The Lullaby Sky

by Carolyn Brown

  Travis scooped her up like a new bride and carried her to the living room, where he sat down on the sofa with her in his lap.

  “A broken cup means getting told how stupid and clumsy I am, but if he’s really angry, it can mean slaps or even fists,” Hannah said. “Am I ever going to be normal, Travis?”

  “Yes, you are,” he said. “Things like this will happen, but don’t let it affect you like this. Tell yourself that he’s gone and it’s over every day. Hell, every hour if you need to.”

  One step forward, two back, he thought. But I’m willing to give it time.

  Liz knocked on the back door but didn’t wait for an invitation. She carried a whole platter of decorated cupcakes into the room and set them on the cabinet. “What’s going on in here? Did someone die?”

  “Broken cups,” Hannah said.

  “I understand.” Liz smiled weakly. “But don’t let it ruin your day or jack your blood pressure up too high. I brought cupcakes to go with our ice cream. Aunt Birdie and Miss Rosie are on their way across the street, each of them carrying a casserole dish.”

  Hannah jumped up from Travis’s lap and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “Go on to the bathroom and wash your face,” Liz said. “I’ll clean up the broken glass.”

  “And I’ll help,” Travis said.

  “Hey, hey, we’re here,” Miss Rosie yelled as they came through the kitchen door. “We brought baked beans and potato salad to go with the burgers and hot dogs and Sophie said there is a movie in the living room after we eat. Mercy, did someone get mad and start throwing things in here?”

  “No, Hannah knocked a few mugs off the cabinet,” Travis said.

  “Did she get cut?”

  “Not a bit. Don’t step right there just yet, Miss Rosie.” Liz quickly swept all the broken shards into a dustpan. “Now it’s all gone. Whatever you’ve got in that dish sure smells good.”

  “Yes, it does,” Hannah said as she reentered the room. “Y’all didn’t have to go to all this much trouble.”

  “Thank you,” she mouthed to Travis and Liz.

  Travis barely nodded as he took the dishes from both the women and set them on the cabinet. “I can’t believe that Cal insisted on grilling the hot dogs and hamburgers outside in the rain.”

  “He says it’s not raining under the porch roof, and besides, he has an umbrella,” Hannah said.

  Sophie arrived in a blur of blue, wearing last year’s Halloween costume that was only slightly too short.

  “Looks like you are Elsa tonight,” Aunt Birdie said.

  “Yes, I am.” Sophie twirled around. “And Elsa likes hot dogs and sweet baked beans and, oh, cupcakes!” she squealed.

  “You are far more beautiful than Elsa,” Travis said. “Can you spin one more time just for me?”

  Sophie giggled and did a double twirl, then swiped her finger across the icing on one of the cupcakes and licked it off. “Good! My favorite! That can be my cupcake.” Her words came out in snatches as she licked her fingers again.

  “What if I want that cupcake?” Travis asked. “It’ll be the sweetest one, since it’s had your finger on it.”

  “Uncle Travis.” She giggled. “I’m not that sweet.”

  “Depends on who you are asking. I think you are sweeter than sugar and honey mixed up together,” he teased.

  “Oh, Uncle Travis, I love you!” She threw her arms around his waist.

  “Not as much as I love you.” Travis’s drawl was even deeper than usual.

  Birdie removed the lid from the container of baked beans. “Okay, ladies, let’s get all this put on the table so we can fill up our plates and go to the living room to watch the movie.”

  Miss Rosie opened the refrigerator and took out the container holding ice cubes. “I’ll make the sweet tea while y’all get the rest of the stuff on the table.”

  “Right on time!” The rich aroma of grilled food filled the house as Cal carried a platter of hot dogs and hamburger patties into the house. “See, I told you I could grill on the back porch even if it is raining.”

  “I smelled charcoal cookin’ a block away.” Darcy threw the back door open and entered the kitchen. “I’m starving. I didn’t even get a lunch break today, and that one little package of peanut butter crackers that I ate on the run is failing me.” She sniffed and headed toward the table. “Oh. My. God. Sophie, you are adorable in that outfit.”

