AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And hello to you too,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him and giving him a sultry smile. At least he assumed that was what kind of smile it was. It was the kind of smile that a woman gave a man when she wanted him to know that she was interested in him. He’d picked that much up along with all the other things that Ford had taught him.
But he’d always been faithful to Ellen. He supposed he always would be. Except, he kind of expected her to come over and greet him when she saw him walk in.
“I guess we ought to go find a seat,” he said, feeling a little more comfortable now that he was twenty-eight instead of eighteen. That was one thing that Ford’s training had done, given him confidence. Confidence that he sorely lacked when he was a kid.
Not that he thought that he could handle a woman like Shanna, and he definitely didn’t want to fool himself into believing that. She could make shark bait out of him, and well he knew it. But he wasn’t the insecure kid he used to be, either. The one who just wanted to fit in and who fell for sultry smiles and a come-hither look from someone who was older and more popular than he was.
He took the bucket from her, careful not to brush her fingers, but offered her his arm, figuring it was the right thing to do.
“Oh. So gallant,” she said, batting her eyes again.
He kind of thought she might introduce him to her kids, but she didn’t. “Let’s go outside. It’s so hot in here,” she said, fanning herself and blowing out a breath like she truly was warm.
Travis didn’t want to go anywhere, and he supposed he could tell her that he’d rather sit at the tables, but it might be easier for her kids if they didn’t have to be confined. Maybe there were other people who had figured the same thing and would be outside too so they wouldn’t be completely alone.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. You’ve definitely grown up. Look at those shoulders,” she said, and her frank appraisal made him uncomfortable, despite the fact that he considered himself much more capable and confident than he used to be.
Shanna reminded him of a shark even more than she used to. Which was particularly unsettling considering that her children were standing right beside them.
“So what are your kids’ names?” he asked, hoping to divert her attention. A mother loved talking about her children, right? He knew that wasn’t necessarily true, since his own mother had not particularly cared one way or the other about him or his two brothers. Which, with the insight that hindsight gave, probably turned out to benefit him.
If his mother had cared about him, Ford Hansen might not have taken him under his wing, and Travis might not have been given the opportunities that he had been. He wouldn’t be twenty-eight, with enough money in the bank to purchase his own ranch out of pocket, as well as investing in a property and family that was going to benefit the entire community, if he and Ford had figured right.
“Enzo and Atlas,” she said, and her tone was dismissive. It reminded him a good bit of his mother’s voice when she talked about her children. Maybe that wasn’t fair, since his mother had been an alcoholic and an occasional-to-often drug user as well. As far as he knew, that did not describe Shanna, although he hadn’t been in town for five years, and a lot could have changed in that time.
“Hey there, guys,” he said, assuming those were boys’ names. He wasn’t quite sure from the length of the hair on both of the kids what gender they were. It used to be it wasn’t hard to tell, but nowadays, it was dangerous to make an assumption.
She didn’t say which one was which, but the smaller one hid further behind her leg while Shanna used her hand to try to drag him away from her and make him walk beside her. She yanked on it a bit, and Travis cringed.
He didn’t have any experience with small children, other than raising his brothers, who weren’t that much younger than him, and he couldn’t remember how they were at that age.
Of course, Ellen’s sister and brother were exceptions. He’d been around her, and them, but he’d never watched them without Ellen.
Kids were a mystery to him, as were women for the most part. He’d kept his nose to the grindstone and learned what he could about business, keeping his thoughts focused on Ellen any time he was tempted to think about a woman, and he had to admit, that was quite often.
Opening the door, he held it while Shanna gave him one last grin and then swept through, practically dragging her child behind her while the other one tripped at her heels.
He walked out into the dark night, the air cool, but not cold. Although, coming from Brazil, where he’d been, he was used to subtropical weather. North Dakota would take a bit of getting used to again, but he was happy to be home.
Not quite as happy as he had intended to be, because he had expected his evening was going to be spent with Ellen, not Shanna.
“We’ll just go over here,” Shanna said, walking confidently toward the swing set and picnic table that sat beside it.
“I said no!”
A woman’s voice carried clearly over the night air, and Travis stopped as the hair on the back of his head lifted. That sounded like Ellen.
“I heard you, and I just figured you didn’t really mean it.”
“I meant it. We’re not going to have this argument every day. You can get that straight right now.”
“You’re mine, fair and square.”
“I know, but there are certain things even you cannot get away with.”
He was sure it was Ellen’s voice. He didn’t recognize the man, but from the conversation it sounded like...Ellen was married? How else could she be “his?”
But wouldn’t Ellen have told him if she’d gotten married?
