The Cowboy's Summer Love (31 page)

“About what?” Tess asked, wondering what was on Travis’ mind.

“To start with, the lunch you made was really good. I especially liked the cookies. Did you put the coconut in them just for me?”

“Maybe,” Tess said with a knowing smile. Travis and Trey both loved anything with coconut. She was surprised there were any cookies left after Trey discovered they had coconut.

“I didn’t realize you were so domestic,” Travis grinned.

 “You know I can cook when I want to. After all, you and BB served as taste-tester all through my home-ec classes,” Tess lifted an eyebrow at him, sensing he was stalling. “I don’t think you wanted me to stay to discuss my recipe for fudgie wudgies. Anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“You and Rick.”

When Tess started to say something, he shook his head and rushed on.

“He’s a really great guy, Tess. You couldn’t do any better than him. I’m sorry I’ve not been very receptive to Rick dating you. I won’t tease you any more or try to come between the two of you. He’s exactly the type of person you should be interested in.”

Tess stared at him for a moment before getting up from the chair and walking over to stand at the window.  She could see Trent working at the shop with the big double doors open while Cass ran around chasing their dog Buddy.

“You’re right. Rick is one of the finest, nicest people you could hope to meet. He’s a good friend, a caring man, and I’d be completely stupid to let someone like him get away. He is exactly the type of person I should be interested in, but I’m not. I won’t be seeing Rick again, at least not on a date.”

Tess waited a minute for her words to sink in before turning around and going back to the chair by the bed. Travis stared at her as she sat down.

“But Tess, you just said he was right for you. Why wouldn’t you see him again?” Travis asked, dumbfounded by Tess’ matter-of-fact announcement.

“Because he pointed out that I was in love with someone else.”

Travis raised his head off the bed and a flash of anger shot across his face. He might have resigned himself to losing Tess to a nice guy like Rick, but he wasn’t okay with anyone else having her.

Spending the last few hours telling himself he could live without Tess, he planned to pack up and leave once he could walk again. He knew he’d never marry anyone because his heart would forever belong to the woman sitting next to him with her big brown eyes melting into his.

“Who, Tess? Who else have you been seeing? Who?”

“You sound like an owl,” Tess said with a smile starting in her heart and working its way up to her lips before dancing in her eyes. “I haven’t been seeing anyone except for a daredevil cowboy hero who can’t seem to stay out of trouble, you idiot.”

“But who …” Travis started to ask then realized what Tess was saying. “You mean you’re… are you sure, honeybee? You sure you want to say it? If you do, there’s no going back.”

“I’m sure,” Tess said, taking Travis’ hand in both hers. “I love you, Travis Thompson. I have as long as I can remember. No matter how hard I tried not to, I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“I love you,” Travis said, moving his hand to wipe the tears that fell on her cheek. “I’ve always loved you. There’s never been anyone except you.”

Tess touched her lips to his in a warm kiss. There was nothing else in the world at that moment except the two of them finally admitting what their hearts had always known.

Rolling over, Travis tugged Tess onto the bed with him, cuddling her to his chest as he kissed her repeatedly.

 “Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell me years ago?” Tess asked, still in shock that Travis said he loved her, had always loved her.

“I didn’t think you felt the same. I knew you’d never see me as anything but another pesky brother,” Travis said, rubbing his hands lightly along her back. “I couldn’t bear the thought of having you laugh at me, throwing my love back in my face.”

“I wouldn’t have laughed, Travis. Not at all,” Tess said, resting her head against his chest. “All the teasing and kissing you’ve done this summer has made me absolutely crazy. I thought you were just saying and doing all those things because we used to be such good friends, because you wanted me to feel good about myself. I never dreamed I’d have a chance with you.”

“That teasing and kissing was because I couldn’t keep away from you, Tess. I’ve never been able to stay away from you. Even in the service, Brice kept me updated on where you were, what you were doing. I missed you every single day I was gone.”

“Oh, Tee, I missed you, too.” Tess started to feel regret for all the years they could have been together, but decided they both had a lot of growing up to do in order to reach this place where they could say “I love you.”

And love him she did.

 “I better take off that ice before you get frostbite,” Tess said, starting to get up, but Travis pulled her back against his chest. “It’s fine for a few more minutes. I want you to kiss me again, honeybee.”

Tess didn’t kiss him immediately. She looked into his eyes, getting lost in the warm blue depths before she ran a finger over Travis’ lower lip. She caressed his chin and smoothed her hand across his jaw. Then she lowered her lips to his, teasing and tempting until she felt his arms tighten around her possessively, passionately.

“I see Travis is feeling much improved,” Trent said, standing in the door with a goofy smirk on his face. Tess blushed and buried her head against Travis’ chest.

“I am feeling better,” Travis said, rubbing his hand reassuringly across Tess’s back. “Love is the very best kind of medicine.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Trent said, coming into the room and looking at them both. “I was wondering how long it would take you to realize it.”

“Is that right?” Travis asked with a grin. “Why didn’t you write it in the sky or take out a billboard on the highway?”

