like.”

  “Business dinners?”

  “Yes. The creative team from the cosmetics company was made up of mostly people from New York City. A couple of them had never been to California, so they wanted to see everything. They were all in hotels, so they thought nothing of eating out. All I wanted to do at night was go back to my condo and fall asleep.”

  “And dream of your handsome husband, no doubt,” Gwendolyn teased.

  Jodie smiled and Travis appeared surprised when she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Oh, of course I was,” she said. Travis gave her a quizzical look.

  “Well, we should have a toast to the newlyweds,” Gwendolyn announced. “Hank, would you do the honors?”

  “Naturally, darlin’,” he drawled. He poured wine into Travis’s glass, then reached farther to fill up Jodie’s.

  “None for me, thank you,” she said as she placed her fingers across the rim. “I—I’ve about wined and dined myself out this week.”

  “Darlin’, do you want some of that sparklin’ grape juice?” Hank asked Gwendolyn.

  “That would be lovely.”

  He poured her some substitute wine. Jodie realized this was her way to keep them from becoming too suspicious and still join in the toast. “I’ve always wanted to try nonalcoholic wine.”

  “Hank, please pour Jodie some.”

  Once they had their glasses filled, Hank raised his. “To my best friend Travis and his lovely bride Jodie. Darlin’, you’re a wonderful addition to our little town. Wendy and I wish you both every happiness for many, many years.”

  They clinked glasses and sipped their drinks amid smiles and good wishes. Gwendolyn passed the carving knife and fork to Hank to do the honors, and soon their plates were full of her traditional English dinner fare.

  After the meal Hank helped Gwendolyn clear the table, insisting Jodie sit down and relax.

  “Have you ever had kidney pie before?” she leaned close and asked Travis.

  “No, can’t say that I have. It’s…different.”

  Jodie chuckled softly. “I don’t think I’ll develop a craving for it.”

  “Thank goodness,” he said in relief. “Pickles and ice cream are bad enough.”

  “I’m hoping to develop a craving for cookies and ice cream.”

  “Good plan.”

  Gwendolyn carried in an English trifle and placed it in the center of the table. “My crowning achievement. I do love a good trifle.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Jodie said. “This looks delicious.”

  “Before we have dessert, we’d like to ask you something, Travis.” Gwendolyn glanced at Hank and he smiled reassuringly. “You know we are having a baby this summer. We would be most honored if you would agree to be our child’s godfather.”

  “WHAT A LOVELY DINNER,” Jodie said later as they arrived back at Travis’s house. She placed her pashmina shawl and purse on the granite countertop of the bar that separated the kitchen and great room.

  “I’m having a hard time thinking of myself as a godfather. It seems like just yesterday that Hank and I were in college together, but then, I know it’s been…gosh, twelve or thirteen years. That’s a long time.”

  “Are you having a hard time thinking of yourself as a father?” she asked.

  “I suppose it doesn’t seem real yet. I mean, the pregnancy is very real, but being a father…that’s a bit more abstract. Besides, we can’t tell anyone.” He paused. “That probably doesn’t sound too good, but I’m just being honest. I know that when you start showing and we can tell the world that we’re expecting, everything will progress rapidly from there.”

  “Of course.” Still, she felt a tiny bit disappointed because she couldn’t publicly celebrate her pregnancy, as Gwendolyn could. She hadn’t thought of things like godparents and nurseries and layettes. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t start considering those soon. She was simply looking forward to her baby more than the “stuff” that went with parenting.

  She had confidence that she would be a good mother. After all, she’d had wonderful role models in her own mother and grandmother. But she didn’t feel motherly yet. She felt as she always did—confident, relatively happy and excited about the future.

  The difference was, she realized suddenly, that the future had always been hers alone. Decisions she made. Events that happened to her. Now she would be responsible for another life. And if she and Travis stayed married, the future would be vastly more complicated with his goals and dreams, likes and dislikes, general health and personality traits.

  “I’m sorry, Jodie. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  She jerked her gaze up from staring at the pattern in the black, brown and white granite. “No, that’s okay. I was just thinking. You’re right. Having a baby means adjusting our thinking, not just our lives.”

  He came up to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. He felt so good and warm, so solid and stable. She leaned into him. For just a moment. Not that she needed a man to lean on, she told herself as she closed her eyes and sighed.

  “You’re exhausted,” he whispered against her hair.

  “Yes.” Travis smelled so good. Whatever fragrance he wore smelled different on him than on anyone else. Not only had he been blessed with fantastic good looks and a great physique, but he’d also been given terrific body chemistry.

  “We could go to bed. We don’t have to do anything. You could sleep beside me.”

  “Hmm,” she murmured, not believing for a moment that they could lie beside each other all night and not do something. She didn’t want to make love again until she was sure they could recapture the magic they’d shared when they’d made this baby. Travis was too considerate a lover to ignore the fact she was tired and just a tiny bit maudlin.