  Sophie did a lovely curtsy and bowed. “If that’s as good as pretty, then thank you, Aunt Darcy.”

  Conversation swirled around him. He heard Darcy tell Cal that she’d had no idea he knew his way around a grill. Sophie was explaining who Elsa was to Miss Rosie. But the aftershock of holding Hannah in his lap and listening to her heart beat in unison with his almost let a full pitcher of sweet tea drop from Travis’s hands. He had to get a grip on more than the glass pitcher.

  Hannah helped Sophie fix her hot dogs and carried them to the living room for her. Miss Rosie and Aunt Birdie were already on the sofa, their plates on the coffee table. Darcy had spread Sophie’s old quilt out on the floor, and she and Cal were sitting off to one side of it.

  “It’s a real picnic,” Sophie said. “With a quilt and everything. Uncle Travis, you can sit right here and Mama can sit by you and I get to sit in the middle of all y’all.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Travis said as he sat in the spot he’d been assigned. “I will save your place, Hannah.”

  Hannah liked her hamburger the same way every time—mustard, pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce. But she forgot all about the burger when she sat down beside Travis and sparks danced around them on the quilt.

  “Good, huh?” Travis asked.

  She nodded, really looking at Travis as a man rather than a friend. It had to be that episode with the broken cups and him responding with kindness that triggered the sparks. He was Travis, for mercy’s sake—her friend for their whole lives. Besides, she’d been divorced less than a month.

  “The best part is that I didn’t have to cook them or worry about getting them perfect,” Liz declared.

  “I think you should be moved out by the time Wyatt comes home. You can have a bedroom upstairs,” Hannah said as the music for the movie started.

  Liz smiled. “Thanks, but your aunt Birdie says I can have one of her spare bedrooms, so I’ll be staying with her through the summer until I can find a place of my own.”

  “Yes, I did, and I’ll be glad to have her staying with me,” Aunt Birdie piped up from the sofa.

  “I wanted her to stay with me,” Miss Rosie said.

  “But I’ve got more room. She will have to share the upstairs bathroom with Calvin since he’s living there, too.”

  “No problem with that,” Calvin said. “I lived with sisters, and we had to share a bathroom.”

  “I hope it all goes smooth,” Hannah said. “Need any help?”

  “Yes, I do. He’s gone for a couple of days this week. Could you come over and help me pack my things? I can do it, but I’d sure like your support,” Liz answered.

  “Just tell me when and I’ll be there.” Hannah smiled.

  “Shhhh. The movie is about to begin and I’ve spent far too much time in the land of adults,” Cal said. “I haven’t even seen this wonderful show.”

  “Oh, Uncle Cal.” Sophie giggled. “Since you live so close to me now, you can watch my shows any old time.”

  Cal hugged her so tight that her dark curls bounced. “Thank you, baby girl.”

  Sophie wiggled out of his embrace and huffed, “I’m not a baby.”

  “No, you are not,” Cal said. “But you’ll always be my baby girl.”

  “Even when I grow up? How can I be a baby girl when I’m a big girl like Mama?”

  “Baby girl just means that you are special,” Travis said.

  Sophie giggled and scooted over to sit beside Liz. “Then I’ll be all y’all’s baby girl.”

  Travis laid a hand on Hannah’s leg and squeezed. “She is adora
ble. You’ve done such a good job with her, Hannah.”

  Hannah placed her hand over Travis’s, and a tingle shot through her heart. What in the devil was going on in her body? She’d vowed to never trust a man again. But this was Travis. Good, dependable, trustworthy Travis.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  On Saturday morning, Hannah slept poorly, and finally, at six thirty, she got out of bed and padded into the kitchen, where she found Darcy sitting in the dark with a glass of sweet tea in her hands. “So you couldn’t sleep, either?”

  Darcy shook her head. “I thought it would be wonderful to have Calvin this close, but it’s not. I can’t get past this thing I have for him. I’ve tried and tried, dated other men, but none of them measure up or make me feel like he does. I have made up my mind to be single forever and dote on Sophie.” Darcy shrugged. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

  “Travis.” Hannah set about making a pot of coffee.

