by Jill Sanders
He thought of his mother and his stomach turned. Did she even have a little voice inside? He hadn’t talked to her or seen her since that night four years ago when the sheriff had cuffed her and put her into the back of his car. She’d screamed her confession loud enough for him to hear it as he’d watched.
He looked around and realized he’d walked to the new park. The new playground stood in the bright lights for the safety of any kids or teenagers who wanted to hang out after dark. He walked over and sat on the swing, pushing it a little as he remembered his mother. Did she know that his dad had died? He was sure someone would have told her at the facility she was in. She’d been moved to a state run place less than an hour away. He must have driven by the place a thousand times when he’d gone into Houston to party.
She’d gotten off easy for what she’d done. Guilty of attempted murder and all she’d received was twenty years in a psych ward. He leaned his head on the cool chain and wished more than anything that his father was there to guide him.
His dad had always known what to do. He opened his eyes and looked around the park. Maybe this was his father’s way of telling him what to do with his future.
He loved designing and overseeing construction. All he would need was another year or two at school and he could earn his degree. Maybe he’d find someplace to start a business then. Maybe he’d build and design new homes. He liked knowing that families would enjoy the spaces he created.
He stood up from the swing and looked around the dark park and smiled. He’d include parks and old theaters in his work list. He’d enjoyed seeing the old place come together and couldn’t wait until all the work was finished, making the theater what it used to be. No, better than it used to be.
He started walking back to his house and this time as he went, he noticed the homes and business he passed as he went. Some of them had been updated, others were in dire need of repair or replacement. He knew that some of the towns people had abandoned their homes after the tornado. Some had chosen to take the insurance money and leave, and others had stuck it out and fixed what they could, when they could.
There was still a lot of work to be done in Fairplay, and he knew his father would have wanted the town to be returned to its former glory. He could do it. Maybe he’d stick around here and finish what his father had started.
He turned onto his street and saw the light in the apartment above the garage. Maybe he could be good enough for Holly.
He was just outside his house when he heard the vehicle turn down the quiet road. He turned and saw Billy’s truck. When it turned into his driveway, he sighed.
“Hey, Travis.” Billy was alone this time and Travis watched as he stepped out of the truck. He could tell that his friend was wasted and probably a little high.
“Hi, Billy. Should you be driving?” He held his friend upright so he wouldn’t fall face first into the cement.
Billy laughed. “Sure, I’m fine.” He waved his hand and pushed Travis’ hands away. “I was just heading up to the cabin for the weekend. Thought I’d check and see if you wanted to tag along.”
“I won’t be partying with you anymore.” He shoved his hands in his pocket. “I’ve kind of outgrown all that.”
Billy sneered. “Corey kept telling me you were too high and mighty to hang with your bros anymore.” Billy leaned against his truck. “I should’ve listened to him.”
“Why don’t you come in, I’ll make some coffee and get you something to eat.” He reached for his friends arm. Billy threw his hand off and leaned away.
“I don’t need your help.” He stumbled a little. “You come back into town and act like you don’t know us. Like you aren’t one of us,” he yelled. “You’ll always be one of us. You think just because your old man died and left you all this”—he waved towards the house—“that you aren’t one of us. Well, you’ll remember soon enough.” He laughed and walked around his truck.
“Billy, you shouldn’t be driving.” He stopped his friend from getting into the driver’s side. Billy swung out and clocked him in the jaw. “Damn it. I’m trying to help you.” Travis held his jaw.
“I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help.” His chest puffed up. “You think I haven’t heard what everyone’s saying about me? That Billy Jackson, he’ll end up killing himself or someone else. That Billy Jackson won’t amount to anything. He’ll turn out just like his old man.”
Travis remembered now that Billy’s father was serving life in the state pen for beating a man to death in a bar fight.
“Billy, everyone can change. Look at me.” He looked down at his feet. “Look at my family. Does that mean I’ll end up like my mother?”
Billy stopped and looked at him, then shook his head no. “You’re nothing like your old lady.”
Travis nodded. At least he had that.
“Why don’t you come in and sleep it off. I’ve got some of Jamella’s apple pie left in the fridge.
“Really?” Billy looked off towards the house. “What about her?” He nodded towards the garage.
Travis looked and saw Holly standing at the top of the stairs.
“She’s staying at the apartment. I’m in the big house for now.”
“Oh, shit. Really?” Billy looked towards the garage and back towards him.
“Billy?” Travis took a step towards him, already reading the guilt on his friend’s face.
“We thought. That is…Savannah said…”
“What did you do?” He took his friend’s arm.
“Shit.” Billy yanked his arm away.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You broke into the apartment and destroyed Holly’s stuff.”
“We didn’t break in. We still had the key you gave us. Besides, it was all Savannah’s idea. She’s the one that said you’d tossed her out and was shacking up with the book woman.”
“Why?” It was Holly that asked from just behind him. He dropped Billy’s arm and stepped back to take hers. “Why did you trash it?”
“We thought Travis was staying there.”
