Travis looked at her. He grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her on the lips. "You're an absolute saint. The best person I know."
She blushed and giggled. "Stop," she said. "This is what I do around this town. Help where I can."
Travis nodded. He paced a little more. "I'm supposed to have dinner with Arden's family today."
"Then that's what you should do. Dustin and I can watch the baby. Play house a little. It'll be fun."
For you, Travis thought. He had serious doubts as to whether Dustin would enjoy it. "Thank you," he said. "I'll try not to stay long. Then maybe Arden'll come home and play house with me." He couldn't help grinning at the thought.
"Hey," Emma said abruptly. "I pulled in the driveway and noticed your car was gone. Where is it?"
Just when Travis thought he could despair no more, his stomach sank a little further. He ran to the front door and thrust it open. There in the driveway was the empty place his car used to be. "Fuck!" he shouted. And then a whole string of curses came out that even he didn't know he was capable of saying.
Dustin ran in, his shirt untucked, a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. "What's wrong?"
Travis turned to him. "That fucking whore took my car!" His voice cracked with emotion.
Dustin took the toothbrush out of his mouth. "The Cyclone?"
"Yes the Cyclone. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Dustin winced and held his hands palms down in front of him. "Ease up on the language, Travis," he said, glancing nervously at Emma who sat wide-eyed and blushing.
Travis shoved his hands in his hair, squeezing two fistfuls of it. "I was going to sell it to pay for the hospital expenses. I had a guy coming to look at it on Wednesday. I'm going to track that bitch down, get my car and give her back her damn baby! What kind of a person does this? She's one of Satan's minions, I swear to God."
Dustin disappeared down the hall and came back, rinsed and tucked. "Do you at least know this Jerry Lee's last name?"
Travis shook his head. "No. Tell me how stupid I am again, Dustin!"
"Don't think I won't, Travis!"
Travis shook his head, tears blurring his vision again. "You're pushing your goddamn luck with me!"
"That's right," Dustin said, "when God didn't give you the brains to think your way out of it, punch something!"
"You son-of-a-bitch!"
"Go to hell!"
"Boys!" Emma shouted, standing with the baby pressed to her chest. "Can we just calm down?"
Travis was starting to see red. His body was tensed and poised to fight. He glared at Dustin like a bull about to charge the matador. He breathed shallowly through his teeth. Dustin didn't back down, but he didn't push further, either.
"Travis?" Emma said. It was the third time she'd said his name. He forced himself to slowly relax. His fists unclenched and his breathing evened out.
"What?" he asked. He slowly turned to look at her. She looked terrified and he immediately felt remorse. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Emma. I'm really upset about my car."
To his surprise, she laughed. "I'm sorry about your car, too, Travis. But there will be other cars."
He shook his head. "Not like that one. She was special."
"You'll learn to love again."
He shook his head. "It won't be the same."
Emma was pressing her lips together to keep from laughing. He finally felt the humor in it and smiled at her. "Thanks, sweetheart."
She nodded and sat back down. "Why don't you give Arden a call? See if she wants to come over for a while before church?"
Travis shook his head. He sat on the edge of his recliner. "I don't think she's going to like this. I think the more distance I can keep between her and my problems, the better."
Emma pulled out her cell phone. "You're being ridiculous." She found Arden's number and dialed it, holding her phone to her ear. "She'll love being around the baby. Hey, Arden," she said into the phone. "Travis needs a ride to church. Would you come over and pick him up? Yeah, I'm here. So come over and hang out until it's time. Okay. Love you too. Bye."
Travis felt a spark of jealousy that Emma got an "I love you" from Arden.
"She'll be over in a bit," Emma said.
When she showed up, she was carrying her purse and a small, square case. Since she didn't have her hair or makeup done, Travis assumed this was what she'd brought with her. She dropped both by the door and ran to Travis.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "What happened?" She touched his face tenderly.
Travis took her by the hand and led her to the couch so they could sit together. Dustin was in his room finishing getting ready for church. Emma was rocking in Travis's chair, the baby sound asleep in her arms. Travis explained the events of the morning, cringing the whole time. Arden grew stiffer and colder as he spoke and he was afraid she was going to break up with him right then.