Coming Home to Texas

by Victoria Chancellor

  AT FIVE MINUTES PAST eleven the next morning, just as Jodie was imagining lunch in bed, followed by a deep-tissue massage, the room began to spin and she slid out of her chair onto the conference room floor.

  “Jodie! Oh, my God. What’s wrong?” Jamal asked as he knelt beside her.

  Strange how she could see him, but she didn’t have the strength to answer. Or to move. She just wanted to lie here on the conference room floor and watch the acoustic tile spin slowly overhead.

  “Don’t move her,” Mitch ordered. “We don’t know what’s wrong.”

  “I almost fainted,” she whispered.

  “What can we get for you, Jodie?” Jamal asked. “Do you want water?”

  I want to go home, she thought. I want to go to Travis. He’d know what to do. He’d pick her up and carry her to bed. He’d get a wet washcloth and put it over her eyes, and then he’d call Dr. Amy, who’d come out to the ranch and take care of her.

  “Call an ambulance,” Norm ordered.

  Now that got her attention. She didn’t want an ambulance. She didn’t want to go to the hospital.

  “No,” she whispered, then decided she wasn’t getting their attention. She focused all her energy and nearly shouted. “No ambulance. I’ll be fine.”

  “Do you have a doctor we can call? For heaven’s sake, Jodie, you’re scaring us to death.”

  She didn’t want to be around men who were scared. She wanted Travis. But he was a long way away. He’d left her because she wouldn’t let him take care of her, and now that she needed him, he was gone. Tears welled in her eyes as she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. “Call my mother,” she said. “Travis had to go back to Texas.”

  “You need to go to the hospital and get checked. It’s not normal to faint.”

  “It is when you’re pregnant,” she whispered, then realized what she’d said. She’d told them her secret, weeks before she’d planned.

  “You’re pregnant?” Jamal practically shouted.

  “Mmm-hmm,” she said. “Not very far along, but I’m going to have a baby. In the fall.”

  “This could change everything!” Norm exclaimed.

  “Jodie, are you sure?” Mitch asked.

  “I’m sure,” she said softly. “I’m going to have a baby. And I want my mother.” I really want my husband, but he left me. Instead of admitting that bit of information, she gave them her mother’s office number and her cell phone number.

  “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital?”

  “I’m sure. I think I just got hungry. I didn’t eat enough breakfast. And I’m tired.”

  “You need to take it easy,” Jamal stated.

  “Yes, I think I’ve heard that before,” she replied, smiling as she remembered the bossy way Travis had told her to slow down, to take it easy. She hadn’t taken his advice, and now she was lying on the conference room floor, scaring the heck out of three grown men.

  Too bad the female members of the team were working on the photos taken two days ago. They’d at least know to get her a wet towel and maybe some orange juice. Or even Neil, who could be a bit fussy but really cared about her. Of course, he couldn’t pick her up as Travis had done. No one was as strong and sure as her absent husband.

  By the time her mother arrived, Jodie was resting on the couch in Norm’s office, sipping orange juice. She looked up into the worried face and felt the tears well up again. This time she didn’t try to stop them.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” her mother asked, rushing in then kneeling beside the couch.

  “I’ve really screwed up this time,” Jodie said, reaching out and holding her mother tight. “And I want to go home. Home to Travis.”

  TRAVIS GOT A CALL on his cell phone while he, Hank and Greg Rafferty were sitting at Schultze’s Roadhouse at dinner. Greg’s wife, Carole, was attending one of those women-only parties for decorations or plastic bowls or something with Gwendolyn and a lot of other women in town. The two displaced husbands had joined Travis for the evening. Mostly they were talking about the joys of married life while he sipped his third beer and tried not to worry about Jodie.

  He looked at the number before answering, his heart racing as he noticed the Los Angeles area code. “Jodie?”

  “No, this is her mother.”

  “Mrs. Marsh. What’s wrong?”

