The Best Bride (13 page)

“Mister?”

Travis glanced down and saw Mandy was tugging on the sleeve of Austin's shirt.

“What?” Austin asked.

“I'm beautiful, too. Mommy said so.”

Austin drew back his head and laughed. “You're right, Mandy. You are very beautiful. I'm sorry I didn't include you.”

The little girl dimpled, obviously charmed.

“Tell me, Mr. Lucas, how long have you lived in Glenwood?” Elizabeth asked.

Austin looked at her. “It's Austin, and I've lived here since junior high school.”

She folded her arms over her chest. The action pushed her full breasts up slightly. Travis remembered the feel of them against his chest. His mouth grew dry.

She smiled slowly. With her long hair curling over her
almost-bare shoulders and the rose-colored dress outlining her feminine curves, he knew he didn't have the power to resist what she offered. Fortunately for him, she wasn't doing any offering. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Elizabeth.

“I was wondering. I've heard all these stories about Travis and his women. Are the stories true?”

Austin glanced at him. Devilment twinkled in his pale gray eyes. “Every word, ma'am. Gospel.”

Travis jerked his thumb toward the door. “Get out of here, you traitor.” He followed Austin down the hall toward the front door, all the while accompanied by the sound of Elizabeth's laughter.

“I'll get you for this,” he said as Austin got into his car.

“I'm scared.” Austin gave him a salute. “Enjoy the ladies.” He pulled his car door shut and started the engine.

When Travis returned to the dining room, Rebecca had come out of the kitchen.

“Oh, is he gone?” she asked, twisting her hands together. “I hate it when that happens.”

Elizabeth glanced at the other woman. “What exactly happened?”

Rebecca sank into her chair and buried her face in her hands. “I can't be around that man without turning into a klutz. I have a master's degree, I got good grades in school. I run the entire child services department for the county.” She looked up at Travis. “I do a good job, don't I?”

“The best.” He had to fight back a grin.

“Don't you dare laugh, Travis,” she said. “I'm a pathetic creature. Every time I'm around that man, I fall apart. I drop things.” She grimaced at the tablecloth. “Or spill them. I can't finish my sentences. I've only met him three times, but it's getting worse.” She sighed. “Maybe I should move.”

Elizabeth giggled. Rebecca turned toward her. “This is not funny.”

“I'm sorry.” Elizabeth bit her lower lip, then burst out laughing. “You have a crush on him.”

“I know. It's awful.”

Travis reached over and rested his hand on Rebecca's shoulder. “Be careful, kid. Austin has broken more hearts than my brothers and I put together. He's not into relationships except for the convenient kind.”

She looked up at him and smiled. She was dressed in a floral print dress that floated around her body. The garment was loose enough not to even hint at curves below. With her long hair, minimal makeup and flat shoes, she looked like everyone's stereotypical idea of a librarian. Or a Sunday school teacher. The innocence lurking in her gaze had been one of the reasons nothing had happened between them. He didn't want that on his already-full conscience.

“I know that,” Rebecca said. “There's just something about him.”

“He's dangerous.”

“Yeah, kinda like you.”

* * *

He and Rebecca sat on the front porch swing while Elizabeth put Mandy to bed. He could hear the sounds of Mandy's laughter floating out of the upstairs window. He liked the domesticity of their arrangement. If he couldn't have the real thing, this was a damn close second best.

“Elizabeth seems very nice,” Rebecca said, pushing off the porch with her foot and causing the swing to rock.

“Uh-huh.”

“That's what I like best about our friendship,” she said, poking him in the side. “Your articulate statements.”

He didn't bother responding. Rebecca had something to say, but he wasn't going to make it any easier for her.

“You're a fool if you let her get away.”

He didn't answer.

“I know you probably think it's too soon to know if she's the one or not, but you two look right together. She's bright, funny, great with her daughter and—”

“Shut up.” He softened the words by resting his arm on the back of Rebecca's shoulders and pulled her next to him.

