by Emmy Eugene
“Because you thought I was in town seeing another woman, for starters,” he said. He spread his arms wide. “Millie, this is all there is. The ranch, and my family. If I’m not working on one of those problems, I’m asleep.” He frowned at her. “I really don’t like being judged for something I didn’t do, and I don’t need to answer to you for where I am or what I’m doing.”
“I never said—”
“This is all my life is. It’s boring, and it’s mundane, and sometimes there’s no service to get texts.” He drew in a deep breath. “So you know what? I think I need to take a step back.”
His words rang with awful finality in her ears. She didn’t know what to say to get him to stop glowering, and she really missed the smile she knew could transform his face.
“Okay,” she said, because what else was she supposed to say? He watched her march over to the front door and open it, but he didn’t follow her to close it. She stepped onto the porch, the wind nearly knocking her down.
She made it to her car and backed out of the driveway, beyond glad she hadn’t asked him about the job. She couldn’t even imagine working around the ranch if they weren’t together. She slowed as she approached the cabins, and she felt like something she hadn’t even known she wanted and needed had been ripped from her.
Because for Travis, a step back might as well be labeled a break-up, and Millie wondered how she’d gone from excited to see him and talk about a job at the ranch to leaving without a boyfriend and without that job.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent walking Momma, getting Puddles out of the tree in the backyard, and looking for a job.
Millie missed Travis keenly, because trying to find employment was one of the most soul-sucking experiences of her life. Momma didn’t seem to understand that she couldn’t just fish five-dollar bills out of the pond in the backyard, and Millie really needed a break from her mother. Part-time work would be enough, she reasoned, and she’d applied for at least a dozen jobs, from those in a more professional setting like a law clerk, to those that had her handing drinks and brown bags of fast food out a window.
When Friday morning dawned, she put on her short hiking shorts as normal, set the coffee to brew for her mother when she’d wake up, and ran out to her car. She and Angela were staying closer to home today, and she stopped by Ang’s house to pick her up.
“Enchanted Rock?” Ang asked as she opened the back door and dropped her pack in the seat.
“Yep.” Millie gripped the wheel, trying to keep her optimism and enthusiasm up. She hadn’t told anyone she’d broken up with Travis Johnson, because she didn’t have anyone to tell.
The hike to the top of the pink granite dome was pretty easy, and it would only take them an hour. The view of the Texas Hill Country was spectacular from the top, and Millie thought she’d be able to see Chestnut Ranch.
Her thoughts had been consumed by Travis and his ranch since he’d told her he needed to take a step back. She wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so deep into her heart so fast, but the more she thought about him, the more she realized he’d had a piece of her most vital organ for over a decade.
Yes, she’d left Chestnut Springs to take the job in San Antonio, because her relationship with a younger Travis hadn’t been that serious.
“How’s the boyfriend?” Ang asked, going straight for Millie’s weakest spot, and she didn’t even know it.
“Uh, he took a step back.”
“Millie, no.” Ang actually sounded upset. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah.” Millie gripped the steering wheel. “There’s a long story. I’ll tell it when we get to the rock.”
“I love a good hiking story,” Ang said. “What else you got?”
“Well, I’m looking for a job,” she said. “And that’s not been going well. It’s like, everyone will take your application, but no one calls you back. And stopping by or calling them feeling like you’re trying to sell them a really bad car they don’t want.”
Ang laughed, and Millie chuckled too. Because she was right, and they both knew it. “So where have you been looking?”
“Everywhere,” Millie said, glancing at her friend. “Do you need a personal assistant? Secretary? I can warm up the clients for you.”
Ang gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry, baby.”
Millie gave her a warm smile. “I know. I was just teasing. I’m sure I’ll find something soon.” Though the holidays weren’t the best time to find a job, Millie wasn’t going to wait another day. She wouldn’t ask for time off, and she wasn’t going on vacation.
In fact, she’d invited all of her brothers and their families to Momma’s, and everyone except David was coming. Her only single brother had himself a new, serious girlfriend, and he was going to Christmas dinner with her family closer to Austin.
She pulled into the parking lot at Enchanted Rock, glad they’d chosen this easy, well-kept trail for today. She sighed as she got out of the car and started stretching. “What a week.”
“Yeah, start at the beginning,” Ang said. “Don’t leave anything out.”
Millie wanted to leave a lot of things out, including the part where she’d seen Travis kiss Caroline—though she really needed to reverse those two names. Travis hadn’t kissed Caroline. Caroline had kissed Travis.
“Okay, this isn’t the beginning,” she said. “But I need help with this the most.”
“Oh, I am primed and ready,” Ang said. “Go.”
Millie swallowed, because what she had to say was going to be very hard for her. “I might have…I don’t know. Accused Travis of cheating on me.”
To Angela’s great credit, she didn’t reprimand or chastise Millie. She just looked at her, and asked, “Well, did he?”
“No,” Millie said with great conviction. “No, he didn’t cheat on me.”
And for the first time in her relationships with men, she realized that she’d been the one to walk away. “I think I need to call my dad,” she said.