  “Jodie had a fainting spell during one of her meetings today, just before noon. I think it was just a little low blood sugar. By the time she got to the doctor, she was back to normal.”

  He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his hair. The buzz he’d so carefully nursed for the past hour disappeared in a rush of adrenaline. I knew this was going to happen, he felt like shouting. The reality was far worse than he’d imagined. Especially now that he was over a thousand miles away, drinking beer with his friends while his wife lay in bed in California.

  “So she’s okay now? She didn’t hurt herself or…or anything?”

  “You mean, the baby? No, the baby is fine. Jodie’s okay now. She just felt a little faint. I don’t think she actually lost consciousness.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She’s at my house in Orange, but she wants to come home.”

  “Home to her condo?” he asked as his pulse pounded heavily against the cold metal of his phone.

  “No, she wants to come to Texas.”

  Travis closed his eyes and said a short prayer of thanks. “I’ll come and get her.”

  “Travis, there’s no reason for you to fly out here. She wants to come back to Ranger Springs as soon as possible.”

  “But she shouldn’t be alone.”

  “What’s wrong?” Hank asked.

  Travis tilted the phone away from his mouth. “It’s Jodie. She fainted and she wants to come home.”

  Hank and Greg exchanged a look, but Travis didn’t want to take the time to explain to them what he was talking to Jodie’s mother about.

  “How soon can she travel? What did the doctor say?”

  “Well, they’d rather she waited a while, but she’s pretty intent on leaving as soon as she can get a flight.”

  “She needs to be careful! I know I keep telling her that, but—” He paused and ran his hand through his hair again. “Wait a minute. How come she didn’t call me? Are you sure she’s okay?”

  “She’s sleeping. She said she didn’t sleep much last night after you left. After she had a meal she was tired, but as soon as she wakes up I know she’ll try to get a flight out.”

  “Travis, I think I have a solution,” Greg said.

  “Just a minute, Mrs. Marsh.” Travis put his hand over the mouthpiece. “What?”

  “Carole and I flew down on our family’s corporate jet. I can have it sent out to California for Jodie. That way she doesn’t have to worry about schedules, and she can rest comfortably on the flight.”

  “That sounds great, Greg. I hadn’t even thought about leasing a jet yet. My head is still swimming from the idea that she fainted. I knew she was pushing herself too hard, but I took the easy way out and left her in California.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it. You know how head-strong women are.”

  He removed his hand from the mouthpiece. “Mrs. Marsh, Greg Rafferty is sending the Huntington Foods’ jet to L.A. to get Jodie.” To bring her home. “I’m going to be on that plane.”

  “That’s good, Travis. She needs you.”

  “Did she say that?”

  “No, not exactly, but she said she wanted to go home to you. Jodie is very independent and it’s difficult for her to rely on anyone else.”

  “I know. Thank you for calling…and for taking care of her.”

  “It was my job first,” Mrs. Marsh said with a bit of amusement and irony in her voice.

  He ended the call after getting information about the closest airport and Mrs. Marsh’s address. Then he turned to his friends. “I’m going to get my wife.”

  “I’ll take care of things at the ranch,
” Hank said.

  “I’ll call for the jet to be ready,” Greg offered.

  “You two are the best. If we have a boy, I guess I’m going to have to name him after you two.”

  “What?” they both shouted in unison.

  “MAYBE I SHOULDN’T RUSH back to Texas,” Jodie said, hugging the pillow to her chest.

  “Too late,” her mother said. “I’ve already called your husband. He’s coming to get you in a private jet.”

  “What!” Jodie sat up straight and dropped the pillow.

  Her mother sank down on the bed. “Jodie, when you were feeling so bad, the one person you wanted—more than your mother, of course—was your husband. You said you wanted to go home to Texas. Now he’s coming to get you. Isn’t that what you really want?”

  “Oh, Mom, I’m just not sure.”

