Travis(46)

The girl who’d been talking, a pretty redhead, scowled slightly. “It’s fine. I’ll take a berry blast with a shot of wheatgrass.”

A couple sat down at my counter and I greeted them. I looked up and smiled as Travis waved at me from across the club, heading for the exit.

***

I shouldn’t do this. There is no point in doing this.

I opened the browser, the cursor blinking in the empty search box. I let out a deep breath and typed in Hale Pelion, Maine. I can’t help it. My desire to know more was like a burning thirst.

And even more interestingly, every Hale generation has some scandal or another.

A long list of links came up and instead of talking myself out of it—which would have been the wiser move, not to mention one that respected the boundaries between friends…even friends who’d put their fingers…well…

I opened the first link and began reading. I learned about the town founding, about the Hale family through the generations—Lord, but there were a lot of boys. And finally, I read about the car accident that ended in a shootout between brothers on a highway in the middle of a springtime day.

A sharp pang pierced my heart for Archer Hale. I sat back in the chair at the desk in the small room designated as an office that guests were welcome to use at the Yellow Trellis Inn. I pictured what it might have been like that day, surely coming up far short of reality. Reality was never just the picture of events. It was the smells and the sounds and a hundred other small details that no one else would ever understand because they hadn’t been there, standing among the ashes as your world burned down.

My mind moved to the blueberry festival where I’d met Archer and his wife and kids. Travis had told me about his brother’s voice box being injured when he was a kid, and so I hadn’t been surprised by the scar on his throat. What I had noticed was the peace on his face, the joy in his eyes, the way his wife had gazed at him with such open love, the sweet exuberance of his twin boys and that beautiful baby girl I’d only glimpsed in the stroller.

However it had happened and whatever strength he’d drawn from, Archer Hale had triumphed over that day.

And maybe I would someday triumph over my own.

I read about how the land had transferred to Archer and about the shooting that had occurred eight years ago, Chief Travis Hale showing up just in time to stop the threat before anyone else was hurt.

I swallowed down a lump in my throat, thinking about everything I knew about Travis.

One of the men who had died on the highway when Archer’s voice box was so terribly damaged, was Travis’s father. Where had Travis been that awful day? He’d been seven years old too. Who had explained things to him?

Who had helped him grieve?

And after that, he’d been set to inherit the town apparently. Another loss, rightful or not. Had he suffered over it? Did he still?

It was all too much. Too much trauma. Too much pain. Sometimes the world felt so damned sharp.

I clicked the browser off and put the computer to sleep, but it was several minutes before I pulled myself from the chair and returned to my room. Because at the end of the day, what did it matter? I was leaving. End of story.

So why did that feel like a lie?





Chapter Eighteen


Travis

“Where’s Spencer?” Maggie asked, topping off my coffee.

“He’s with Birdie Ellis. They’re setting up a community relations group that will be presenting at the annual meeting,” I said, picking up my mug and taking a sip.

“Birdie Ellis,” Maggie said, turning her nose up slightly. “That woman needs a hobby.”

“So does Spencer,” I muttered. “Hopefully the work it takes to maintain the group will keep them both fully occupied.”

She eyed me. “Found a way to get him out of your hair a little bit, huh?”

“Am I that transparent?”

“To me. Honey, I’ve known you all your life. I know you down deep. Don’t forget it.” She leaned forward and looked into my eyes, pinching my cheek affectionately in the way I’d only ever let Maggie get away with.

“I never do, Maggie.”

The bell above the door sounded over the low hum of the end of the breakfast rush, and a moment later, I saw Gage Buchanan sit down next to me in my peripheral vision. Just the person I had no interest in seeing.

Or thinking about.

Or acknowledging.

“Travis,” he said in greeting, dashing my hopes that he wouldn’t notice me, even if I was sitting right next to him.

“Gage.” I took another sip of my coffee, not glancing his way.

“Gage Buchanan,” Maggie said happily. “What brings you to our side of the lake?”

“I missed you, Maggie. It’s been too long.”

Maggie made a scoffing noise. “Oh please, you charmer.”

Gage chuckled. “I’m picking up some trees my mother ordered that couldn’t be delivered until this weekend. Our landscaping crew is there today though, ready to plant, so here I am.”

Maggie nodded. “The nursery is installing landscaping in three new builds this week. Chase Dooley was in yesterday and said they’re stretched thin. Coffee?”

“Please. It’s fine, it gave me a good excuse to visit. How have you been?”

“Great. We’re updating and expanding the kitchen beginning September first. Norm is finally getting the Top Chef setup he’s always wanted, just in time to think about retiring.” She turned her head and said the last part so Norm could hear. But then turned and winked at us.