  “He’s always been in love with you. Since grade school,” Darcy said.

  “But that’s when we were kids. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since those days.” Hannah’s chest tightened. Could she be the woman that he’d never gotten over? She couldn’t be, because she was past thirty before she got tangled up with Marty. That would have given Travis years to open up about his feelings.

  Darcy shrugged. “The heart knows what it wants. Now what?” She threw up her hands and sighed.

  “Now we be patient and see what happens.”

  “Do you know what wait is? It’s a four-letter word and they are all awful.” Darcy groaned.

  “So is love,” Hannah reminded her. “Hey, you remember when we all went to the park after graduation and Cal pushed you on the swings?”

  Darcy nodded. “That was years ago, but I still remember it like yesterday. I wanted him to kiss me so badly that night.”

  “Why didn’t you kiss him?”

  “Fear, I guess.”

  “Well, we’re all older now, and you should tell him how you feel.”

  Darcy’s cheeks turned scarlet. “It would make things awkward. I’d rather have him as a friend than lose him forever.”

  “But think how glorious it would be. What if he was afraid to tell you?”

  “I’ll play devil’s advocate and ask him if he has feelings for you,” Liz said from the back door. “We’ll talk about it later, Darcy,” she mouthed with a backward nod at Aunt Birdie and Miss Rosie arriving right behind her.

  A few strands of gray hair had escaped Miss Rosie’s bun, and she pulled a bobby pin from her pocket and fixed it. She wore a wildly colored caftan and bright-orange flip-flops that morning. Aunt Birdie set a paper bag filled with groceries on the cabinet and removed a cast-iron skillet from the cabinet. Her jeans hung on her fanny like a sack on a broomstick, and her red T-shirt sported Rudolph all tangled up in Christmas lights.

  “We are here and we’re going to make a big breakfast. Sausage gravy and hot biscuits and scrambled eggs and blueberry muffins,” Aunt Birdie said.

  “Thank you,” Hannah said. “I was going to make pancakes, but your breakfast sounds a lot better.”

  “You can still get out the griddle and make pancakes for whosoever wants them. Being able to run in and out of your house is so much fun, Hannah,” Aunt Birdie said. “It reminds me of when your grandma, my sister, was alive. We used to do so many meals together, and it brings back memories for me. Built our houses pretty much off the same plan right across the street from each other. I still miss her.”

  Miss Rosie cracked a dozen eggs into a bowl she removed from the cabinet. “Well, holy smokes, Hannah! Your cabinet isn’t all perfect.”

  “It’s not easy, but I’m working on that.” Hannah was glad that someone noticed she was trying to get out of the deep rut Marty had dug.

  “Aunt Birdie!” Sophie ran across the floor and wrapped her arms around the older woman. “I love it that you are coming over here so much. Are you cooking? Can I set the table?”

  “Yes, darlin’ girl, you can set the table. Me and Miss Rosie are making breakfast and you do a wonderful job of helping.” Aunt Birdie pointed at the drawer where the cutlery was stored. “We’ll need six of each.”

  “But what about Uncle Cal and Uncle Travis?”

  “This is a ladies’ breakfast. The boys have already had breakfast and are down at the hangar working,” Miss Rosie answered.

  Liz poured three cups of coffee and handed one to Miss Rosie and one to Aunt Birdie. “I love this feeling. Being free to come and go as we want and not worry about anything. This is the kind of home I want.”

  “Then get out of your situation and make a home like this. I like that the boys aren’t coming to breakfast this morning. Y’all all looked like warmed-over hell on Sunday morning, and that’s a good thing. You don’t feel like you have to go rushin’ around tryin’ to look decent. Only strong women who are comfortable in their faded pj’s are allowed in this house right now.” Aunt Birdie crumbled sausage into the iron skillet and stirred it with a wooden spoon.

  Travis put the last nail in the cat carrier at eight thirty that morning. It was just a wooden frame covered with chicken wire, but it held the gray kitten and could be used to take her to the vet.

  He and Cal had made a trip into Gainesville that morning and picked up litter and a pan to put it in and cat food, both dry and canned, specially formulated for kittens, plus half a dozen cat toys.

