The Cowboy's Summer Love (17 page)

“Is it that bad?” Denni said, sitting beside him, rubbing his neck.

“Yeah, Mama, it is.” Travis said, leaning back and resting his head on the couch. “I love her.”

Denni laughed at him and smacked his leg. “Of course you do, you always have.”

“No, Mama. I love Tess like a man loves a woman when he is completely and totally consumed with her,” Travis said, not wanting to share his feelings but unable to keep them to himself.

“I know, baby. You’ve loved her for years.  It’s about time you realized it,” Denni said, with a motherly smile. “The challenge is what you’re going to do about it. Are you going to sit back and let Rick steal away the best thing that could ever happen to you or are you going to get in there and fight? All’s fair in love and war, you know.”

“Mama, you never cease to amaze me,” Travis said, with a grin. Standing up, he helped Denni to her feet and kissed her cheek. “How about we go out for dinner and you help me formulate my battle plan?”

“Okay, but only if you promise to teach me some of your graphic stuff on the computer,” Denni said picking up her purse and locking the front door. “The invitations you made for Trent and Lindsay are absolutely amazing.”

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Tess decided to spend the weekend at the ranch, getting up early Saturday morning to drive out. It was a gorgeous June day and she was looking forward to seeing her parents. Ben was home and they always enjoyed catching up. Her mother mentioned something about a barbecue that evening and Tess thought it sounded like fun.

Listening to the radio, she drove with the window down and the radio blaring. The song was halfway through before she realized she was enthusiastically singing along to
Honey Bee
. Conjuring up visions of Travis, wet from their dunk in the fishing hole, shirt molded to every muscle and the sunset catching golden highlights in his hair, she felt her stomach tighten and mouth go dry.

Flipping off the radio, she tried to think about the day her mom had planned, her work schedule next week, the laundry she needed to do. She spent a very nice evening with Rick the night before, going to dinner and a movie. He was charming, kind and very attentive but the whole time she was with him, she kept wishing it was Travis. Rick was a great guy, a great catch. Tess just needed to convince her heart of what her head already knew.

Annoyed that Travis invaded her thoughts once again, Tess tried to turn her attention to her patients, the talk she still needed to have with Brice regarding his odd behavior and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Thinking about the Fourth of July brought back memories of past holidays spent with the Thompsons, bringing Travis back to the forefront of her mind.

Shaking her head and smacking the steering wheel, Tess realized she was going to have to work harder at not thinking about Travis until she decided if she wanted to stay in The Dalles or move back to Portland. It would help her focus on her relationship with Rick as well as make it easier to block out thoughts of one way-too-handsome daredevil cowboy if she pursued an open physical therapist job at OHSU Rick mentioned last night.

Pulling up at the house, Tess groaned when the object of her thoughts waved from his seat on the front porch swing next to her mom. Did he have to turn up everywhere she went?

Last night he strolled into Denni’s looking like he walked right out of an advertisement for Stetson cologne and now he sat here this morning looking just as good wearing a T-shirt, faded jeans, and ball cap.

As she got out of the car, Tess hoped he wasn’t planning on staying long. It was supposed to be all family, although knowing her mom and dad, they would think the day was even better if Travis was there.

“Hi sweetie,” Michele called to her daughter as she came up the sidewalk, carrying an overnight bag. “Isn’t this weather beautiful?”

“It sure is,” Tess said, handing her bag to Ben, who took it from her and carried it inside the house. Sitting down on the far side of her mom, away from Travis, she stretched out her legs and leaned back in a chair. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

“Your brothers are going to help your daddy rebuild a section of fence, then after lunch…”

Tess forgot to pay attention to what her mother was saying. She made the mistake of looking at Travis and found herself lost in the warm blue depths of his eyes. She noticed the dark fringe of his eye lashes, the way the early morning sun turned his skin a golden bronze, his square jaw that looked stubbly and somehow dangerous. She wondered what would happen if she pressed a kiss to that stubborn chin.

“Okay, sweetie? That sound good to you?” Michele asked, patting Tess on the leg.

“Huh? Yeah, Mom, that’s fine.” Tess yanked her thoughts away from Travis and back to reality.

Brice and Ben, who were both leaning against a porch post, burst into laughter.

“Told you she wasn’t paying attention,” Brice said, pointing a finger at Tess. “You just volunteered to shine all our boots and sing a rousing rendition of
Old Susannah
at the barbecue tonight.”

“What? Well, I didn’t… I mean, I wasn’t…” Tess said, completely flustered, again. It was all Travis’ fault. Did he have to sit there grinning in a way that made her heart beat fast and her palms get all sweaty? “I’m not singing or polishing boots.”

“But you already agreed to it, honeybee,” Travis said, giving her a wink as he got up from his seat. “Shall I bring over all mine, along with Trent’s and Trey’s, or do you want to come to the Triple T to do the work?”

“You idiot, I’m not polishing your boots,” Tess said, standing up and glaring at Travis. “I’m not singing either. If you bunch of yahoos don’t leave me alone, I’ll drive myself right back to The Dalles and not come out again.”

“Oh, climb off that high-horse and sit down, Tessadora,” Michele said, wondering what had her daughter in such a disgruntled state so early in the day.

