by Emmy Eugene
“They sure are, sweetheart.”
“You’re moving them?”
“Yep, closer in so we don’t have to go out as far in the rainy parts of winter.”
“When will you be back?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.” He cleared his throat. “What do you think about going to dinner with me tomorrow night?”
Chapter Four
A grin burst across Millie’s face, and she looked up at the ceiling. She’d thought Travis would never ask her out, and yet, there the words were, still ringing in her ears.
“Dinner sounds great,” she said. She’d really been treating herself today, and with a date on the horizon tomorrow, everything had just gotten better. A new job, a new boyfriend…
Mille tried not to get ahead of herself.
“Where do you like to eat?” he asked.
“Oh, I like food,” she said, trying not to move too much. She was currently soaking in the tub—another real treat for her—and she didn’t want Travis to know. She also didn’t want to drop her phone in the bubbly water. Now that would be a real tragedy, seeing as how it had taken this man two months to call her.
Yes, she’d been dating Mitch. So Travis was a gentleman for not bullying his way into her life. A real cowboy gentleman—who made her heartbeat flutter.
“Well, you pick,” he said. “I don’t want to pick. I like food too.”
“What do you feel like?” she asked.
“I have no idea,” he said, his words carrying a smile. “It’s tomorrow.”
“What are you eating tonight?”
“Uh, let’s see. Smells like steak.”
“So no steak tomorrow.” She really liked talking to him. “But maybe you are the type of man that could eat the same thing twice in a row.”
“As long as I don’t have to cook it, I’m fine with anything.”
“Can you cook, Mister Johnson?” Oh, flirting with him was even better, and Millie wished she was with him wherever he was right now.
“I mean, I’m thirty-five years old and haven’t died yet,” he said, chuckling.
“Yeah, but does your mother feed you every night?”
“Not every night,” he said.
Millie burst out laughing, glad when Travis joined in. There was the relaxed, laid-back cowboy she’d met ten years ago. Well, before that, if she were being honest. They’d both grown up in Chestnut Springs, but they hadn’t run in the same social circles in high school. Her mother was exceptionally good at knowing all the gossip, especially about old families in town, and Millie knew Seth had gone off to college and not finished, and that Russ had entered the Army after high school.
Travis was two years old than her in school, and he’d left Chestnut Springs too. Off to college was the rumor, but she hadn’t asked her mother if he’d finished. She wanted to learn about Travis from Travis, and she could hardly wait until tomorrow night for dinner.
“You still there?” he asked, and Millie focused on the reality in front of her. She hated gossip anyway.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m thinking I’m going to feel like a big salad tomorrow night.” She waited to see how he’d react to that, but he said nothing. That was an improvement over Mitch’s groan and eye-rolling every time she wanted a salad for dinner.
“There’s the soup place,” he said. “They have good salads…I think.”
“You don’t actually eat salad, right?” she asked.
“I mean, if my mom makes it,” he said. “Or Seth or Russ. They do most of the cooking around the homestead. I guess just Russ now. Seth moved out.”
Millie tried to hear how he felt about that, but then reminded herself that she didn’t have to analyze every little thing to death. She could be detail-oriented and organized in her event planning. She didn’t need to turn into Sigmund Freud on Travis Johnson.
“You’re right, though,” she said. “The Cauldron has great soups and salads.”
“The Cauldron?” he asked. “Is it really called that?”
“Has been for twenty years, Travis.” She giggled again, really wishing she wouldn’t. She cut the sound short only to hear him chuckling too.
“This might be a funny story,” he said. “One of the guys I’m working with, he’s going to ask out this woman who likes to dance under the full moon.”
“Oh, Lucy McBride,” Millie said, and that got Travis laughing even harder.
“How’d you know?” he asked.
“Everyone knows about Lucy,” Millie said. “She’s a little…crazy.”
“That’s what Brian said,” Travis said. “Do you think she is really? I mean, maybe I should tell Tomas before he asks her out.”
“Do you guys talk a lot about your dates?” Millie asked.
“No,” he said quickly. “I mean, it helps that I never date.”
“Never? What’s tomorrow night then?”
“Almost never,” he clarified. “And tomorrow night is…”
Millie waited, her breath held in her chest. It felt like whatever Travis said was going to define their relationship, and they hadn’t even gone out yet.
“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night,” he finally said.
“Me too,” Millie said, wanting to squeal but holding it in. “See you then.”
“Yep, see you.”
She hung up and set her phone on the tub-side tray she used to hold her toiletries. Then she slid under the water and let out that squeal. That way, Momma wouldn’t hear, and Millie could keep her and Travis’s budding new relationship a secret for just a little longer.
A delicious, handsome cowboy, secret.
“Come on, Momma,” Millie said the next morning. “Time to get up.” It was actually about two hours past time to get up, and still her mother lay in bed.
“I don’t feel good today,” she said, still facing the window.
“I know,” Millie said, trying to be strong and soft at the same time. “But the doctor wants you out of bed every day. We need to take our walk.” And she had paperwork to sign at Serendipity, and then she needed plenty of time to get ready for her date. Not only that, but she’d need to feed Momma before she left, and she hadn’t even told her about the dinner with Travis yet.
