by Mary Leo
The kids continued to make a fuss over Travis, hanging all over him and roughhousing him as best they could, with what looked like the oldest of them swiping his hat and placing it on his own head. Travis seemed to love all the attention, and gave it right back to them, grabbing the smallest girl and flinging her up on his shoulders. She giggled with delight as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Nick cut a path through the throng as an attractive woman in her fifties, Bella guessed, walked out on the porch and stood next to her dad and whispered something in his ear. He chuckled, then they turned away from everyone and went inside. Bella had never seen her before. She was about as tall as her dad, with dark shoulder-length hair, and a pretty, feminine face, as if she was once a model in her youth. She wore trendy clothes, a bit too trendy for Briggs, and seemed to carry herself with all the confidence of royalty. Bella attempted to follow them inside, but the older woman who had offered the cider curtailed Bella’s movements.
“I’m Edith, Dodge’s wife,” the woman said over the squeals of laughter. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. And that woman with your dad is Audrey. I’m sure he’ll introduce you later, but right now let’s get you inside where it’s warm.”
Too many names and references were coming at Bella at once, especially the part about “that woman with your dad.” Bella had no idea what Edith was referring to. Her dad wasn’t dating anyone. At least he hadn’t mentioned it.
“Thanks,” Bella told her as she stepped to one side of the barking dogs and squealing children. She loved watching Travis interact with kids. He obviously understood them and enjoyed their company. She knew one day he’d make a fabulous daddy. Unlike Bella who never really thought about having children of her own. Ever since she started climbing the corporate ladder, children didn’t seem to have a place in her world.
“Hot cider would be perfect,” Bella told Edith, while thinking how agreeing to this dinner was possibly the biggest mistake she’d made since she arrived in Briggs. Already she felt the tug of family, and home and Christmas pulling at her heart. And it didn’t help that everyone was so friendly, and the house not only felt comfortable, but it hadn’t changed much since the last time she’d seen it, only a day before she and her mom had driven away from everything she’d known and loved.
Once inside, Travis helped her out of her coat. She felt his fingers brush the back of her neck, and goose bumps instantly prickled her skin. The attraction she felt toward Travis was growing by leaps and bounds and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it or pretend she had her emotions under control, the man was once again taking hold of her heart and this time she might not be able to make him let go.
* * *
THE EVENING HAD gone exactly as Travis had hoped it would and by the time the pies were served, Bella seemed more relaxed than he’d ever seen her. She looked stunning with her hair pulled back off her face. Her eyes sparkled with each chuckle. He felt as if he was finally seeing the real Bella. He’d had a glimpse or two of this relaxed behavior while they were skating, but nothing this prolonged. It only made his longing for her more intense.
He was hoping this dinner, being part of his family, might be the tipping point she needed to cause her to reconsider selling the inn and maybe staying for a while, at least until Christmas.
“Do you remember when you and Travis decorated that there little pine tree out back?” Dodge asked Bella after he mixed cream into his mug of coffee.
Bella smiled and nodded. “We swiped all the ornaments off your tree in the living room and decorated our tree. I remember thinking how sad it looked compared to all the big trees out back, like it didn’t belong. We decided the ornaments might make it feel happy.”
“Don’t forget the lights,” Travis added. “We took those, too, and the garland, and the tree skirt and everything else we could find including some presents. We ran every extension cord we could find out the back door to that little tree. It lit up like a beacon.”
“I’d just seen Charlie Brown Christmas and the tree out back looked exactly like his tree.”
Edith busied herself with slicing the homemade pies and plating them: cherry, apple, pumpkin and pecan, which just happened to be Travis’s favorite. A half-gallon container of Moo’s vanilla-bean ice cream sat on the table next to the pies, along with a bowl of freshly whipped cream. Audrey helped serve the pies as Bella seemed to be watching her every move.
Travis had the feeling Bella wasn’t too fond of Audrey and wanted to know more about her, but if he knew Nick, he wasn’t talking. Nick was the kind of guy who kept his private life close to the vest, and any information about Audrey, he kept even closer. Travis had known Nick was courting a woman in Jackson for several years, but this was only the second time he’d met her. The first time was a few months ago at the annual fair, and that was just in passing. Inviting her to a family dinner at the Grangers meant the relationship had taken a serious turn. Only thing was, Nick might be moving to Florida in a few days. How was that going to work?
“That was the year Mom insisted we open some of our presents outside in the snow on Christmas Eve,” Colt said.
“Sounds cold,” Blake’s wife, Maggie, said as she scooped out ice cream for the kids who didn’t want pie.
“It was, but Mom kept us warm with hot chocolate and cider while Dad brought out lawn chairs and blankets to keep us comfy,” Blake explained, smiling at the memory.
