Larkspur Road (6 page)

“If you still have feelings for Mia Quinn,” Rafe said, “I wouldn’t sit on my butt too long if I were you. She almost married Zeke Mueller a while back. They had a wedding date picked out and everything. Changed her mind all of a sudden.”

“And why was that?”

Rafe shrugged. “Who knows? Lissie and Sophie might have some idea, but all I know is that she gave him back his ring. Mueller was plenty pissed, too, from what I heard. But now he’s married to Deanna—you remember Deanna Scott—she used to work afternoons at her dad’s gas station on Route 5. They’ve got triplets on the way. So that could have been Mia, you know—pregnant with another man’s kids.”

The knot that tightened in Travis’s gut felt like a block of caked clay. It took all of his training to keep the sudden tension inside him from showing in his face.

“And you know what else?” Rafe stood, ambled over to the coffeepot and topped off his cup, and then Travis’s again, as he kept talking. “Just last month, I overheard Boyd Hatcher from the Lazy Q Ranch running his mouth over at the Double Cross. He was ogling Mia out on the dance floor,
saying he wished he’d had a teacher who looked like that when he was in school, and he wouldn’t mind getting to know her better.” Rafe continued on as if he hadn’t noticed the almost imperceptible bunching of muscles in Travis’s neck. “Actually, he said he wanted to get her in the sack. Or words to that effect.”

“Is that so?” Travis managed to keep his tone even. He and Hatcher went way back. They’d never gotten along, even in third grade when Boyd had gotten his kicks shooting spitballs at Lissie on the playground. Until the day Travis punched him in the nose, and then they’d both been marched down to the principal’s office.

“She was dancing with Coop Miller at the time—Mia and Coop dated on and off a few months back,” Rafe explained casually. “But Hatcher wasted no time hustling over there to ask her for the next dance.”

“Mia has every right to dance with whoever she wants.” But Travis heard his own voice. The words had come out in a kind of growl. “I’ve got a kid to take care of and a business to get up and running. Mia and I were over a long time ago.”

“Right.” Rafe tried to hide a grin, and Travis had a feeling his brother could see right through him as no one else in the world could—except maybe Lissie or Jake. He and his siblings all knew each other too damned well.

“Keep telling yourself that, bro. Next thing you know, you could be seeing Mia at another wedding—
hers.
”

No chance of that,
Travis thought.
Not a chance in hell I’d be invited.

He heard light footsteps treading down the stairs. Ivy, Rafe’s thirteen-year-old daughter by his irresponsible ex-wife—was still at a friend’s sleepover party, so it had to be Grady finally up and about.

His gaze softened as the boy appeared in the kitchen doorway. Grady was still a little small for his age, but time would take care of that. Grady’s biological dad had been tall and rangy. And Val was five foot seven. The boy hadn’t hit his real
growth spurt yet, but he was a good-looking kid with even features, shaggy brown hair, a dusting of freckles, and those long-lashed serious green eyes under slanted brows. He’d be handsome by the time he reached his teens. This morning Grady had ditched his pajamas for jeans, a light green T-shirt, and athletic shoes. His longish hair flopped over his eyes. But the sullen look was still firmly entrenched on his young face.

“First time we go to town, we’re buying you some boots, buddy.” Travis smiled. “You must be hungry. How about some scrambled eggs before we head out to the cabin?”

“Sure.” Grady hovered near the refrigerator, looking uncertain.

“Come on in, take a seat,” Rafe said easily. Taking out a plate from the cupboard, he sliced off a hunk of the banana bread Sophie had baked that morning while he was busy changing Aiden and trying to give him a bottle. “You can start with this while your dad rustles up those eggs.”

He watched as the boy leaned down, a smile breaking across his face for the first time as the dogs rushed to him, scrappy little Tidbit and the strapping Starbucks both competing to see how many times they could lick his face.

“You have a dog at home?” Rafe asked.

