But now…now I wasn’t so sure. All night, every time I thought I’d convinced myself that what happened between Travis and I was just for show, I would remember the intimacy of his kiss. The way he held my face with such sweet tenderness. The way his lips brushed mine with a restrained hunger. That had to be real.
“No.” I shook my head and repeated, “It was just a kiss. Nothing more.”
“Make the next right in one mile onto Willow Lane.” An Australian voice sounded in my car.
“Thanks, Amelia.” I named my navigation system Amelia after I chose the Aussie accent because I was told once that it was a common name Down Under.
As I turned onto Willow Lane I tried to push all thoughts of Travis and his obsession-inducing lips out of my mind. I had work to do. I was doing a walk-through of the house we were leasing for the girls to stay in. I needed to have my head on straight. If I missed something like a broken light switch or a scuffed wall then Spotlight could be held responsible for the damage.
“You have arrived at your destination.” Amelia informed me as I reached the large white farmhouse with a wraparound porch, blue shutters and flowerbeds on the front windows. “Your destination is on the right.”
I would never admit this to anyone else, but part of the reason that I’d chosen this property was because it reminded me of the house that Noah builds in The Notebook, which was my all-time favorite movie. It was also over three thousand square feet with six bedrooms and four bathrooms, which didn’t hurt. But there were other properties that checked off those items as well. I’d chosen this one because when I looked at it, I just knew it was built for true love.
I pulled into the driveway, expecting to see the property manager’s Altima, but instead there was a beat-up blue Ford pickup truck. After parking I pulled up the planner on my phone to confirm that I had the correct time.
Getting out of the car, I placed my hand over my eyes as the rays of sunlight caused me to squint. It was five in the evening, but the heat was no less punishing than mid-day. I saw a door open on the side of the house, but the figure walking towards me was lit from behind. I could tell that it was a female, but couldn’t make out more than that.
“Hi, I’m Mia.” I waved. “I’m here to meet Jan.”
“Actually, I’m going to be doing the walk-through,” the woman explained as she got closer.
When the light was no longer causing her to be cast in a shadow I saw that it was the beautiful blonde in the red dress I’d seen Colton talking to.
Score. I wanted to do a little victory dance, but I refrained.
I had it on my to-do list to find Isabella Conner and feel her out to see if she would be interested in being a contestant. We had our twelve, but for her I would expand the roster.
She held out her hand. “I’m Bella.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I shook her hand, barely restraining my elation, and that’s when I noticed something sparkling on her left hand. Like a popped balloon, all of my excitement deflated. “Oh, you’re married.”
“Um…what?” Her tone grew suspicious and she dropped her right hand back down to her side.
“Sorry!” I rushed out, “I saw you talking to Colton McCord at his sister’s wedding reception and you two looked…” She was married, I couldn’t tell her that they looked like they had had more chemistry than Brad and Angelina in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. “You looked like you two got along. I was going to ask you if you were interested in being on Colton’s new show, Claiming Colton. But obviously I didn’t know…” I gestured to her hand.
She let out a forced laugh. “I’m not interested in Claiming Colton.”
The way she said it indicated that either she thought the name of the show was the dumbest in history or they had history that she had no inclination to revisit.
“Okay, great!” I knew that I sounded a little too enthusiastic in my agreement, but I tended to do that in awkward situations. I smiled too big, acted too excited, and my voice went from alto to soprano. “Are you working with Jan?”
“Jan is my property manager. She’s been taking care of things for me down here.”
Oh no. Please don’t let this be…
Bella motioned behind her. “This is my house. Well, my grandpa’s house, but he left it to me.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
And mine.
I hadn’t signed the lease yet and I had a sneaking suspicion the same deal wouldn’t be on the table.
“Thank you, but it was years ago.” She brushed off the condolence, though I could still see the pain in her eyes. Then she took in a deep breath and inclined her head towards the front path. “Are you ready to look around?”
“Oh, you’re still interested in renting the house?”
“If the financial terms are the same as you outlined with Jan, then yes.” She nodded with a friendly smile.
I wanted this deal to happen, I did, but I felt like I needed to be upfront about the project. One, because it was the right thing to do. But also because the last thing I needed was the owner being unhappy with the production and badmouthing it around town.
“I just want to be clear that Spotlight is leasing this house for the contestants on Colton’s show to live in during taping.”
Her smile didn’t drop, but it did tighten. “I know. I’ll be staying in the back house. The main house will be all yours. I won’t be in the way.”
“Oh no, I didn’t say that because I thought…I just wanted you to be up to speed before making a decision.”
“I am.” She nodded once with determination. “Are you ready to do the walk-through?”
“Yes, absolutely.” I grabbed my purse and pulled out my phone.
Tad had suggested that I tape the walk through, that way I would have proof of the condition before we took up residency.
As we walked up the brick pathway to the front door I asked, “So, will your husband be staying here, too?”
“No.” Bella harshly replied before softening her tone, “It’s just me.”
“Oh, okay.” I tried not to act like I’d noticed her change in demeanor.
