“Going to shower real quick.”
A couple of minutes later he jogged to the kitchen, pulled Penny away from the stove, surprising her, and kissed her hard, making her back arch. “Good morning, momma.”
She giggled. “Good morning, Travis.”
“Twavis!” Belle crawled to him and pulled his leg. He lifted her up.
“Good morning, darlin’.” He gave her a loud popping kiss on the cheek, causing her to giggle just like her mom. “Here, hold this,” he joked, handing Belle over to Penny. Both mother and daughter laughed.
“Someone’s in a great mood this morning,” he heard Penny say as he went over to the coffee table to check his phone.
Reading a text, he called out to her, “Baby, we need to go over to the lawyer’s office tomorrow. Frances just texted. Everything’s ready. I’ll call Lawrence today. Are you working tomorrow?”
“No,” she said, and sighed. “Travis, is this still okay with you?”
“I was okay with it last night, I’m okay with it this morning, and in fifty years I’ll still be okay with it.”
“I’ll see if Olivia can babysit. I don’t want Belle to come with us. I don’t want Lawrence around her.”
“Good idea,” he agreed as he finished dressing.
“Can you check out my apartment today on your way to the Academy, please?”
“Sure. You know that after today, Kip will have to just be pissed. He may make a scene, he may go to the media, but there won’t be anything he can legally do. If he just disappears quietly, the paparazzi will probably leave you alone; if he doesn’t, then the paps will still be hanging out.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m so embarrassed about all the trouble I’ve brought to Ruby’s.”
“Nah. Don’t sweat it. Ruby’s is now the best-known strip club in Florida, what with all the free publicity it’s been getting. I just worry that the media might be hounding you too much at work—I want you to be safe. Hopefully this will all be behind us after tomorrow, though,” he said as he took a bite of his breakfast.
Shortly afterward, he left for the Academy to train. She spent the morning working on Patsy’s accounting and was finished by lunchtime. Lunch made her think of Travis and his always-empty stomach. She decided to make a big chicken salad, and she packed it all up with homemade biscuits and a slice of the cake she’d made that morning. Then she gathered up all the food and Belle and took the bus to the Academy.
Cain was the first person she saw. “Hello, Penny.”
“Hi, Cain. How are you? How’s Violet?”
“We’re good, thank you. Travis is in the cage,” he said, pointing.
“Thank you.”
The Academy was relatively empty, and the only sounds were the background music coming from the speakers, heavy breathing, and gloved hands connecting with flesh.
Maybe this hadn’t been a great idea, she thought. She hadn’t seen Travis fight before, and watching as Tony threw punch after punch at her sweet cowboy made her cringe.
Travis was so intent on sparring with Tony that he didn’t notice Penny come in. But the sound of Belle’s voice broke his concentration.
“Twavis!” she cried.
He looked over to see Penny and Belle, tears welling in the young girl’s eyes. “Twavis hurt,” she cried, trying to wriggle out of her mother’s grip.
“It’s okay, Belle,” Penny said, trying to soothe her. “He’s just pretending.”
Travis spit his mouth guard out and ran out of the cage. He took a knee, as he always did when speaking with Belle, his face eye level to her. “It’s okay, Belle. Look.” He whistled behind him for Tony, even as Belle continued to wail. “Look, this is Tony. He’s my friend. Isn’t that right, Tony?”
“Yes, cariño. I’m his friend. We were just playing around.”
“My Twavis!”
“Baby, it’s okay, Travis is okay,” Penny murmured, trying to console her daughter.
“Look, he’s okay,” Tony repeated, sounding upset. “He’s my friend. We’re friends.” The burly Cuban pulled Travis into a bear hug. “See? We’re buddies.”
“Get your damn hands off me,” Travis protested, pushing him off.
As concerned as Penny was about her daughter, she couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. The two of them were ridiculous.
Travis threw off his gloves and picked up Belle. “Don’t cry, Belle. Please.” He lifted her up and swung her around. “I’m okay, see?” Soon he had her laughing and giggling.
