Travis leaned forward and pulled his wallet out and dug out a card. "Here's Sheldon's business card. There's a lot of really nice folks over there. I think she'll be glad she went."
"Thank you, Travis. Do you still go to meetings?"
Travis nodded. "Once a month. I'm sponsoring two guys and they're both doing really well."
Arden hadn't known about that. She supposed she needed to get more involved in her new boyfriend's life. But then again, they'd only known each other less than a month.
Laura sighed and pressed her hands to her heart. "I think it's wonderful you helping others out after all you've overcome."
"Well, that's how the world gets better, isn't it?" Travis said.
Laura and Jenny sighed in unison and nodded.
Travis gave Arden's shoulder a squeeze. She looked at him, still stunned by the reactions of her family to this clearly uncouth man who was way out and beyond incompatible with the rest of them.
Soon, Laura announced lunch and they all moved to the dining room, except the two children who would get to eat in the family room in front of an episode of Spongebob Squarepants.
Dinner was roasted chicken and root vegetables. There were rolls and salad to go with. And cheesecake for dessert. Travis complimented Laura profusely and she blushed and tripped all over herself to thank him.
Her father, of all people, spoke of Travis to his brother-in-law as though he'd raised Travis himself. Did Todd know that Travis owned a '69 Cyclone Cale Yarborough Special? Did Todd know that Travis played running back his junior and senior years in high school? Did Todd know that Travis was god of the entire universe?
Arden couldn't even swallow her food. What was wrong with these people. "Travis's father murdered two people and got sent to prison for life!" she blurted out.
Again, everyone froze and stared at her.
Travis's brows shot up in surprise. He looked at her and shook his head. "Do you have Tourette's or something?"
"That must have been horrifying for you," Jenny said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Travis shrugged. "It was a few years back. Plus he says he didn't murder them. Of course, they were stealing from him, so he probably did."
"You know," Todd said, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork, "we all have those undesirable elements in our family. I've got a cousin who blew up his house using his basement as a meth lab. I mean, we've all tried helping the guy, but he just seems determined to self-destruct."
Travis nodded. "That's just the way it goes." He shoveled some food in his mouth and complimented Laura again, who, again, blushed ridiculously.
Arden sat up taller. "Travis's ex-wife moved in with him, had a baby, and then stole his car and abandoned the baby. Just this morning."
At this point Travis was beyond being surprised. He just stopped, his fork in midair, and sat it back down on his plate.
"Oh my God," Mark said. "She left the baby with you?"
Travis sat back. "Yeah. Dustin and Emma are watching her for the moment."
"Yeah," said Arden, "and he..."
Travis calmly reached around her and put his hand over her mouth. "Shhh, honey. That's enough about me."
"Are you going to keep the baby?" Jenny asked.
"You know," Travis said, "I really don't know what I'm going to do. I've got a couple of ideas where Tonya might be. If I can find her, maybe I can get her to take the baby back. If not, I guess I need to get a lawyer and find out what my legal rights are."
"You could give her to the state," Jenny said.
Travis shook his head. "I'd rather find someone who wants to adopt her myself and see if we can go through a Christian organization or something. I'll raise her myself before I give her to the state. My brother, Duane, was in the system for a couple of years. No kid deserves what he went through. It's not that baby's fault she was born to a woman who doesn't love her."
Once again, Laura and Jenny nodded, their heads tilted in sympathy. After that, Travis abruptly changed the direction of the conversation by asking Todd what he did for a living. Arden sat staring at her food and not eating. Just as soon as it was clear that dinner was over, she jumped up, gathered plates and escaped to the kitchen. She started scrubbing dishes. She scrubbed so hard her arms hurt. Then she realized she'd been scrubbing the same plate for five minutes and was about to scratch the floral pattern off the rim.
Arden took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She set the clean plate in the drying rack and calmly took up another one.
Laura and Jenny came in whispering to each other. Jenny took up the drying while Laura put the food away.
"Arden, you've really landed yourself a good one," Jenny said.