“I heard. Why did you break in and ruin what you thought was your friend’s stuff?”
She stepped around him and went face to face with almost two hundred pounds of drunken Billy.
Billy shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his feet. “It seemed the thing to do after Travis started acting like we were scum.”
“What?” he asked, stepping closer. “I never treated you like you were scum.”
“Sure you did. You wouldn’t hang out with us and every time you saw us, you had this funny look on your face like you smelled something bad.”
Travis thought about it. “I didn’t mean to treat you bad. It’s hard for me.” He dropped his hands. “I don’t want to go back to being bad boy Travis Nolan.”
Billy laughed. “You’ll always be bad boy Travis Nolan. You’re the one that taught us how to shoot, how to smoke, gave me my first beer.” He shook his head. “Hell, the whole town saw your ass when we streaked during the homecoming game our senior year.” Billy laughed.
Travis laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder. “Good ol’ times.” Then he sobered. “But for me they have to be in the past. I don’t want to be the same kid I used to be.”
Billy looked down at his feet. “Hell, I know I have to shape up.” He looked up at Travis and his eyes sparkled. “I’ve got my own kid on the way. She’s due any day now.”
“What?” Travis looked at his friend and smiled. “Well, hell. I didn’t know you’d shacked up with someone special.”
Billy looked down again. “I meant to tell you.” Then he glanced up. “Course she’s telling everyone in town the baby is yours.”
Travis gasped. “Savannah? Savannah’s baby?”
Billy smiled and nodded. “I know you two used to have a thing. But, well, after you left town we sorta hooked up.”
Travis laughed. “Of course you did.”
“She found out about the baby and freaked, then ran off to Vegas to find yo
u.”
Travis took his friends shoulders and walked with him into the house. Holly followed.
“Well, I guess you deserve that piece of pie now. You’re going to be a dad.”
Billy smiled and nodded. “I guess I’ll take it.” He stopped just before walking into the back door and turned to Holly. “I’m real sorry about your stuff. Honest, we only meant to punk him for ditching us.”
Holly smiled. “It’s okay, no real harm was done.”
Travis looked at her and felt something shift in his chest. “Holly, why don’t you help me make some coffee?”
She nodded and followed them inside. Travis pushed his friend gently onto the couch.
“I know I have to clean up,” Billy said, running his hands through his hair. “Honest, I was on the path before Savannah started telling everyone you were the father. I guess it just set me off. I even tried to make her jealous by going out with other women. God, I love that woman.” Billy rested his head into his hands and sighed.
“I’ll get the pie and make some coffee.” Holly said and walked into the kitchen.
·
Chapter Fourteen
She didn’t know what had changed in Travis, but over the next few days he acted like a huge weight had been lifted from him. He rushed around the house and finished everything that had needed to be done there. They talked about her store and apartment more often, and he actually seemed excited to see the final product.
They were days away from getting the certificate of occupancy on her apartment so she could move back in. Travis had even hung out with Billy and Corey a few nights at the house. He’d cooked out and they’d played poker until one in the morning. It was nice that the other men didn’t complain that alcohol and smoking weren’t allowed.
Billy had confessed that he’d caught Savannah smoking and had threatened to take the baby away once it was born if she didn’t stop. He told them how they’d stopped smoking together. He showed Travis that he was wearing one of the patches and occasionally popped a nicotine gum into his mouth.
She wondered if Travis had had as hard a time quitting as Billy was having. She had stuck around for a while, but when it was apparent that everyone was getting tired of her winning, she walked up to her apartment and called it a night, leaving the men alone.
She heard them laughing and jumping in the pool around one, but then drifted off, dreaming of Travis holding her again.
The next morning she showed up early to the store. Instead of walking around downstairs, she headed upstairs to her apartment. There were just a few minor things left to do. She’d spent two days here painting a warm taupe in the living areas and a soft honey color in her bedroom and bathroom.
She was getting pretty tired of being patient with Travis. She kept telling herself that it was better this way. He was going to be moving in a few short months, and she needed to focus on restarting her business. Besides, she had a lot to do with the new aspects of her bookstore.
She’d spent some of her spare time going through wine lists and trying new coffees that she planned on serving.
She had found several new recipes to try for baked goods. She had even baked a few and had handed them out to the construction workers who all begged her to bring more.
Today she’d brought a cranberry coffee crumble cake. She hadn’t even had time to taste it herself before leaving that morning. She had set it on the bar downstairs with plates and forks and a large thermos of French vanilla coffee.
She walked around and made a mental list of items that would need to be addressed. The wood blinds would need to be hung after all of the windowsills had been finished. All of the doors needed stoppers on them, and the bathtub wasn’t draining properly. Most likely it was clogged up with the dried paint she’d accidentally dumped down it. The ceiling fans still needed to be installed, and the vent above the stove was still sitting on the floor.
She leaned against the new countertop and sighed. She’d started thinking about living in another place. One where the kitchen was wide and open and overlooked a swimming pool and a garage with a mother-in-law apartment above it. One where she would walk in and see Travis standing in his jeans with no shirt or shoes. One where he would be there every day, waiting for her.
