Unbridled (Unlikely Lovers) (24 page)

“I don’t
know
a whole helluva lot. I keep feeling like I’ll wake up and find all of this is another hallucination.”

“
No, it isn’t. It’s something that should’ve happened a long time ago—and probably would have if you hadn’t been so damn stubborn. Travis is a nice guy. Don’t run him off.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “That’s what
Kira told me.” She thought Jade might have said something similar, but she wasn’t clear on that. Then again, it could have been Lola or Denise…

“At least your horse has some sense, even if you don’t. Has
he met Levi yet?”

“No, but I’m hoping that’ll happen this weekend. I’m not sure what I’ll do if
Levi doesn’t like him. You know how blunt he can be.”

Tracy snickered.
“No shit. I’ll never forget the time he told me I had a big butt.”

“Me
, neither.” Her son’s tendency to say exactly what was on his mind could be embarrassing at times. Simply because she couldn’t find any flaws in Travis didn’t necessarily mean that Levi wouldn’t. “Thank God Travis isn’t a smoker. I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Score two points for Travis,” Tracy said. “
Don’t worry so much about what Levi thinks. This is
your
love life we’re talking about, not his.”

“True
—although that may change. Evidently, he’s taken a liking to one of the girls he works with. I don’t mind telling you I’m a little nervous about the idea.”

“
Of course you are—and it would be wonderful if he found someone—but don’t let yourself get so wrapped up in his romance that you forget yours.”

Miranda couldn’t help chuckling. “Damn, Tracy. Who are you? My sister or something?”

“Yes, I am, so don’t think you can kid me. I know how your mind works, and I know how hard it was for you to take the plunge. Do you love Travis—or at least think you can love him?”

“I should,” she said with a rueful laugh. “In fact, I should be
counting my lucky stars that he’s here with me at all. He’s sweet, sexy, adorable, and fun. He takes excellent care of me and everything else, all of my animals seem to like him—hell, I even spotted one of my skittish little barn cats rubbing on his leg while he was filling up the birdfeeder.”

“But…”

Miranda blew out a breath. “For some reason it isn’t enough and it’s bugging the hell out of me—more so when I’m alone than when I’m with him. When he’s here, everything seems terrific. But after he left for work this morning, I started having doubts. I mean, why is he interested in me, anyway?”

Tracy actually growled. “Should I make a list
of your stellar attributes? Or would a swollen head make your concussion worse?”

“Don’t bother. And don’t scream at me when I say this, but something
’s missing. I just can’t seem to put my finger on it.”

“I can tell you
exactly
what’s missing. Your sanity.”

“I know! He’s such a great guy
—he’s even going to fix the windows in the barn. He did ask me if he could, so I can’t accuse him of trying to take over—”

“Oh, my
God. Don’t start with that.”

“Tracy, you of all people should be able to identify with that feeling—that loss of control.”

“No shit, but I can also relate to wanting someone in my life to share the load and have fun with. You’ve been working your ass off your whole life. Even the things you
like
to do could be seen as work. ”

Miranda knew
she was right. “The trouble is, he seems to be assuming a claim on me that I don’t understand. It’s like he knew how I felt about him before my accident, or he learned something that day—something I can’t remember. Part of me wants to accept and enjoy him, but another part of me is still trying to figure out exactly how it happened.”

“Couldn’t you just ask him?”

“That would sound really stupid. I can hear me now—
Hey, Travis. What the hell happened between us? Was there something I missed?
It’s like the moment he realized I wasn’t married I suddenly became his girlfriend.”

“
Let me get this straight. You’re pissed because your affair began without your stamp of approval or because it wasn’t your idea?”

“
Not really. I feel like I wasn’t consulted. Like my wishes didn’t matter.”

“But
you had the hots for him. I know you did!”

“So the fact that I got my wish
justifies the means?”

“
Did it ever occur to your twisted brain that you truly might have missed something?”

“
There’ve been times when I thought I did, but how could I forget something that significant?”

Tracy snorted a laugh.
“Come on, Miranda. You know better than that. Concussions don’t differentiate between trivial memories and the really crucial stuff. You need to talk to him. Seriously.”

“I know, but…”

“If this is bothering you enough that it might screw things up between you two, you need to swallow that stiff-necked pride of yours and ask him. I think you should believe him too. He doesn’t strike me as a liar.”

