The Cowboy's Summer Love (18 page)

Cady and Lindsay both laughed.

“She was so wound up I couldn’t get anything done with her underfoot this morning. Trey took her out with him to ride in the swather. She can’t get into too much trouble there, other than making him long for a muzzle.”

Travis laughed and got up from the counter, putting his glass in the sink.

“Thanks for the snack. I’ll see you ladies later,” Travis said, giving them both a kiss on the cheek as he went out the door.

Whistling, he went out to the machine shed and started working on a baler that needed repaired. He thought about his two new “sisters” in the house and smiled.

Growing up with affectionate parents who gave lots of hugs and pats on the back and kisses to the cheek, it was hard for Travis when he went into the service. He missed that loving human contact so much. Not wanting to get involved with any women when his heart was tied to Tess, he did go out on a few casual dates, but you couldn’t just hug a stranger. If you did, they got the wrong idea in a hurry.

He admired and respected the military women he knew, but like him and the guys in his unit, most of them were conditioned to a certain way of life and took on a hard edge. Hugs and friendly gestures took a back seat to basic survival skills.

Arriving home last December to find Trey in love with Cady, Travis wasn’t sure how to deal with the friendly brunette who welcomed him openly and affectionately. From the day he met her, she went out of her way to do little things that made him feel cared for and about. She was both loving and warm, quickly accepting him as a brother.

Lindsay, too, was good about sharing a hug or an encouraging word. He appreciated not only their kind gestures, but also the fact that there was still a sense of innocence that lingered around them.

His adopted niece Cass, precocious and persistent, could always be counted on for tight hugs, sticky kisses and sweet little pats to the cheek from her tiny hands. Travis didn’t have a lot of experience with kids, but Cass already had a special place in his heart.

It was impossible not to love the child, especially when you knew her story: no father, abusive mother, nearly starving until her mother drank herself to death and she ended up at the Triple T with Trey and Cady. Many people thought Cass landed a jackpot by being adopted by the Thompsons but Travis had to agree with the rest of the family that Cass was a special blessing to them all.

The hugs and touches he missed most of all while he was gone were those from Tess. Not that she’d ever hugged him frequently, but she often touched his leg or arm or hand. It wasn’t uncommon for them to hold hands if they were somewhere that one of them felt unsettled or uncomfortable. He’d always thought their hands were a matched set when their fingers twined so perfectly together.

Tess, like Cady and Lindsay, had an aura of innocence and gentleness about her. When Travis looked at her, he saw warmth and softness that transcended the physical and went right to her heart. It made him want to sink into that softness, to round off his hard edges, to let her warmth flow over him like a soothing balm.

He just needed to find a way to convince her that she could have him, all of him, as she put it, if she’d only give him a chance.

Chapter Eleven

Love is the ultimate outlaw.

It just won't adhere to any rules.

The most any of us can do is sign on as its accomplice.

                                                                                                                                                                Tom Watson

The barbecue was set to begin at six that evening. By four, the Thompsons were running around the house, all trying to get showered, dressed and out the door. Travis, who was impatient to leave, took a load of tables and chairs over, telling his family he’d catch up with them later. He dreamed about Tess all day and was looking forward to spending the evening wooing her. He wasn’t exactly sure how, but he’d figure something out.

Driving up to the house at the Running M Ranch, Ben and Brice were setting up tables and chairs in the front yard and the smell of roasted meat hung thick in the air, making Travis’ stomach growl in anticipation. Backing up to the yard, Mike came around the house and helped him unload then Travis pulled his pickup down by the barn. He knew he’d be one of the last to leave and didn’t mind moving his rig out of the way.

Jogging back to the house and into the front yard, he looked up to see Tess come bounding down the front steps, balancing a tray full of paper plates, silverware and napkins.

He stopped in his tracks and watched her for a moment while he tried to pull himself together. Tess wore a blue flowered sundress that hit just below her knees. With buttons part way down the front and a hint of lace peeking along the neckline, a pair of bright red cowboy boots and a straw cowboy hat, she looked both sassy and sweet. She’d left her hair cascading down her back and a turquoise necklace caught the sunshine at her throat.

Travis grinned. His cowgirl was looking good.

“Hey, honeybee, need some help?” Travis asked, walking up to her and placing his hand on her waist. He breathed in her citrusy scent and fought down the urge to kiss her until she dropped the tray in her hands and surrendered to his embrace. Instead, he settled for planting a sloppy, wet kiss on her cheek, making her giggle.

“Hi, Travis,” she said, turning to look at him with a smile that lit both her face and her eyes. From the way she was looking at him, Travis was including to think she was glad to see him. “If you want to run in the house, Mom’s barking orders faster than we can follow them. I’m sure she’ll put you to work.”

“Fine, but I’m putting in a request right now for a dance with you later,” Travis said, walking up the porch steps.”

“Dance? What dance? You know there isn’t dancing,” Tess said, giving him a confused look.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Travis said, disappearing into the house. Even if he had to drag her to the barn and listen to the radio in his truck, he was dancing with her tonight. He knew Brice and Ben tried to talk one of the local bands into coming to play in exchange for food. Whether that panned out or not, he would hold Tess in his arms before the night was through.