  Her mother pushed a strand of blond hair behind Jodie’s ear. “I think what you mean is that you’re afraid.”

  Jodie picked up the pillow again. “Okay, I’m afraid. But you don’t understand. When I met Travis, it was ‘bam,’ and we had this wonderful weekend, and then we both went back to our real worlds. And we didn’t fool each other. We promised we only wanted that weekend.”

  “But?” her mother prompted.

  “But I did think about him. A lot. Guys like Travis don’t come along every day. And then there was that fantastic chemistry.”

  “Please, don’t go into so much detail that you make your mother cringe.”

  Jodie managed a weak smile. “I really was going to honor our mutual agreement and not pursue a relationship.”

  “But then you discovered you were pregnant.”

  “I couldn’t very well be the ‘knocked-up girl next door,’ could I?”

  Her mother smiled. “No, you couldn’t.”

  “So I went to Texas and asked Travis to marry me.”

  Her mother settled more comfortably on the mattress. “Tell me, Jodie, did you think this marriage you proposed was permanent? Or was it only for the baby?”

  “Well, really, it was for my career.”

  “So you had no other reason?”

  “Mom, all I could think about was that contract I’d just signed. The morality clause I’d agreed to. If they knew I’d had unprotected sex with someone I’d just met—”

  Her mother held up her hand. “Please, this is your mother. Not so much detail.”

  “Geesh, how did you think I got pregnant?”

  “I’m trying not to think about it.” Her mother paused, then asked, “So, now that you’ve been married for a while, how do you feel about Travis?”

  Jodie leaned back against the headboard. “I love him, but—”

  “But what?”

  “He’s…difficult.”

  “Jodie, did I raise you to beat around the bush like this? What’s so difficult about loving your husband?”

  “He wants to surround me in a plastic bubble. I think he’d be happy if I’d stay home, lie around and eat organic food for the next seven months. It’s as if he’s scared that my regular life is dangerous. I do not lead a dangerous life!”

  “No, but you are very active and…well, sometimes you are a little too confident.”

  “How can I be too confident? Are you saying I’m reckless?”

  “No, but you’re a natural optimist. You think everything’s going to be fine. No problems. Don’t worry, be happy. That’s rather upsetting to someone who’s concerned about you—and the baby, of course. It’s especially hard if that person is in love with you.”

  “Travis never told me he’s in love with me. Before I came to him with our problem, he’d vowed to never marry.”

  “Then he must have feelings for you to change his mind.”

  “Maybe he just felt pushed into it. Maybe he wants the baby, but he doesn’t necessarily want a wife. Or at least he didn’t think he wanted one a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Obviously he changed his mind. And I don’t believe for a minute that he only wants the baby. You might not have noticed how that man looks at you, but believe me, he’s not thinking about babies.”

  “Okay, so he lusts after me. I already knew that.”

  “I’m not talking about lust, although I know that’s important, too. No, I think Travis is in love with you. He has all the symptoms.”

  “You make it sound like a communicable disease.”

  “Well, you’ve both caught it, haven’t you?”

  “I don’t know!” Jodie threw up her hands in frustration, dropping the pillow to her lap. “How can I be sure? What if I go to Texas and he’s just demanding that I give up my career? I’ve worked too hard for too long to sit around his house and eat bonbons for the next seven months.”

  “Did he ask you to quit work?”

  “Not exactly. But he doesn’t understand. If I don’t cooperate, if they have to redo the schedules or push back the launch date, I’ll cost them money and get a reputation as being difficult.”

  “Did they tell you this?”

  “No, they don’t have to. I know how this business works. They could drop me!”

  “Can you be replaced that easily?”

  “Well, I—I don’t know. Maybe. I’m not getting any younger.”

  “I don’t think they’ll find another Jodie Marsh. You’re unique, honey, and you’re only twenty-nine. You provide a very specific image they’re looking for—the average, ideal woman. Plus you have a reputation for being genuinely nice. Do you think they’ll push you aside if you have to juggle your schedule a little?”