Since
Tracy’s experiences were a large part of the reason Miranda had avoided men after Kris’s death, having her vouch for Travis’s honesty actually meant something. Not that he needed anyone to vouch for him.
He’s perfect, remember?
He wouldn’t lie, especially not about something that important. 

It was her own honesty she questioned
—or perhaps having the nerve to
be
honest with him. Despite her concussion, she recalled her shaky resolve to tell him how she felt about him. Evidently, she must’ve said or done something, otherwise none of this would’ve happened.

Or would it?

“No, he isn’t a liar. He’s a perfectly wonderful, honest, reliable man. The fact that he’s still single is nothing short of a miracle.”

“Then treat him like the miracle he is,” Tracy advised. “Don’t ruin the best chance for happiness you may ever have.”

“Okay, okay…” 

After a bit of catching up, Miranda said goodbye to her sister and switched off the phone. “Now what do I do?”

Glancing sideways, she spotted something lying on the floor beside the trash can in the corner. Curious, she got up from the table and bent to retrieve it, noticing two things. First, that she was able to reach it with surprisingly little pain, and second, that the object in question was an unopened condom packet.

Unable to recall
ever bringing it into the house, she could only assume that it belonged to Travis, but how it had ended up in that particular location was anyone’s guess. He must’ve tossed it in the general direction of the trash can and missed.
But why?
A quick check of the date stamped on it proved it wasn’t expired, so there appeared to be no reason to have thrown it away.

Unl
ess he knew he would never need it.

The subject had never even been mentioned anytime they’d been intimate. True, he knew that becoming pregnant was impossible for her—he’d learned that during the ER visit—but what about sexually transmitted diseases? He might have known
he
wasn’t carrying any, but he couldn’t have known that about
her
.

Trusting fellow, isn’t he?

Great.
Now she had another question that would make her feel like a complete idiot for asking. Granted, it was a little late to be worrying about catching anything from each other, aside from the fact that he might take her query as a sign of distrust. Given the trust issues he’d had with the obstetrician, she suspected that challenging his integrity would be an offense he wouldn’t easily forgive.

She wanted nothing more than to keep her mouth shut and continue to ignore her concerns, but allowing them to fester to the point that they poisoned the relationship was unthinkable. Tracy was right. She
did
need to talk to him.

Now all I have to do is find the nerve.

C
hapter 24

In the end, Miranda opted for the coward’s way out of her dilemma. She simply left the condom sitting in the middle of the table in the hope that Travis would see it and make a comment.

It’s certainly a conversation-starter
.
After that, she did her best to ignore the evils lurking in the refrigerator and started cleaning out closets. Bagging up old clothes to take to the Goodwill wasn’t much different from doing laundry, but she figured if she left the heavy lifting for Travis, he wouldn’t fuss too much.

She
was in the process of cleaning out Levi’s closet when she found two sleeping bags, only then remembering that she’d bought the extra one with the intention of accompanying Levi on his first camping trip with the Scouts. She’d wound up having to work that night and had never used it, nor had Levi seemed disappointed by her absence. Although that campout had been a giant step toward his current level of independence, at the time, Miranda had been worried sick.

Thinking back over all that had happened since then, she was once again amazed by how much he had achieved—and especially how much he had matured in the last three or four years. He’d gone from a kid who had to have an aide at school and a driver to take him out a couple times a week
, to a young man who lived in his own apartment and drove himself to work. And now he seemed to think he had a girlfriend. How would he react to his mother having a boyfriend?

He’d come a long way, but he was still
a creature of habit, disliking change far more than most people. Moving to the farm and then to his apartment in town had been difficult enough. If Travis were to become a permanent fixture in her life, Levi would have to adapt.

Permanent fixture?
Sounds like I’m thinking about marrying him.

Almost as though
it had spoken to her, the flag sitting in its display case on the dresser drew her eye. Crossing the room, she picked up the photograph of Kris that sat next to it. Although she could easily see his resemblance to Levi, no one would ever accuse her of falling for Travis because he reminded her of her late husband. Travis was drop-dead handsome by anyone’s standards. Kris, on the other hand, was cute in a slightly goofy way, with big ears and freckles. The quality of the smile and the twinkling eyes were similar, though. Maybe that was it.

