“Yes. And Brent’s as well.”
The muscles in Travis’s jaw bunched. “I had a feeling about them. I didn’t mean to dredge up painful memories, Nika. I brought that day up because I wanted you to know how I viewed you back then.”
“How did you see me?” It couldn’t possibly be worse than how she’d viewed herself and what had happened to her when she’d gone in the house, and she couldn’t make herself feel any worse than she already did.
“I noticed the way your hair sparkled in the sunlight. That was how I knew for sure it was you when I saw you earlier at the wedding. When I met you the first time, you slipped off your glove and shook my hand. Your hand in mine felt fragile but strong. I thought you had elegant hands and I was glad you wore gloves to protect them from the cold.”
“They ache if they get too cold. I wear gloves all the time in Montana.”
Hank lifted her hand and stroked his fingertips over her knuckles and the tendons on the top. He smiled and said, “Pretty. Delicate.” She couldn’t meet his gaze for very long when he looked into her eyes.
Travis said, “I thought your eyes were the color of cinnamon, Nika. And I don’t know where you got the idea that you were fat, unless it was from your snotty stick-thin sister and your thin-as-a-rail mom, but I damn sure did like the way you filled out that green sweater and those Wranglers. Let me guess, you’re the only one in your family with curves and they treated you like you were a glutton, never factoring in genetics.”
She nodded and then looked up into his eyes. “You remembered what color sweater I was wearing?”
Travis licked his lower lip and smiled. “Yeah, I did. It was a nice color on you and like I said, I liked the way you filled it out. But…I was thirty and you were off-limits.”
“I guess so. I…I really liked you. You listened to me and you cared when I told you about the eagle. And you didn’t get defensive when I was mad about having to wait until the next day. You were patient with me.”
She sat up and relaxed against the couch, not realizing how she’d curled herself up into a defensive posture as those ugly memories had flooded through her earlier.
Moved to make some kind of offering to him, to thank him for understanding, she said, “You wouldn’t believe how shaky I was when I got up the guts to call you that day. Sometimes those ugly memories steal the years and overshadow everything else that was good that day, you know? I feel like I’m right back where I was.”
Hank said, “You were teased a lot by your family members?”
Veronica cleared her throat and chose her words carefully. “I think they might not view it that way. I’m pretty sure my mom saw it as some sort of behavior modification for overweight introverts. Since my sister, Addison, took after my mom physically, she jumped on the bandwagon with her.”
“What about your brothers and your dad?”
“Dad wanted peace and to not be handed any problems to deal with. Jesse and Barry are a couple of years older than me, and I think they just wished I was an extrovert like them and the others. They once told me that the teasing would toughen me up, so they’d echo whatever mom said. I learned after a while that I’d never make any of them happy with me. They’d never accept me. Well…except for Cord and Jackson.”
“Your other brothers?”
“Yeah. Cord and Jackson are twins, fraternal, like Jesse and Barry. They’re four years older than me. They teased some, too, when they were young, but they didn’t do it anymore after they became teenagers, which was good. I don’t think I could’ve taken it if they’d joined in with the others.”
“You’re closer to them than the others? At least it sounded like it when you mentioned them earlier.”
“Yes, although I don’t get to see them very much. We don’t talk as often as we probably should.”
“You go home much?”
She shook her head. “Once I was on my own, I decided not to. I’ve kept up with them through the occasional e-mail, but I don’t feel close to any of them, except Cord and Jackson. Old habits die hard and I don’t enjoy holidays or other family get-togethers with them so I simply avoid them.”
“What do you do for the holiday season?”
She shrugged. “Work. I spend that time gearing up for the new year, planning projects, and doing some creative writing. I also take long drives if the weather permits.”
“Take a vacation? Drive somewhere overnight?”
“No. Taking a vacation has always sounded like fun but I’ve never wanted to go overnight anywhere on my own. I stay really busy, so it’s not a big deal.”