Christmas Nights(19)

Tess followed her over to Sally’s, a short drive from the elementary school. With a chilly wind gusting across the parking lot, they jogged inside together, a swirl of air following them through the door. Sally’s was in an old renovated barn. The kitchen was in the center of the space with the bar and an area for live music on one side and the restaurant on the other. Janie and Tess snagged the last booth available.

Once they were seated and had ordered drinks, Tess looked over at Janie. “What’s up? You seem, I don’t know, worried about something.”

Janie leaned back with a sigh. “Can’t we start with some small talk?”

Tess’s ginger eyes crinkled at the corners with her laugh. “Nope. I know you too well.”

“Okay, fine. I’ve been seeing Travis Wilkes and I don’t know what the hell to do about it.”

A slow smile spread across Tess’s face. “I heard you went to dinner with him, so I was wondering what was up with that. Travis is a good guy, and he’s pretty easy on the eyes. Maybe you should just relax and see what happens.”

Janie rolled her eyes and started to reply when their waitress arrived with their drinks. After she served them and took their dinner order, Janie took a sip of her wine and glanced over at Tess again. “You know I don’t really date, so it’s kind of a thing that I’m seeing anyone. At all.”

Tess nodded. “Right. I know you haven’t dated anyone the whole time I’ve lived here. I kept meaning to ask why, but you seemed so okay with it all that I never got around to it. Don’t suppose you could clue me in on why?”

Janie realized that even though she and Tess were close, Tess didn’t know about her mother’s history and Janie’s painful brush with Randy’s fist. Come to think of it, she’d never really spelled out to anyone why she avoided relationships. It had been an unconscious choice at first and then after a few attempts at dating, she’d realized she didn’t think it was worth the worry and bother. Sex hadn’t been unpleasant, but it hadn’t blown her away either. Except for the other night with Travis—she was still reeling from that, little shocks rippling through her body whenever she thought about it. She looked over at Tess and gathered her thoughts.

“It’s old an old story, which is probably why you haven’t heard it, but my mom’s boyfriend after my dad died turned out to be an abusive jerk. She didn’t manage to get away from him until he broke my jaw.” When Tess eyes widened, Janie gave a shrug. “It was awful, but I’m fine and he’s long gone. But I guess it made me think relationships weren’t worth it. I mean, how do you know who’s worth trusting? When my mom started dating Randy, he seemed like a decent guy. By the end of it all, she barely left the house, and he hauled off and punched me for talking back. I prefer being independent to worrying about relationships.”

Tess’s eyes were bright, but steely. “Look, nobody should have to go through that.” She paused as if considering her words. “I get it. I totally get why you might think it’s the smart choice to avoid relationships. I’m not one of those people who thinks everyone needs to pair up, but if your choice to be alone is to avoid something, then it’s not really a choice. There are no guarantees. Ever. But I can tell you Travis isn’t that guy. He’s been friends with Nathan for years. There’s all kinds of things I don’t know about him, but I’m damn sure he’s not an abusive jerk.”

Janie stared over at Tess and absorbed her words. Intellectually, she knew Tess made sense and it was what she’d tell a friend if the situation were reversed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, idly spinning her wineglass in her hand. “I get it and just the fact I went to dinner with Travis more than once should tell you I’m trying not to let that weird logic get in the way. I guess I just don’t know what the hell to do. All this time I was okay alone because no one ever came along and made me want more.”

Tess arched a brow. “Aha. So that’s it. Well, I can’t talk reason to you on that,” she offered with a soft laugh. “I was half-crazy when I met Nathan. You didn’t meet me until after I got over being ridiculous over him. All I can say is hang in there. Maybe it helps if I mention I think Travis is about as worked up as you.”

“He is?” Her heart gave a swift kick.

At Janie’s question, Tess burst out laughing. “Oh, you have it bad!”

Their waitress arrived, quickly served their burgers, topped off their drinks and spun away. Janie was relieved to have a moment to get her blush under control. After she had a bite of her salmon burger, she looked across the table at Tess. “So what do you mean by that?”