“But—”

“No, Rebecca. I can't do this. I'm not a fool if I let her go, I'm a fool if I try again. You're right. Elizabeth is great. Mandy's irresistible, but so what? I come from a long line of failures in the relationship department. None of my uncles, or my brothers have been able to make it work. Neither could I.”

“Maybe Julie wasn't the right one for you.”

“Maybe I should quit trying to be something I'm not.”

She looked up at him. The porch light illuminated her pale skin and the concern in her eyes. She was as slender and fragile as a porcelain figurine, and just as beautiful. He'd held her close, even kissed her once. And felt nothing. Damn. Why did Elizabeth Abbott have to be the one to make him crazy? It would have been easier to try again with Rebecca. He told himself it was because they were friends, but he knew better. It would have been easier with Rebecca because with her he didn't have as much to lose.

“You don't have to be like them,” she said, snuggling closer. There was a slight chill in the air. He welcomed the decrease in temperature. Maybe it would cool his desire. “You're your own person. Blaze a new path. Start a new tradition in the Haynes dynasty.”

“If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably a duck. No point in trying to be something else.”

She grinned. “What are you saying?”

He chuckled. “That I'm a duck.”

“Well, go ahead and be one if it makes you happy.”

The ”trouble was it didn't make him one bit happy. He wanted more. That was the hell of it. He couldn't be like his father, going from woman to woman. None of his brothers were. They all wanted to make a relationship work and settle down with one woman. Like them, he wanted to get married, have a herd of children and wake up in the same bed for the next fifty years. What right did he have to try for something that was doomed to failure?

“But maybe Julie
wasn't
the one for you.”

“She was the perfect wife. A guy couldn't ask for more.”

“Maybe you didn't love her.”

Interesting thought. He was beginning to think he didn't know what love was.

“Travis!”

He stood up when he heard Elizabeth call his name. “Be right back.”

Rebecca rose and stretched. “I'll come with you. I want to say good-night to Elizabeth and then leave. I have a lot of work tomorrow.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He waited, hoping for some reaction. Some hint of desire. Nothing. Not even the tiniest spark. She could have been his sister.

“Hang in there,” she said.

“I will.” He opened the front door for her to go in first.

Elizabeth watched Rebecca and Travis enter the hallway. They looked good together. Both tall and attractive. Rebecca said something, and Travis laughed. How easily they spent time together. Elizabeth fought down a feeling of envy. After the first year it had never been easy with Sam. He'd been charming, of course, but he'd never let her inside and never shared his feelings. Now, of course, she knew why. But then she'd always wondered what was wrong with her. Why wasn't she enough to keep her man happy?

Travis looked up at her.

“Mandy wants to say good-night to you,” she said.

“Sure.” He climbed the stairs two at a time and went into Mandy's room. Rebecca followed more slowly.

Elizabeth wanted to ask what they'd been talking about outside. She'd heard the creak of the swing. It had been an intimate sound. Elizabeth told herself she wasn't jealous. Why should she be? She wasn't interested in Travis. At least not romantically. She resisted the impulse to touch her nose to see if it was growing.

Tonight she was going to have to have a long talk with herself. She couldn't afford to get involved with anyone, and certainly not him. He would sweep her up in passion, muddle her thinking, pleasure her body and then leave her for the next one on the list. Which almost made it easier. If Travis wasn't such a flirt, she would have a more difficult decision. She would have to face trusting her judgment about a man. She shook her head. Never again. She was done making those kinds of mistakes.

Rebecca reached the landing. “I'm glad we got to spend some time together.”

“Thanks for bringing me the work. I'll get started on it in the morning.”

“Oh, please take your time.” Rebecca frowned. “I don't want to be responsible for you not getting better. You don't have to do any of it if you don't feel up to it. Her frown turned into a smile. “Heaven knows the paperwork has waited for months now. A couple more weeks isn't going to matter.”

“I'm desperate for something to do during the day. Between Louise and Travis, I barely have to move around at all. I'm looking forward to getting back to work.”