Grady shook his head. “My mom’s allergic to animals. She let me have a hamster once, but Drew made me get rid of it when we moved to L.A.”

Travis turned from the stove where he had sausage sizzling in a skillet alongside the eggs. His gaze met his brother’s briefly, then shifted to his son’s face.

“We’ve got tons of animals around here—two new barn cats, two dogs, and a whole bunch of horses,” Rafe said. “You can pick out the horse you want to ride. There’s at least three or four that should be right about your speed. I think Pepper Jack would be a good fit for you, but you need to decide if you like him.”

“Pepper Jack?” For the first time, eagerness lit Grady’s eyes.

“He’s a lot of horse, but I think you can handle him if your dad starts you off slow.” Rafe poured the boy a glass of orange juice from the white pitcher on the table, then glanced out the window as Sophie’s Blazer rolled down the long driveway.

“They’re back.” He strode swiftly into the hall and was out the door in a flash.

“Can I ride Pepper Jack after we go to the cabin?”

“Sure.” Travis carried the skillet of fried eggs and sizzling sausage to the table and heaped the food on Grady’s plate. “Once we get a good day’s work done, we’ll come back and go for a ride.”

“Yes!” Grady dug into the food as if he hadn’t eaten in a week. He only stopped to look up as Sophie breezed in, little Aiden in her arms and Rafe right behind her.

“Good morning, Grady, Travis.”

Travis thought his sister-in-law looked as gorgeous as always, though tired and distracted. The slight shadows under her eyes indicated she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before—he’d heard Aiden crying more than once through the walls of his old bedroom, down the hall from Jake’s old room, now the nursery.

The little boy was fussing in her arms right now, making small unhappy sounds. Whew, his ears probably hurt like hell, Travis thought with sympathy. He remembered when Grady had an ear infection. It was a few months after he’d met the boy, while he and Val were dating. The poor kid had been miserable.

“Sorry,” Sophie murmured as Aiden let out a wail. “He’s not going to feel much better until the antibiotics kick in tomorrow.”

Rafe dug the prescription bottle from the diaper bag and studied it, then took his son from his wife’s arms. “Let’s get you some meds, big guy,” he said gently. “Show this rotten infection who’s boss.”

“Do you need anything?” Sophie glanced from Travis to
Grady after Aiden choked down the liquid medicine with a wail of outrage. “I’m going to try to get him down for a nap. Think I’ll grab one at the same time.”

“You do that,” Travis told her. “Don’t worry about us. I’m only sorry we dropped in on you with such short notice.”

Gently, he swept his big hand across his nephew’s tufts of fuzzy, golden brown hair and smiled into his sister-in-law’s eyes. He’d known Sophie almost all his life. She and Lissie had been friends since they were no bigger than a couple of chipmunks.

“I promise Grady and I will be out of your hair as soon as we get the cabin fit for the two of us.”

“Hey, there’s no hurry,” Rafe said.

“We’d love for you to stay, both of you. Aiden will be better in no time and he’s going to want to get to know his uncle and his big cousin.” Sophie’s smile was genuine and warm, directed first at Travis, then at Grady. The boy didn’t even look up, just kept eating his breakfast, eyes on his plate.

“There’s an apple tart in the pantry and a blueberry pie in that white bakery box on the counter. Feel free to help yourselves,” she called over her shoulder as she brushed a kiss against Rafe’s mouth, then hurried upstairs with the baby.

Rafe left shortly after, for a meeting in town with a horse breeder, but not before taking Grady out back to introduce him to his foreman, Will Brady, and a few of the other wranglers.

Travis watched his son trailing after Will toward the barn as the dogs—not allowed in the horse barn—romped in the pasture behind the corral.

The boy trudging after the foreman was a far cry from the child he’d first met at Valerie’s apartment in Phoenix.

That
Grady had been a happy-go-lucky toddler who had grown into a gregarious little boy, but now, on the precipice of adolescence, he was a very quiet kid. Too quiet.