Penny hadn’t even noticed that Francesca, Violet, Jessica, and Chrissy were all there watching from the yoga mats. “Seriously, guys?” Chrissy said.
“You guys are afraid of a one-year-old kid?” Francesca added, laughing.
“No, we’re afraid of crying females. Age is of little importance,” Tony said.
“So ridiculous,” Jessica snorted.
“Shut it,” Travis shot back, Belle on his hip. “Come,” he said, leading Penny and Belle to the front, where there were chairs. “Please tell me that you didn’t come all the way here in a bus.”
“We’ve been taking the bus for over a year,” Penny protested.
“Yeah, but you didn’t have two crazy men tryin’ to take you and your kid, and you didn’t know if I would be filming today.”
It had never occurred to her that he wouldn’t like it if she came by. “You’re mad?”
He exhaled loudly and swiped at his face. “Penny. Your lunatic ex wants to drag you back to Oklahoma because if he does, your lunatic stepfather will give him fifty thousand dollars. There’s a shitload of cameras outside your apartment. People know we’re dating and have been itching to get a statement from you. You’re lucky that there aren’t any media types here today. Plus, if they’d scheduled filming for today, that would be another set of issues.”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize about your filming. Regarding Kip and Lawrence, you’re right. I was stupid in thinking that everything was okay just because he knows he’ll be cashing in. I guess I’ve just felt so safe with you that it didn’t occur to me.” She extended her hand with the bag. “Just wanted you to have a nice lunch and maybe see you for a few minutes. I’ve never seen you fight. Obviously, that was also a bad idea.” She gestured to Belle. “I’ll go.” She picked up her daughter and turned to go.
“Damn it,” he cursed, and grabbed her forearm. “I’m sorry for being short. I worry, is all. Of course I don’t mind you coming to watch. It’s new to me, all this—you, Belle. For a long time the only person I’ve had to worry about has been myself. Well, myself and JL. But this is different. I’ll probably screw up, a lot.”
“It’s new to me too. If I overstep or you feel suffocated, please just tell me. I don’t really know what I’m doing here.”
“C’mere, baby.” He pulled her close into a hug.
“My Twavis,” Belle piped up.
Travis laughed and wrapped his arms around both of them. “How ’bout a group hug?”
“Twavis, Mama, Belle,” Belle said, and all three laughed.
After they pulled apart, Travis set Belle down and looked into her eyes. “Will you come see me play-fight with Tony? I promise it’s pretend.”
“No!” Belle yelled.
“Okay, then come watch me hit the bag.”
“I don’t want to be in your way. We can just leave,” Penny said as he ushered them to the back.
“No way. Let me grab you a towel so you can sit on the yoga mats.”
“Travis, don’t worry about the mats.”
“They’re full of germs and sweat,” he said, then ran into the locker room and came back with two towels and a big bottle of hand sanitizer. “Don’t touch anything, Belle.”
“Travis, we just rode a public bus. This place looks a hundred times cleaner.”
“Yeah, but she’s just a little girl.” He spread out the towels and then crouched down to look Belle in the eye. “You’re my good girl, right, Belle?”
“My Twavis.”
&
nbsp; Penny rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“My Belle.” He winked. “My Belle will keep her hands on her lap, right?”
“Wite.”
Travis looked puzzled.
“She means ‘right,’ ” Penny translated.
“Oh, yeah, okay.” He smiled. “That’s my good girl.”
He started off with the jump rope. Belle tried to stand and go over to him, but fell.
“You want to jump rope?”
She reached for the rope.
“You know what? Screw this. Let’s go to our park.”
“Travis, no! I didn’t come here to disturb you.”
“Come on, it’s fine. Maybe in the grass, with other kids, she’ll be able to put a few steps together without falling.”
He pulled her by her arm, Belle on his hip. “See y’all tomorrow,” he yelled to Tony and the others, and walked out.
