Holding Out for Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch #3)(55)

“How’s the patient?” Conner asked her.

She yawned and ran a hand through her thick auburn curls. “Why don’t you ask the patient?”

Conner turned toward the bed. “The boss says to ask you. So, how are you doing?”

Travis’s smile was more like a grimace. “I feel about the way I look. My ribs hurt like hell and I’ve got a headache that won’t quit. I turned down the oxycontin and went with Tylenol last night, because I’ve seen what addiction can do. But I’m going to get through this.” He glanced at Maggie. “This lady is going to get her five-star wedding, if I have to be carried to the altar.”

Maggie laughed. “Listen to him. This is after I offered to bring in a justice and marry him right here in this room.” She reached over and clasped Travis’s free hand and squeezed it. If any two people deserved happiness, it was these two, Megan thought. Would she and Conner ever love each other as much? Would they get the chance?

Conner moved closer to the bed. “I want to make sure you know how sorry I am, Travis,” he said. “I’ve thought of at least a dozen things I could’ve done to keep that load of trees from sliding onto you. I didn’t do any of them.”

“Not your fault.” Pain showed in Travis’s face as he spoke. “If I’d been smart enough to get out of the way when that trailer started moving, I’d have been clear. Or maybe I should’ve tied those trees down better. Hell, partner, stop beating yourself up. It was an accident, plain and simple. All we can do is thank God it wasn’t worse. I may look like a train wreck, but at least I’ll heal—and I didn’t lose anything vital.”

“But I may put off our wedding portrait until after the wedding,” Maggie said. “That, or have this guy photoshopped.”

“Or we can leave me as is and have fun telling the grandkids how the old man got attacked by a load of trees,” Travis joked.

Just then, a nurse bustled in with a tray, which she set on the overbed table. “Lunchtime!” Her voice was as brisk as her manner.

As the nurse left, Travis lifted the metal cover on the plate. “Yum. Creamed tuna on toast. Highlight of my day. You might as well go get yourself something from the cafeteria, Maggie, darlin’.”

“I’ll wait until you’re asleep,” Maggie said. “Go ahead and eat. You need to keep your strength up.”

“What I need is a sixteen-ounce prime rib,” Travis grumbled.

“Speaking of lunch,” Conner said, “Megan and I have a date. I promised her a good time. So we’ll leave and let you enjoy your creamed tuna.”

“Is there anything we can do or get for you?” Megan asked.

Travis’s eyebrow lifted mischievously. “Chocolate,” he muttered.

“We’ll see.” Conner escorted Megan out of the room and downstairs to the parking lot.

“I’m amazed Travis is in such good spirits,” she said as they headed downtown.

“He’s a tough guy,” Conner said. “Did you know he was once a highway patrolman?”

“No, but I’m not surprised. He’s got that way about him.”

“Not many people know this, but he served three years in prison for manslaughter. He stopped a car that matched the description of a kidnapper’s vehicle. When Travis told the driver to open the trunk, the guy took off. Travis shot him through the rear windshield. He thought he was saving a young girl, but there was nothing in the trunk except some weed. It turned out, the kidnapping was a hoax—just a couple of fool girls making up a story.”

“That’s awful!”

“It gets worse. The college kid who was killed had rich parents with connections to the court. Three years in prison for a cop. Can you imagine how rough on Travis that must’ve been?”

“What I can’t imagine is why he doesn’t seem bitter,” Megan said.

“He was. But then he met Maggie.”

They were getting into the downtown area. Megan had been in Cottonwood Springs before and was somewhat familiar with the place. “The mall has a store that sells gourmet chocolates,” she said. “What do you say we stop before lunch so I can buy Travis and Maggie a nice assortment.”

“Fine. But only if you’ll let me split the cost. That way, the chocolates will be from both of us.”

*

They bought a two-pound box of handmade chocolates at the mall, then ate a leisurely lunch at a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away. Laughing as he fumbled with chopsticks, Conner basked in the glow of being right where he wanted to be, with the woman he wouldn’t mind facing across the table for the rest of his life. It was too soon to be falling head over heels in love, he told himself. But today everything felt so good, so right. It was hard not to give in to the sheer giddiness of it. It was all he could do to keep from jumping out of his chair and dancing.

Maybe today, Megan would finally confess that she was the sexy singer who’d knocked his socks off at last year’s Christmas Ball. Then he would tell her that he’d already figured it out. They would share a good laugh, put the whole silly secret behind them, and move on.

But first, she needed to fess up and tell him the truth. And it would have to be her idea. If she couldn’t be honest with him, he might be smart to rethink their relationship.