  Jodie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I don’t know, Mom.”

  “Why don’t you talk to them? Ask them for a few days off, and go back to Texas. You know you want to. He was the one you wanted first. Go with him. See if he’s your destiny. You can always go back to your career.”

  “What if they don’t want me back? What if Travis isn’t right for me? I’ll be left with nothing.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. You’d still have yourself, and me and your sister. And others who love you. Soon you’ll have a baby, too.” Her mother paused and smoothed Jodie’s hair back from her forehead. “Do you want Travis because you’re afraid to be alone?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then what are you afraid of?”

  She started to say something like “I’m not afraid,” but she’d already admitted that she was afraid of his rejection, his…desertion.

  “I tried so hard to be independent. I practically pushed him away by focusing on my career, my schedule, my needs. But he didn’t go away until yesterday, when I pushed too hard.”

  “I think you have to ask yourself why it’s so important for you to be independent of your husband.”

  “You taught me to be independent! You always said that if a woman has her own education, career and money, she can make many more choices than someone who’s dependent on a man. And look at Chelsea! She flits from one man to another like a hungry sparrow.”

  “That’s not a very nice analogy,” her mother said.

  “Okay, I’m sorry, but you know what I mean. She’s not independent. She depends on men for everything.”

  “Yes, and I’m not advocating you become more like your sister. She makes her own choices and, granted, some of them aren’t very good. But Jodie, Travis isn’t just another man. He’s your husband. The father of your child.”

  “What about your husband, Mom? My father. He didn’t stick around. You couldn’t depend on him.”

  “No, I couldn’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t depend on Travis. That doesn’t mean you can’t love him as much as I wanted to love your father at one time. I never got that great love of my life, Jodie, but you can. As a matter of fact, I think everything you want is just within your reach.” She smoothed Jodie’s hair back again. “Don’t be afraid to go for what you want, baby. Travis isn’t like your father, and you’re not me. We all have to follow our own dreams. I think yours is more complicated, but that doesn
’t mean you can’t have everything you want.”

  “Do you think?” Jodie asked in a small voice that she could barely coax past her tight throat.

  “Yes, I think so,” he mother said, smiling in that all-knowing way that Jodie had depended on all her life.

  She didn’t have a father to love, but she had an extraordinary mother. She had a wonderful role model. Now she needed to go beyond what her mother had shown her by example. She needed to reach out to the man she’d fallen in love with.

  But, oh, the idea was so frightening. Could they com-promise on her career and make a future together? Or, like her mother, was she destined to be a single mom, a woman without the love of her life?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Travis couldn’t wait for the jet to touch down at the private airport just miles from Orange, where Jodie’s mother lived. As soon as the steps were unfolded, he paced to the door, said a quick thanks to the pilot and hit the pavement. If his rental car was waiting as he’d arranged, he would see her in less than a half hour.

  His heart pounded as though he’d run all the way from Texas. So much depended on what he said and did. He wanted to convince her to slow down, but he also needed to listen to her…if only she’d talk to him. If only she’d tell him why her career was so important that she’d risked her health.

  I’m a man on a mission, he told himself as he strode through the night toward the well-lit terminal. A mission to make my wife love me. Minutes later, he was behind the wheel of a new Lincoln, his map to Jodie’s mother’s house spread out beside him on the seat. He fought the darkness and the traffic, negotiating the streets to find the right turnoff. At last he located her street, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the pale yellow bungalow with yucca plants and various flowers planted along the concrete walk from the narrow driveway, just as it had been described to him. The porch lights and outdoor lighting made the house easy to see in the unfamiliar neighborhood.

  Behind the sheer curtains, he saw someone pacing. Jodie or her mother? He couldn’t tell from this angle on the drive. All he knew was that he needed to be inside that house, bringing his wife home to Texas.