Her mother didn’t move, and Millie sighed as she fully entered the bedroom. She hated being in here, because the air was musty and un-recycled, and her mother refused to let Millie open a window. She had to pick her battles, because she couldn’t win them all.
“What hurts?” she asked, feeling very much like the roles between her and her mom had been reversed. She could distinctly remember when her mother had come into her room when Millie was a teenager and didn’t want to go to school. She’d asked the same question then.
“My head,” her mom said. “My chest. My back.”
“I’ll reheat the tea,” Millie said. “And bring it to you with some pain medication. Okay?” She reached out but stopped short of touching her mother. A fierce love for the woman moved through her though, and she got up without waiting for her mom to respond.
In the kitchen, Millie opened the window and basked in the fresh air. She set the tea kettle on the stove and started typing out a text to her brothers. She wished they felt a little more responsibility to help out, but she didn’t live their lives. Two of them were married with kids, and the third had a stressful job quite the drive away.
Millie had moved home specifically to have time to help her mother through moments like this. And David, Chris, and Rick were supportive, as they each responded almost instantly to her update about their mother.
I’ll send dinner tonight, David said.
I’m so sorry, Chris said. Call me if she won’t get up in ten minutes, and I’ll call her.
You’re the best, Mills, Rick said. I can get out there this weekend if you need a day off.
Tears came to her eyes at the love and support from her older brothers. She couldn’t judge them, and she didn’t resent them.
She would like a
day off, though. And what kind of daughter did that make her? She’d only been home for two and a half months. Still, she did provide day-in and day-out care for her mom, and she was exhausted. It was the not-knowing she didn’t like. Yesterday, her mother had beat her to the kitchen, the tea already in her hand by the time Millie had made an appearance.
And tonight, her mom could throw a fit when Millie prepared to leave.
Dinner would be awesome, she sent to her brothers. I have a date tonight, and it might help me get out of the house more easily.
Do not tell me you’re going out with Mitch again, Chris sent back.
And I’d love a day off this weekend, Rick, she sent, ignoring Chris’s message—for now. Even just a couple of hours to get my hair done.
I’ll be there Saturday by noon, her brother said. I’ll bring the kids, and you can go do whatever you want. Who’s the date with? (Please don’t say Mitch.)
You know who you should go out with? David sent, and Millie muttered, “Here we go.” How was it that the single brother thought he could advise her on who she dated?
Who? she typed out anyway.
One of those Johnson boys, he sent back. Remember them? Chestnut Ranch?
Millie started laughing, because the whole situation was just too ironic.
Seth was my age, David said.
Seth got married, Chris said. I think Griffin is your age, Mills.
“It’s actually Travis,” she said as she typed the same words. She hesitated before sending them though. But her brothers would find out anyway, and Millie needed to tell Momma too. Maybe if she told her now, her mother wouldn’t have a reason to prevent Millie from going later.
She sent the text and added, and we’re going to dinner tonight. So good call, Davy.
With her brothers’ texts coming in fast and furious still, Millie poured the hot water over the tea bag and stirred it absently. Her brothers wouldn’t discourage her from dating Travis—and they only didn’t like Mitch because of what she’d told them.
While the tea steeped, she looked at her phone again. She’d been right, and all of the messages were positive and said things like, Let us know how it goes or I can’t wait to hear how it went.
Okay, she said. Going to check on Momma again.
And she did just that, finding her mother sitting up in bed. Baby steps, she thought as she entered the room again and handed her mother the teacup.
“You’re such a good girl, Millie,” she said, sighing as she sipped her tea.
“Momma.” She sat on the edge of the bed again. “I have a date tonight.”
“You’re seeing Mitch again?”
“No,” Millie said. “Travis Johnson.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “Wow, Millie. He’s a great catch.”
“It’s our first date, Momma.” She shook her head and smiled. “And I don’t want the whole town to know.”
“I won’t tell a soul,” she said, though the news had definitely perked her up. Millie also didn’t believe her, but maybe her mother thought her friends were soulless.
“He’s coming at five-thirty,” she said. “I’ll let you meet him if you’ve showered and promise to be on your best behavior.”
Her mother set her teacup on the bedside table and flung the covers off her legs. “I’ll shower right now.”
Mille grinned at her mom and helped steady her. “Great. Yell at me if you need anything.”
She left her mother alone in the bathroom, glad she’d been able to get her out of bed. But what would she use next time to motivate her mother to do what she needed to do?
An alarm sounded on her phone, and she startled. “Shoot,” she muttered under her breath. She’d completely forgotten about the conference call with Gillian Donnelly, a woman whose son was supposed to be getting engaged very soon.
She saw more texts from her brothers too, and a couple from Travis too. But she literally had ten minutes to be ready for a meeting she’d forgotten about, and she hurriedly pulled the elastic from her hair so she wouldn’t look like she’d just rolled out of bed.
Travis would keep, and she hoped next time she spoke to him, she could tell him she’d landed her first job as an independent event planner.