“Your desk is waiting for you. Rebecca nodded toward Mandy's room. “Now you take care of yourself and that hunk in there. He needs some looking after.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “After all the stories I've heard, looking after is the one thing he doesn't need more of.”

Rebecca sobered. “Maybe I shouldn't have passed on all those stories about Travis. He really is a nice man. Don't judge him too harshly.”

“I don't judge him at all. He's been great to me and Mandy, but he's not my type.”

“Too bad. He's not mine, either.” Rebecca stared off in the distance for a moment. “There must be someone brave enough to take on this particular Haynes boy. I haven't known Travis for all that long, but I know him well enough to know it would be worth the trouble.” She touched Elizabeth's forearm briefly. “Get better, but don't push yourself. The piles of paper aren't going anywhere. Good night.”

She started down the stairs. Elizabeth moved to follow her but Rebecca stopped her with a raised hand.

“I'll find my own way out. You'd just have to climb the stairs again to tuck in your daughter. I'll talk to you soon.”

“By.”

Elizabeth watched as her boss left. When the front door closed, she stared at it for several minutes. Rebecca was great. She was looking forward to working for her. It would be nice to have some new friends in her life. Except—

She shook her head and turned toward Mandy's room. Except for the secrets she had to keep. They made it hard to open up. There was always a barrier between herself and anyone she wanted in her life. She knew she should put it behind her, but she couldn't. What would Louise and Rebecca think if they knew the truth? Worse, what would Travis think? She didn't want to even imagine that moment. He would know what a fool she'd been. He would blame her, as she blamed herself, for not figuring it out, for not getting the clues. There must have been hundreds.

Stop thinking about it, she told herself. But it was hard to forget what was keeping her from the life she really wanted. Tonight's dinner had reminded her how much she liked having people in her life. Being with everyone had taunted her with the vision of what she'd once imagined her life with Sam to be like. She'd thought they would be a family together; she'd been wrong.

Brushing aside the unpleasant thoughts, she moved toward Mandy's room. As she entered the room she saw Travis sitting on the edge of the bed holding Mandy in his arms. They both had their backs to her.

“Sometimes I miss my daddy,” Mandy said.

“I know, honey,” Travis answered.

Elizabeth felt as if someone had stabbed her in the heart. Mandy had adjusted so well to all the changes that sometimes she allowed herself to forget how this must be upsetting her daughter. Of course she missed her father.

She wanted to go to Mandy and comfort her, but Travis seemed to be doing a fine job. Besides, it was her fault the girl didn't have a father anymore. She'd been the one to demand Sam sign custody of their child over to her. She clutched the door frame. Sam hadn't given her any trouble. He'd signed the papers, then passed them to her. His blue eyes had spoken his silent apology as the prison guards had led him away. That quiet apology hadn't been enough.

Elizabeth knew this was hard on Mandy, but it was better this way. Sam had never really loved either of them. She'd finally figured out it had all been a game to him.

“How come your hugs make me feel better?” Mandy asked, settling back on her bed.

“They're magic hugs.” Travis bent over and kissed her cheek. When he straightened, he saw Elizabeth standing just inside the room. “Hi. We were discussing her father.”

“I heard,” she said. Elizabeth addressed Mandy. “Were you feeling sad?”

“A little.” Her little girl looked up at her with Sam's eyes. “Travis gave me a magic hug and I'm better now.”

“Aren't you lucky.” Elizabeth picked up her stuffed teddy and placed him next to her. “Are you ready to go to sleep?”

Mandy nodded.

“I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you, too, Mommy.”

Elizabeth fussed with the covers for as long as she could, knowing she didn't want to turn around and face Travis. What must he be thinking about her? Every time they came to some kind of agreement, something was there to remind him about the mysteries in her life. She knew he was curious. She just prayed he would stop asking her questions she couldn't answer.

Travis was waiting for her in the hallway. Without saying a word, he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her down the stairs. When they reached the foyer she was about to say good-night, but he opened the front door.