Tess finished chewing and took a sip of water. “He was over at our place the other week and when I guessed you were the woman he had dinner with, he got all flustered. Nathan mentioned last week that he thought Travis was serious about you and had no idea what to do. They’re pretty tight, and you know Nathan, he’s always teasing. I’m sure he gave Travis some grief about you, and Travis must’ve gotten worked up over it.”

Janie’s heart gave a little spin to think Travis might be as rattled as she was. She took another bite of her burger. Tess nibbled on a sweet potato fry and looked over at her, a gleam in her eyes. “So you like him. A lot,” she said flatly.

Janie’s cheeks heated—again—before a giggle escaped. “Obviously I do. I didn’t manage to avoid dating for years without finally giving into someone I don’t like. That’s the whole problem. I like him. A lot.” Her words startled her. They were quite true—that itself was shocking for her. She’d come to value her independence and hadn’t ever considered it a form of avoidance. Maybe it wasn’t. It was just that she wasn’t used to being this drawn to a man and feeling so vulnerable inside.

Tess finished off her burger and took a sip of water, followed by wine. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about the two of you together, but now that I have, I’m glad to see you’re not chasing him off. Travis is one of the good guys. I don’t spend much time thinking about Nathan’s friends, but Travis is the kind of man worth waiting for. He’s nice, he’s smart, he’s a good friend, and even if he’s not my cup of tea, he’s damn sexy.” A sly smile followed her last comment.

Janie burst out laughing before sobering. “Well, I guess I’m glad you can vouch for him.”

Tess leaned forward. “Seriously. Maybe he hasn’t had any serious relationship I know about, but as far as the kind of friend he is, he’s rock solid. Aside from his brothers, Travis is probably the only guy I know who Nathan would call in the middle of the night if he needed something. No doubt in my mind, Travis would be there for what he needed. Plus, seeing as he’s an emergency responder, he’s super helpful in dicey situations.”

“I know. He fished me out of the bay. That’s how this whole thing started.”

Tess grinned. “Oh right. Forgot all about that.”

Their waitress arrived to check on them after which the conversation moved onto less emotionally fraught territory for Janie. Later that evening, Stella sprawled on the couch with Pansy curled up beside her, and Janie fed another log into the fireplace. She stood and looked over at Stella, her heart squeezing a little. Her small family felt like a hard won battle. Stella had been so prickly and guarded at first. Yet now, several years past her adoption, it felt as if she’d always been Janie’s daughter. While Janie adored her own family, the short years with Randy in her mother’s life had made her yearn for nothing more than peace in her home. She believed Travis was trustworthy, yet she still wasn’t so sure what it might mean to let him into her life.





Chapter 14





“Hey Trav!” Ben called.

Travis glanced up from where he was waiting in the cherry picker, the bucket mounted to the lift on the fire truck. The crew had been called to a fire at a residence on the far side of town. They’d arrived to find all of the residents safe, but the daughter had been crying and nearly inconsolable over her dogs trapped upstairs. He and Ben had volunteered to try to save them. The fire had started in the woodstove, which happened to be beside the stairs. As such, the only way to get upstairs to rescue the dogs was with the handy cherry picker. Travis had already crawled in and pulled one dog out. The dog in question sat panting by his feet in the cherry picker, while Ben was now returning with the other dog.

Travis adjusted the controls on the cherry picker and eased as close as he could to the other window. Once he was within reach, he leaned over and carefully lifted the dog from Ben’s arms. As soon as he had the dog in the bucket, Ben crawled through the window and joined them. Travis silently thanked the stars for the two dogs being calm enough to make the rescue manageable. After they were lowered down, he climbed out to have Ben pass the dogs over. One by one, the dogs were set on the ground and ran straight to the little girl, two wiggling black bundles of joy. The fire had largely been put out by this point, so Travis helped the crew finish up.