I got the very real impression that there was a story there, but I knew it was none of my business. And with the mess my personal life was in right now I definitely didn’t need to be sticking my nose in anyone else’s. But, that didn’t stop me from wondering what could’ve caused her reaction, and what exactly her relationship with Colton was. Which made me think that maybe I would ask Travis when I saw him, and then we were right back at just how messed up my personal life was.
It seemed since I walked into that reception hall, any and all thoughts were roads that led to one destination: Travis Briggs. I just needed to figure out how to make a detour so that I didn’t crash and burn when the highway ran out, which it would. I had to face the fact that he wasn’t the road to my happily ever after.
Chapter 12
Travis
“She could make a preacher cuss.”
~ Walker Briggs
That kiss. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I fell asleep thinking about it, woke up thinking about it and had spent the entire day thinking about it.
It was perfect. Except for the part where Mia thought it was for Tad’s benefit. Other than that it was perfect.
Blinking my eyes, I did my best to concentrate on the inventory spreadsheets on my computer screen. All of the numbers and letters looked like there were halos around them, they were completely out of focus.
The floor creaked as I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyelids with my forefinger and thumb, hoping that they wouldn’t be as blurry when I opened them again. Sitting up, I lifted my gaze back to the computer and the words were still fuzzy.
I hoped that my vision problems were due to the fact that I hadn’t been sleeping well and I’d been pulling double duty covering for Trace at Circle M and not the fact that I’m closing in on thirty.
Thirty.
I was still a few years off of that
number, but it was definitely in sight. When I was in high school thirty seemed so old. Freshman year we wrote a paper on where we saw ourselves in five, ten and fifteen years. I wrote that by the time I was thirty I’d be married with at least two kids. When I wrote that, it seemed so far way. Now, at twenty-seven it seemed like it was right around the corner.
Looking back at it now, I’d achieved every other milestone on my list. I graduated college. Owned my home. Worked on our family land. But marriage…I’d never been in any serious relationships. I knew I wanted to be a husband and have a family, but the closer I got to where I’d projected I’d be at this time in my life, the farther out of reach it seemed.
Until I saw Mia James. That was a game changer. Not only did the wife, picket fence, two kids and a dog seem within reach, it felt like it was inevitable. Like it was my destiny. All this time that I’d imagined what it would be like to get married and settle down, my wife had been an abstract concept. My future was foggy but now the mist had lifted and I was seeing things as clear as day.
I wanted a future with Mia. And I had no idea what to do about that.
In frustration, I reclined in my chair, ran my hands through my hair and closed my eyes.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” A demanding voice interrupted my time of reflection.
“What do you want Harmony?” I asked, not bothering to open my eyes.
“To start, I want you to answer your phone when I call so I don’t have to come and hunt you down.”
Okay. Sitting up, I turned my attention to one very irritated little sister sitting in a chair on the other side of my desk. “Hunt me down? Really? I’m in my office.”
“Now you’re in your office. Earlier you weren’t. I checked your house, here, mom and dad’s house, the silos, the stables, and the back fields. When I didn’t find you at any of those places, I went to Circle M and did a sweep and guess what, you weren’t there either. I’ve wasted hours hunting you down.”
“Okay. Fine.” I actually did feel kind of bad that my sister had gone on a wild goose chase just because I hadn’t felt like talking to anyone. “What do you need?”
“Who is this Mia chick and why does the entire town of Wishing Well know you have a girlfriend and I’m just finding out?
I sighed, heavily. “Harmony, listen—”
“Don’t Harmony listen me!” She cut me off. “Ever since Trace’s wedding people have been asking me who she is, how you met, how long you’ve been together. My phone has been blowing up with girls you “dated.” There is quite a trail of broken hearts that you’ve left in your wake.
“I thought it was just the usual gossip. I figured you probably hooked up with Mia and everyone jumped to conclusions, like they always do.”
She scooted up on the office chair so her hands were on the desk. “That theory started getting cracks in it yesterday when I dropped by The Flower Pot to thank Delilah for the beautiful job she did on the bouquets for the wedding and she said that you came in and bought flowers the day after the wedding and you were grinning like a fool. I blew it off as circumstantial. Maybe you were just in a good mood.
“Then I went to The Sweet Spot to visit Destiny, and Grandma Dixie said that she’d just met Mia who was a lovely girl and had confirmed that yes, she was in fact your girlfriend. Still, I wasn’t convinced. There have been plenty of girls that tried to claim that title.
“But the most damning evidence came when I stopped by the Spoon and Tami Lynn said that you,” Harmony pointed her finger in accusation across the desk, “Travis Briggs introduced Mia as your girlfriend to her. At which time Jade Sullivan said that you’d said the same thing to her at the wedding. With two reliable first person accounts, I thought, okay he has a girlfriend he hasn’t told me about. Since this is technically your first girlfriend, I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you didn’t know it was bad form not to tell your only sister before half the town knows.