Penny laughed. “Travis, I didn’t even say goodbye.”
“It’s cool,” he said, helping them into the truck.
A few minutes later they were in the park, which was fairly quiet except for a few bigger kids swinging from the monkey bars. Travis carried Belle to the sandy beach, where he spread out a towel he’d snatched from the Academy and laid out lunch.
Then he shifted a giggling Belle under his arm, swinging her as he walked. “Little girl, it’s time you walked. Calhouns don’t like lazy. Plus, I saw a piece of cake in the bag. Come and get it.”
He put her on the sand, kissed her cheek, and then ran the ten feet back to Penny and sat down. “Come on, baby girl,” he called.
“You do know that she’s not a dog, cowboy?”
“I know that. But let’s give her some incentive, no?” He began to dig into the chicken salad, but Belle had lost all interest and was sitting in the sand playing. “You think she’ll do it?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “You like the food, cowboy?” she added, looking into the empty container.
“Oh, uh…hell yeah. It was great.”
“Really? What was it?”
He looked back down and licked the fork. “Fucking great food is what it was.”
She shook her head and laughed. Then she lay down on her back. “This is nice,” she sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky. The sun was warm, but a light ocean breeze cooled things off.
“It is, baby.” He leaned over and kissed her lips. “Olivia watching Belle tonight?”
“Violet isn’t available, and Olivia got called in to work. A while ago Darlene volunteered to babysit, and I may take her up on it.”
He whipped his head around to look at her. “Darlene? No fucking way. She works as a topless waitress.”
“That’s not very nice of you, Travis. She’s a very kind person. She lives with her sisters and she’s training to be a phlebotomist. Waiting tables there is just a means to an end.”
“I don’t know what a phleboto-whatever-the-fuck is and I don’t care. I’ve seen her tits and so has half the town. No way.”
“Olivia used to strip too.”
“Didn’t know that.”
“So what? Now she can’t watch Belle? Since when are you that guy? This isn’t you, Travis. Let’s not forget that when I went to Ruby’s for my interview, you were there.”
“I’m a grown man. This is a little girl. And now that there is a little girl involved, the stakes have changed.”
“You’ve known Darlene for a long time. Olivia too. Longer than you’ve known me. They’re good people.”
“The best. But not good enough to watch Belle.”
“So what exactly do you propose? I can’t take her to Ms. Hannigan’s over at the apartment complex yet—there are still too many photographers around.”
“No, you can’t. Or ever again. She’s as old as Tarpon Springs.”
She snorted. “Anyone else who’s off-limits?”
“Yeah, my sister. Unless it’s truly an emergency.”
“JL? Are you crazy? She was the first person I got close to in this town. And she’s not qualified now?”
“No, she’s not, if I’m being honest. She has two kids of her own now. She won’t be able to give Belle the necessary attention.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Travis,” she said, tapping the brim of his baseball cap. “What am I supposed to do, then? Quit?”
He adjusted the cap and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m absolutely not going to quit my job, Travis.”
“Why not? You’re so good at accounting. I bet if I spoke with Joe—”
“Slow down, cowboy! You will not be talking to Joe, and you will not tell me to quit my job. For a year I had no one, not one person, and I managed. If you leave, I don’t want to find myself homeless and penniless. It’s a great job. I like it. So that’s a hard no.”
“Okay, okay, calm down. Then I’ll watch Belle tonight.”
“Yeah, no,” she snorted. “I don’t think so.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Let’s start with the fact that you once said you don’t like children. And by once I mean many times, and only a few weeks ago.”
“Never said that.”
“Actually, you said that specifically. On more than one occasion.”
“I’ve since changed my mind.” When she looked at him as if he was nuts, he clarified, “Okay, no, I haven’t changed my mind. But this isn’t just some random kid—this is Belle. I’m her Twavis! I really don’t mind. And Belle and I seem to be doing quite well together, don’t you think? We watched Barney for an hour this morning.”
“There’s also the issue that you don’t know the first thing about kids.”