She closed her eyes and talked herself out of dreaming about something that could never be.
“If you keep feeding the men like this, they’ll never get back to work.”
She opened her eyes and saw Travis standing in front of her, a plate of cranberry cake balanced on a cup of steaming coffee.
“They deserve it.” She pasted on a smile and motioned around. “Just look at how wonderful this looks.”
He looked around and smiled. “It did come together pretty well.” Then he looked at her and his smile fell away. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and turned away from him to hide the sadness in her eyes. “Just thinking about all the wonderful times I’ll have here. Roger tells me I can start moving in on Monday.”
“Monday?” She turned and saw him frowning.
She nodded. “It’ll be nice to get my stuff out of storage and sleep in my own bed again.”
He looked down at the cake and then sat it on the counter, forgotten. “If you need any help…” he said, avoiding her eyes.
“Thanks, but I’ve already enlisted Reece and Grant. I don’t have too many heavy items. I think they can handle it.” She folded her hands behind her back.
“It sounds like downstairs will be ready in a few weeks.”
She nodded. “I’ll have a lot more to move in there than here.” She smiled and looked around. “Actually, I may need an army to help me move it all back in.”
“Well, I’d be happy to help.”
She looked over at him and nodded. “I’ll take it.” She turned and walked into the living room. “How’s Billy doing?”
Travis picked up his plate and coffee. “He’s hanging in there. Corey…” He shook his head. “Well, Corey isn’t slowing down. But I can tell that Billy is really trying.”
She nodded. She’d seen the same thing. Having a kid on the way had really changed Billy. Especially since everyone in town now knew that Savannah’s kid was his.
Savannah’s parents were forcing them to marry and a very large wedding was planned for a few months after the baby was due to arrive.
“It sure makes a difference when there’s a kid involved,” she said, absentmindedly.
“Yeah, I guess so.” He stopped and looked down at her. “Have you ever thought of having one? A kid that is?”
She almost fell over, and he reached his free hand out and steadied her. “Um, sure. I guess so. I wouldn’t just want one though,” she said, opening the door so he could step out. “I was an only child and wouldn’t want my son or daughter to be as lonely as I was.”
He nodded. “I often wished I had a little brother or sister. Someone I could blame for things I did.” He smiled and she laughed.
“I was always jealous of Haley’s sisters. The close bond they have.”
He nodded. “Yeah, when I was with Alex it was hell sneaking past them.” He laughed. “Especially Haley.” He shook his head. “Man, do I owe that woman some apologies.”
“Oh?” She stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
He chuckled. “Yeah. Let’s just say I’m glad bad Travis isn’t around anymore. I hear her husband is the new law in town.”
She laughed and nodded. “Wes is on the force now. I hear he’s next in line when the sheriff finally decides to retire.”
Travis laughed. “I guess I’ll have to stop by and make sure I get on his good side. I haven’t run into him since I’ve been back.”
“Well, they’re pretty busy. They have twin boys now.”
He shook his head and smiled. “You know, I can remember hanging out at their place when I was a kid. Their father would take us riding. I haven’t been on the back of a horse in too long.”
She smiled. “If you want, you can go wi
th me sometime.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I’d like that. Actually, maybe you can help me out with another matter.”
“Sure.” She walked over to the bar and took a plate and grabbed one of the last pieces of cranberry cake.
“I’ll be having a huge garage sale in few weeks. I have no idea what everything is worth or how to go about having a garage sale.” He leaned against the counter and nibbled on his cake.
“I can help.” She smiled and took a bite of her cake.
“Oh my goodness,” he said, looking down at his plate. “This is the best thing I’ve ever had.”
She nodded and her smile fell away. “Had I known it was going to be this good, I would have kept it all to myself.” She smiled and took another bite.
The rest of the day, Travis thought about how he’d reacted when he’d heard Holly would be moving out of the apartment above the garage soon. He’d gotten used to her being there every evening when he got home. Even if he hadn’t seen her, he always looked for the lights and got a warm feeling when he’d see them on.
He’d been doing a lot of thinking since Billy had started hanging around. He could see positive changes in his friend. They had started running together every other day. Travis knew he didn’t need to train as much as he had when he’d been cage fighting, but the workouts helped clear his mind and allowed him to focus more.
He’d finished everything inside and the appraiser had finally come to put a price tag on the place. The “for sale” sign had sat out front of the house for the last few days. He couldn’t believe how much his father’s assets were worth.
Once everything sold, he’d have enough to start all over somewhere else. He would have enough money to attend school wherever he wanted. As he sat down that night to look at schools online, his mind kept coming back to how sad Holly had looked that morning.
He knew he was doing the best thing for her by staying away from her. They’d even created somewhat of a friendship, something he didn’t feel like he had with any of his other exes.
Savannah had steered clear of him. Even though Billy had assured him that she was busy getting ready for the baby and wedding, he doubted he’d heard the last from her.