“But then, I stopped by Mama’s and she told me that you introduced her to Mia, as your girlfriend at the wedding. Which, I had come to terms with not knowing about. But—and this was the real clincher—I found fried chicken in the fridge. When I asked why Mama had made her famous fried chicken since daddy’s birthday wasn’t for months, she said that you told her you needed it because you’d met the woman you were going to marrrrrryyyyyy,” Harmony emphasized the word dramatically.
“Was there a question in there somewhere?” I asked innocently just to push her buttons. “I lost track during your babbling.”
Without missing a beat, she grabbed a folder and threw it at my face, I managed to dodge it and it hit the wall behind me before crashing to the ground. “This isn’t funny. How can you have a girlfriend that you’re going to marry and I don’t know about it?”
That was when I saw that she was actually hurt. Trace and I were the closest in age to Harmony and growing up she’d tagged along with us everywhere we went. If we built a tree house, she was in it explaining that the no girls allowed rule didn’t apply to her because she was a sister, not a girl. When we skipped rocks, hers always went the farthest. When we had a paper route, she got up at four a.m. and was on her bike delivering them with us. If we had a burping contest, she won because she could do the entire alphabet in one belch.
She always kept up with us, but even more than that, we were really close. We had the same sense of humor, liked the same movies and video games, and the same sensibility when it came to honesty. Our own personal moral compasses. Neither of us had a problem with lying if it was harmless or served a greater good. But we’d never hurt anyone or betray a trust.
I realized as I looked across at her that on some subconscious level, I’d been ignoring her calls on purpose. I had no problem telling anyone, including my parents, that Mia and I were a couple. But lying—even if it was a harmless white lie—to Harmony felt wrong.
I trusted my sister, and she trusted me. If she knew everyone had to think that Mia and I were a couple, she’d play along. Plus, I wanted to talk to someone about how complicated this situation had gotten and she knew me better than practically anyone. And as annoying and opinionated as my sister was, she actually did have great insights, which might have something to do with that Master’s in psychology she was working on.
But, the last thing I needed was for someone to overhear. “Close the door.”
“You close the door,” she snapped back.
We might technically be adults, but whenever you got two or more of us together we inevitably ended up sounding like children.
“Do you want to know what’s going on or not?”
“Fine,” she deadpanned before reaching back behind her and giving the door a good shove, causing it to slam.
Us Briggs kids were nothing if not mature.
She didn’t flinch at the sound, instead she crossed her arms and leveled me with a stare. “I’m waiting.”
After taking a deep breath, I started talking and I told her everything. From the first time I saw Mia, overhearing her conversation in the storeroom, offering my “services” in exchange for massages and dinners, mom walking in, bringing her flowers, going to lunch with Tad, the PT session, and the kiss.
For once in our lives, Harmony actually remained quiet and didn’t interrupt me. When I finished, a slow smile spread on her face. “I like her.”
“You like her. I tell you all that and that’s what you have to say?” I mean I was glad she liked her, I just wished she had some advice. Some guidance on how to navigate through this “fake” relationship I was in.
“Yep.” Harmony popped the p at the end of the word. “For as long as I can remember, girls have fallen all over themselves to get your attention. You’ve never had to work for it, and this girl…” She smiled wider in amusement. “This girl is making you work.”
Ignoring her observation, I got right to the heart of the issue. “What do you think I should do? I really like this girl.”
“I know! That’s what’s go
ing to make this so much fun to watch.”
“Thanks. I’m so glad I can entertain you.”
“Oh stop pouting. No one feels sorry for you. If you like her, really like her, show her. From what you’ve said all you’ve done is keep up your end of your agreement. She’s special right? Well, what have you done to show her that’s how you feel?” My wise sister stood and started out the door, pausing before she left she added, “This girl, this situation, is a challenge, but when have you ever backed down from a challenge?”
“True.” Historically, challenges did bring out the best in me and the bigger the reward the better I performed.
I had a feeling this reward was going to be the biggest of my entire life.
Chapter 13
Mia
“There’s no place around the campfire for a quitter’s blanket.”
~ Walker Briggs
I’d finally hit my wall. My Travis-powered energy had finally run its course. After three straight sleepless nights, I was officially exhausted.
My arms were heavy as I laid out a privacy towel and set the massage oil beside the bed. I knew that I needed to rally. In a few minutes Travis would be here and, unlike the night before, I was going to do this the right way. No more half-assing. I’d cut corners from the full massage experience because I’d been a big fat chicken. I’d told myself that I was going to focus on his upper body since I’d put him through a PT session, but that was just an excuse, the truth was I was scared.
It’s just a massage. I told myself it was no big deal. I’ve worked on a lot of people. Some I’ve liked and some not so much.
An hour ago I was working on Alexandria. She and Tad returned from picking up the camera package and her lower back was hurting from the long car ride. She’d texted to say that her back was hurting and asked if I had time. When I opened the door she was wearing only a robe. By the time I closed the door it was on the ground.
Taming Travis (Wishing Well, Texas Book 4) Page 9