She tried to recall the first time Kris had smiled a
t her and couldn’t do it. They hadn’t known each other until their senior year when they were both aides for the same teacher. He’d been a Grateful Dead fan, and she could never hear one of their songs without thinking of the first time he’d played “Truckin” for her. Funny how she could remember that, but not the first time he’d kissed her. Even funnier was the fact that she was a little fuzzy about her first kiss with Travis.

However, s
he had no difficulty whatsoever when it came to recalling that first hug. All she had to do was close her eyes, and she was standing in Nigel’s barn with Travis’s arms flung around her. Biting down on her lip, she relived that rush of emotions—the sexual excitement, the wistfulness of knowing that a hug might be all she’d ever get from him, the battle with herself to step away when it was the very last thing she’d wanted to do…

“I should have kissed him
,” she whispered. “
Really
kissed him.” Tears stung her eyes as she considered what might have happened next—especially since he’d thought she was married. Would he have kissed her back, or would he have pushed her away? He’d admitted to fighting his attraction to her because she still wore Kris’s ring. What would’ve happened if she’d explained her reasons for wearing it then?

Her gaze shifted to t
he band of gold on her left hand. From the moment Kris had placed it there, she’d never taken it off. She remembered that moment with perfect clarity. A wedding chapel in Jellico, Tennessee. The sunbeam that turned his golden hair to flame. The steady warmth of his hands in contrast to the chilly tremors of her own. She’d been so nervous, but so much in love her heart felt like it had grown three sizes that day.

L
ike the Grinch Who Stole Christmas
, Kris had said when she told him about it later. She’d punched him for laughing and then ended up giggling right along with him.

She stole another glance at his picture. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

His smile never wavered as she pulled the ring from her finger. “I know just the place for this.” Opening the back of the case that held the flag, she
slipped the ring inside, positioning it in the center of the base of the triangular frame. She set the case back on the dresser with the photograph next to it. “Loving you doesn’t mean I can’t love anyone else, Kris. Took me a long time to see that, but I finally do.”

In that instant, she realized that if she’d taken this step sooner, she might be in another place with
a different man, rather than with Travis.

Kissing her fingertips, she pressed them to the wooden case. “Thanks for making me wait for the right one.” 

Her reverie might have lasted longer if the dogs hadn’t started barking. Moments later, the back door slammed in a way that informed her that this wasn’t Travis coming home early. It was Levi.

“Uh, hi
, Mom,” he said, dropping the mail on the kitchen table as she came down the hallway. “I’m home.”

“I can see that.” She studied him
for a moment, trying to gauge his mood. “I wasn’t expecting you until Friday. Is something wrong?”

“Aunt Tracy called me. She said you were hurt.”

Leave it to Tracy to force the issue. “I fell on the ice Saturday morning and hit my head. Broke some ribs, too. I’m doing better now, though.” She pointed to the bump on her head. “See?”

He stepped closer, scrutinizing the wound.
“That had to hurt! Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve come home to help you.”

“I didn’t want you to worry, and I, um, already had someone here to help me.” Averting her eyes, she spotted the condom sitting
out in plain sight right next to where he’d laid the phone bill. Her only hope was that he wouldn’t realize what it was.

He frowned. “Who is it?”

“His name is Travis York. He’s…a friend of mine. He puts shoes on horses. I see him at my riding lesson all the time.”

“Trabis?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s Travis with a V.”

“Travis,” he repeated. “Is he your boyfriend now?”
As usual, Levi cut right to the chase.

Miranda blinked and her knees lost some of their strength.
“Yes, he is.”

He glanced at the clock. “Is he feeding the horses? It’s four o’clock, you know.”
A stickler for routine, Levi had always fed the cats and dogs at four while she went to the barn, and he fussed anytime she failed to lie down for a nap at precisely one o’clock if she had to work that night.

“
Don’t worry, he’ll feed them when he gets here.”

“I think he’s already here. There’s a truck in the driveway.”

“Really? He must’ve gotten home just before you did and gone straight up to the barn.” Either that or the dogs didn’t see fit to bark at his truck anymore.

“I have a girlfriend.
” Evidently, Levi felt he’d discussed Travis enough. “Her name is Tabitha. I want to marry her.”

Miranda took a
second to steady her knees and pick her jaw up off the floor. “You mentioned her before. Are you sure she likes you enough to marry you?”

“She kissed me.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean she wants to marry you. She might have only done it to be nice.”