  “It might be better if I got a good night’s sleep tonight. I have an upset stomach from the rich food.”

  Travis sighed and kissed her forehead. “I understand.”

  “We can sleep together tomorrow night,” she offered.

  “Jodie, really, I understand. You need your rest, especially after what you said about your trip. No wonder you’re exhausted.”

  “I’ll be fine in the morning.”

  “Still, you need to take care of yourself.”

  Jodie took a deep breath. “Good night, Travis.”

  “THEY’RE HERE!”

  Travis inwardly groaned, but he didn’t let his displeasure show. Jodie certainly wouldn’t appreciate his thoughts about the people who populated her world. “Thanks for the info, Thelma. We’ll see you around.”

  He hung up the phone and turned to his wife, who was sitting at the breakfast bar, sipping orange juice. “What did Thelma want?”

  “To let us know the reporters are in town, hoping for an interview with you. With us.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s to be expected. I talked to a few of the print journalists I know in California and posed for a few photos for them. I imagine the ones who showed up here are the second tier and the bottom feeders. They’re probably looking for some sensational story.” She paused and looked up at him. “No one in town has any sensational stories about you, do they?”

  Travis chuckled at the idea of someone digging up dirt on him. “I don’t think they’ll hear anything derogatory about me.” Even if they talked to his parents, they wouldn’t dig up any “dirt.” His family was dysfunctional, not cr
iminal.

  “Oh, good.”

  “Why? Would you have decided I wasn’t a good candidate for husband and father?”

  “Probably not, unless the stories were bad enough and they were true.”

  “How would you know?” he asked, getting more irritated by the minute. She thought she should have checked him out better?

  “If you’d done anything illegal and been convicted, I could have found out,” she answered defensively.

  “Why didn’t you just call a private investigator?”

  She slammed her empty glass down on the bar. “Maybe I just didn’t have time!”

  “You should have taken time if you were worried about your future husband and the father of your child. Come to think of it, maybe you should have checked me out before you slept with me.”

  “Travis! How can you say such a thing?”

  “I don’t know, Jodie. Maybe because you’re the one who brought up the subject of asking around town about my character.”

  “I’ve hurt your feelings.”

  “No, you’ve…Well, never mind. I’m angry that you even thought I could be hiding something reprehensible. That you thought I might be a criminal or just a low-life with secrets to hide.”

  “I didn’t think that about you!”

  “No? Then why did you say that you should have asked around? If you trusted me, you wouldn’t say such a thing.”

  “I don’t know why I said that. I do know that I don’t think of you that way, but you are somewhat of a mystery. Your own parents didn’t come to our wedding. You didn’t grow up here, although you have friends you’ve known for a long time. You haven’t told me much of your past, so that makes me wonder why.” She took a deep breath, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I trust you, Travis, but I don’t know you very well.”

  He turned away from the breakfast bar and cursed. Dammit, she had a point. They didn’t know each other well. Looking back on last month, it seemed as though they’d talked a lot. But since she’d arrived in Ranger Springs, they hadn’t discussed their pasts as much as their future.

  “Look, I don’t have any big secrets. Hell, I don’t even have any little secrets! I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have about my past.”

  “Can’t we just talk about our childhoods? Our college years or whatever? I don’t want to interrogate you and I don’t particularly want you to question me on specifics. That’s not what married couples do, is it?”

  He thought back to his own marriage. They hadn’t interrogated each other—they hadn’t been interested enough to even think of it. “No, I suppose not, although I don’t have a lot of good references for what married couples normally do.”

  “If you don’t have good memories or good role models in your parents, for heaven’s sake, think about Hank and Gwendolyn. Ethan and Robin. Charlene Jack’s daughters and their husbands. Surely they would be better examples.”

  “Yes, they would, but I try not to imagine my friends in such intimate situations in their married lives.”

  “Really? Because I have to tell you, girls think about those things all the time.”

  He stood there and stared at her, his anger gone as he imagined Jodie and her friends gossiping and speculating. The image seemed so…ordinary. So non-glamorous, non-supermodel, non-celebrity.

  “I think your observation proves the point that men and women are entirely different.”

  “Well, duh!”

  Travis laughed at her cocky comeback. “Okay, I understand. We’ll talk. We’ll communicate. Isn’t that the proper term?”

  “I don’t know about proper, but it sounds like a good idea to me.”

  “Which brings me back to the point of the reporters in town. What should we do about them? I suppose ignoring them until they go away isn’t going to work.”

  “No, it won’t. The smartest thing is to let them know when we’re going to be available. Provide them with a photo opportunity in town, or at the ranch if you’d like.”

  “No, I wouldn’t like that.”

  “Then we’d better give them some photos soon or they’ll be here ringing your front doorbell until the law runs them off.”