“Oh, this is going to be a hard hike after all,” Ang said, and she almost sounded happy about it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Travis sat at the desk in his room, adding one more thing to his list of reasons why he wanted to pull back on his duties around the ranch and go back to doing what truly made him happy—carpentry.
Won’t have to get up early.
Seth and Jenna would be home in the morning, and he’d already said he and Jenna wanted to host their Sunday evening dinner and game night at the Wright’s house. Seth’s house now.
Travis had responded to the group text and said he had something he wanted to discuss with everyone. Seth had acknowledged it on the text string, but Russ had cornered him in the kitchen. Travis wasn’t keeping it a secret, and it had been Russ who’d suggested making the list.
The foundation on the dog enclosure had been poured and cured, and he and Russ were confident they could finish the whole building by the New Year. So not Christmas, but Seth would still be surprised and excited.
Travis had put the whole desk together this week as well, sacrificing his sleep to make sure he could have time in the shop, alone. He’d been keeping up with his ranch chores this week, but he really wanted to pull back on those.
“And maybe starting Monday, you can,” he muttered to himself. His parents had gone back to their house yesterday, after everything had been deemed safe and sound. They’d gotten new carpet out of the deal, and now they were just waiting for the home owner’s insurance check to come in.
Not that they needed the money.
Travis added that to his list. He didn’t need the money from his fifth of the ranch, though he did want to keep it.
He got up and went downstairs, the sound of the washing machine making him happy for a reason he couldn’t name. Maybe because he had very little to make him smile now that Millie was out of his life.
He hadn’t meant to push her completely away. But he certainly couldn’t defend himself every time he drove to town for
coffee and didn’t tell her. He shouldn’t have to have a reason to be at his mother’s with a woman. Nothing had happened, and Travis didn’t like feeling like he had something to hide when he didn’t.
And he didn’t like that she didn’t trust him. That was the big kicker, and even if Travis missed her, he didn’t want to second-guess himself or her all the time.
The homestead was empty, as Russ had left to get to work already, and Travis needed to go help. He took care of the chickens, goats, and horses before heading over to the dog enclosure. Russ already had them outside, and Winner came galloping toward him, barking her head off.
“Okay, okay,” he said, laughing as she rounded him like he needed to be herded toward the dog range. “Winny, I’m coming already.”
Russ stepped outside and took his cowboy hat off to wipe his forehead. “Oh, hey,” he said. “I’m finished here.”
“I got the other animals fed and watered,” he said.
“Great.” Russ took off his gloves and tucked them in his back pocket. “Brian just called in to say he and Tomas and Darren are headed out to the fields for the last mow, and Rex and Griffin went out to the cattle with salt.”
“Awesome,” Travis said, thinking he should come out to the ranch later than he normally did. “We’re working on the framing today, then?”
“Yep, let’s get as much done as we can.” Russ clapped Travis on the shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“About how you were at Seth’s wedding.”
“So you’re one breath away from a total breakdown. Got it.” He grinned at Travis. “But maybe only I should work with the nail gun today.”
“Ha ha,” Travis said. “Very funny.” He cut a look at his brother out of the corner of his eye. “How did you…I mean, were you just going to let Janelle walk out of your life?”
“I don’t know,” Russ said. “She freaked out because we’d been dating for a couple of months, and I wanted to meet her kids. So yeah, maybe I would’ve just let her go?”
Travis thought about what his brother had said. He and Russ were a lot alike, but also very different. Because Travis didn’t want to let Millie go. Now that he’d taken a step back, he wanted to push forward too. She hadn’t texted or called, and Travis didn’t know how to break the silence between them either.
He’d been working on the desk, hoping an idea would come to him about how he could give it to her and get her back into his life. Nothing had come to him, and he hoped everything would become clearer once he could talk to Seth and everyone else about pulling away from the ranch.
“Hey.” Russ stepped in front of him, and Travis stopped and looked up. “What are you going to do?”
“I dunno.” He took off his cowboy hat and looked up into the tumultuous sky. “I built her a desk for Christmas. She’s supposed to plan our family party.”
“Maybe you should just call her,” he said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Travis said, but he wouldn’t be doing that today. Maybe tomorrow, he told himself, and he definitely made sure he got access to the nail gun as he and Russ worked to put up the outer walls of the new enclosure.
“Hey, there he is,” Seth said the moment Travis came into the homestead from the ranch.
Relief rushed through Travis for some reason. “Seth.” He grabbed his oldest brother in a tight hug and patted him on the back. Seth chuckled and did the same to Travis. “How was the honeymoon?”
“Great,” Seth said.
“Don’t let him lie to you,” Jenna said, lacing her arm through her husband’s. “He was bored out of his mind.”
“I’m not much for sittin’ on the beach,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time.” He grinned down at her and gave her a quick kiss. “Now.” He faced Travis. “Russ wouldn’t let me go out on the ranch, because you two have something to show me. Where is it?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Travis said, excitement building inside him. “Where’s Russ?”