“Neither did you before you had her,” he pointed out quickly.
“Well, yeah, but I’m her mother.”
“And I’m her mother’s boyfriend. She’s living with me, for Christ sake. Listen, if you don’t think I can handle it, just tell me. Don’t make all these other excuses.”
“It’s not that. It’s just that…” She let out a breath.
“Stop fumbling with your necklace and make a decision. You gonna let me help or not?”
“Why would I burden you with yet one more thing?”
“Because I’m crazy about you. Because you need the help. Because you trust me. Because no one has ever had as much confidence in me as you do,” he said honestly. He gazed into her eyes, hoping that she would realize that, no matter how much she might feel she was taking advantage of him, he needed her and Belle as much as they needed him. And he needed to feel needed. Wanted. No one except his sister had ever loved him—ever.
With a tender look on her face, Penny smiled. “My daddy used to tell me that love isn’t something you find. It’s something that finds you. My first day at the Pier when you walked in, I wasn’t looking for love. Hell, I’m still not looking for it. I have so many problems, it should be the furthest thing from my mind. But you found me that first day, and, well…What can I say? My heart started its free fall. And then the day that you found me crying all alone and hugged me, that’s when I knew that one day I would look you straight in the eyes and tell you what a wonderful man you are and how lucky I am to love you. Because I do, Travis. I love you.” She kissed his lips. “And it’ll make me happy to have her at home with you. In her own bed. Safe.”
So overcome with emotion that he was unable to speak, Travis could only smile broadly. He was overjoyed by her words, even if he was scared of the intensity of his feelings for her. He tried to find the right thing to say in return, but before he could, Penny laughed and let him off the hook by asking, “You think you can handle a diaper change?”
Gratefully he took the opening she was giving him. “Only one, right? I mean how many times can a kid shit in the four hours you’re at work?”
Penny snickered. “Oh, cowboy. I hope you’re ready.”
“Okay, no more fuckin’ around.” H
e stood, dusted his hands against his shorts, and opened his arms. “Come on, Belle, baby. Come get a piece of this cake.”
Belle stopped what she was doing and began to crawl.
“No. No.” He handed the cake to Penny. “Hold this, momma.”
He jogged to Belle and stood her up. “Look at those kids there. You see how they move? That’s called walking.”
Penny snorted. “That’s not exactly how it works.”
“Shh. I got this.”
He held her hand as they walked together. “See, you got this. Come on, take a step.” She took a shaky step and then another.
“Told you,” he yelped. “Call me the baby whisperer from now on.” He let go of Belle’s hands. She took a step but then fell face-first and began to wail.
“You were saying, baby whisperer?”
He picked her up, gently brushed the sand off her face, and rocked her until she stopped crying. He glanced up at Penny. “Give me the fucking cake.”
“Bad words!” Penny warned, but she handed him the container. He took a bite and then fed Belle a bite until she stopped crying.
After they ate, Travis and Penny sat in the playground area so that Belle could play in the sandbox for a little while longer. But Penny did notice that she tried to stand up and take a step a few times.
—
Penny had spent the last four hours mixing drinks and talking to customers. She was surprised at how the nudity had stopped affecting her. She could now have a full conversation with any of the girls while they were completely naked, and it didn’t at all feel strange. And the girls had been so supportive. Once she told them her story—because, frankly, the cat was out of the bag already—they offered to take her home or watch Belle whenever she needed. They were all surprised she was living with Travis, but they only had good things to say about him.
Between customers she’d texted and called Travis to check up on him. The last time, about thirty minutes ago, he’d told her, “Stop callin’ already, Penny. You’re gonna wake baby girl.” Baby girl—that’s what he called Belle. It warmed her heart.
“You want a lift?” Darlene asked.
“That would be great, so long as it’s not inconvenient.”
“Not at all,” Darlene said as they headed toward her car. “God, I’m tired. I just want to get home, take a bath, and go to bed.”
Stacked Up: Worth the Fight Series Page 21