Turning to her mother, Tess frowned. “For goodness sakes, don’t call me that, Mom. You know I hate my name. Why couldn’t you name me something normal like Rachel or Sarah? Instead you had to stick me with a name that sounds like you’re addressing snooty Victorian royalty.”

Michele was bewildered by this outburst from Tess but didn’t let it bother her. “I thought it was a beautiful name for a beautiful baby girl. Despite what you may think, it suits you quite well.”

“I agree,” Travis said as he strolled down the porch steps. “See you later, Tessadora Tatiana.”

“He is the most arrogant, ridiculous, annoying man that ever lived,” Tess said, setting the swing into motion as she sat in Travis’ vacated seat next to her mom.

“Don’t hold anything back, Tess. Tell us how you really feel,” Michele said sarcastically as she smacked Tess on the leg. “Good gracious, sweetie, what has got you so worked up this morning? Or maybe I should say who?”

“Nobody,” Tess said, watching Travis drive off while Brice and Ben took four-wheelers out to work on the fence.

“Then you should definitely stop seeing him. He makes you too grumpy,” Michele teased.

“Seeing who? Rick?” Tess asked.

“No, this Mr. Nobody. He must be awful to have you this worked up on a beautiful Saturday morning like today.”

Instead of responding, Tess took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down. She wasn’t mad about the teasing and she’d even polish the boots before the weekend was through.

It was seeing Travis and fighting her feelings for him that had her so worked up. The more she saw of him, the harder it was to ignore her growing attraction to him.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Tess said, feeling contrite. “What did you really have planned for the day?”

“This morning I’d like you to help me hang some new curtains in the front room and clean up the house, then this afternoon we’ll need to get ready for the barbecue,” Michele said, giving the swing a push with the toe of her sneaker.

“So this isn’t just a family barbecue? Neighbors and everyone will be here?” Tess asked, wondering who all her mother had invited.

“Yep, so we should really get cracking. There’s a lot to get done before everyone arrives. Your dad and brothers will take care of setting up and Brice helped your Dad put a pig on to roast last night.”

“Is that what smells so good?” Tess said, sniffing the scent of slow-roasted meat lingering in the air.

“It sure does, doesn’t it? Trav brought over an extra barbecue. He said he’d come early and bring more tables and chairs. It’s our turn to host a get-together, don’t you think?”

“Probably,” Tess said, wondering why her mom didn’t tell her about all this earlier. Getting up from the swing, she gave her mom a hand as she stood to her feet. “Let’s see those new curtains.”

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Driving home from the Morgans, Travis was still recovering from his encounter with Tess. She looked so fresh and young this morning as she strolled up the sidewalk wearing rolled up denim shorts and a soft summery blouse that outlined her curves. Her thick, dark hair was pulled into a loose bun at the back of her head with tendrils escaping all around her face. The sandals on her feet highlighted her bright pink toenails.

It took an effort on his part to stay seated next to her mom and not tug her onto his lap. When she stretched out those curvy legs, he wanted so badly to reach out and run his hand along her smooth skin.

He definitely had it bad for that girl.

His mother agreed to keep him apprised of her dating activity with Rick and she let him know when Tess left the house that morning so he could time his visit to be at her house at the moment she arrived. He had sworn his mother to secrecy, though. If Trey and Trent caught wind of his feelings for Tess, they’d never let him hear the end of it, and he was still in enough trouble with them as it was.

Travis could hardly wait for the barbecue that evening. He was launching a full-scale war in his efforts to win Tess’ heart.

The Thompson house was buzzing about the barbecue by the time Travis got home. Cady was already busy cooking and baking and Lindsay arrived to lend a hand. The two women were also working on details for the wedding that would take place the second weekend in August. If all went according to plan, they should be finished with wheat harvest and between cuttings of hay.

“Hey, Trav, want to be a taste-tester?” Cady asked, handing him a cookie, still warm from the oven.

The aroma of chocolate drifted to his nose and he thought he could see some coconut. Taking a bite, he closed his eyes in bliss. The only person on the ranch who liked coconut more than Travis was Trey. It worked to his advantage since Cady made plenty of coconut sweets for her husband, then forced Trey to share.

“Cady, this is so good,” Travis said, holding out his hand for another. Smiling at him, Cady gave him two cookies and poured him a glass of cold milk.

“Glad you like them,” Cady said, stirring something in a heavy saucepan on the stove.

Travis could smell lemon in the air and wondered if she was making lemon pudding. If so, he sure hoped it was going to turn into a lemon meringue pie.

“Do Michele and Mike need extra help setting up tonight?” Cady asked, stirring the pudding

“Yeah. I told them I’d come over early and bring tables and chairs. The pig they are roasting already smells good.”

“They really put the whole pig in the ground and cook it?” Cady asked, not having experienced pit barbecue before.

“Sure do. You won’t believe how tender and good the meat turns out,” Travis said, his mouth watering as he thought about it. It had been years since he’d eaten pit barbecued meat and he could hardly wait.

“What else are they making?” Lindsay asked from the cutting board where she was chopping up vegetables for a summer salad.

“The usual hamburgers and hot dogs. Brice said he was going to force Tess to make a batch of banana ice cream,” Travis said, drinking the last of his milk and finishing another cookie. Looking around the kitchen, he noticed it seemed quieter than usual. “Where’s Cass? I thought it seemed pretty quiet when I came in.”