But at least he hadn’t seemed to hate being surrounded
by family. It was hard to tell just what Grady was thinking, though.
He’s had a lot of practice keeping things to himself. But it comes out in other ways,
Travis reminded himself grimly.
Like picking fights. And failing a class.

One of his biggest concerns was the possibility that Grady might have to repeat fifth grade. He raked a hand through his hair and concentrated on cleaning up the kitchen. One thing at a time, he told himself. He needed to get to know his son again, to spend the next month or so trying to rebuild what had once been an easy, loving relationship, then deal with the crap that had gone down.

And what about Mia?
a voice inside him asked.

What about her? He had no right to feel anything about Mia anymore. And even if he did try to get her to just
speak
to him, which she hadn’t done in years—always somehow avoiding him on the rare times when he was home for a visit—what good would it do?

He’d already hurt her once. They’d both moved on, so…

So it was best to leave things that way, not even try to stir something up when he didn’t know how the hell it would end. Mia could get hurt again. He’d be damned if he’d risk that.

Stay away from her,
he told himself as he headed upstairs for a shower.
You have enough on your plate right now without bringing her into the mix.

Grady had to be his first priority. And whipping the cabin into shape and setting up the new business would take up a whole lot of his time.

His years as a special agent had taught Travis to compartmentalize his thoughts and his life. To keep facts and emotions separate, orderly, and in perspective.

Right now, he had to do just that—and stay focused on what was in front of him. No getting distracted by anything outside those perimeters.

Like the past.

As the spray from the showerhead hit his bare flesh with
stinging heat, he welcomed the needle-like sensation. He turned the showerhead nozzle full force and let it clear his brain.

Mia Quinn was off-limits. No if, ands, or buts. He dunked his head beneath the spray and tried to drown out all other thoughts.

“Britt didn’t tell you
anything
?” Samantha sounded worried, and Mia could picture her taking deep cleansing breaths as she’d been trained to do in her twice-weekly yoga classes.

“She claims she needs a break. And she does seem really stressed, Sam, but so far I’ve no idea why.”

Mia was driving down Squirrel Road, going forty-five. There was no traffic unless you counted the doe and two fawns she’d just passed, half hidden by sagebrush and juniper.

“All I can tell you is that she begged me to let her stay for the summer.”

“The
summer
?” Sam’s shriek made Mia wince and shift the phone away from her ear. “The entire
summer
? No way.”

“It’s perfectly okay with me. She’s welcome to—”

“Are you kidding me? She’s just acting out to get back at me for getting married again and—oh, I don’t know—going off on a honeymoon and leaving her behind. For God’s sake,
it’s only three weeks! She can stay with her father and then I’ll be back and—”

Samantha broke off, drew in a long, shaky breath. “Why does she have to pull this crap right now? She used to be such an easygoing kid, even when she hit her teens. Maybe she just hates Alec. But he’s so nice to her, Mia, I swear—and she always
seemed
to like him—”

“Sam, honestly, I’d love to have her stay for the summer. The two of us will have fun—and you and Alec can leave for Corfu tomorrow without having to worry about her every minute while you’re gone.”

“What would she do in Lonesome Way all summer long?” her sister demanded. “Except for you, she doesn’t know a soul.”

“She promised to get a job.”

“A job? And what if she can’t find one?”

Mia braked for a rabbit scampering across the road. After it disappeared into the brush she accelerated again along the rough country lane.

“You know, I can probably help her out with that. Sophie hires high school kids all the time to work at the bakery, especially in the summer. She has loads of part-time shifts. I’m sure she’d be willing to hire Britt—and Britt could make some friends that way. The bakery’s definitely a hangout, just like Roy’s Diner used to be when we were in high school. It could work out, Sam.”

Seconds ticked by as she waited for her sister’s response.

She pictured Sam, skinny as a doe in winter, filled with nervous energy as she wound her dark blond hair around her fingers and pursed her lips the way she did whenever she was weighing something in her mind.