Chapter Five
Travis looked at himself in the mirror, wishing Rex and Griffin hadn’t made it a special event that he’d moved the cattle. He supposed he had put up a bit of a fuss over it, and his brothers had been waiting at the homestead with their mother’s homemade root beer and plenty of pizza.
He was stuffed to the gills already, and he hadn’t even left to pick up Millie yet. He looked at himself in the mirror, deciding he looked good enough. The collar of his shirt didn’t quite lay flat, but he wasn’t about to get out an iron to fix it.
He hadn’t shaved for a little over a week now, and he rather liked the beard that was growing in. He’d decided to keep it for now, though come Thursday night, his mother’s nagging might change his mind.
“Go live like a champion,” he said to his reflection, something his father had said to him many times growing up.
His nerves had been fueling his heartbroken side all day, but he left the bathroom connected to his and Russ’s room and went downstairs, his cowboy boots making too much noise to escape the house without detection. And of course, it had to be Rex who came out of the kitchen to see what Travis was up to.
He whistled and said, “Hoo boy, where are you off to?”
That question brought everyone else out of the kitchen, and Travis wouldn’t be able to keep his date a secret now. He ran his hands through his hair and plucked his cowboy hat from the rack beside the front door. His working hats all hung by the back door, but his dress hat had a special spot out here.
“I’m goin’ out with Millie.”
Rex grinned like Travis had said he’d found a cure for the hoof disease their cattle got every blasted winter. “Good for you, bro.” He was only five years younger than Travis, but Travis felt like they came from different planets sometimes.
“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Griffin said.
“Go,” Russ said, stepping in front of the younger brothers. “Don’t listen to them. Have fun.” He smiled at Travis and nodded as if he already knew how the date would go, and it had been good.
“What if—?”
“Nope,” Russ said. “Now where are your keys?”
Travis patted his pockets, because he thought he’d put them there. But he couldn’t feel them. “Shoot. I must’ve left them upstairs.” He bolted back that way, ready to be free from the homestead. Away from the six eyes watching him. Now he’d be late, too.
He swiped the keys from the top of his dresser and headed back downstairs, feeling a bit rushed and sweaty now.
“Have fun,” Russ said, and Travis lifted his hand in a wave and left his three brothers standing in the doorway that led into the kitchen.
He was so nervous he’d forgotten to say thanks for the pizza, and he’d forgotten he’d parked in the garage. He keyed in the code, which took another few seconds, and by the time he sat behind the wheel, he just wanted to go back inside. He could put on his pajamas and catch up on the sleep he’d lost last night.
The cabin out in the pastures was warm enough, and he’d eaten like a king. Brian didn’t snore, Tomas only muttered in his sleep sometimes, and Darren always had the best snacks. The cots were comfortable enough. At least they’d never bothered Travis before.
What had kept him awake was this date with Millie. “Might as well get it over with,” he muttered, hoping it would go better than he was imagining. And if it didn’t…well, there was always next October and the speed dating event.
He drove to the address she’d texted, arriving a few minutes before he’d said he’d pick her up. So he wasn’t late at all. He rotated his shoulders and fixed his denim jacket as he walked up the front sidewalk, and he drew in a long breath and held it.
Then he rang the doorbell.
Only
a few seconds passed before a woman opened the door. Mostly made of skin and bones, she smiled at Travis. “Travis Johnson,” she said like they were old friends.
“Ma’am.” He lifted his cowboy hat in greeting.
“Oh, how polite.”
“You can thank my momma,” he said with a smile. “It’s good to see you, Miss Hepworth.” He glanced behind her, but he didn’t want to be rude or seem too eager. “Should I come in?”
“Don’t make him stand on the porch, Momma,” Millie called from the depths of the house, and her mother stepped back. Travis entered the place, and it felt a lot like his grandmother’s house. Old carpet on the floor, with obvious spots where people walked. The furniture looked a bit droopy, and the whole house needed to be aired out.
Houses this old were segmented, cut up, and he stood in a living room with a television and a recliner that had definitely seen better days. His parents had a smaller house now too, but it was newer than this place, and had been renovated before they’d bought it and moved from the ranch and to town.
He kept his smile on his face, because he didn’t want Millie’s mother to know what he was thinking. But honestly, he thought this place should be torn down and started from scratch.
A cat meowed and rubbed against his legs, and he looked down at it.
“Oh, don’t mind Puddles,” Mrs. Hepworth said. “She’s declawed and mostly blind. So, Travis,” she continued as if she didn’t need to breathe like normal humans. “Tell me: what are you doing these days?”
“Working the ranch, ma’am.”
“Is that all?”
Travis looked at her, his defenses flying right into place. “Yep,” he said, because she obviously hadn’t meant to insult him. But running a ranch was hard work. So hard that everything they needed to do barely got done with seven men working full time. “What are you doin’ these days?” he asked, instantly regretting the question.
The woman was obviously sick, and he didn’t need to cause her to drum up bad memories of being in the hospital. Heat filled his face, and he shifted his feet, but she said, “Oh, a little of this and a little of that. I like to waste a day or two at the library or the community center.”