“Dad and Blake cleared the snow away and made a bonfire,” Colt added. “One of their best, as I recall.”
Travis turned to Bella. “Mom had insisted that if we had gone to all the trouble of stripping down the living-room tree to decorate the one out back, then by golly, we were going to celebrate Christmas Eve out by that little tree.”
Audrey put down a large piece of pecan pie with an extra scoop of vanilla ice cream in front of Travis. He couldn’t wait to dig in. Edith’s pecan pie was just about the best pie he’d ever tasted.
“But all the trees out back are taller than this house,” Joey countered. “What happened to the little tree?”
“It grew up,” Bella said, with a touch of disdain to her voice. It was the first time all evening that Bella had snapped at anyone.
And just as she said it, Travis realized that back then—the very next day, on Christmas Eve, while his family was sitting outside in the cold enjoying Bella’s pretty tree, she and her mom were on the road, heading for Chicago. He glanced over at her and saw the tears in her eyes.
Travis reached out across the table, but she pulled away faster than a jackrabbit running down a hole. “Bella, I—”
“Can we have Christmas Eve outside in the snow this year?” Scout asked.
Bella stood. “It’s getting late and I have a lot to do in the morning. Thanks so much for inviting me, Dodge, Edith.”
Everyone immediately begged her to stay, but Bella was persistent. “Thanks, but I’m sorry, I can’t—” her voice hitched. She turned to Nick. “Dad?”
He looked over at her like a deer in the headlights until Colt came to his rescue.
“No need to rush off, Nick. I can drive you home later.”
Nick stood. “Thanks, but I best be leaving with my daughter.”
Bella stopped him. “You can stay, Dad. That’s fine. I just need to get going.”
“Are you sure?” Nick asked taking a few steps toward her.
“I can take him back to the inn. I have to drive that way anyway to get back to Jackson,” Audrey said.
“That’s so kind of you, Audrey,” Bella said, a little too politely, as if she was trying too hard.
“But Bella was going to teach me how to hurl a snowball and make a direct hit,” Gavin said loud enough so Bella could hear him.
She turned to him. “Some other time, Gavin. I’m sorry.”
Bella continued her rush to the
front door, grabbed her coat and walked out with Travis trailing right behind her.
Chapter Seven
Bella was off the porch and high-tailing it to her truck so quickly that Travis could barely keep up with her.
“Bella, wait,” he called but she kept right on walking, the snow crunching under her feet.
The woman was relentless once she made up her mind to do something. She left him no choice so he did the only thing he could think of to get her attention: he threw a wet snowball at her. It made contact with her sweet butt as he took pride in his aim.
“Yes!”
She jumped and turned around, staring as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. This could go either way. He waited, breathing hard as snow began to fall.
“Do you even know how much you hurt me?” She yelled it as if she was well and truly riled, not to mention losing control.
“It was a snowball, not a rock,” he yelled back as he moved toward her. “But I’m sorry if it hurt.”
She didn’t move. He could see raw emotion brewing on her face and wondered what the heck was upsetting her to the brink of tears. He felt helpless, as if she had built up a fortress around her and nothing and no one could ever break through.
“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked him.
“I know it’s not the smack on the butt with a snowball, but other than that, no. I don’t get why you’re so upset. Maybe if you gave me a clue.”
“You can’t be that naive.”
He now stood right in front of her and could see the emotion burning on her face. Again he reached out for her, and again she pulled away.
“Come on, Bella. I’m a guy. It comes with the DNA.”
“You’re a Granger.”
“Yeah, and...?”
“Didn’t you learn anything from your dad?”
“Apparently nothing that can help me out with understanding you.”
“You’re impossible!”
“Me? I’m a straight shooter. No misfires with this ole cowboy. Everything is out in the open. Nothing hidden in my barn but hay.”
He caught the smirk she tried to suppress. “And you expect me to believe you after all the games you’ve been playing since I arrived?”
“Games? Me? You’ve got me mistaken with some other cowboy.”
“I know that you and your family, along with my conniving dad, are all trying to get me to back down, to return to Chicago and leave my dad right here in Briggs running that money pit.”
“Nobody wants you to leave Briggs, Bella, especially not me.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
He rested his hands on her arms. He could feel her tremble through her coat. “Your dad’s given up. I won’t.”
“You gave up on me a long time ago.”
His voice got low. “I never gave up on you, Bella.”
“You broke my heart.”
“If I did, that was never my intention.”
“You should have written back to me. Answered my letters. Sent me an email. Found me on a search engine.”
Her eyes watered.
“You’re ripping your dad from his home because you’re angry at me over my social-media skills? This may come as a surprise to you, but I have better things to do with my time than sit in front of a computer all day.”
Anger flared on her face. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
She moved away from his grasp and immediately headed for her truck and got in. Just as she turned over the engine, Travis jumped into the passenger seat barely getting the door closed before she backed up and drove up the road.