  “As much as I’m not looking forward to this, we’ll set up some interviews or photo ops or whatever you think is best. If I need to, I’ll hire some security to keep the reporters off the ranch. I don’t want them out here bothering us. We have enough to deal with right now without having Peeping Toms running around.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. I think I’ll have Neil fly out tomorrow to take care of some of these details.”

  “Whatever you think is best.”

  “In the meantime, don’t talk to them, even if they approach you. Just tell them you have no comment at this time. They’ll keep bugging you, but by then we’ll have our plan in place.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He paused and watched Jodie sitting here in his kitchen, sunshine from the skylight gilding her hair. “While these reporters have us in hiding, what should we do?”

  A spark of interest—did he dare hope sexual excitement?—flared in Jodie’s eyes. Then she said a bit breathlessly, “I guess we should do what we’ve been talking about—get to know each other.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jodie called Neil in Los Angeles, then Thelma at the Springs Gazette office. The older lady swore she didn’t mind coordinating a photo session and interview for Travis and Jodie tomorrow at the gazebo in the town square. Fortunately the weather was warm for the third week of February, so they could get some sunny, outdoor shots.

  “I called Gray Phillips, who had some security contacts,” Travis informed her. “I’ve arranged for two guards to watch the entrance to the property if we need them. I also called Ethan Parker to alert him to what I’d done, just in case he gets a call.”

  “Good idea. I’m sure there won’t be a problem, but it’s nice you’re being careful.”

  “Thanks,” he said, looking a little surprised that she’d complimented him. She supposed she hadn’t done enough of that since they’d gotten married, but it was one step in her goal of becoming a good wife.

  She needed to be good after she’d messed up earlier. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but she’d really insulted Travis when she’d questioned his background. She had to be more careful, not only in what she said, but in what she thought about her new husband. She knew he was an honorable man—she shouldn’t have wondered out loud if he had any skeletons in his closet. After all, they were already married.

  “Neil will be here later tonight. He can answer any background questions the reporters might have.”

  “Is he staying with us?” Travis asked with a little trepidation.

  Jodie chuckled. “No, he’s booked into the Robin’s Nest B and B in the cowboy room again.”

  “I’ll bet he just loves that,” Travis remarked with dry wit.

  “Now don’t be that way. Just because Neil is the man least likely to ever be a cowboy is no reason to tease.”

  “I’m not teasing.”

  Jodie carried her coffee cup into the kitchen. “What do you want to do today?” she asked carefully.

  “I have a few chores, then I’m available for whatever you’d like.”

  “We could take a drive. I’d like to see more of the area.”

  “We’d almost have to go out of town. The reporters might find us.”

  “That’s true. How about San Antonio or Austin? They aren’t too far and I’ve never had a chance to visit there before.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s go to San Antonio. We can have lunch on the Riverwalk.”

  “Okay. I’ll dress down so no one will recognize me, not that it’s usually a problem. Is casual okay?”

  “Perfect. You can wear jeans almost anywhere along the Riverwalk.”

  “Okay then, I’ll be ready whenever you are.”

  She turned to leave, but Travis gently tugged on her arm. “What?”

  “This will give us more time
to talk. I really don’t have any secrets to hide, Jodie. I just haven’t had that much of a memorable life.”

  “I’ll bet you’re wrong.”

  “I enjoy leading a very uneventful life. I’m not much for highs and lows.”

  “That’s what makes life interesting.”

  “See, that’s one way we’re different. But I’m beginning to think that differences can make a relationship more interesting.”

  Jodie smiled slowly. “Good. I like that.”

  He smiled in reply, then leaned closer. “I’ll see you soon.” Then he kissed her, quickly but thoroughly, making her head swim. He turned away and walked toward the back door, as though he kissed her every time they parted. As though this were one of those little rituals married couples performed and expected.

  Now that was something she could get used to.

  THEY LUNCHED OUTDOORS at the Little Rhein Steak-house, which overlooked a bend in the river that wound through San Antonio. Tourists and some downtown workers strolled along the flat, worn rock walkways that went right up to the water. Travis had always liked San Antonio, but the city was too large to make his residence. He truly wanted small-town life and Ranger Springs was perfect because he could visit two larger cities with a short drive.

  “You know what I need? A latte. Ranger Springs needs a Starbucks,” Jodie announced after finishing her meal.

  “I don’t see that happening in the near future.”

  “I suppose I could buy an espresso machine and learn how to use it.”

  “We could do that. In the meantime,” he asked, “would you like to have some coffee here and talk? I’ll tell you anything you’d like to know.”

  “Sure. That sounds good.”

  He motioned the waiter over, gave their orders and turned back to Jodie. “For someone who’s concerned about how much we don’t know about each other, you’re not very pushy.”

  “Pushing you into talking isn’t my goal. Having a conversation is.”

  “Hmm, I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “Didn’t you and your first wife talk?”

  “Not very much. Not in depth. She talked a lot. I listened. She wasn’t very interested in my background once she realized my mother wasn’t going to be available to impress her friends.”