by Amanda Wylde
I shake her hand then give Travis that half hug we always give each other. "Smells good," Travis says.
My mother walks in the room smiling big. "Travis," she says before going in for the hug.
She turns to Elsa and regards her the way I knew she would; like she's surprised by the coincidence as well.
"So pretty," she says and Travis introduces them.
Elsa's baby bump is barely showing but my mom touches it anyway. "Do we know if we're having a boy or a girl yet?"
"No," Elsa says touching her bump after my mom pulls her hand away. "I don't think I want to find out. I want it to be a surprise."
"I hope it's a girl," my mom says just as Trace and Trevor walk into the front room from the hallway. "We have enough boys in this family. Riley needs a girl cousin she can bond with."
The boys come and greet them and are introduced to Elsa while my mom fusses over what to get them to drink and munch on until her dinner is fully ready in a few. We sit at the table and make small talk, while my mom finishes up in the kitchen. Then she starts bringing out the main dishes. I get up to help and for some reason I can't seem to shake the weirdness of me and Travis's girls being so similar in appearance. Would this be something I would've mentioned to him had the tables been turned? It is an interesting if not amusing coincidence.
We dig into the delicious meal my mom made and everyone gives her much props for it. She's quick to point out Riley helped a lot and she can't take all the credit.
"I made so much because I thought Trevor might invite a few friends," she says then turns to me. "And what about Remi? I thought you said she was coming."
"She picked up an overtime shift last minute," I explain.
My mom turns to Elsa. "Remi's his girlfriend," she says then smiles big. "She has beautiful bright red hair too. Just like you. Isn't that a hoot?"
At first I think it's a fluke that an unsmiling Elsa turns to Travis almost in question to my mom's statement. But then she stares at him for a lot longer while my mom goes on about how Riley practically made the ziti all by herself. Travis glances away from Elsa and continues eating without comment. That's when Elsa turns to me and I don't know what to make of the strange expression. She finally glances away and continues eating.
The rest of the evening goes on without any other notable incidents but it's obvious or at least I think it is, that my mom hit a nerve. Only I don't understand it. Me and Travis play video games with the boys while Elsa and my mom chat in the kitchen. Except for the game talk and he does most of that with his brothers, Travis is as aloof with me as he was during his mom's services. I can only imagine he's still hurting and only here even now because of his brother's birthday.
After a few hours of playing and after my mom brings out the cake and other pastries she made with coffee and milk, Travis says he better go. "We have a long day tomorrow," he says messing Trevor's hair after he hugs him. "I'm picking you guys up bright and early and we're closing that park out. So you two need to get in bed."
"You're not also going to the amusement park with them," my mom asks Elsa. "You shouldn't be getting on those rides in your condition."
"No I'm not going," Elsa smiles.
"Where will you be all day?"
"At the hotel,' she says then Travis chimes in just as my mom starts to invite her spend the day here.
"Just for the morning," he says as surly as he's been most of the night. "She's flying back to Philly for her sister's bridal shower."
"Oh," my mother says with a nod and Travis makes a quick exit.
Long after Travis is gone I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm missing something but finally exhaustion sets in and I'm able to forget about it and fall asleep.
Chapter 14
Remi
Kris's grandmother is on her last leg. The doctors can no longer do anything for her and she doesn't want any more chemo or medicines. The wretched cancer like the one that took his mother’s husband is now taking her mother. Only his grandmother is in Sicily and Kris has offered to fly his mom and Riley out so she can be with her mother during her last days. He says he can handle the boys especially since they're in summer school. No having to worry about them getting there in time or making sure they do their homework. But his mom has asked me to come over tonight so she can talk to me. Likely about helping Kris with the boys—Travis's brothers—which makes me a little uncomfortable. But how can I say no?
She's prepared one of her feasts again before she leaves tomorrow since she doesn't know how long she'll be gone. It could be weeks or months depending on how long her mom holds out. Then there are the services and her mother's belongings and estate that will need to be all squared away. She could be gone all summer.