“We talked about doing that,” Trent teased. “Some of us made bets to see how long it would take the two of you to realize what we all knew.”

“Who?” Tess asked, curious as to who had been talking about her and Travis.

“Me, Trey, the hands, Brice, your dad, old man Reinken, and the guy who delivers the fuel, to name a few,” Trent said, devilment dancing in his eyes.

Travis laughed and Tess looked between the two brothers, shaking her head. Instead of responding, she got off the bed, removed the ice from Travis’ legs, and headed to the kitchen with the bags.

Trent sat down in the chair and studied Travis for a moment. “You look like you are feeling a lot better, bro, and I don’t just mean your legs.”

“I am. It took Cass to bring me to my senses, but I think I’m going to be okay now,” Travis said with a smile.

“Cass? What did she do?” Trent asked, wondering what the little red-head said to Travis.

“She came in here this morning in tears because Trey and Cady were fighting and you were mad, muttering some nonsense about calling off the wedding. She’s was quite incensed her pretty dress would not be worn, mind you,” Travis said with a teasing grin. “From now on, I want life around here to continue as usual. Everyone needs to quit tiptoeing around me and treating me like I might break. I’m going to be just fine, so you better get back to planning a wedding. I promised Cass she could wear her dress and Lindsay could be princess for the day.”

“Did you, now?” Trent said, digesting this bit of information. “What if you can’t walk by then? Will you still stand up with me, even if you have to use crutches?”

“I’ll stand up with you even if you have to strap me to a hand-truck and roll me down to the pond. You just make sure the wedding goes as planned. Deal?” Travis stuck out his hand toward Trent.

Trent smiled broadly and engulfed Travis in a hug.

“Deal.” Sitting back in the chair, Trent grinned mischievously. “Now, I think you better fess up as to how long you’ve been buzzing after your little miss honeybee.”

“Far too long,” Travis said, settling back on the pillows, feeling better than he had for a very long time.

Chapter Sixteen

Love is when you can be your true self with someone,

and you only want to be your true self

because of them.

Terri Guillemets

After dinner, Travis asked both Trey and Trent to sit with him for a while. He asked Tess, too, because he felt she deserved to know what had plagued him all summer and driven him to the cusp of a breakdown.

He couldn’t quite bring himself to have Cady and Lindsay there, but knew Trey and Trent would offer them a watered-down version of what he needed to share.

Tess sat on the bed next to him while Trent sat in the straight back chair and Trey took the armchair by his bed.

“What’s up, Trav?” Trey asked, grateful to see his brother looking more like himself. From what Trent said, he thought a big part of it was the fact that Tess quit running from her feelings and told Travis she loved him.

“I wanted to talk about what happened while I was in Iraq, what happened the day I… uh… got the scars on my thigh,” Travis said. He knew Trey and Trent were shocked when they first saw the scars and he realized at some point in the last few days, Tess had a glimpse of them as well. The scars, and how they came to be there, were a big part of what gave him nightmares. He hoped talking about it would help the emotions and the memories have less power over him.

Taking Tess’ hand in his, he lightly squeezed her fingers. “What I’m going to say isn’t pretty, honeybee. If you’d rather not hear it, I understand.”

“No, I want to stay,” Tess said, holding his hand tightly in hers. She looked at him encouragingly, so he began his story.

“I was leading a squad down a street that had been bombed.  We heard there were some children living in an abandoned house and we went to find them, see if we could help. One minute we were walking down the street, the next gunfire opened around us. We ran for cover and realized insurgents were firing from two empty houses on opposite sides of the street. We split the squad and fired back, riddling those houses full of rounds. The firing stopped and we waited. We took the first house and didn’t find any survivors. As we entered the second, we could hear crying. Those men had found the kids and who knows what they planned to do with them. Five children were stuffed in a closet and the one closest to the door had been hit by a stray bullet in the chest. He needed medical attention so I sent the guys out with the rest of the kids and asked them to call for assistance. I was afraid to move him, not sure about the extent of his injuries. While I was bent over talking to him, his eyes got huge and filled with terror. Before I could turn around, I felt a blade rip through my upper thigh. One of the rebels we shot dragged himself across the floor and sliced me with a filthy machete. He slashed me three more times while I was trying to gather up the little boy. Yelling, I ran out the door, carrying the child, blood streaming down my leg. One of my men ran back in the house to finish the job we started and that’s when a bomb exploded, killing him. The little boy, he didn’t make it either.”

Travis looked down at his hand clasped in Tess’, remembering every detail of that day. He could feel the knife in his muscle, see the all-consuming fear in the little boy’s eyes, smell the burning stench as the bomb detonated.

Trey leaned over, tears glistening in his eyes, and gently touched Travis on the leg. “Why didn’t you tell us what happened? Why did you always sound so happy and carefree on the phone when you called?”

“I didn’t want you to worry. There wasn’t a thing you could do to help me,” Travis said.

“We could have shared the burden with you,” Trey said quietly. “What happened with your wound? I’m sure it was more than just a few stitches.”