“
She
is
nice, but she said she kissed me because she loved me.”

This was going to be tough. Miranda had yet to hear of a girl who truly loved
Levi, at least not in the way he wanted them to. Although every woman who worked at the school was crazy about him—from his kindergarten teacher to the ladies who worked in the office—none of them had ever kissed him. Then again, the taboos at school didn’t necessarily apply to the workplace. She
really
needed to meet this girl… “Are you sure she meant it that way?”

“Why wouldn
’t she?”

“You
’re sort of different, Levi. None of the other girls you’ve known have wanted to be your girlfriend—or marry you.” This Tabitha had probably been kidding around, not realizing that Levi took everything literally. He actually believed TV commercials and thought that all a guy had to do was smell good to get women to fall for him.

“
Oh. Well, maybe she’s different too.”

His crestfallen expression nearly broke her heart.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Maybe she really does love you. I’ll ask her about it later.”

“Okay,” he said.
“Do you love Travis?”

She didn’t see any point in complicating things or denying it.
“Yes, I do.”

“I love Tabitha,” he
said with conviction. “And I want to marry her. I want to have a boy baby and a girl baby. I
love
children.”

Much more of this and she’d be crying her eyes out. “I know you do,” she said gently.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out. Have you had supper yet?”

“
Tabitha fixed me a hamburger and French fries to eat before I left the store.”

“
That was nice of her. I’m getting ready to make dinner for Travis and me. You can meet him when he gets back from the barn. I think you’ll like him.”

Levi
frowned. “He doesn’t smoke, does he? I
hate
it when people smoke.”

“
I can’t say that I care for it much, myself. Don’t worry, he doesn’t smoke.”

“Tabitha doesn
’t, either,” he said. “I really like Tabitha.”

She
made a vain attempt to divert him to another train of thought. “How’s work been lately?”

“Oh, fine.”

So much for that.

By the time Travis had finished feeding the horses
, Levi was already pacing the floor and talking to himself. Nevertheless, he snapped back to reality as soon as Miranda introduced him to Travis.

Leveling a stern look at Travis, he demanded,
“Are you going to marry my mom?”

Travis didn
’t bat an eyelash. “Maybe. I don’t know if she likes me well enough yet to say for sure.”

“I
’m going to marry Tabitha,” Levi declared. “I think she likes me enough.”

Travis grinned. “I hope she does.
Is she pretty?”

“Of course she is
,” Levi said, rolling his eyes. “She’s beautiful.”

“Can she cook?”

Levi nodded. “She makes cookies for me.”

“
Good cookies?”

“
Delicious
cookies,” Levi replied with his biggest, widest smile. “She’s going to school to be a chef.”

“That’s nice.”
Travis shot Miranda a wicked grin. “I made brownies for your mom. I think she should marry me for that.”

“Cookies and brownies are great, guys,”
Miranda interjected. “But they aren’t a very good reason for getting married.”

“I dunno
,” Travis said with a slow wag of his head. “I make pretty good brownies.”

She glared at him, hoping he’d take the hint.
“Can we talk about something else?”

Travis
replied with a wink and a nod. “So, Levi, do you like horses?”

“
Yes, but I don’t know how to ride them. They’re kinda scary, you know?”

Travis suspected he’d found a kindred spirit in Miranda’s son, particularly in light of the fact that he’d all but proposed for him. “What else do you like?”

“I like Tabitha.”

“And I like your mom. Did you know I’ve been staying here to take care of her?”

“Yes,
she told me.”

“
I’m feeling much better now,” Miranda said. “Although he still won’t let me go to the barn.” Her sidelong glance put Travis in mind of his comment to Lorene. She certainly looked vengeful.
And totally hot…

Levi
frowned, shaking his head. “But the horses will miss her. You should let her see them.”

“
She can see them tomorrow. She should be well enough by then.”

Miranda rolled her eyes.
“Finally! I was beginning to think you were going to keep me cooped up in the house forever.”

Travis chuckled. “I’ll admit to having an ulterior motive. Yo
u’ll probably throw me out, now.”

“Nah, you’re too handy to have around.” Her flippant reply and dismissive wave had him worried until he realized what was missing.

Her wedding ring.
Holy shit.
Stunned speechless and completely overjoyed, he stood gaping at her with no clue as to whether to keep his mouth shut or squeal with glee.