I walk to Kris's since it seems silly to drive there. He's just up the street and around the corner and it's not dark yet. Kris can drive me home later when it gets dark. The car I don't recognize in the driveway makes me nervous. They don't have any other family here in Atlanta. Most of the people in attendance at Travis's mom's services were friends and out of town family members. Kris didn't mention any of them being here tonight.
My heart speeds up a little at the possibility of Travis being here. The last couple of times he was here, I got off easy. Not that seeing him at the wake was easy. Here I thought our final phone call had been the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. I stupidly answered my phone at work that day and was such a mess after I had to fake being sick and went home and cried myself to sleep. It took me days to recover from it.
Aside from giving him my condolences we hardly exchanged words. But just seeing him was a reminder of how not over him I am. How I may never get over him and can only pray he'll eventually do what he wanted to do then. Take his brothers back to Philly with him and never return. Because as perceptive as Kris is I fear he'll notice what just being around Travis does to me. Even worse as much as I care for Kris now after seeing Travis again, despite everything that's happened, there's no denying he still has a hold on me no other man ever has. Not even wonderful Kris.
Its why I didn't make the burial services or the reception Kris's mother had at the house after. After seeing him at the wake I knew my heart couldn't take being around him again so soon. So I faked having to work overtime just like I did for Trevor's birthday. Seeing him now would be even worse because of what Kris said about Travis's girlfriend—she looks just like me. So much so I could tell it weirded Kris out.
"You walked?" Kris asks as he opens the screen door.
"Yeah, I figured it's a nice enough day. Seemed silly to drive."
Kris kisses me as soon as I'm close enough and I start to smile until I hear Travis's voice coming from inside. "Travis showed up to surprise my mom before she leaves," Kris informs me and my breath actually catches at my throat as we start to walk into his house.
My mind is already racing. Do I feign a sudden illness? It wouldn't be a total lie. I do feel sick to my stomach suddenly. I'm having trouble breathing and I think I might throw up. Our eyes meet first thing when I step inside. He's on the sofa with Trace playing a video game. Unlike at the wake where he wore dark sunglasses and his expression was otherwise unreadable he looks as stunned to see me as I am to see him.
"Remi," he says as the corner of his lip twitches in that way it used to so long ago whenever I came over. "How goes it?"
"I'm good," I say surprising myself that my voice isn't nearly as shaky as I thought it'd be. "How are you?"
"Better," he says smiling genuinely. "They say time heals all wounds but I've never believed that shit. Still don't. But it does make it easier to accept the pain will be there forever."
He stares at me in a way that says he's not just talking about his mother's passing and I'm struck again. Just like I've always been when he looks at me in that way. An unreasonable jealousy comes over me as I wonder if his girlfriend is here.
"Remi, honey," Kris's mom says as she steps into the room from the kitchen. "I'm glad you're here. We can talk while I finish cooking."<
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I nod glancing back at Travis. "Glad to hear it," I say dropping Kris's hand and practically run to his mother, needing desperately to get out of the room and away from Travis's acute eyes.
Thankfully Kris stays in the front room with Travis and Trace. Trevor and Riley walk in from the kitchen's back door. So far it appears Travis didn't bring his girlfriend and I'm beyond relieved. I'm not sure I can stomach seeing her and I suddenly actually feel for Travis. Not only has he seen me around Kris—his own cousin—but Travis has seen him kiss me.
I think I'd die.
"I'm actually barbequing outside," Nancy explains. "It's too hot for the oven but I am making a few things in here. Like some pasta salads."
"What can I help you with?" I ask trying my best to get my mind off Travis being in the other room but it's impossible.
"Just grab that box with the paper goods when we go out in a minute. I just need to finish making this salad," she says mixing a multi colored pasta salad together. "I'm worried about the boys being here with Kris alone for so long. Travis already said he'll be making a few extended visits while I'm gone to help Kris with them but he won't be here the whole time."
