Next time . . .
“May I come in?” Travis asked from the doorway. “If you’re too tired, I’ll go away.”
“I’m tired.” She turned on the lamp. “But I’m probably too charged to sleep, so you might as well come in. Sit down, Travis, and tell me what you want from me.”
He smiled. “Maybe I don’t want anything. Maybe this is purely a social call.” He sat down in the chair beside her bed. “After all, we did share a rather unique experience tonight.”
“You wouldn’t have crept up here after you left Jessica if you’d wanted to socialize.”
“You make me sound like a cat burglar.”
“Have you ever been one?”
He didn’t answer the question. “It’s true Jessica doesn’t know I’m here. I didn’t want to upset her. She’s pretty protective of you.”
“So why are you here?”
“I thought we should get to know each other.” He chuckled as she raised her brows. “No, not in the carnal sense. I have no intention of taking advantage of you when you’re—”
“Rode hard and put away wet?”
“Good God, what a ghastly image.”
“It’s how I feel at the moment. Cassie’s not easy.” She propped a second pillow beneath her head. “Okay, you don’t want to screw me. And I doubt if you’re going to tell me anything about yourself, so the getting-to-know part is aimed at me. Right?”
“Right.”
“Why?”
“We’ve already established how curious I am.”
She could see the curiosity in his face. His expression was alert, searching. “Didn’t you find out enough about me from Jessica’s book?”
“From her point of view. But information can always be slanted.”
“Jessica is intimidatingly honest.”
“We don’t always see things the same way. Didn’t you ever want to give your viewpoint?”
She should probably tell him to go away. She was none of his business. But she suddenly realized she didn’t want him to leave. “ What do you want to know?”
“What do you want to tell me?”
“Look, don’t pull that bull on me. I’m a psych major.”
He laughed. “Sorry. You grew up here at Juniper?”
She nodded. “It’s a great place for a kid to grow up. I was the baby of the family and my parents and Jessica spoiled me rotten. She was my idol and I was a real pain in the ass to her.” She looked away from him. “And then, after the accident, I was an albatross around her neck.”
“I’m not asking you to talk about the accident.”
“But the accident is the dividing line. It’s like looking at before and after pictures. I can talk about the accident. Jessica says it’s good for me to keep it out in the open. I think she’s scared that if I repress it, I’ll explode or something.”
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen. My mother and father and I were driving home from one of his favorite restaurants in Georgetown. I was in the backseat.” She moistened her lips. “A car ran us off the road and down an incline. There was an explosion. I couldn’t get the door open. I knew my father was dead, but my mother was screaming in the front seat. She was on fire. And the smell of burning flesh . . .”
“That’s enough.”
“I finally managed to get out. I opened the passenger door and pulled Mama out and started beating at the fire. But I couldn’t get it out and she was screaming. . . .” She swallowed. “And then she stopped screaming.”
“And then you went away to your forest.”
“Yeah, it seemed the thing to do at the time.” She drew a deep breath. “I was a selfish bitch. I should have been there for Jessica instead of becoming the burden of the century.”
“I’d say you had cause.” His hand tightened around hers. “And I’d bet Jessica agrees.”
She hadn’t realized he had taken her hand. She should move it.
What the hell. She didn’t want to move it. His grasp felt warm and strong and gave her a sense of security. It was odd that a stranger would give her this feeling of safety. “Anyway, when I came back, I tried to get off Jessica’s welfare roll. I went to high school, took special tutoring, and then entered the university.”
“I would have thought you’d travel or just have a good time for a while.”
“I had a good time. I ran, I played tennis, I learned to fly a plane. I made good friends.” She smiled. “I always have a good time. That’s what life’s about on the outside. Enjoying every moment. But Jessica needed to know I was a stable, solid citizen. I can’t tell you how disappointed she is about this Cassie development.” She met his eyes. “So do you think you know me well enough now, Travis?”