Looking at her, and seeing how she was navigating the slippery road, he was glad his footing had been steady.
“Bella, you need to tell me what’s going on. You could always talk to me when we were kids. That was the one thing we both had, no matter what.”
“What’s going on between my dad and Audrey? He never mentioned her during any of his calls or emails.”
This was not the question Travis had expected, but he tried to answer it as best he could. “He doesn’t say much about her, but I think she’s his good friend.”
“They’re a lot more than friends.”
After tonight, Travis knew that was true, but he didn’t know the facts so he wasn’t about to spread assumptions.
“I never asked and Nick never told me anything other than the friend part. It’s none of my business.”
“Does she live in Briggs?”
“No. In Jackson.”
She quickly gazed at Travis, and he caught the concern on her face. “How long have they been dating?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were they dating when he was married to my mom?”
His breath hitched as he turned to face her. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“My dad spent a lot of time in Jackson when I was a kid.”
She momentarily drove off the road until she turned the wheel into the skid and got them back on course. Travis didn’t move or say a word as they were sliding, hoping like heck she knew how to right the situation. When she did, he was hugely grateful.
“That doesn’t mean he was cheating on your mom.”
“Maybe not, but it would explain a lot.”
“You’re jumping the fence without the horse.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
He turned to face her. Her features looked tight, and her chin was extended, a sure sign she was getting angry. He needed to calm her down, especially seeing as how she was driving...in the snow.
“It means your dad is a good man and I’d trust him with my life. A man like that would never cheat on anything or anyone, let alone on your mom. I’m sure this friendship he has with Audrey is something that happened long after your parents divorced.”
She didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and instead took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, as if she’d practiced the method several times before. Finally, as she drove out onto the main road that lead back to town she began talking.
“I work for an amazing company. I make more money than I ever thought possible. My apartment overlooks the lake and I have friends who are upwardly mobile like I am. Briggs is a small town that my mom was right to leave and although she left for some crazy reasons, she did what she thought she needed to do. In the long run, it was probably for the best.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Travis didn’t believe her.
“Then why did you get so emotional when my family brought up our little Christmas tree?”
“Because you never once wrote and told me that story. I would’ve loved to know that your family celebrated Christmas in front of our tree. Heck, I would’ve loved to know just about anything to do with you or your family. I missed you all so much.”
“I did write. Several times, but each time my letters were returned, unopened.”
“We moved a lot. Still, you should have kept trying.”
“I was thirteen years old. My attention span was about as good as a colt, always darting to the next adventure. I’m truly sorry.”
“Jaycee wrote and told me as soon as I left you started hanging out with the popular girls at school. My heart broke. You always said you didn’t like them, that you’d rather be with me, yet you turned right around and took up with them as soon as I left.”
“I was forced to do a project with two of them. Jaycee had it all wrong. She should have never told you that.”
“The other night at the bar, there you were with the same girls. Are you dating one of them?”
“I’m not dating anyone. Are you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have the time. What about you?”
“Just haven’t found the right girl.”
“According to my dad, my mother took me away because she was afraid I’d get pregnant with your baby and never accomplish anything with my life.”
“We were kids. It would never have gone that far.”
“Maybe not, but apparently she thought she was breaking some sort of cycle by leaving my dad and moving us to Chicago. I was born when my mom was only seventeen. Her own mother, my grandma, was pregnant at fifteen and married my grandpa to cover it up. That baby only lived for a few days. It had something wrong with its lungs. My gram didn’t get pregnant again until way later in her life. That’s when my mom was born.”
“So your mom left Briggs to protect you?”
“I guess so, but it still hurts that my dad didn’t fight harder for me.”
“Plus, I seemingly gave up on you.”
She nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry. I never gave up on you. Never. I should have worked harder at contacting you.”
“Yes, you should have.”
“I know that now, and I am sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“Would it help if I told you that it was hell not seeing you every day, especially after my mom passed? I needed you more than ever. I could talk to my dad and my brothers about it, but none of them were you. Your dad was the closest thing I had to you, so I gravitated to him hoping he’d call you while I was visiting and I’d get to talk to you. But he never called and after a while, I stopped hoping.”
It was the first time Travis had admitted that to anyone. He didn’t know how much more he should tell her. Still, he couldn’t stop himself. “Once my mom passed I never could understand why you weren’t closer to your dad. Sure he didn’t follow you and your mom to Chicago, but he was alive and living right here in Briggs. You could’ve seen him anytime you wanted to. Why didn’t you ever fly out for Christmas or for the summer? I never got that.”
“Because my mom wouldn’t let me.” The words came tumbling out as if a dam had broken and the flood of emotion couldn’t be held back any longer.