She goes on about how she'd like me to help Kris make a few home cooked meals for the boys so they don't eat out the whole time she's gone. Something about a few easy recipes she's leaving for me and Kris to work on together. But I zoned out after her mention of Travis's extended visits. How in the world will I survive that? She's actually asking if I can come by on my days off when Kris isn't off to check on them, even when Travis is there with them. And Kris is not!
This is an absolute nightmare! I agree even though I fully intend not to. The boys will be fine with Travis and Kris buying them pizza and making them grilled cheeses. They're not babies and it's not like they're going to be alone. They'll have two fully capable adults watching them.
I follow her out the back door to the backyard where again I'm beyond relieved Travis's girlfriend is not there. The outdoor grill has an assortment of Italian sausages, ribs and chicken already grilling. I wonder how I'll have even one bite of any of this. I was hungry enough before I got here but my appetite is shot now. My only consolation now to having agreed to help Kris and Travis with the boys while she's gone is I know Kris will say she's crazy. That he's got it and I will not be insisting to help.
Minutes later the boys are in the backyard—including Travis. He eyes me every chance he gets when Kris is not watching. My heart pounds and I hate that I'm incapable of keeping my eyes off him. I can tell he already knows it. He reads me so well. Like when he called, he knows exactly what I'm feeling because just like when we discussed it the night we made love, he feels exactly like I do. He knows what he does to me because I do it to him.
How could I be so stupid to get myself in this predicament? I wonder now like I have before if I didn't do this subconsciously. When Travis went back to his pregnant girlfriend I should've walked away right then. Walked away from the De Luca family not get in deeper—forever be tied to the man I'll never get over. How could I possibly think this would ever work?
"Something wrong?"
At flinch at the question as Kris's eye brows pinch together. "No," I shake my head. "Just a lot going on at work right now and I was trying to remember if I didn't forget to do something last night."
He smiles kissing my hand. "No work talk. Let's just enjoy this meal." He stands up. "I'll make you a plate. What do you feel like? Ribs, sausage, chicken, or a little of everything?"
Now way. I'm already questioning whether I'll be able to keep any of it down. "Just chicken," I say then remember something and stand up with him. "I left my phone inside. I'll go get it just in case my mom calls."
He gives me a knowing look then frowns. My grandpa has been in and out of the hospital the last couple of weeks and Kris knows it. I'd hate to do it but if I have to use him as an excuse to leave early, I will. Already I can tell being here in the same house with Travis and Kris can easily turn disastrous. I need some kind of out.
I walk into the kitchen as Trevor and Riley walk out carrying more pasta salads. I walk into the kitchen and immediately spot my phone on the counter. I grab it and check my texts quickly but I have nothing from my mom or work. I turn around and gasp when I see him.
"Sorry, Cherry," he says with that familiar evil grin. "I didn't mean to startle you."
I gulp trying not to let on just how immensely he still affects me but I know it's impossible. Travis knows me too well. "It's okay," I say almost breathlessly. "I just didn't hear you come in so—"
"You miss me, Remi?"
He's not smiling anymore and the question is not like when he's asked me questions in the past where he's going for a reaction. Like when he wants to turn my face into a bright tomato. He really wants to know and I'm already choking up. I shake my head because I refuse to let him suck me in.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think of you, Remi" he whispers as I start to walk around him then feel his fingers graze mine.
Just like his kisses it feels like an electrical current. A single graze of his fingers and my entire body is on fire, not just with desire but emotion. I can hardly contain my reaction to it but I manage to keep my composure and keep walking. I make it outside sucking in chunks of air like I just came up from a pool of water after nearly drowning. But I try not to be too obvious. One sentence is all it took to completely rattle me—to have me rethinking my decision.