  “Are we going to do something every single time a guest leaves Hannah’s place?” Cal asked as he put the gray kitten into the carrier and shut the door.

  “If necessary. But Elaine left Thursday and this is Saturday, so it’s really not a present for that reason. Besides, the kitten needed just a little more taming before we gave her to Sophie. We didn’t want it to scratch her,” Travis said.

  “Party on Thursday after Elaine left that morning. Darcy arrived last night. Kitten today. What happens tomorrow?” Cal asked.

  “Church,” Travis said.

  “We shouldn’t spoil her with things, but with love,” Cal said.

  “You preachin’ to you or to me?”

  Cal picked up the loaded pink litter pan. “Both of us. You can’t imagine how much I love that baby girl.”

  “I think I can. I’d cut out my heart with a rusty butter knife for her or Hannah.”

  “Give Hannah some healing time, but not too much,” Cal said. “Then sweep in and give her a life of happiness forever.”

  “Being with her would sure give me a life of happiness forever.” Travis sighed as he eased the kitten inside. She instantly set up a howl, and he started talking to her in a high-pitched voice. “It’s okay, little girl. It’s only for a few minutes, and then you’ll be carried around all day.”

  “Don’t ever use that voice on Hannah,” Cal said.

  “Do you intend to use your kitten voice on Darcy?” Travis asked.

  “Hell, no.” Travis picked up the carrier, and they walked side by side from the hangar toward the house. “How much time does it take to heal? A year?”

  “Good Lord, not at all!” Cal exclaimed. “What we saw at the courthouse at the first of the month was just the paperwork. The marriage has been over a long time. You’ll know when the time is right.”

  “And you?” Travis asked.

  “I hope I do,” Cal drawled. “The attraction is there. I can feel it, but . . .”

  “But what?” Travis asked when his friend stopped walking and paused.

  “I’m scared out of my mind to tell her how I really feel.”

  “Join the club, bro,” Travis drawled.

  Cal’s phone rang at the same time Travis’s did.

  Travis set the cat carrier down and pulled his phone from his hip pocket.

  “Hey, Dad. Did you pop the question?” he asked.

  “Not yet. Did you find what you were looking for at Pete’s place?”

  Travis smiled. “I did, and it picked up all kinds of bugs. We’ve got them all taken car
e of and Hannah has new phone numbers now.”

  “Good. I was just calling to check on you kids.”

  “We’re taking it a day at a time. Tell Linda happy birthday. I was planning on calling your future fiancée first thing this morning, but—”

  “Well, shit!” John butted in before Travis could finish his sentence. “I forgot that today was her birthday. Thanks for reminding me, son. I’ll get off here and make a reservation at Margaritaville in Panama City Beach and make an excuse to go buy her a present.”

  “You’ve got the perfect present in your pocket,” Travis said.

  “Naw, I’m saving that for the right moment. It shouldn’t be on her birthday. ’Bye now,” John said.

  “Your dad?” Calvin asked.

  “Yep.”

  Travis picked up the kitten and they headed toward the house again.

  Sophie was sitting on the sofa watching Saturday morning cartoons when Cal and Travis brought the kitten in through the back door and into the living room. She looked up and gasped.

  “Is that really a kitten?” she squealed.

  “It is, and she says that she needs a home. You reckon she could find one in this house?” Travis set the carrier down at Sophie’s feet. “She’s sure been crying for a friend. I don’t expect you’d know anyone who might be her new buddy, would you?”

  “I can be her friend.” Sophie left the sofa and dropped down on her knees by the carrier. “Can I get her out of that cage?”

  “Of course you can,” Hannah answered. “She’s a beautiful kitten. You reckon you could share with me?”

  “I sure will share, Mama, but can I hold her first?” Sophie asked.

  Travis quickly crossed the room and slung an arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I don’t have a kitten to give to you.”

  “Someday she’ll have babies and I’ll get my own kitten then. Maybe I’ll be the crazy old cat woman and I’ll have a dozen old mama cats who have babies two or three times a year.”