“He ran upstairs for a sec,” Jenna said. His boots sounded on the steps, and he appeared in the kitchen a moment later.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yep.” Seth adjusted his cowboy hat, and grinned at Travis and Russ. “It’s so great to be back.”
“Yeah, but you live next door now,” Russ said. “Remember?”
“Of course I remember,” Seth said. “But I can literally walk across a bridge, and I’m here. I’m not far, guys. We’ve talked about all of this.”
“Let’s go,” Travis said, because he was anxious to show Seth what they’d been working on.
“Did Trav tell you about his new girlfriend?” Russ asked.
“Russ,” Travis said. “Stop it.”
“New girlfriend?” Seth asked.
“Millie Hepworth,” Russ said, and Travis decided to just let his brother do all the talking. Russ would anyway. “They were so cute together, and then he kind of freaked out, and he hasn’t talked to her all week.”
“Wow,” Seth said. “So cute together.” He nudged Travis as they walked, but all he could think about was Millie.
“Whoa,” Seth said. “What is going on here?”
“We’re building you a new dog enclosure,” Russ said.
“Merry Christmas,” Travis added.
Seth stared at the building and then stepped in front of Russ and Travis. “Wow, you guys.” He looked at Jenna, his smile widening. “Thank you so much.” He grabbed both of them and hugged them, and Travis hugged his brother back.
“Take me through it,” he said, and Travis started detailing how they’d designed it to be a double-long kennel, with gates in between if they didn’t need the room for more dogs.
“But we do,” Russ said. “Janelle has seven of them at her place right now, and I swear we have more all the time.”
“I just need to get training again,” Seth said. “And then we can start adopting them out, making room for the new ones we get.”
They separated, and Seth looked at the skeleton of the building. “This is so great. I can’t wait to see the dogs too.” Seth had always been so cheerful, and his energy was infectious.
“Guys,” Travis said. “I was going to wait to talk to everyone about this tonight, but I want you guys to know first.” He thought about Millie, and the desk he’d built for her, and the life he wanted to have with her.
“I love the ranch,” he said, stepping through his brothers and looking at the building he’d designed. “But I want to go back to carpentry.” He turned away from the partially finished dog enclosure and looked at his brothers. “I want to keep my fifth of the ranch, and I’ll hire people to do the work. But I want to spend my time fishing and in my wood shop.”
“And with Millie,” Russ said, grinning.
“Maybe,” Travis said. “I have to figure out how to make things right between us. But yeah. Maybe.”
Seth’s eyes were wide as he stared at Travis. “Wow,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that.” He took off his cowboy hat and scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Wow. The ranch without Travis.” He pushed out a big breath. “I don’t know what that’s like.”
Travis knew what it was like to suddenly be missing a spirit on the ranch that he’d counted on for so long. And it wasn’t pleasant.
“I’ll still be here,” he said. “And in fact, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to everyone about. But I’ll save that for lunchtime.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Russ said. “There’s more?” He exchanged a glance with Seth. “What is it? Even I don’t know this one.”
“Lunchtime,” Travis said, and he just smiled at his brothers.
Later, Russ barely let Travis finish his lunch before he said, “All right, Travis has news.”
“News?” Rex practically yelled. “I heard we already missed out on the news.”
“There’s more?” Griffin asked.
“Give the man a moment to talk,” Seth said. He nodded at Travis, who really didn’t like the spotlight on him.
/> “I think you’ve all heard that I want to pull back from the ranch. I still want to do a few things, mostly the building repair and that kind of stuff. But the real change is going to be in the living arrangements.” He didn’t dare look at Russ, though his brother had been spilling all kinds of secrets since Seth had returned from his honeymoon.
“Living arrangements?” Seth asked. “You’re moving out?”
“Yes,” Travis said simply. “Because Russ is the foreman here, and he wants to be buried out by his favorite horse, and I think he’s going to propose to Janelle in the next couple of weeks.”
“What?” Russ practically yelled the word. “I don’t think so.” He folded his arms and scoffed.
“Okay, whatever,” Travis said. “But when you and Janelle do get married, you should have the homestead. Seth is next door. And I…want to build a house for myself just inside the gate. There’s a great patch of land on the river, and it wouldn’t take that much from the horse pasture.”
The silence that followed made Travis uncomfortable, and he glanced around the table, not truly meeting anyone’s eyes. “Say something,” he finally said.
“For you and Millie?” Russ asked.
“No,” Travis said quickly, though he was a bad liar and everyone heard it. “I mean, maybe. I just need to figure out how to talk to her.”
“It’s not that hard, bro,” Rex said, and Travis rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, okay, bro,” he said. “We’re not all you, Rex.”
“Yeah,” Griffin said, and Travis wondered what that was about.
He wasn’t the only one as Seth said, “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” Griffin said, lifting his chin. But it was something.
“I feel like I’ve missed so much,” Seth said. “And I gotta say, it’s not a good feeling.”
“Yeah, missing a harvest and a flood and us taking on a dozen extra dogs must be really hard for you to deal with.” Russ rolled his eyes and burst out laughing at the same time.