Somehow I make it through the next couple of hours but I know it's only because after eating Travis goes inside to play video games with his brother and me, Kris, Riley and his mother stay outside chatting the rest of the time.
Finally, the nerve wracking evening is over. I don't even want to walk through the house and risk seeing Travis again. Kris says he'll walk me home since it's dark out now. I start out the driveway and Kris doesn't even question it. We walk out together until we get to the front of the house and his mom calls out for him to stop at the corner market and buy milk for the morning. Kris frowns. "I guess I'm driving you home. Let me go get my keys and phone."
"I'll wait here," I say before he can suggest I come with him.
Of course a few minutes later Travis walks out the front door, not Kris. When he pulls out a set of keys, my heart nearly stops. Did he volunteer to take me home instead of Kris?
He stares at me for an unnerving moment without saying anything. "I'm leaving tomorrow," he finally says as the front door opens and Trace walks out. "So I guess this is goodbye. It's always good to see you, Cherry."
"Good seeing you too," I say and immediately wonder if I should've said even that.
Trevor runs out of the front door. "Travis, that game just came out. None of our friends even have it."
"Well, you can invite them over now that you'll have it," Travis says with a smile. "Let's go get it, bud."
Travis turns and winks at me then gets in his rental and the boys jump in with him. For all the flirting and sinful grinning he's ever done, he's never winked at me. It feels playful and unfinished somehow. Like there's more to come but he's leaving tomorrow so I'm relieved yet strangely disappointed. It really was good to see him again. Only unlike when I saw him at his mother's services there's an air of uncertainty this time. I stand there feeling an unexplainable unease.
Kris walks out pushing his wallet into his back pocket as Travis and his brothers drive away. I start toward Kris's car and hear the doors unlock. I open the passenger side door and slide into the front seat then Kris opens his side and gets in.
Before he even turns on the ignition he turns to me with an odd expression. "Why did Travis call you Cherry?"
For the third or fourth time today I feel my breath catch at my throat. He doesn't look mad but he's certainly not smiling. "He's called me that off and on for as long as I can remember—" I say trying to sound as indifferent as I can while I put my seatbelt on, "because of my hair."
He still hasn't turned the car on and I have no ch
oice but to glance up at him again. "He doesn't call his girl that and she has the same hair. I heard him call her Red a couple of times the night they were here. But he calls you cherry?"
I gulp shaking my head. "Not always, Kris," I say because his brows are furrowed now and it makes me nervous. "If it bothers you I'll ask him not to anymore but please don't say anything to him. I'd hate for this to turn into anything when it's nothing. He's been calling me that since he was twelve or thirteen. It's a kid thing."
"Neither of you are kids anymore," he says turning on the car.
"Then I'll let him know," I say but he says nothing and pulls out of the driveway.
Chapter 15
Travis
Seeing Remi last week and the undeniable reaction she still has to me, did it. She can say all she wants that she wants me out of her life. I want proof. Proof that she can fight what I see in her eyes, feel in her words. This is bigger than both of us and neither of us have the power or authority to try and stop it. You can't argue with destiny and Remi's always been mine. We're meant for each other and nothing or no one can deny that.
I jump in the rental and head to my mom's house. The home I grew up with and place where I fell in love with Remi in the first place. The first place I kissed her then tasted Remi's pussy. My pussy. I'm back and this time I'm taking matters into my own hands.
When I drive into the driveway I'm fairly certain there's no one home. It's still early and I can't remember exactly what time the boys football practice starts. It’s just after eight on a Friday morning. They might still be home.
I get out and rush up the walkway. The front door is open and I smile when I hear their voices. They're still here. Then I hear her voice and my heart thuds. My only dread is having to see her around Kris again. I die a little every time. "Travis!" Trevor yells out with a big smile the moment he sees me then rushes to me and hugs me.
"I didn't know you were coming this week."
"I told you," I say ruffling his hair. "I'm gonna try and be out here a lot this summer."