“Michele, your daughter said you needed some willing hands in here, what can I do?” he called as he walked through the front room.

Tess watched him go, trying to remember what she came outside to do. She finally looked down at the tray in her hands and carried it over to the big serving table beneath one of the trees in the side yard.

Travis was back in cowboy mode with creased Wranglers, a pressed cotton shirt, shiny boots and his black Stetson. That man sure knew how to make a pair of snug jeans look good.

Setting the tray down with more force than was necessary, Tess leaned against the table and tried to keep her thoughts corralled. She should have called Rick this morning and invited him to come. Not only would he have a chance to meet her family, but his presence would serve as a buffer to keep Travis at bay. At least she thought it would. With Travis’ wild, unpredictable behavior, anything was possible.

When it came right down to it, she didn’t want Rick there tonight. She wanted Travis to be the rascal she so often accused him of being. He was fun and exciting, he made her laugh, and lately, he made her feel beautiful.

Tess didn’t miss the look in his eye when she came down the porch steps a minute ago. He was actually checking her out. She’d never noticed him do that before. There was some little part of her that vainly hoped he liked what he saw, especially after she spent an hour primping and fussing with her clothes and hair. If she was honest with herself, she did it to impress Travis.

What could it hurt to flirt with him one night?

Starting tomorrow, she was going back to The Dalles and launching a campaign to win Rick’s heart. He would make a wonderful husband, treat her well, and they could build a good life together. She was convinced that if she gave herself enough time, she could learn to love Rick, but only if Travis was completely out of the picture.

That was the part where her perfect plans always hit a snag.

She heard noise in the back yard and ran around the side of the house to see Travis with her two brothers laughing and joking. Tess smiled, watching them, thinking about how well they fit together. They’d always been close, her brothers and the Thompson boys. As she had so many times in the past, she felt a little left out of their bonds of friendship and brotherhood.

Going back in the house, she helped her mom finish up some last minute preparations. They were slicing a watermelon into chunks when Tess heard the rumble of more vehicles and went out to find both Trey and Trent pulling up with coolers full of food, more chairs and some lawn games, including volleyball and croquet.

“Boy, we are up town now,” Ben said, setting up the croquet equipment. “Never played croquet at a country barbecue, but watch out. I’m gonna win.”

“You’ve never played a day in your life, big mouth. How do you plan to win?” Brice asked, as he set up the volleyball net in the far reaches of the big backyard.

“How else? By cheating if I have to,” Ben teased.

“You can’t cheat,” Cass said, joining the conversation. “My daddy says cheaters can’t win and … how does it go, Uncle Travis?”

“Cheaters never win and winners never cheat,” Travis said, with a smug look at Ben as he picked up Cass and tossed her in the air.

“What are you going to play, kiddo?” Travis asked as she put one of her stranglehold hugs around his neck.

“I don’t know. Mama says they’ll be other kids to play with, so I’m leaving my options open.”

Travis laughed, tickling Cass as he set her down. “Is that right? That sounds like a smart plan.”

Cass ran off to find Cady and left Ben and Brice shaking their heads.

By seven, the yard was full of friends and neighbors, all with overloaded plates, glad for an excuse to get together for an evening of fun and socializing. Although Brice said the band couldn’t make it, he rigged up speakers outside and kept music playing.

Kids seemed to be running everywhere and Travis saw Cass playing with her best friend Ashley. They were keeping each other entertained with a bean bag toss game that neither of them seemed to know how to play.

Grinning at their antics, Travis looked around the yard and spied Tess sitting in a chair by herself under the shade of a big maple tree. Circling around, he snuck up behind her, holding a long blade of grass. Getting close enough to touch her, he studied her for a moment as she sat watching the crowd, a relaxed smile on her face. She sat sideways in the chair with one arm draped over the back and her legs dangling over the sidearm, swinging back and forth. Travis reached out with the grass and gently tickled the back of her arm.

Tess reached back and brushed at it.

Travis did it again and got the same reaction. He moved just a little closer so he could reach down and rub it on the back of her leg. Tess swatted at her calf and wiggled her foot. The second time he brushed her leg, Tess sprang out of the chair and tackled him before he could blink.

“I knew it was you,” she said with a laugh, sprawled on top of him, just like she’d done since they were kids. “You never know when to quit, do you?”

Travis chuckled and instead of getting up and taunting Tess like he would have in the past, he put his arms around her and held her close. He could see her warm brown eyes grow dark and stormy as they focused on his. Reaching up, he took off her hat and buried his hands into her hair. It was so silky and smooth, like rich dark ribbons, as it wrapped around his fingers. With all his senses attuned to Tess, Travis wanted to lose himself in her softness and warmth.

Tess closed her eyes and rolled to the side. Getting to her feet, she picked up her hat and started to step away, but Travis scrambled up, grabbed her hand and tugged her behind a hedge of bushes at the back corner of the yard.